Well, we just got home from the Bonneville Salt Flats with my ‘65 Landspeed Corvette. As I told many of you at the Las Vegas National, my goal was to hit the 250 mph mark at World Finals event at the salt flats earlier this week. Unfortunately, the phrase “Close, but no cigar” is ringing in my ear.
The fastest I could push the car to, was a 5 mile exit speed of 249.062 mph. So close!
The official record that we obtained was 246.979 mph…bumping the current 236 mph record. As you may know, S.C.T.A. records are based on 2 passes and the average speeds of those passes. One Sunday, I had a 1-mile average speed (between the 4 & 5 mile markers) of 248.349 mph. Given that was higher than the current (236 mph) record, the car “qualified” for a record. That means the car goes into impound and you have to back it up with another pass the following morning. On Monday morning, we unfortunately had a strong headwind blowing. On that run, I had a 1-mile average speed of 245.609 mph. The record is then calculated as the average of those two averages…thus 246.979 mph.
Here’s the in-car YouTube of the second pass:
No turbos, no blower, no Roadster Shop chassis, no nitrous, no alcohol…just a 427 w/a 4 barrel carb. running on gasoline and sitting on the original ‘65 GM chassis. ; )
We’ll be back at the salt flats in August ‘26 to give it another go!
-Wayne
The fastest I could push the car to, was a 5 mile exit speed of 249.062 mph. So close!
The official record that we obtained was 246.979 mph…bumping the current 236 mph record. As you may know, S.C.T.A. records are based on 2 passes and the average speeds of those passes. One Sunday, I had a 1-mile average speed (between the 4 & 5 mile markers) of 248.349 mph. Given that was higher than the current (236 mph) record, the car “qualified” for a record. That means the car goes into impound and you have to back it up with another pass the following morning. On Monday morning, we unfortunately had a strong headwind blowing. On that run, I had a 1-mile average speed of 245.609 mph. The record is then calculated as the average of those two averages…thus 246.979 mph.
Here’s the in-car YouTube of the second pass:
No turbos, no blower, no Roadster Shop chassis, no nitrous, no alcohol…just a 427 w/a 4 barrel carb. running on gasoline and sitting on the original ‘65 GM chassis. ; )
We’ll be back at the salt flats in August ‘26 to give it another go!
-Wayne
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