Flying Plymouth rocks the flats

Here at The Good Oil we try not to fixate too heavily on Jay Leno’s very, very good web series

Over the past couple of years, the portly, denim- shod funny man has consistently amazed with some absolutely incredible cars on his YouTube show — a smattering from his own immense private collection, with others from enthusiast collectors and talented car builders across the US.

In just the past few months, Leno has devoted episodes to his Lamborghini Espada, a Wankel rotary- powered Volkswagen Beetle, a Ford Model T, Ferrari 275 GTB4 and even a Chinesebuilt 1978 Hongqi CA770 sedan. But even that last one can’t beat the recently- explored Plymouth Radial Air in terms of rarity.

With the help of his two sons ( or should that be “co- pilots”?), auto wrecker Gary Corns from Colorado spent around 18 months rebuilding a 1939 Plymouth pick- up truck. Corns, however, decided to go rather extreme when it came to ensuring the truck had enough Plymouth powered by Cessna. power. To that end, he fitted his silver bullet with a Jacobs R- 755 radial engine . . . taken out of a 1950s- era Cessna seaplane.

The truck runs only on Avgas ( of course) and features some incredible — aeronautically themed — detailing inside and out, including two plane- shaped steering wheels, two brake pedals and a central throttle. The cab body is a work of art in itself, featuring exposed rivets, stunt smoke outlets and moon disc hubcaps on the wheels ( well, the truck is a Bonneville contender after all). The truck even has a semi- matching tug to tow it into place on the salt flats’ start line. As the episode of

shows, she ain’t easy to crank over — and pilot- style headphones are a necessity once the big bruising 757 cubic inch ( 12.4- litre) Cessna engine explodes into life — but once the Plymouth gets a lungful of air, it brings new meaning to the phrase “fly by”.