Trolly trip in Philly

We headed out into the suburbs on this 1981 Kawasaki trolley car (begs the question where would you buy a tram in the USA?). We were going to the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. This proved to be a world class collection in a most unlikely spot. We walked some two miles into an industrial estate, out close to the airport, and there it was. We were greeted warmly and given a pretzel at the desk - Petey the dog eyed me throughout. They let us photograph beyond the ropes, took us backstage into the workshop, and gave us a lift back to the trolley stop.
This Porsche 917 is a Le Mans lap record holder.

We were also taken by the Allard-Cadillac on display and the unrestored Daytona Cobra, CSX2287, with Bonneville heritage.

I sent some Bugatti pictures to Joe Saward, who replied with many thanks.
Pics by Annette.

Bonneville reprise

Still buzzing after Bonneville Speed Week - the smart car performed flawlessly through more than eight thousand miles on tour and zoomed across the salt flats with the best of them.

You can see our smart car parked centre right.

Flower of Scotland wilts at the last

In the last of his reports Rick Pearson tells a tale of woe from Bonneville:
There was to be no fairytale ending for us here on the Salt.
We knew we had just one last chance to set the record so we turned up the boost and geared her for 325mph, knowing if we could get right down the Salt we would have the fastest 1 litre car in history.
We were on the Salt as early as possible, prepped the car with fuel and ice and joined the line for our run... I’d spent 3 days preparing myself mentally for what I knew was going to be a Hail Mary pass and I was ready. The Americans who were helping us out insisted on holding a short prayer for my safety before I got in the car (which wasn’t particularly reassuring!) and despite the wind conditions being marginal I decided with Derek Sr that we were ready to go.
The push start went well, the car came up on the boost nicely and I got a super smooth shift into 2nd gear where the Flower of Scotland REALLY starts to boogie... a blink of an eye and we’re knocking on 200mph and it’s time for 3rd gear, when there is a small pop from the engine as a valve dropped and the power dropped away. With just 1 hour left in Speed Week our dream was over for this year and the crew are all shattered and pretty dejected, sitting here in the airport in silence.
Thanks for all the support over the past week. It’s been really appreciated out on the Salt.

Bonneville: last roll of the dice

Rick Pearson reports:
The Salt can be a tough mistress, but to be honest she’s virtually killing us here.
Another tough day. We had the engine back together for 7.30am after working all night once Joe Amo (fastest guy ever on a sit-on motorbike at 272mph!) arrived with the parts we were missing. One shift of mechanics went to bed, and another woke to put the engine in the car. This was completed around 11.30 and we were confident of being on the Salt for early afternoon. However on firing the engine up, we realised she was running badly and needed some pretty major open heart surgery. Including more parts we didn’t have!
Once again it looked like it was all over, and once again the Salt community managed to source us what we needed and the engine was finished by 5pm. Panels back on and we whipped the car down to the Salt from the Casino car park HQ we’ve been using. Unfortunately the wind was pretty marginal for safety but we decided to make a pass anyway in a lull. The Flower of Scotland went off the line well, but lost power within the first mile. A quick investigation threw up another small failure in the transmission, clearly the destruction of the two engines so far this week had shaken stuff up more than we thought... but this time fortunately it was a quick fix... but not quickly enough to turn the car around for another run at the Salt tonight.
So we have one last chance in the morning, the car has been geared so that if it makes it the 5 miles down the Salt and I can keep my foot to the boards, we SHOULD run the record. We’ll be on the Salt for sun up, and fingers crossed our luck will finally come good. It certainly feels like we’ve paid our dues......

The fight goes on at Bonneville

Rick Pearson reports:
Well folks, you can imagine how fresh I feel after less than 3 hours sleep in a Santa Ana hotel last night and while I returned with all the parts we thought we needed, stripping down the remains of the original 2 engines showed that actually the damage was much more severe than we thought.
The crankshafts and bearings on both engines had been destroyed in the brief seconds after the cases exploded in the gearboxes and the oil pressure dropped. SO we simply don't have enough parts to build one good engine.
However, the Speed racing community have rallied around us, and legendary Salt Bike racer, Joe Amo has offered to get on a plane from his South Dakota workshop and fly up tonight with what we need... So the Speed Scotland team have decamped from the Salt (where you aren't allowed to work beyond 8pm) to the car park of a Casino in nearby Wendover and we've prepped the car and engine parts we have to pull an "all-nighter" once Joe gets here at midnight to be back out on the Salt early tomorrow!
As driver of course, I need to be on fine form tomorrow so I’ll be getting a good night’s sleep, (although I think the team are insisting on that more so that I don’t get in the way with my legendary spanner wielding talents!), so I’ll just need to make the team’s efforts worthwhile with the runs tomorrow.The fight goes on.... fingers crossed for us folks, and thanks for all the kind words of support, much appreciated!

Bonneville bitsa in chain reaction

Rick Pearson reports:
Disaster struck the Speed Scotland team today as a chain snapped and damaged our last good engine/gearbox. Smashing the casing. Given we have no further spares with us, it looked like the dream of a record for Scotland was over for 2010... but the team were not prepared to give it up that easily.
So we tracked down a guy with the right engine casings that we needed, and a machine shop so he could adapt them to our requirements and he agreed to work all night until they were done. I’ve hopped on a plane from Salt Lake City out to the West Coast to collect the parts and am now sat in a hotel waiting for the flight back the other way with half an engine in my “hand” luggage. There are gearbox parts coming in with UPS from Texas which should arrive as I land back tomorrow morning and the crew are currently tearing the car and the old engines apart to gather enough parts to put one good engine back together and in the car in time for a full-bore pass sometime on Thursday. We will not now be able to afford the luxury of stepping up the speed gradually, so I’ll be getting in the car with the turbo turned up high and giving it one big run down the Salt and see if we can crack the magic 300 and perhaps even threaten that 313mph record...
Never surrender! Fingers crossed for us please.

Rick turns up the wick at Bonneville

Rick Pearson reports:

Monday August 16 update - the engine change we had to do took a long while, and it was 5pm before the Flower of Scotland was ready to run. We needed to make a pass between 175mph and 200mph for the next licence level. The rules being that we must run within each speed band as we increase. So I passed the 2 1/4 mile speedtrap at a 200.213mph and had to pull the chutes before reaching 3 miles as the car was still accelerating hard (peak speed was 214mph) and I didn’t want to exceed the limit we’d been set!

The crew tried hard to turn the car around before the 7pm curfew on the Salt, but with checking the new engine fully we ran slightly out of time. So we’re ready to go, first thing in the morning tomorrow, we’ve been asked to make a pass between 200 and 250mph as the next stage, we’ll then be allowed to run in the next band, 250-300mph which we hope to do around lunchtime, then all being well, we’ll turn up the boost and make a pass at the record of 313mph towards the end of the day tomorrow!

Day 32: Elko, Nevada via Bonneville to Salt Lake City, Utah

Up early at Elko and we score a second night at the Travelodge for $25 due to a double-booking snafu. We ride east to Wendover and shop at Smith's for food and gas. Looking for Starbucks we meet some long time rodders and agree to get in touch. Out on the salt we marvel at being able to park close to the startline and watch from our car. Bonneville charge $15 per day for a ticket, $40 for the week.

At 16:15 we head for Salt Lake City in 95f heat, checking-in at the Comfort Inn downtown. We take supper at Romano's Macaroni Grill - poor service for a dinner for two costing $47.02 incl tip.

Day 31: Bonneville

Yesterday we really knocked ourselves out in the heat at Bonneville and needed to regroup for a second day on the salt. Staying some 120 miles away in Elko we cruise into Wendover and shop for lunch and a T shirt at Smith's supermarket, avoiding Speedway prices. We have learned that too long in the sun and walking about in the thin air at altitude is a short cut to exhaustion.
We park by the staging lanes and watch the cars assembling for a run on the salt. The informal atmosphere is infectious as you can stroll around the startline area and take pictures to your hearts content - even from the shelter of the smart car.

Flower of Scotland team gets "salt fever"

Bonneville is proving to be a strict mistress for the Flower of Scotland team. When you are hooked on setting a record, also known as salt fever, the rules are exacting. The rookie acclimatisation requires three qualification runs at set speeds:

"D" license at 125 mph to 149 mph
"C" 150 mph to 174 mph
"B" 175 mph to 199 mph

Ideally these runs should be set in sequence but in a streamliner with the potential to exceed 300 mph it is not that simple. As of Sunday afternoon driver Rick Pearson had earned his "D" and "C" licenses and came to the startline in pursuit of a "B" license - the car was pushed off by the pickup but the motor died shortly into the run and he pulled off the course. Another attempt was planned for later in the day to secure the opportunity to run for the record.

Rick Pearson too fast at Bonneville

Rookie Rick Pearson was set to complete his very first shakedown run on the Bonneville Salt Flats today at the annual Bonneville Speed Week. A little shaky off the start he shed the push truck rather early, and then experienced blurred vision due to lack of padding for his helmet and methanol fumes from the engine. He was instructed to run no faster than 150 mph but his right foot got the better of him as he went through Mile 4 at 170.865 mph. A mild admonishment from the SCTA saw him cleared to prepare for his second shakedown run at 175 mph. A successful run at 200 mph will see him cleared to go for the class record.

The 1-litre Flower of Scotland streamliner has plenty left in the tank. Pearson plans to attack the Blown Fuel Streamliner record in class I - that is for one litre cars - later in the week. The record is currently held by the Castella/Yacoucci streamliner at 313.984 mph set in 2003.

The team report that they are pleased with the media reaction in Scotland and in the UK in general to their efforts and are confident the car can set a record and put Rick Pearson in the 300 mph club.

Day 30: Ely, Nevada to Elko, Nevada

We hit the road before eight o'clock and take Hwy 93 towards Whitehorse Pass. We get our first view of Bonneville Salt Flats - like a wonder of the world. Into Wendover we stop for gas and coffee at Pilot Casino. Out to the salt flats where we park close to the staging lanes - we blunder about mesmerised by the variety of vehicles. I chat to the Moon team about Dante Duce and what we can do to find out more about him.

We hook up with Rick Pearson and his car Flower of Scotland and ride down the course in the trailer truck as he faces the salt for the first time.
Mid-afternoon we head for Elko on I-80 - now at the Travelodge for two nights before heading back east.

Day 29: Ely, Nevada

To Cave Lake in the hills off Hwy 50. We watch a family of Coots feeding among the reeds. Back to town where we photograph some hot rods headed for Bonneville. We do laundry at Soak n Suds, then visit The Zoo thrift shop.

The Big Apple family restaurant for lunch then downtown to the White Pine Rodders 17th Annual Car Show. We meet Tony from Chicago with his '53 Chevy custom. He insists that Annette be pictured behind the wheel but declines to be photographed himself.

Willie Nelson plays Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City, Utah on September 10th.