I didn't actually buy the Hot Rod, I read the article in the Supermarket. It's very good. Here's the link to it. http://www.hotrod.com/news/craig-breedlove-americas-600-mph-man/
Land Speed,,, the disease of Hot Rodding. Going for 1000 mph or an open 105 record at El Mirage it the same rush/high. Once you have: sat in a vehicle, held tight by the seat belts, sweating in the firesuit, hands constricted by arm restraints, vision narrowed by the opening of a helmet and staring down to the horizon looking for the orange flags. "The course is yours" do you hear it or are you just reading Jim's (starter) lips? The roar of the motor snaps you to the present, the bump of the push vehicle sends you to the surreal world of speed. Are you watching the tach? Or just driving by the seat of your pants? 3 - 4 - 5,000 rpms, time to shift. Again the tach climbs, shift. The cones are becoming a blear, but the finish lines is coming fast. Between the cones, between the cones. At the finish line: pull the chute, keep the power until the chute grabs, feel the tug kill the power,, and its quite. You can hear the tires on surface, your heart is pounding but starting to slow. A careful turn out to the return line. Slower, you can take your hand off the wheel and lift your visor. Turn to the cones, the tire crunch is louder and the chute is now dragging. You stop at the cones, you are alone, your brain is starting to process again. Release the belts, gloves off, helmet off. Pull your self out of the vehicle and you know, you can't wait until the next pass,,,,,,,,
I wondered that too...Infinity was the creation of Romeo Palamides -- Glenn Leasher drove, lost his life when it crashed....early '60s
Being a collector of Art Deco and machine age items,I am and always have been captivated by streamliners.And Craig Breedlove is one of the coolest m-----------s on the planet,not to mention an artist with metal who pays great attention to detail.
I was working on a fuel dragster in the winter of 62/ 63 & the owner put it into the car show at the shrine auditorium in downtown L/A. They brought in the Breedlove car as it was still under construction. I was going to school after 5 years in the Air Force so had seen lots of aircraft stuff so wasn't surprised by it but everyone seemed to know him as the hot rod & racing folks in L/A at that time were a community . Great times to be in southern Cal.
I love this song by the Beach Boys "Spirit Of America" Spirit of America Spirit of America Spirit of America The Bonneville salt flats had seen some strange things But the strangest thing yet was a jet without wings Once as a jet it played in the stars But now on the ground it's the king of our cars Spirit of America Spirit of America Spirit of America Spirit of America An airplane an auto now famous worldwide The Spirit of America, the name on the side The man who would drive her Craig Breedlove by name A daring young man played a dangerous game Spirit of America Spirit of America Spirit of America Spirit of America With a J-47, a jet for his power Craig Breedlove had averaged four-o-seven per hour Both man and machine had given fair warn They'd set a new record on that warm August morn. Spirit of America Spirit of America Spirit of America Spirit of America Spirit of America
I know this is heading to off topic land, but this video narrated by Dick Keller himself is fascinating, and has some priceless footage of the X-1 rocket car (precursor to the Blue Flame) being run at Union Grove and US-30. A successful LSR effort put together by a bunch of drag racers from the Midwest.
I saw a documentary on the quest for speed, one of these jet cars chute failed and ended up in the lake but the guy survive.there was footage on this event.