So long ago as a kid growing up in the city of New Haven dreaming of things Hot Rod I remember seeing pictures of Belly Tank race cars taken at Bonneville meets. Pioneers like Bill Burke are responsible for my addiction to all things Hot Rod. Little did I know so long ago how far I would be able to get with my dreams as a kid. Heres my latest project being built in the tradtion set forth by Bill Burke and his belly tank.
What a great tribute A great car and Bill definitely had balls driving that at 135mph sitting on a bicycle seat half way out of the car, crazy! & what a legend. Pioneer of the belly tank yes, of the teardrop shaped streamliner no. That honour goes to Bob Rufi who designed his whole car around the principal of the most aerodynamic shape being the teardrop with the widest point 1/3 the way down. Something I've often wondered is when Bill first saw the belly tank on the dock if he thought of Bob Rufi's car and saw a way to gain similar speeds at the lakes. I hope someone films when Bill sees this amazing recreation and gets his reaction.
Fuckin A! He went 130 ON that thing?? It looks like the wind in your face could blow you right out the back of it!! BALLS.
Thoughts on the article and the comments Wow, I didn't know the first in this case. Cool history. Small, and it shares something with small choppers, it looks better without the pilot. Stunning work and I'm so happy that Mr. Burke is still here to see it. Not only did he sit on that little seat out in the wind, it was on the torque tube (unsprung), not the frame! And that flatty was giving everything it had just in front of you! I admire Jackie Stewart and others that have pushed safety so a driver can reasonably assume they will be alive tomorrow. However between that and technological leaps, most modern racing is less raw. That car is obviously built with only a single purpose, SPEED. Nothing else is in the mix.
Incredible!. Great timing on this one Ryan. I hope to see it in person next week. Does anybody know if it will be there for a fact?
killer story. I wish I could make it to speed week. These pics are as insane and deffinetly a before seat belt moment. Here is a pic of a friend shawn's belly tanker, He will be there this week going for the 4 cylinder record that he almost got last year. Second pic is with a buddy colin's old truck.
I remember seeing those belly tanks stacked on end at war surplus stores in L.A. Gads those stores were loaded with goodies for innovators.
Oh buddy, this gonna' be sweet! Maybe they'll let me drive it around the parking lot Nice work by the way. thanks, Gary
Gary, It's not a restoration, Its a recreation of Bill's first. It was done to pay tribute to Bill and his contribution to the sport. We built it from scratch in my shop here in Florida. Thanks Ted
Thanks for the info Ted. You guys really hit the nail on the head from ehat I can tell. What did you guys have to go by for the recreation? Any drawings or mostly pics and did I read that you had input from Bill too? I have a tank that I found last year down the street just after B'ville last year, don't know what type (I otta' figure it out) but I really dig the recreation idea.Recreate something else ?
Thats a common misconception Jon... You see, very few people that live in Florida, were actually born here. People with poor taste are kicked out of normal states, and they end up here.
BIG BALLS I guess! Man sittin' on a bicycle seat attached to a torque tube going 130+ mph, WOW. Good thing he had those goggles but I bet he had to pick the bugs and dirt out of his teeth, because you know he had to be smiling or saying "OH SHIT what am I doing?". Either way I know he had fun or he wouldn't have kept on doing it.
Not so new. If you survey the fastest swimming fish in the sea, you'll notice they are tear drop shaped with the widest point a third of the way down.
Well plans have changed, Tom Bambard and myself are leaving for the salt Sunday morning. We will be there Sunday afternoon and Monday. Looking forward to shaking hands with some HAMBers. Look for us around the Burke pit area. Thanks Ted
Glad to see that both Bob Rufi was credited as well as Bill. Bob handcrafted his tank in like 1938 and had the 140.mph fast time by 1940 with a banger powered Chevy. That Pre-tankster was wrecked and Bob spent like 4 mos in the hospital. Car was sold and returned to the lakes after the war with a different configuration powered by a Cook/Cyclone 4 port. From what I had heard from Bill, he indeed was in the So. Pacific and on a barge across the way was a belly tank that resembled what Rufi had back in 1940. Heck, no tin pounding needed as Rufi had done, so this made quick work of making a streamliner. Once home he found that these tanks were ending up in surplus yards for like $10-$20 depending on size.(That was expensive even then considering). He built the 1st one as an experiment, it worked,was sold and next came the larger P-38 tankster that really put Wally Parks, Bill Phy, Bill Burke (all SGV-Road Runner boys)on the Hot Rod map. The 2nd one so sucessful that Alex Xydias asked him to build him on as well, The labor was like $75.00 all parts supplied by Alex. He said that he went on to build like 20 more including his 50th anniversary Doc Jefferies powered tank. The Burke's are in a world all by themselves, lots of outside the box thinking going on all of the time. Wish that I could get the ball rolling on mine. Truly Nice Recreation of that 1st tank, Too bad it isn't purple Bill's favorite color.
I thought I would bump this thread with a Ken Crawford photo, Ken helped with the original and even drove it.
I just went to a Youtube post that showed a recently found 8mm film of El Mirage racers about 1946. Its full of famous cars. Go to it and see if you recognize any vintage cars. The only thing missing is the sound. Click on the below address and enjoy... www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5ENn_hxv64
This is from the first couple of minutes of the movie 'Hot Rod' (1950). Footage is from '46 <object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/CXkVsC2CmpY?hl=en_US&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/CXkVsC2CmpY?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>