Factory test driver Andy Wallace piloted a slightly modified 1600hp Bugatti Chiron to an official 304.773 mph at the Ehra-Lessien test track in Germany.

After years of not publicizing their fastest hyped lawn mower, Honda finally got it on film being tested.

Last seen at Goodwood 2018 https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-honda-mean-mower-at-goodwood-shy.html

but it was created around 2013 with very little good publicity

Congrats to Denise! New World Land Speed Record at pedaling a bike to 184 mph!

Denise Korenek at Bonneville as she sets the new world record for fastest paced land-speed on a bicycle, topping out at 183.9MPH
Two years ago she set a record of 147 mph, http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/09/fellow-san-diegan-cyclist-denise.html and I even got a thank you email when she found out I posted about her! How cool is that!

https://geekologie.com/2018/09/1839mph-video-of-the-new-land-speed-reco.php
http://theprojectspeed.com/
https://www.instagram.com/firecycle/

can you name a rim manufacturer that has made a set of wheels/rims that went over 600 mph? Cragar can

In 1970, The Blue Flame became the world land speed record holder.

Gary Gabelich shocked the world by reaching speeds of 622.407 mph in his Blue Flame, rocket powered vehicle using custom high-speed aluminum wheels built by Cragar, on the salt at Bonneville

https://www.cragarwheel.com/news/speeding-to-victory

The Isle of Man TT has officially become the world's fastest road race following Peter Hickman's outright lap record of 135.452mph in the Senior TT.

The Smiths BMW rider attributed his record lap to "perfect" weather and track conditions across practice and race week, as well as a last-minute new tyre delivery from Dunlop for the Senior event.

"They pulled something out the bag, got the factory working overtime overnight, and managed to pull in a new tyre for this race here, and I think that's also what's made a little bit of a difference in the Senior [race]."

All of race week's solo lap records bar Harrison's SBK were set using Dunlop tyres, with Harrison running Metzeler rubber on his machinery. The Birchalls dominated the Sidecar class on Avon tyres.

https://www.motorsport.com/roadracing/news/isle-of-man-tt-becomes-fastest-road-race-1045304

around 293 mph on the Texas Mile, the 2006 Ford GT from M2K Motorsports

Back in 2011, the Twin Turbo/Supercharged 2006 GT ran in the mid 220’s

In March of 2012, the Texas Mile record was 255 mph, but the GT ran 257.7mph and took the Texas Mile Record.

In October 2012, it bettered the record and ran 263.3 mph.

In March of 2013, it went faster and hit 267.6mph, but came back in October of 2013 and ran what stood for a couple of years at the speed of 278.8mph.

At the higher speeds (260+), Patrick, the driver of the GT, commented that on the 4-5 shift the car would get a bit upset. This was due to the nose dropping and lifting again when he got back on the power. With the shock data from the Motec and the help of Scott Ahlman, they figured out that the suspension was bottomed out from the down force and that was causing the issue.

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/4181/PageID/10397/M2K-Motorsports-280-mph-Ford-GT.aspx
http://www.fordgtforum.com/2016/04/11/breaking-the-texas-mile-record-with-m2k-motorsports/
https://www.motor1.com/news/140532/ford-gt-standing-mile-record/

way back in 1902-03, racing was pretty dangerous and wacky... they didn't have a lot of power, or advancements, but they could drive through walls unscathed

Back in 1902-03, Walter C. Baker built three streamlined electric racing cars. Called “Torpedoes,” these all-but-forgotten electrics should be remembered for four good reasons: 
  1) They allowed Walter Baker to become the first man in history to break the 100-mph barrier in a motorcar; 
  2) the Torpedoes’ bodies were remarkably streamlined, decades ahead of anything similar;
  3) because Walter Baker regularly crashed his cars, none of his speed marks went into the record books. Even in his own day, he became known as “Bad Luck Baker;” and
  4) what probably saved his life in all those crashes were plain, simple shoulder harnesses, an idea again much too modern for the times.

 

Baker mounted 11 batteries plus a 14-horsepower electric motor behind the seats and ran double chains to the rear axle.

 On Memorial Day 1902, May 31, the Automobile Club of America held speed trials on the streets of Staten Island, N.Y. Baker intended the Torpedo to set records that would overwhelm the makers of steam- and piston-powered machines. Rumor had it that the Torpedo was good for 120 mph, which at that time was roughly double the World Land Speed Record.

Baker chose to drive the Torpedo himself. His passenger and brakeman was the company’s chief mechanic and electrician, E.E. Denzer. Baker and Denzer covered the flying kilometer in 16 seconds, running exactly 100 mph, and they were still accelerating when Baker lost control crossing a set of trolley tracks.

 His steering went limp and, as Denzer yanked the brake lever, the car left the road and smashed sideways into the crowd. Two spectators were knocked flat but not injured. A third died instantly. The Torpedo spun 180 degrees, then stopped.

Baker and Denzer stepped out unscathed and were immediately arrested for manslaughter. But the police released them just as quickly, because the crowd had crossed protective barricades. Despite the accident, Baker had set a new record for the flying kilometer, albeit unofficially.

Then, in Aug. 1903, Baker entered both Torpedo in a special event for electric cars near Cleveland. A man named Chisholm drove one, started on the pole and was doing fine, until he got sideswiped by a Waverly Electric. Chisholm crashed and knocked down four spectators. No one was badly hurt, but Walter Baker, who’d been driving the second Kid, decided to hang up his goggles and stop running into people.

http://www.torpedokid.com/?page_id=41
https://www.facebook.com/thetorpedokid
http://www.rokemneedlearts.com/carsindepth/wordpressblog/?p=1028

Looks like Tim has the makings of a book, as he's spent 7 years researching to compile 75 pages of information on the topic of the Baker Electric Torpedo.

He hasn't printed it yet, but you can read it on a Kindle. Yes, I've pointed out to him that people who like old cars like other old fashioned things like hardcopy books. I don't think he's going to actually have any of thousands of book makers actually print some copies of his material into a book though.

I would. Once you've done that, you've created a lasting monument to your efforts of research and will forever after be known as an author. 

The full gallery of article on Danny Thompson hitting the 400 mph record at Bonneville is now up on Hot Rod.com

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/danny-thompson-finishes/

who was Oscar Egg? The most winningest cyclist of his day

1890-1961

He captured the world hour record three times before the First World War. He also won major road races and stages of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.

Egg's 1914 mark of 44.247 km then stood until 1933, and only two other men have ever set the world hour record 3 times. None have done that more.

A common race was a 6 day race, and he won 8 of them in the 9 years between 1915 and 1924.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Egg
http://www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=572
http://www.lesrendezvousdelareine.com/2016/09/bien-plus-que-dans-certaines-soi-disant-bourse-d-echanges-il-existe-dans-certaines-brocantes-non-specialisees-bien-des-objets-inte.h

fellow San Diego cyclist Denise Mueller recently set a new woman's bicycle land speed record of 147 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

The pace car towed Mueller to about 90 mph, but the acceleration up to 147 mph was all from her legs. The bike's drive train uses two massive 60-tooth chainrings in a double-reduction configuration to provide a massive amount of torque, while keeping the chainrings far enough off the ground for clearance (something that would be difficult with one even larger chain ring).

Mueller rode a highly customized bike built by Chris Garcia of SD Wheel Works with technical support from Da Vinci Designs and KHS Bicycles. The team effort was named Hoehn Adventures Project Speed powered by Cyclance

 The bike includes a long list of technical innovations such as elongated frame, steering stabilizers, a BodyFloat isolation seatpost to dampen vibrations and harmonics, as well as custom-built 17-inch dragster wheels with shaved tires.

A very high gearing on a road bike will have about 125 gear inches. Mueller's custom bike has 488 gear inches

Mueller's coach is John Howard, a U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame and three-time Olympian, 20-time National Champion, and previous men’s bicycle land speed record holder. John set his record with the help of Don and Rick Vesco and the Vesco streamliner

Mueller is planning future attempts to break the current men's land speed record, which was set in 1995 by Fred Rompleberg of the Netherlands and stands at 167 mph. To get those extra 20 mph and become the faster person to ever ride a bicycle, Mueller's team Project Speed suspects they will need a six-mile track, two miles longer than the track they were working with at the salt flats.

Bonneville 2016 with Project Speed from Christopher Garcia on Vimeo.

Here's the cool part, play the next video for sound, and the one after that for video.. it's awesome!

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a30783/world-speed-record-riding-a-bicycle-147-mph/
http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/09/news/ca-woman-rides-her-bicycle-147-mph-a-new-world-record_420507
https://www.facebook.com/TeamFireCycle/
http://theprojectspeed.com/

Sidenote, I just spent an hour crafting this post, selecting the images, searching for links, getting the info in the right order... etc. Then I see that I've almost exactly duplicated what the Awesomer did on their post about Denise. Hmmm... I think I need to send them a job application (my post is better) 

Break The Record, a documentary covering the Blue Flame in 1970, the last time the outright land speed record would be set at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

http://silodrome.com/documentary-break-record/

Salute! 158mph in a '64 Mini.

The Nelson-based motorsport team running a 1964 Mini Cooper S at Bonneville Speed Week in Utah are celebrating success having claimed two world records.

The Project 64 team set the first record on tuning runs for the little Mini that has gained a great deal of attention at the iconic event. In the I/BGALT class they set a speed of 144.033mph (231.799kmh) on a 133.896mph (215.485kmh) record.

The team then switched classes to I/BFALT - a change from petrol to methanol - and on a tuning run for methanol broke the 140.458mph (226.045kmh) class record with a speed of 158.039mph (254.339kmh). They were unable to back this up due to a hose fault on their next run.

https://www.facebook.com/Project64Mini/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/83297626/Two-new-speed-records-secured-for-Project-64-Mini-at-Bonneville

Bendix Trophy Winner, 1963

https://www.flickr.com/photos/133697406@N05/28088142864/

Cool and unusual rare trophys are going to auction next week, Joan Cuneo's Glidden Tour perfect score, and 1/2 mile women's World Speed Record

https://new.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/91786_rare-sports-and-historical-memorabilia-#page=2

I posted about Joan this february http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-self-taught-racer-so-good-that.html

once famous racers of the measured mile

Found on https://www.facebook.com/rolande.anglade?fref=nf

The Central Japan Railway has broken their old record, at set the new speed rail record at 366mph

this record was set with no passengers, just engineering staff, and it might only last until the next set of speed tests. They won't operate with passengers at speeds over 313 mph, and that won't be until 2027.

Currently there is speculation and hopes that the USA will try and get a high speed rail system. Unfortunately for us who have hopes that we could jump on a train and get across country in a couple hours without the airlines... the federal transportation department is bankrupt and out of funding in a couple of weeks.

Denver to LA in 6 hours. San Diego to Seattle in 10. New York to LA in 20.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681342/a-beautiful-vision-of-an-american-high-speed-rail-map

The USA already has many bridges and rail lines in bad need of repairs, it would be more cost efficient to replace entire lines than to repair them, in the long term. Imagine if the USA replaced its transportation infrastructure instead of wasting hundreds of billions waging war in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, etc.

Chicago is crying out for federal funds, http://dailynorthwestern.com/2015/04/12/city/transit-representatives-state-politicians-request-federal-transportation-funding/  and is the 2nd largest metro rail operation, behind New York. Their current funding ends next month, and their highway trsut fund is empty.

the Regional Transportation Authority has a project from Chicago to Wisconsin, that is only 25% complete, but out of funds already. Its capital projects, which include rehabilitating stations and expanding transportation lines, replacing ailing bridges along the Union Pacific North Line needs more money to finish a railroad that runs from Chicago to Wisconsin.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/17/japanese-maglev-train-breaks-its-own-world-speed-record/

The federal government’s transportation funding measure is scheduled to expire on May 31. Lawmakers in both parties have been struggling to come up with a way to pay for an extension.

 The gas tax has been traditional source of transportation funding since its inception in the 1930s. The tax has not been increased since 1993, however, and its buying power has been sapped by improvements in car fuel efficiency in recent years.

Keep in mind, electric cars use the roads, but won't contribute to paying for road repairs becasue they pay no gas tax. Small problem? Maybe. 

 The federal government typically spends about $50 billion per year on transportation projects, but the gas tax only brings in $34 billion annually at its current rate.

http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/239095-bill-filed-to-index-gas-tax-to-inflation

7.49 sec at 189mph, Nissan GT-R (skip the first 40 seconds of nonsense)

Found on http://www.carthrottle.com/post/watch-how-violently-the-worlds-fastest-nissan-gtr-launches/

Bang Shift finds some cool stuff, here's a tow truck timed on Talladega Speedway

http://www.hovermotorco.com/2015/03/lets-hook-up-at-international-tow-and.html

Full story at http://bangshift.com/bangshiftxl/the-worlds-fastest-wrecker-heres-the-story-of-a-big-block-chevy-powered-holmes-440-equipped-rocket/

the Mallard broke the world speed record for steam locomotives by going at 125.88 mph in 1938

Found on https://www.facebook.com/DavidTurnerrailway

the Beast of Turin is alive and breathing again, 100 years later, and uber artist/photographer Stefan Marjoram was there to draw, paint, and photograph its engine kick off

see and hear the start-up of the Fiat yesterday in the trailer by Stefan Marjoram for The Beast of Turin, a film that is upcoming in February of 2015



images from https://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanmarjoram/sets/72157625974670240/

Video of the attempt at the world land speed record (skip the first 30 seconds, nothing happening there)