Because of the current worldwide health situation and the special conditions for events, some of them had to be postponed, others were canceled entirely, and a select few morphed into something... else. Case in point, the 25th annual Haltech World Cup Finals had to be moved to a slot next year, making way for the first-ever Hail Mary Derby. No disappointment letters were sent by the crowd after the Maryland International Raceway craze wrapped up, though.
That’s mostly thanks to some of the incredible builds that weren’t there necessarily to snatch the absolute fastest times (though they all strived for new benchmarks), but have some fun and impress the onlookers to the point of some customary jaw-dropping …
There’s virtually no other way to put that into perspective, considering that among the specialty rides present at the event (those that can reach the ¼ mile in 3:63s at over 205 mph / 330 kph, see it in the video below from the 8:40 mark) we also witnessed a modified Huracan that was doing AWD wheelies!
Another special car, one that we could even consider to be even more unique, was this bright red 1965 Mini Cooper. If anyone saw it from the front alone, then perhaps might have discarded it as a regular, vintage, British city dweller.
But the perspective would change in a second along with the point of view – as the side is proudly showcasing a set of super-fat rear tires (well, at least in Mini terms), while the rear is as open as possible to make room for the Honda K20 engine, Precision turbo... and the needed gear to go drag racing as safe as possible.
We’re saying as safe as possible because everyone needs to remember the driver sits in the right-hand position just inches from the tarmac and from everything else – including an intercooler that’s mounted inside, near the roof... and some of the owner’s first words (around the 5:45 mark) describe a recent side-roll that triggered a complete repaint of the car!
According to his description, the K-swapped Mini Cooper is as bonkers as it gets, developing around 880 horsepower according to the owner – and aiming for a very respectable result in the eight fifties, which wasn’t far from what they actually managed, as the video (embedded below) also includes a neat 8:67 run, among lots of tires smoke that sometimes engulfs the little red monster completely...
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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