FROM SOUTH TO BONNEVILLE
IF YOU WANT TO GO FAST — REALLY FAST — THERE’S ONLY ONE PLACE TO GO!
THE KIWIS AIMING FOR THE SALT
A couple of not-so-young, southern, hot rodding drag racers, Chris Barnes from Riverton and Owen Jones from Dunedin, have pooled resources and purchased a steel-bodied ’34 Plymouth to race as a land-speed entry on the Bonneville Salt Flats in August this year. Their shared desire to “go really fast” led the two to look at what options were available to achieve this goal, other than to build a car themselves. This was in early 2017, and they were very aware that Temuka-based Steve Williams was still trying to sell his land-speed car. Steve, who impressively built the Plymouth coupe pretty much himself, took it to both Lake Gairdner, Australia, in 2013 and Bonneville in 2015, although the latter meeting was cancelled due to flooding. Owen had been captivated by the car for some time, and once Steve saw the twinkle in the prospective owners’ eyes, he agreed to sell, and a deal was done. A joint determination became apparent early in Owen and Chris’s endeavours as they, surprisingly successfully, towed the nearly two-tonne Plymouth from Temuka (and a misty-eyed Steve) to Dunedin, behind Owen’s Toyota Previa people mover. Anyone who knows the Kilmog Hill, coming in to Dunedin from the north, will shake their heads at how badly this could have gone. However, they made it — just — and once the coupe was safely installed in Owen’s Mosgiel workshop, it was down to work preparing the car for Bonneville. Following its display at the Highlands National Motorsport Museum, the coupe was returned to Owen’s workshop for further tweaking before an appearance and start-up at Stateside Streeters’ Great USA Day in Dunedin on 3 March. Owen’s purpose-built trailer quickly proved its worth, and, with the widespread interest the coupe was starting to attract, the team was able to gain some much-needed sponsorship and overwhelming support from all quarters. The Plymouth, now known as ‘The Kiwi Coupe’, now proudly carries all the sponsors’ logos to date, with much appreciation extended from the team to Barry Dell Plumbing, Aburns Glass, Rodney Kennedy Contracting, and Action Engineering from Dunedin, along with Oamaru’s Whitestone Rodders and Smash Palace, for all of their financial support. There are further negotiations under way for the remaining sponsorship places on the car and the trailer.
The team were also fortunate enough to have the Southland Sports Car Club facilitate some track time for The Kiwi Coupe at Invercargill’s Teretonga Park, once in March and again in mid May. These outings were a huge success, giving Owen and Chris some much-needed seat time and the team a chance to go through the many important processes required to run a car at this level. There was also the realization of what has yet to be sorted before the car gets loaded into a container bound for San Francisco, which will already have happened as you read this. Luckily, the two have gathered a like-minded team to help with the huge number of hours required to rebuild the clutch and narrow the front end. Replacing the ’38 Dodge stub axles with new-oldstock stub axles came courtesy of Peter Woods of Charlton Auto fame, and precision front-end work was done by Noel Atley in Riverton, with the logic behind this to increase stability by having the wheels in line. When Steve raced the coupe at Lake Gairdner, reaching a top speed of 201mph in third gear, it apparently started doing a “sideways caravan shuffle” at around 185mph, which isn’t
really desirable. Steve then added a spoiler, and, combined with the front-end adjustment and calculations for centre of balance and gravity to be applied, the stability should theoretically be vastly improved. Owen and Chris also decided to replace the existing data logger with a new Link ECU, plus a tablet read-out, which will eventually be further developed to monitor and control the car once its speed goes beyond 201mph. No one really knows how the car will handle at high speed until they are on the salt and the drivers have gained their 175mph licenses. Taking turns to drive, Owen and Chris plan to equal the coupe’s 201mph top speed achieved at Lake Gairdner and then possibly have a crack at the B/GCC class record, which has stood at 263mph for 20 years. They are required to drive passes of 125mph, 150mph, and 175mph, receiving licenses for each
stage, before being allowed to progress from the Rookie to the Short and Long courses. They have to show knowledge of emergency shutdown and exit procedures, and the car itself has to pass the stringent tech requirements to be allowed to participate. Even the push-truck drivers have to attend a tuition session. Most of the team will be arriving in San Francisco on 31 July, which will give them a few days to sort things on The Kiwi Coupe, such as getting the new tyres fitted. Then it is straight off to Reno to catch the start of Hot August Nights, before heading to Bonneville. The plan is to arrive a couple of days early for scrutineering and pit setup, before the event starts proper on Saturday, 11 August. The team also has a number of supporters set to turn up for a few days at Speed Week with Graeme Percasky as a part of his 2018 nz2usa tour. Chris and Steve ‘Pirate’ McConnachie first experienced land-speed racing at Bonneville while on a tour with Graeme in 2008. Consequent visits have only fuelled Chris’s desire to actually drive a land-speed car at Bonneville before he hits the age of 60, and it looks very much like that is now going to happen. This will be Owen’s first visit to the event, and there is no doubt that it will leave a profound impression on him, too — not only as it is the last bastion of non-professional motor racing, but because Bonneville also represents the dawn of true hot rodding and innovation, and, to many, this geographically indescribable location is just the best place to be on earth.