On Monday, Mr411Fan commented on the horsepower of the
Goldenrod and I thought I'd add a bit of trivia:
I'm no engineer, but, being around streamliners and engineers awhile, I would say that you would need around 2500-3000hp (reliable hp) to achieve these speeds in the 400-450 range. Summers Bros. was around 2400hp.
Originally, the four Chryslers in the
Goldenrod were built to run on gas and were expected to make 600 hp each. However, when the Summers boys missed their construction target weight of 6000 pounds by more than 2500 (!), they switched the Hemis to alcohol to compensate for the new 8650 running weight. At the time of the '65 record, each engine was actually making just under 800 hp.
Thanks to Slim, Nancy, Ray and everybody else for keeping us updated!
