Wes .... In 1928 Frank Lockhart, the 1926 Indy 500 Winner, had a V16 engine
in his Stutz Blackhawk, and it only had a displacement of 182 CID ..... he
ran the
Measured Mile at Daytona Beach at 198.292 on one pass, and he was running
' well over 200 ' when he blew a rear tire, and tumbled down the course for
over a
thousand feet, killing him instantly .
In March of 1935, ten months before I was born, Britain's Sir Malcolm
Campbell
drove his huge five ton Bluebird streamliner over the sands of Daytona at an
average
speed of 276.82 mph. It is said he did exceed 300 on one run, but poor
course
conditions on another run dropped his average to the stated speed for his
record.
This car was reported to have an engine displacement of 2227 Cubic
Inches !!!
Obviously both cars were mechanical marvels of the day( and even Today ! )
but
it appears that the Stutz Blackhawk was literally " flying in the face '' of
the theory
that only cars with huge engines could attain record breaking speeds ........
I don't know the horsepower difference between those David and Goliath
size powerplants ...... but it certainly must have been considerable !!!
I think both of those great drivers, as well as the designers and
builders of
their high speed chariots, would be amazed if they could only see the speeds
attained by the marvelous streamliners, as well as other LSR class racers,
of
recent years, with their comparatively diminutive engines...... the whole
evolution
is an ongoing study of how technical discovery, design, and development,
mixed
with good old hard work plus the excellent craftsmanship and past experience
of
the many and varied builders, has pushed the piston engined racing car
to an area where we can now wonder just how close they have come to the
maximum attainable speed in miles or kilometers per hour / powerplant unit
of
cubic dispacement ...... Very Interesting to See What's Over the Hill ......
BEFORE Piston Engines become legislated into museum pieces our great
grandchildren may look at with amusement .........
~ Nothing is Certain But CHANGE ~ Time Marches On ~
and, as always, as it said over the door to Banjo Matthew's Speed Shop:
SPEED COSTS MONEY ~ HOW FAST DO YOU WANT TO GO ???
End of this ramble ! Bruce
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