While we wait in line for our first run on the salt, let’s pause and reflect on how this whole thing started.
The first land speed racers in the ’30s drove stripped down street cars. Shortly after WWII when airmen returned home from the war with a thirst for speed, a little cash in their pocket and lots of plentiful military surplus parts floating around, land speed racing got serious.
The first streamliners were leftover “belly tank” auxiliary fuel tanks from P-38 fighters that were stuffed with a basic chassis and a hopped up flathead engine. The tanks were designed to go over 300mph, so they worked well. As time progressed and speeds increased, complete custom bodies shrouding the wheels showed up on the scene, but even today any streamlined car with exposed wheels is called a Lakester.
Bobby Green from Los Angeles California is a hard core traditionalist, and while his “Old Crow” racer isn’t an original ’50s era car it was built in exactly the same way and is one of the coolest cars on the salt. This car represents the soul of Land Speed Racing.