Check out some pictures here www.onepercentmag.com of our trip on Friday. We reunited Bill Grant with the V12 Allison powered drag car that he built in the late 50's. Bill showed us a letter from Art Arfons with hand drawn sketches of how to solve some problems he was having hooking the engine up. When we arrived Bill was out on the street waiting for us - I asked him if he thought he could get into the car and he agreed in a flash. He told John later that he had been running through the sequence of how he got in and out of the car in his head all day. It was incredible seeing him slide into the tight cock pit through the roll cage. Like a python! [email protected]
What an eyeful! Looks like you made Mr. Grant's day, too! Can only imagine what this thing must have sounded like going down the track. Some nice shots on the One Percernt website as well. Thanks for posting this.
I wish I could hear it running, it would have been insane. He bought the engine ex RAF for seventeen pound ten. It had only run 100 hours and had been fully reconditioned!
Great story! So when are you going to start it (and video same)??? Back in the early 1960s (in SoCal) one of my family members and his best friend fired up an Allison in the latter's garage and blew out all the windows! Apparently it was the only time the pair ran the thing.
64 Widcat - the first issue of OnePercent is out. Issue two will be out Late June and the Bill Grant story will be in that. The video is something John is working on and should be out for their 10th anniversary. Ha - love the story about the blown out windows! Aaron
Imagine being the guy sitting in a more conventionally-powered dragster in the other lane when that thing pulled up to the line at the track.
May Karma shine on you for reuniting the builder with his beast. I had the good fortune to get a ride behind one of these mills last Nov. and can tell you that the sound of the Allison at full song is something I'll never forget. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=415808
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