HHR's 356 Bonneville Build

Goal: To set a land speed record for the fastest 356, then be able to return the car to street use.

That's just what Graham Henderson is setting out to accomplish, his dream car. No small undertaking, it now stands at something like 150 mph and that's in a body design that's about 60+ years old. To do this he has enlisted the help of Kent Porter of Precision Chassis Works in Arizona who understands the task well. Part of the plan is to build a tube frame below the body, install a 911 engine, not hanging out over the back, but in a mid-engined configuration, do all the safety mods that are required, like a full roll cage and fire system along with all the small tuning to make the car run like a tiger out of the Malaysian Jungle.

Graham owns a few classic air-cooled Porsches from a 993 down, however he fell in love with Porsche 356A coupes when he was a very young architect working in London, and spotted a little silver torpedo sitting on a local street. He was smitten and decided that one day he was going to own one. Subsequently he found and bought a right hand drive, type A coupe in Malaysia. The car has been in storage for the past 13 years in Kuala Lumpur and just in the last week it arrived at the Port of Los Angeles where it will be trucked to Gilbert, Arizona for the beginning of the project.

The "Along For The Ride" blog will follow this adventure with Team HHR to record the story and show photo updates as the car is rebuilt to make a run at record speeds. A separate page (that can be found along the top header) will provide updates to follow all the way to "The Salt". Be sure to check it out and send your comments and questions here.

The 356 A coupe minus widows and trim as rescued from Malaysia. Image © HHR

'SENNA' The Movie

A trip to the Sonoma Historic Races a few weeks ago lead to some cool side adventures. One was viewing the pre-release showing of the film, "SENNA" at the historic Sebastiani Theatre that was originally built in 1933 in the quiet town of Sonoma.

The long-awaited documentary about triple F-1 World Champion Ayrton Senna is about to hit the movie screens this summer. However, the movie is more than a documentary on the Brazilian driver, it starts with his young training, racing go-karts and progresses through his 11 seasons in F-1 along with voiceover interviews with family members and track rivals giving a clear insight into his mindset as a driver. Even with spectacular in-car footage this film also focuses on his personal feelings about the politics of F-1 with a 105-minute feature compiled from thousands of hours of period archive footage. Senna makes an important point about what he really enjoys about driving early on in the film and comes back to it several times throughout. I'm not going to give that point away, just take my word for it. The movie is a must see for anyone who enjoys F-1 or sports car driving. I'll give it my best Siskel and Ebert impression of two thumbs up!

After the movie, Monique and I walked across the town square to the Swiss Hotel bar. The bench racing was at full tilt in this cool little place. Next time you're in Sonoma, stop in and have a shot or two of whiskey, and if you're looking for a blue jeans kinda' place to have a great dinner next time you're at Infineon Raceway (I still call it Sears Point), try the Schellville Grill heading into Sonoma, the best BBQ ribs outside the South.

Sun Worshipper / Bonneville

With summer edging its way around the corner, thought I would run a photo of taking in some rays the way it should be done.

Yeah, the Bonneville Salt Flats may not be the white sandy beaches of the Pacific or Atlantic, but that didn’t seem to prevent this sun worshipper from soaking up the sun. While one of the guys worked on setting a speed record in his rear engined streamliner, their young lady friend worked on getting a record-breaking tan. Seems the other guy was too distracted to be of much help. Can’t identify the racers or the woman in the bikini, but this exposure was made during the ’67 Speed Trials. Eric Rickman shooting for Hot Rod magazine probably captured the image.

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Viva Las Vegas / Rockabilly Weekend

Not far away headlights taillights run like a river down the neon strip. I aimlessly wandered among the chirping spinning rows of slot machines at the Vegas Orleans Hotel, taking in the cool dudes and their gals. Somehow it said, this weekend was gonna’...“Rock.”

Just imagine... take that said Hotel and fill it full of throw-back 50’s garb, hair cuts and dews, burlesque shows and bathing suit contests, pool parties, fashion shows, round the clock rock & roll bands, vendor areas,  add plenty to drink, and supply it with over 700 badass rods... you have a weekend that’s certainly worth a clean shirt. As I think about it, it was as if everyone said, “Screw the world today, we’re opting out and heading back to a simpler day.”  That’s what they did, with appetite.

It started on a Thursday with non-stop action in the hotel, and building to the rod show on Saturday with the crush of people gathered around the main stage outside. The Dynotones set the pace for Jerry Lee Lewis to later take the stage and pound the keyboards the only way he can. It was wonderful.  As the music played I made a final purchase at the outside vendor area, only to realized the cars calling me back to meet up with more old friends of flat paint, chrome, pinstripes, flames and “Mag“ wheels.

So in a time of hopped up electronics, iPads, iPhones, iClouds and more, with most youth other than these having no idea why or how to do a build, this event gave me, as an older rodder, a little glimmer of hope that all the goodness of the 40's/50’s decades will not disappear. There will be a increasing  number left to enjoy a time of mechanical innocence, imagination and the creativity to build a wicked ride and enjoy it with friends.

I recall, this gathering popped into my consciousness a few years ago, and now it's happened to me leaving nothing but a smile. Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend has been permanently etched into my inner cranial cells with only good thoughts. On Sunday morning setting off for home, I thought back to the drive heading to the event, and having never been before, it was a blank page in my mind,…now I’m glad it's full!

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend. Image © John Straub

Hand Built / Gene Winfield

If you were hanging around in Gene's shop back in the early seventies, this is just one of the hand built parts that you would see fabricated.
 
Here's a look back at rod and custom builder Gene Winfield (left) and Jim “Jake” Jacobs (right) helping hold,  in the process of punching 114 3x3/4-inch louvers into a rear decklid. The legendary Gene was and still is one of the custom kings still building badass rides today out of his Mojave desert shop.

Image courtesy, The Rod & Custom Archives

Even to this day Gene races a re-creation of one of his flathead powered El Mirage cars, and what could be more fitting for someone that was at the ground level during the juvenile years at El Mirage.


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U.S. Grand Prix 1960 Riverside / Start-Finish

Thinking back to the two previous posts on the U.S. Grand Prix at Riverside held in 1960, got me to thinkin' about the start/finish line at the time. Take a look at this image, it shows the "Hot Pits" on the outside of the track with tents lined up for the paddock. This pit lane was to be moved shortly after to the inside of the track and the area where the tents are was going to be for grandstands and a timing tower. I especially like the public standing track-side with no wall or barricade.

U. S. Grand Prix held at Riverside International Raceway in 1960. Image Copyright, Eric Rickman, Courtesy Hot Rod Deluxe

Related post: United States Grand Prix Riverside 1960

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Man Cave / It Takes a Village

Settling down at the keyboard to work on a new blog post and the computer bongs that a new email just flew in. Sequim, Washington calling, fellow blog follower Bob Lampert sent this video. No it's not vintage, but still very cool. Check it out, don't let the first or last minute or two of the talking heads keep you from drooling. What do you dudes think...want one? After you watch the video, to comment, click here.

Here is the link to the video.
http://www.kare11.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=958137284001