Bonneville… On the Bucket List?

Have you even driven an old car to Bonneville? If you haven’t, I would add this to your “Hot Rod Bucket List” ( you know, motoring-related things to do before you kick the bucket). With the SCTA’s 61st Annual Speed Week less than a week away, I figured this would be a good time to encourage you to go. The road trip alone is worth it, let alone the excitement of driving around on the same blessed salt as 300 mph legends. The first time driving, I followed a pack of  Tardel & Co. hot rods to Bonneville in my modern truck. Sure, I had A/C and cruise control, but in the back of my head I just kept saying, “Next time, I’m driving WITH them, not behind them!” Finally, the stars aligned last year, and my ratty ‘29 Roadster got to make the trip to Mecca, with good pal Mike riding shotgun.

The roadster is garage-built with some sad amateur welds (by yours truly) and a tired old ‘55 Cadillac drivetrain. My biggest fear was that she would break down in the middle of Nowhere, Nevada, also know as Highway 50, also know as the “Loneliest Road in America”. I even posted the question “Will she make it?” on the HAMB. However, besides blowing tons of smoke from an over-filled tranny (yes, I’m a knucklehead at times) and a bit of lifter noise from running a bit low on motor oil, the ol’ girl did just fine! Once we arrived, another benefit of having an old car at Bonneville was tooling around the pits, and lending an occasional hand to Team Tardel, Team Canarozzi, and Team Hop Up… Just running parts or checking in with teams was a blast!

It gets a little shaky and wind-blown, but this clip Mike shot from the roadster gives you a taste of what its like to drive an open car out there: Check it out.

In closing, here’s a few pics from the trip last Summer. Hopefully these pictures will inspire you to add ‘The Salt’ to your list…

Editor’s Note: Fellas… Welcome Mr. Jay Ward to the mix. You might notice him spreading the word on The Jalopy Journal a couple of times a week from now on. He’s a good pal, a super creative thinker, and we are incredibly proud to have him aboard. You’re gonna like this… Promise.

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