Topic: Solved: RtR#007 Keith Copeland's 380 mph Triumph GT-6

[RayTheRat]

A speedy puzzle.  One point for the make of the original car (that's the easy part), what's under that extended front clip, owner/driver and why it's extraordinary.

[Otto Puzzell]

Wicked!

[RayTheRat]

Experts?

[richard cuyler]

Team McCleish Spitfire LSR at 2012 Bonneville Speed Week?

[RayTheRat]

Team McCleish Spitfire LSR at 2012 Bonneville Speed Week?

That's a good start.

[sixtee5cuda]

The Spitfire LSR powered by a Suzuki GXSR 1000 engine ran over 165mph on its first run down the salt at Bonneville in 2012.

I guess I'm reading the wrong web sites, but there is not a lot of information out there about this car.  It is run by the McLeish brothers racing team.  Brothers are named Derek, Doug, and Robert.

Records set by the Spitfire LSR show Derek McLeish as the driver.

The car has been referred to as a Triumph Spitfire, and as a Triumph GT6+.

1971 Triumph GT6+ is the base car.

Driver is Keith Copeland.

The car was built by Mark Hanson of StrangeFab Metalcrafts.

Engine is a 360 cubic inch V8, with Twin Turbos.

The front of the car is unusual, because it features Front Wheel Drive.

Set an official land speed record in October, with a two-way average of 364mph!

[RayTheRat]

I forgot that there were 2 GT-6s at World Finals.  The Mcleish Brothers ran one in I/BFMS, and the Copeland car ran in C/BFMS.  So your second answer is correct.  Yes, it's a twin-turbo, 360 CID Chevy motor and it drives the front wheels.  

The 364 record is impressive in itself...but for a couple of reasons.  The first reason was that the qualifying run had an exit speed of 380.006 mph!  With a C-Class motor in a door-slammer!  That betters the speed that the Speed Demon C/Blown Fuel Streamliner ran to qualify for that record.  They (Poteet & Main Speed Demon team) didn't get the record cuz they broke the motor on the return run.  The photo of it is from the "Top Speed Shootout" that was held in September. (Btw, there's a joke going around about the Poteet and Main team...it goes "Did you hear that George Poteet had a street named for him in his home town of Memphis?  It's called 'One Way.'"

The second reason is that on the return run (the one shown in the photo) the car wouldn't take off until AFTER he'd gone past the One Mile mark....and he still bumped the record by 18 mph!  The speed for the return run isn't on the SCTA site, but it was sufficient to do the job.

Good job of chasing the answer down.  Another point for you...almost halfway to Pro status...and about to overtake me.   

[richard cuyler]

Pretty impressive speed, but tell me you don't also think about that old saying about blokes with cars with long bonnets (hoods) when you see this car?  However, what is not in dispute is that there are definitely a pair a massive cohones involved with this kind of motoring and I have great admiration for people who risk so much in terms of time, money, damn hard work and dedication to see a hard goal through to the end.....

I would absolutely love to one day attend Speed Week, but the chances are as great as me winning the National Lottery here in the UK, ie, something like 14million to one.

[RayTheRat]

Pretty impressive speed, but tell me you don't also think about that old saying about blokes with cars with long bonnets (hoods) when you see this car?  However, what is not in dispute is that there are definitely a pair a massive cohones involved with this kind of motoring and I have great admiration for people who risk so much in terms of time, money, damn hard work and dedication to see a hard goal through to the end.....

I would absolutely love to one day attend Speed Week, but the chances are as great as me winning the National Lottery here in the UK, ie, something like 14million to one.

Yeah, I know the joke...but in this case, it's "form follows function."  A long wheelbase is one way of increasing a car's stability at high speed.  Conversely, it kinda explains why Roadsters (as a class) are so skittish.  They're limited to the stock wheelbase of a 28-34 Ford.  And they tend to swap ends with frequency.

Re: Cojones.  I think Cathy Butler would disagree with you.  Matter of fact, she already did.   

[sixtee5cuda]

An image of the Triumph without the front sheetmetal