2015 Finished..........a few months ago.
Here is the most recent update from Marlo Treit.
After the 2014 damage to the Target 550 car during testing it went back to
Jim Hume's for some panel work.The body was then stripped of what was
left of the finish and a fresh wrap was applied by Canby Graphics.
The supercharger problems that we encountered in July 2014 were resolved
by Les Davenport. He made the needed modifications. We assembled a new
engine and installed it in our "mule" stand and in June took it up to Winton Alberta,
and ran it on Les' dyno with both of the modified Whipples to determine if they
were really fixed. They are fine. The data was almost exactly the same as previous
tests since all of the engines use the same parts.
We were invited to be in the Grand Opening of the World of Speed Museum in
Wilsonville, OR. We left the car there for several weeks following the opening.
Our display included the Tribute double engine Triumph motorcycle built for
Triumph of America, Rufus, the model A pickup and the Bonneville/Dry Lakes
roadster #471 that we restored for Gil Ruiz. We enjoyed the experience and
certainly recommend attending this marvelous new museum.
USFRA scheduled
a Test and Tune in July. We made all the necessary arrangements to be there.
Trucks, trailers and people all rolled out for the event. An hour and a half after
we left the call came that told us that a rainstorm flooded the salt flats. There
were still other meets scheduled that would allow us to do our testing. We were
ready all summer but the salt gods said, 'no way,"
in 2015.
The #471 roadster
was taken out of the museum and dyno tested to run at El Mirage in the October meet.
Dick Milne was to drive it. When we were less than 100 miles from El Mirage a
freak storm washed out highway 58 South of Bakersfield and flooded El Mirage.
We returned home and made plans to run the November meet at El Mirage. We
teched for that meet and Dick was in line to make his rookie runs. This turned
out to be the largest meet ever at El mirage: close to 200 entries. Dick made
his first pass and we waited in line for his second run. It was cold and windy
but he started his second run, 150-175 MPH window, when the storm hit. He
shut off early and the dust storm closed the meet. The word was to vacate the
site because of the danger of a flash flood. What's happening? This is a dry lake bed.......
Visibility was sometimes less than 10 feet. The distance to the paved road is 4
miles and it took 90 minutes to get there.
Our trip home was uneventful but long.
We stopped at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California and at Don Nuss'
shop in Crescent City. We enjoyed both stops.
We were all dressed up and ready
to dance when the music stopped.
No one can predict the next adventure in "Salt Flats Racing."
All of the scheduled meets for 2016 are marked on the calendar,
If they happen we will see You there.
FREUD