Fast Cars are an art form of their very own. They represent art in their mechanical design and in their form. No two race cars are exactly the same, even in the same class, and in each car the builders express themselves both through form and function of the design.

On this page we take a tour of the race cars of the Bonneville Salt flats, "The fastest place on earth" for wheel driven cars. It used to be the uncontested fastest place on earth for autos of all kinds but during the 1970's began a push to go over 400 mph. Only a handful of wheel supported vehicles have ever accomplished this task, but to achieve these speeds the fastest needed to switch from wheel driven power to "thrust" from rockets or Jet engines. As they approached the speed of sound these cars ran out of room on the salt flats.

The glory days of 12 miles or more of smooth flat hard salt that existed back in the 1930's to the 1960's, gave way to deteriorating course conditions that today rarely provide more than 7 miles of salt of high enough quality to support these mind numbing speeds. As a result the thrust powered cars are no longer run at the Bonneville salt flats.

Today there is an active restoration program called "Save the Salt" which is trying to restore the Bonneville Salt Flats race course to its former conditions by a cooperative agreement and planned pumping project that pumps salt brine onto the salf flats from the nearby potash harvesting operation run by Intrepid Industries. Intrepid Industries with funding from public donations is graciously helping the BLM and concerned citizens bring back the world famous salt flats to their historic conditions, that once supported 13.5 mile race courses for the unlimited streamliners to go for 400+ mph records on a regular basis.

Save the salt project

Today the fastest wheel driven cars in the world, that can run over 350 mph up to the low 400 mph range number a dozen or slightly more world wide.
One of the legitimate 400+ mph streamliners is the Burkland #411 streamliner pictured below.

The Burkland 411 streamliner has run over 400 mph on several occasions. On October 16 2004 - Tom Burkland set a new SCTA AA/BFS record at 417.020 MPH On September 26 2008, at the FIA meet in 2008 Burkland set a new FIA Cat. A, Group I, Class 11 flying mile International record at 415.896 MPH! The car hit 427.723 mph on the second "return run" of the required back to back runs to achieve the record.

The picture below is the Poteet and Main Speed Demon streamliner on Aug 15, 2007, at Bonneville Speed Week.
This car holds several records in the 300+ mph range, starting in 2006 with a record of 325.934 mph.
It is currently running a blown fuel Chryser engine of 182 cubic inch displacement which delivers between 1300 and 1400 reliable horsepower.

This car in 2008, set a record of 343.494 mph with a best one-way run of 365.941 mph for the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association record) for the flying mile during Speed Weeks at Bonneville, then on Sept. 22nd, 2008, at a special private meet for FIA certified records, Poteet and Main upped the FIA record to 345.552 mph with a best one-way run of 390.560 mph.

All images copyright Larry Ledwick

This is the streamliner affectionately known as "the punkin seed" for its unique shape.It has been running at Bonneville for decades.
Going this fast is a dangerous game, and although the salt is one of the most forgiving racing surfaces in the world, physics is not always your friend!
A minor error by the driver, a failure of a component or just bad luck can lead to accidents.

This was the outcome of an abortive attempt by the punkin seed to fly during a spin, at about 200 mph!

This car caught fire as the engine blew! Following an explosion in the intake manifold that lifted the blower, the oil mist created a flame plume that burned through the cars parachute tether.
Luckily the parachute held long enough for the driver to get slowed down and turn out off the race course.

Sometimes things go wrong as a car spins, and for streamliners and the long narrow lakesters, a "pencil roll" is a situation that seldom ends well for either the car or the driver.
Below is a picture sequence of a streamliner rolling at speed.

Spins are common due to the low traction of the salt, and high aerodynamic drag trying to turn the car around its center of pressure.

Cars can also get blown over like hydroplanes if they hit a bump or they get the nose up for some other reason, and "pack air under the car".

The other hazard to the high sustained load on the engines is that many engines give up after a minute or so of continuous wide open throttle under max load. Sometimes it is an oiling issue as the engine pumps all its available oil into the valve covers, or sometime it is a burnt piston or other mechanical failure due to the high physical and thermal stress.