Back when Land Speed Racing was young, a group of hot rodders went racing on the dry lakes just 30 miles east of a growing high desert community known as the Antelope Valley. The names of the dry lakes in this territory–Rosamond, Harpers, El Mirage, and Muroc–are not just the locations of where these early hot rodders raced, they are the original spots from which hot rodding was born. Suffice it to say that if you have a hot rod in your garage, or ever dreamt of having one, it’s due to the efforts of the racers who organized speed trials and ran at the lakes more than eight decades ago. This year, the SCTA is celebrating its 62nd year of Land Speed Racing activities at the legendary El Mirage dry lake.
The El Mirage dry lake bed came into its own after the U.S. Government kicked the racers off the ultra-flat and popular Muroc dry lake (now Edwards Air Force Base). But since the early ’20s, various lakes in the area had been used for racing by the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), as a safe place to race their hopped up rods and jalopies. After the war ended in 1946 they picked El Mirage as their meeting place and have been holding several meets there ever since.
The dry lake today is, of course, much like it’s been for thousand of years. Although a fence installed around its perimeter a few years back keeps off-roaders from thrashing its surface and a paved asphalt road redirects dirt bike enthuisasts eastward onto a four-mile-long off-road facility while the SCTA holds court on the west end.
This Volkswagen Concept aims to challenge the existing A/BFL class record of 208MPH. Volkswagen Concept El Mirage runs in the Special Contruction Category, Lakester class - A/BFL. This is the ultimate category running at El Mirage as anything goes with regards to engine, fuel, induction and body style (Streamliners or open-wheeled Lakesters). Almost anything goes. In the Lakester class, these special cars are constructed in such a way that there is no streamlining, fairing or covering of the wheels and tires.
El Mirage starts off with an extendeded front end with an early Ford I-beam conversion kit from SoCal. Removing the fenders is easy enough; but the next step consists of making the vehicle look good. Extending the wheelbase by moving the front end a few inches makes the Bug look sleeker, less stubby, and, more importantly, stabilizes the volksrod when approaching terminal velocity.
A fenderless Beetle will also require new headlights. Dune Buggy-style shells may be used, but other alternatives like the seven-inch So-Cal Speed Shop buckets fill the bill quite nicely and pays homage to the great hot rods of yore. Then it is up to your local fab-shop to create a bracket to attach them to the body. Not wanting to use traditional VW taillights, we mounted a pair of traditional 1939 Ford-style teardrops from Mooneyes. Ultra Kewl!
Forgeting about modern Porsche 911-style fan shrouds, we stick instead to the tried and true! A simple 36-horse shroud and a pair of Weber 48IDAs would certainly feel right at home flanking it. Remember that some of the fiercest drag VWs in their heyday used them in the ’60s and 70s, Topped with a velocity stack as do those V8 Hot Rod guys, El Mirage’s 2275cc Type1 motor runs a darn noisy stinger exhaust system as well. Coolness!
Stock wide-five rims, widened in the back, painted a contrasting hot rod red color and dressed with chrome “smoothie” hubcaps are period perfect. Polished aluminum drums from a Porsche 356, with fins across the edge and Coker bias-ply tires at the front and wide cheater slicks from Mooneyes look killer on this hot VW.
