BANDAG BULLET TRUCK
FOLLOWING on from my previous letter, here is some abridged information related to, and a photo, of the Bandag Bullet Drag Truck (inset photo above). Owned by Bandag Tyres, this was possibly the first purpose built drag truck in Europe as a rolling ad for its tyres, but also as a vehicle to test them. Terry Drury Racing of Steeple, Essex was responsible for the mechanical modifications which initially started life as a bog standard, innocent looking Ford ‘D’ series cab fitted with to a 120 tipper chassis powered by a 6-litre diesel engine. But, in Terry’s hands, the engine was unrated with a Holset commercial vehicle turbo and a Lucas fuel injection set up to boost its output by 20psi, which was enough to up the horsepower to 300 bhp. The Bullet made its public debut at Steve Murty's York Raceway, in 1979, in the hands of Roy Crowther. Although speeds were low on the bumpy track, Bandag took the truck to Radlett Airfield, where it topped over 100 mph. In fact, it sped to 108 mph over the flying mile. Sadly, after many show and race appearances, the truck disappeared from the scene despite the healthy presence of drag trucks in the north of England.
The Jet Truck that you refer to in your emails that we have swapped since, will have been Steve Murty’s Pirelli Pro Jet powered by a Rolls Royce Avon pictured in the photo taken at York Raceway (main photo above), and has been seen at Santa Pod and Avon Park raceways in its long life as a motor sports demonstration vehicle. Steve, who is a member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, still has the truck in storage.
Regarding the Hot Wheels VW Beetle, to answer your question, no I haven't considered selling it. In fact this is part of a small collection of red stripe Hot Wheels of well known customs and hot rods, and all with the original tin badges. I also have the HW version in the same scale of the famous STP Gas Turbine Indy Car but produced in the same shiny blue as the VW. So, I'm sure I have quite a bit of money sitting on that shelf at the moment. I only wish I had the original packaging as well after viewing some of the prices at featured auctions. Jerry Cookson, email
ED Wow, thanks for all the truck info, Jerry! And good to know about the jet truck (to fill in the conversation gap, I used to marshal at Brands Hatch, usually on the outside of the first corner, and remember a jet truck that ran the ‘wrong’ way around the track – we properly felt the heat at our post as it took off from the start/finish straight by the pit exit with the exhaust pointing straight at us). Now I have the information as to what it was, I've just done a quick online search and found a photo by Nigel Paine on Flickr of it running the wrong way down from Druid's Hairpin. The run took place on 12th April 1986. And that does indeed sound like you have some seriously valuable Hot Wheels there!