Goldenrod: The Resurrection of America's Speed King - Hardcover

John Baechtel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1732176108 ISBN 13: 9781732176102

Publisher: Landspeed Media Group, 2018

Synopsis

For the First Time... The History of America's Speed Kings and an American Racing Icon is Chronicled In Phenomenal Detail...

Veteran Author and 200 MPH Club Member John Baechtel has written a full color, photo-rich book on the restoration and detailed history of the Summers Brother Goldenrod.

Record breaking secrets are revealed which include full color coverage of the restoration effort, rare family photos, unseen original plans and blueprints, Walter Korff's complete aerodynamic development report, a special section on the modified Chrysler Race Hemi engines, the air scoop controversy, plus a detailed timeline of the record attempt and Official FIA Record Documentation.

No effort has been spared to produce this hardbound collector's quality account of the Goldenrod and the Summers Brothers' stunning land speed record achievement.

About this title

From the Author:

The Goldenrod book and numbered collector's grade art prints are flying off the shelves. Thank you all for supporting this project so strongly. This was a labor of love celebrating two old friends, the Goldenrod and their incredible record achievement.

We have received a deluge of mail and comments regarding not just the content, but the quality and high production values. That was the intent and my daughter Tamara conceived a brilliant book design. This was meant for gearheads, but designed to match the quality of high-end coffee table books that you will want to display.

It was a true honor restoring the Goldenrod to its former glory and recording its history for the enjoyment of hot rodders to come.

From the Back Cover:

When Bob Summers streaked across the gleaming white expanse of theBonneville Salt Flats to establish a new World Land Speed Record of409.277 mph it represented an unprecedented racing achievement; thefirst wheel-driven record ever set at Bonneville and a glorious triumphfor a determined young bunch of American hot rodders. With big dreamsand limited resources, the Summers Brothers along with numerousvolunteers, contributors, and a few critical sponsors constructed thefuturistic, awe-inspiring Goldenrod and set the longest- standing speedrecord in land speed racing history.

The Summers Brothers and Bob Summers' best friend and crew chief Jim Crosby designed and assembled a technologically sophisticated earthbound bullet like nothing anyone had previously seen -- a sleek, golden projectile with four fire-breathing American Hemi V8s. The project took little more than a year to exceed the speed of Donald Campbell's multi-million-dollar turbine-powered Bluebird, restoring a strong measure of racing prestige to the United States at the hands of inspired hot rodders.

Nearly forty years and countless car shows and exhibits later the car had fallen into such disrepair it seemed almost unsavable. This is the story of its amazing resurrection and subsequent final journey to a fitting place of honor as the centerpiece of the motorsports display at The Henry Ford Museum inDearborn, Michigan. Rescued in its final hours by museum curator Bob Casey, author John Baechtel, prominent land speed racer Mike Cook, dozens of volunteers and an historic Save America's Treasures government grant, the Goldenrod has now been preserved as a shining testament to the ingenuity, craftsmanship and unique ability of American hot rodders to compete with and beat any and all challengers in the land speed racing arena.

About this edition

• Publisher: Landspeed Media Group
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1732176108
• ISBN 13: 9781732176102
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304
• Illustrator: Scott Lozano