Bonneville Dreams of the 200 MPH Club

Land Speed Racing History at the Bonneville Salt Flats

[Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird, Land Speed Record setting car, circa 1927. Photo courtesy of the Florida Photographic Collection at http://ibistro.dos.state.fl%5D

I think ever since engines were invented, men across the globe were seeing how fast they could get them to go. Eventually this became known as land speed racing. It was in 1898 that the first documented attempt for land speed racing was recorded. The man was the Conte de Chasseloup, the street was a long road outside of Paris, and the whooping speed that set the record was 39.24 mph! Since then we’ve been seeing how fast any sort of engine-powered, wheeled contraption would go…from empty roads, to Florida beaches, to Australian dry lakes, and of course… to salt flats in Utah.

Speed Week: Speed Seeking Studebaker #1

Heading up the line of this year’s Speed Seeking Studes, is #4594. It may not be the prettiest out there, but what it’s got going for it is a Studebaker engine and multiple record-holdings!  Greg Meyer and his Salt2Salt Racing’s Crew brought out their 1953 Studebaker Coupe all the way from Minnesota. Powered by a 182cid V8 Studebaker engine, putting it in the F/CGALT class. I think it was the only non-Avanti to have Stude power rolling it down the line!

Speed Seeking Studebakers

If you’ve been following me for awhile than perhaps you know–I found my 1955 Studebaker Coupe largely by accident. Truth be told, I had something more similar to a Ford Falcon in my head when I went a-lookin’ for my classic car. Thankfully however, I ended up on a different road. My Dad is in fact the one with the credit for finding her, forwarding on the ad he’d found in the local paper. I had no idea at the time what a Loewy/Bourke designed Studebaker Coupe was. I have though always been familiar with Studebakers. Growing up, an airplane-nosed relic hung in my dad’s office, this being a token of his teenage-years car project.

When I first saw “Stude” it was clearly love at first sight. As she’s become part of me, of course I’ve done my fair share of Studebaker research. None of it clued me into the depth of the Studebaker Coupe’s history on the salt. Last year, during my first trip to Bonneville for Speed Week, I was completely blown away by how many Studebakers I found on the salt! I knew Studebaker coupes were long-loved in land speed racing for their aerodynamic bodies—but it seemed like everywhere I turned I saw another Studebaker!

As I’m finding out, Studebaker coupes have a longer history with land speed racing than I would have guessed.