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This 1963 Studebaker Avanti holds several records at Muroc, El Mirage, and Bonneville in the classic production supercharged and classic blown gas coupe (D/CPS and D/CBGC) classes with its fastest record at 215.633 MPH. It’s powered by a 302 ci turbocharged engine, which makes in the neighborhood of 800 horsepower. Note the intercooler piping that runs into the cabin of the car and then into a liquid to air intercooler. The liquid to air intercooler is tucked directly under an ice chest, which supplies it chilly water, vastly improving heat transfer. Ultimately, this allows the engine to ingest charge air of sub-ambient temperatures.
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Being the owner of a turbocharged 1988 Sentra, I’m always a fan of underdogs like this old school Datsun powered by a 1171 cc inline four cylinder. Unfortunately, this cute little Datsun never made it through tech while we were at El Mirage and we are unsure of how fast it went or if it ever got to run.
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The driver of this Ford Model A had just broken the previous unblown gas modified roadster record of 208 MPH and entered into the El Mirage 200 MPH club with a 213 MPH pass. Most impressively, this Model A utilizes a Dodge R5P7 Nascar engine, which produces around 800 horsepower.
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Although the owner of this streamlined, side car motorcycle was struggling to get the fuel mixture right, we still had to respect his lemons type ingenuity. This particular set up used a Garrett Turbo robbed from a junk yard Volvo, which was essentially converted to a belt driven, centrifugal supercharger. This was good enough for a 120 MPH pass which is not bad for a 500 cc push rod engine. Also notice how the rider steers the bike, with the handles positioned just behind his knees.
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The movie, “The World’s Fastest Indian” is a biography of a famous New Zealand land speed racer, Burt Munro. Burt Munro still holds several motorcycle records ranging from 160 MPH to 190 MPH. He is a legend in the land speed racing world and perhaps the source of this license plate’s inspiration.
