Hello Rich, Phil and group,
The twin tank, or " twin - boom " design was built,and run, successfully,
in Europe,
and I believe it was in the postwar years, probably from 1946 --- to 1955.
I saw this on tv, at least twice, and was amazed at the resemblance to the
Howard Johanson
twin belly tanker --- it looked like both cars came from the same shop --- or
designer's mind. I don't think the European car - either German - or French
- utilized actual surplus aircraft bellytanks. As I recall, each of the twin
tanks looked more cylindrical, with rounded ends, than the teardrop shape of
the fuel tanks.
I believe the racer set a speed record during it's runs and possibly
this could be confirmed in old F.I.A. records. I also cannot recall if the
runs were made on the
German Autobahn, or elsewhere. The Autobahn was a great place to try out a
car or bike, and I CAN recall several top end runs I had there, near
Stuttgart, back in 1959, when I was stationed there. The car was a Porsche
--- great little car. I also got a lengthy tour of the Porsche works ---
very clean and well organized, in contrast
with the Chrysler assembly plant I worked in, in East Los Angeles, in '56 &
'57.
The second time I saw that twinracer, I got it on tape, but it would
take awhile
to find the right tape, and get more details. The fact is that a car very
similar to
Howard's did run, and run well. I wish my memory was in a better state of
tune.
During that same era, on or two gas turbine cars were also tried out "
over there "
and attained very high speeds --- but again, I don't know if they set any
records.
Bruce Ferguson
Black Radon Engineering Racing Team
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