If you like stories about the characters of speed, this has to be one of the most-engaging of the seekers of speed records. "World's Fastest Indian," the story of Burt Munro, a New Zealand self-taught mechanic/machinist, and his bought-new 1920 Indian Scout V-twin, which he turned into a land speed record-holder. How old is that? Well, instead of electric lighting from a magneto, Burt's Indian Scout burned acetylene in its headlamp to light the way! You could buy your 1920 Indian Scout either way, the acetylene model was cheaper, and that was good-enough reason to save a tenner, for Burt!
And here's another, much-earlier story about Burt, from 1971. It's chock-full of great stories about him, many of them told by the man himself. It's called, Offerings to the Gods of Speed. See the video in the article.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enth...-set-49-years-ago-today/ar-BBw66Bw?ocid=ientp
I think my favorite story about Burt was his trip to Edwards Air Force Base in his Pontiac straight-eight vehicle, he wanted to see the North American Rockwell X-15, so he drove to the base, and was roaming the area trying to find one or more of them. Base security corralled him, and took him to a high-ranking officer's office, who asked him what was he trying to do, coming-onto the base?
Burt replied that ever since he was a 3 year-old child, he had been fascinated by speed, and his memory of watching the New Zealand trains was an early memory that shaped his love of all things speedy. He said, "since the X-15 has flown over 4,000 MPH, I wanted to see the fastest piloted plane in the world."
The officer, said, "you're Burt Munro, I read about you in "Popular Mechanics" magazine, two years ago, and your running at the Bonneville Salt Flats, let's go see some of the planes here!" And with that, Burt and the personnel at Edwards AFB got a tour of the facility, to view the flying inventory.
If you liked "World's Fastest Indian," you should also appreciate "Offerings to the Gods of Speed." It has great shots of Bonneville Speed Week, probably shot circa 1970, as the documentary was made in 1971.
https://youtu.be/reUCKET3mbc
And here's another, much-earlier story about Burt, from 1971. It's chock-full of great stories about him, many of them told by the man himself. It's called, Offerings to the Gods of Speed. See the video in the article.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enth...-set-49-years-ago-today/ar-BBw66Bw?ocid=ientp
I think my favorite story about Burt was his trip to Edwards Air Force Base in his Pontiac straight-eight vehicle, he wanted to see the North American Rockwell X-15, so he drove to the base, and was roaming the area trying to find one or more of them. Base security corralled him, and took him to a high-ranking officer's office, who asked him what was he trying to do, coming-onto the base?
Burt replied that ever since he was a 3 year-old child, he had been fascinated by speed, and his memory of watching the New Zealand trains was an early memory that shaped his love of all things speedy. He said, "since the X-15 has flown over 4,000 MPH, I wanted to see the fastest piloted plane in the world."
The officer, said, "you're Burt Munro, I read about you in "Popular Mechanics" magazine, two years ago, and your running at the Bonneville Salt Flats, let's go see some of the planes here!" And with that, Burt and the personnel at Edwards AFB got a tour of the facility, to view the flying inventory.
If you liked "World's Fastest Indian," you should also appreciate "Offerings to the Gods of Speed." It has great shots of Bonneville Speed Week, probably shot circa 1970, as the documentary was made in 1971.
https://youtu.be/reUCKET3mbc
