Texan CeeGar smokes the Germans.

-


In September 1956, Johnny Allen shot across the Bonneville Salt Flats in a Triumph-engined streamliner to set a world speed record of 214.40mph. He was one of a small group of Texans from Pete Dallio’s Triumph dealership in Dallas, who, with a shoestring budget and a basically stock engine to beat the exotic machinery of BMW and NSU, then the world’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer.

That record was recognized by the AMA as a national speed record, but world record status still was not recognized by FIM in 1956. No matter, Triumph touted it as a new world record and, for that matter, so did most of the rest of the world.

The tiff over Allen’s record went so far as to lead Triumph to take legal action against the FIM in 1957 in order to force it to recognize Allen’s achievement—but they lost. Things got so bad that in 1960 the FIM banned Triumph from FIM sanctioned competition for two years.

Ironically, Bill Johnson’s 1962 speed of 224.57 mph was recognized by the FIM even though that record was set while the Triumph competition ban was still in place, and Johnson’s Dudek/Colman nitro burning streamliner was powered by a Triumph engine.

Johnson’s record stood until 1975, according to the FIM, even though another Triumph powered machine, the Gyronaut X-1, ridden by Bob Leppan, pushed the record to 245.67 mph in 1966 under AMA rules.

The iconic Triumph Bonneville, launched in 1958, was named in honour of the Cee-Gar team, whose technological and human endurance would prove the inspiration for 38 Triumph-branded bikes to go on to hold AMA National class speed records and four FIM World Records.



#triumph #triumphbonneville #texasceegarteam #landspeedracer #triumphworldrecord #bonnevillesaltflats #landspeedtriumph

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1932 MG J2 Midget

-
Image
  Before the outbreak of the Second World War, from 1932 to 1934, the British marque MG produced a lightweight two-seater roadster known as the J2. Over its three-year production run, only 2,083 units were built. Equipped with an 847cc inline-four OHV engine, the J2 earned a reputation for its lively handling and approachable price, making it a beloved entry point into sports car ownership at the time. Where better than the  MG Owners Club  to read a brief history and the technical specifications.  Announced in August 1932 the J2 Midget was outstanding value for just £199 10s. and was within the reach of many enthusiasts of the era. It was based on the successful design of the C type or Montlhery Midget as it was better known, a direct derivative of the M type. From the outset the car represented everything that was right in basic sports car design incorporating such things as a large rear mounted slab type petrol tank with a huge fast fill1 petrol cap, fold flat win...
Read more

Tuner Series - Okrasa - Oettinger KRAftfahrtechnische SpezialAnsalt

-
Image
This is not a detailed history of Okrasa, although there are some links to the official Okrasa story. You may have seen reference to Okrasa and their air cooled VW parts, this such as in the Belgian built Mach 1 Beetle , this post just provides an insight.  Okrasa, or Oettinger KRAftfahrtechnische SpezialAnsalt, was founded in 1951 by Gerard Oettinger after graduating as a mechanical engineer. He immediatly began offering performance parts for the VW Beetle and period manufacturers producing sports cars utilising the Beetles flat floor chassis such as Rometsch and Dannenhauer & Stauss. The Okrasa kit was essentially available in two versions, the TS-1200 and the TS-1300/30, but several variants existed such as the TS-34, up to 1500 versions, in the 60s. The TS-1200 consisted of a pair of twin-intake cylinder heads, a pair of Solex 32 PBIC carburettors, a linkage for controlling the carburetors, hoses, intake pipes and special air filters. Optional extras included a Fram oil fil...
Read more

When Japan goes (to) Sebring

-
Image
The now defunct Speedhunters visited Garage Kamiya and Akamatsu-san’s MGC GT Sebring works car replica. From an MGC GT, the car that Akamatsu-san has built takes a lot of inspiration from the works Sebring GTS racers. Working with (his father) Kamiya-san, who was at the time racing his own yellow MGB, the pair transformed the plastic surgeon’s leather sofa on wheels into a bare-bones weekend race car. Many of the parts were sourced from MG Motorsports in Bovingdon, U To get the body looking right, Akamatsu-san entrusted Yamada-san of Yamada Auto in Kawaguchi to construct the oversized fender flares, by hand, with nothing more than a pile of photos and the book MGC GTS Lightweights: Abingdon’s Last Racers. The rear fenders are still Yamada-san’s work, but the front fenders have since been replaced by an MG Motorsport FRP set, after a wet track day at Tsukuba left the originals beyond repair.  They used an alloy cylinder head, just like the Sebring cars, Cosworth forged race pistons,...
Read more