Photo: Mecum
A lot of big names came together decades ago to create the 1968 Challenger 2 Streamliner speed machine, and it is now for sale.
Hall-of-Fame driver Mickey Thompson designed it, Indy Car constructor Quin Epperly built the chassis, an engineering team from MIT pitched in their ideas, and drag racer Pat Foster had a major say in how it was assembled. All of their work combined to create the 1968 Challenger 2 Streamliner, the titleholder for the fastest ever naturally aspirated, piston-driven vehicle.
Driven to the record speed of 448.757 mph in 2018 by Danny Thompson, the Challenger just popped up on the list of vehicles that are going under the hammer starting this week during Mecum’s Kissimmee sale.
The machine, which of course is forbidden from ever setting wheels on a public road, is now powered by twin Hemi V8 engines - one for each set of wheels - that run on a mixture of nitromethane and methanol – there used to be two Ford 427 SOHC engines in there when the car was first assembled.
Controlled by means of twin 3-speed transmissions, the vehicle develops a blistering 5,000 hp of power now, way up from the original 1,800 hp.
Keeping the build on the surface of the Bonneville Salt Flats is a suspension kit developed by Kar Kraft, ultra-high-speed shock absorbers from King, and Mickey Thompson Bonneville LSR tires with 1/32-inch rubber/prototype nylon weave/banded steel reinforcements.
The Challenger would be quite a challenge to store for any buyer. It measures 32 feet in length, but it makes that up by only occupying 36 inches of space in width and 37 inches in height at the canopy.
As said, the 1968 Challenger 2 Streamliner is now for sale. The auction house lists this piece of record-breaking history at $900,000, but hopes are it could fetch as much as $1.5 million.
Full details on what the vehicle is all about can be found at this link.
Driven to the record speed of 448.757 mph in 2018 by Danny Thompson, the Challenger just popped up on the list of vehicles that are going under the hammer starting this week during Mecum’s Kissimmee sale.
The machine, which of course is forbidden from ever setting wheels on a public road, is now powered by twin Hemi V8 engines - one for each set of wheels - that run on a mixture of nitromethane and methanol – there used to be two Ford 427 SOHC engines in there when the car was first assembled.
Controlled by means of twin 3-speed transmissions, the vehicle develops a blistering 5,000 hp of power now, way up from the original 1,800 hp.
Keeping the build on the surface of the Bonneville Salt Flats is a suspension kit developed by Kar Kraft, ultra-high-speed shock absorbers from King, and Mickey Thompson Bonneville LSR tires with 1/32-inch rubber/prototype nylon weave/banded steel reinforcements.
The Challenger would be quite a challenge to store for any buyer. It measures 32 feet in length, but it makes that up by only occupying 36 inches of space in width and 37 inches in height at the canopy.
As said, the 1968 Challenger 2 Streamliner is now for sale. The auction house lists this piece of record-breaking history at $900,000, but hopes are it could fetch as much as $1.5 million.
Full details on what the vehicle is all about can be found at this link.
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