CHALLENGER 2.5
New old stock racer M
ost people would feel uncomfortable exceeding 150mph in a car more than four
and 60 per cent alcohol. ‘We will run the engines like
decades old, and to contemplate challenging the outright wheel driven land speed record, 470 mph in a car of that age, seems incomprehensible. But that is exactly what Danny Thompson, son of the late Mickey Thompson, intends to do with Challenger 2.5. ‘My father built this car
43 years ago. He ran it up to 400mph in testing at Bonneville and was all set to go for the record in 1968, but it was November and the weather was against us,’ explains Thompson. ‘They got everything down, dialled in and ready to go then went back to the hotel ready for the record runs in the morning. By the time they got back, the salt flats were flooded. The family Christmas card that year was a picture of my dad rowing a boat around the car, that’s how flooded it was.’ Shortly after, Ford, the
project’s main financial backer, pulled its support and the car
was put to one side and largely forgotten about. ‘It just sat there for years until, in 1987, [my dad] came to me and said “I want to run this car again. Do you want to drive it?” Of course I said yes, so I was tasked with car development and preparation, while he would run the team and handle the sponsorship. Shortly after that, my dad was murdered, and I just let the car sit there until now.’ But at the PRI show in
they do in drag racing without any coolant,’ explains Thompson. ‘Instead, the fuel acts as coolant, so we have to be careful that if I spin the wheels or something I do not back off too much to get traction back, as there will then be less fuel going into the engine and less coolant. So we have to be wide open the whole time.’ ‘In August, we are going to do some runs and make sure the car turns, that the engine
“My father built this car 43 years ago. He ran it up to 400mph”
December 2011, Thompson revealed he was going to get the old car running again and finish what his father had started all those years ago. The tubular steel chassis is fitted with a pair of 8.2-litre V8 engines, between which there is just enough room for Thompson jnr to recline. Both engines will be fuel injected, and will run on a mix of 40 per cent nitro methane
combination works and the ’chute works. In September, we will go for the record at a private event. You can’t do FIA record runs at the SCTI-BNI meeting as there are just too many cars to fit in a two-way run within the hour.’ There are a confusing number
of land speed records and classes, but Thompson is initially targeting the piston-engined, wheel-driven record, which
TECH SPEC
Measurements Length – 29ft 7in Height – 27in; 37 3/8in at canopy Width – 34 7/8in Weight – 5600lb
Tyres
The only thing that will come between the Bonneville salt and Challenger 2.5 will be custom- designed Mickey Thompson tyres with 1/32in rubber and four-ply sidewalls, tested to 590mph
Brakes Ventilated disc brakes on all four wheels
Extra braking systems 2ft plot parachute, 7ft high-speed ’chute and 16ft final brake ’chute
Chassis Spaceframe structure fabricated out of square and round 4130 chromoly tubular steel.
Body 42 aluminium alloy panels
Engines Two mid-mounted 500ci V8s; fuel injected, running on 40 per cent nitro methane and 60 pe cent alcohol. Power: approx 1500bhp each
Transmissions Twin B&J transmissions with hand- built, triple disc Brooks / ATF clutches
Communications / electronics On-board telemetry; data acquisition including wheel speed, engine functions, transmission temperatures and driver’s vital signs
With power from two nitro-fuelled, 500ci V8s making 1500bhp apiece, Challenger 2.5 has the potential to succeed May 2012 •
www.racecar-engineering.com 41
Following in his father’s footsteps, Danny Thompson has his heart set on 500mph BY SAM COLLINS
currently stands at 417mph. After that, he will be going for the outright wheel-driven record of 470mph, currently held by Don Vesco’s helicopter turbine- engined car. ‘I think to secure the record, we will have to go 450mph but, to be honest, I don’t care about what classes to go for, I just need to do 500mph. I want to be the world’s fastest wheel- driven car. I want to be that badass guy. My dad is watching, just from somewhere else, and I think it’s bitchin’!’
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