California Speed Freaks Set New Class-5 Land-Speed Record at Bonneville
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Jim and Nancy True
Jim True, a retired firefighter from San Jose, Calif., has been building hot rods since the 1960s. “Motor stuff is my life,” says True. “I’ve been wrenching, racing, and designing go-fast parts for as long as I can remember.”
But True revved up his high-speed endeavors to an entirely new level when he and his team of volunteer gearheads set a new FIA Group II, Class 5 World Land Speed Record last September at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The land-speed vehicle hit a mind-boggling 263.04 miles per hour.
True and his wife Mary are life members of the Bonneville 200 mph drivers club - opens in new window or tab.. The quest for the land-speed record kicked into high gear when he found a streamliner car in North Carolina. Over a period of about five years, True and his team refined the vehicle—dubbed the “Truz Missile”—into a 1,200-pound streamliner. Its paper-thin fiberglass body was wrapped around a 4130-chromoly tubular chassis. The vehicle is 22 feet long, but only 30 inches wide at the cockpit and 3.5 feet tall at the tail.
The land-rocket is powered by a 61 cubic inch fuel-injected Kawasaki ZX10R engine modified to produce 191 horsepower at 13,000 rpm. That power is delivered through a six-speed transmission and chain drive to a pair of 15-inch Goodyear dragster tires in the rear. The front wheels of the Truz Missile are 12-inch machined steel wheels that run directly on the salt.
Stopping duties for the Truz Missile are performed by a single disc brake on the rear wheels—and a dragster parachute.
“Competing for the land speed record was like a well-choreographed ballet,” said True. “Preparing for an FIA (Federation Internationale de L’Automobile) record event takes months of preparation from making sure you have every tool and spare part you need to having all of the crew members know their responsibilities.”
The record attempt required two runs—with a one-hour turnaround time to tweak the vehicle in between the first and second attempts.
True, working in his backyard workshop, evaluates the fit of the Truz Missile's tires.
The average of the two runs sets the official speed. On September 15, 2016, the Truz Missile claimed the Group II, Class 5 record with a 262.97-mph sprint for the flying mile and a top speed of 263.045 mph for the flying kilometer.
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