January 2024 Hot Rod of the Month

Additional Details

Built in 2008, the Fast Four Special is the first non-Ford to ever set a record in the vintage flathead four-cylinder class at Bonneville. Between 2008 and 2017, it set fourteen land speed records at Bonneville and El Mirage. It currently still holds nine records in nine different classes, has put five different drivers in the record book, and is the fastest fl at head banger roadster on the planet, with a record of 150.141 set at Bonneville Speedweek in 2017.

The five-main bearing 1928 Dodge “Fast Four” block is a rarity as it was only used from August 1927 until April 1928, and the team scours Craigslist regularly looking for spares. The block is the only remaining part of the engine, and since there is no aftermarket support, the team has homemade every piece of the drivetrain, from casting the cylinder heads to grinding the cams. The records have been set in various classes ranging from normally aspirated on gasoline to supercharged on 10% nitro.
As per the rules, the body is a bone-stock 1928 Dodge Brothers Victory Six Roadster and is technically still street-legal when run in the Street Roadster class, although in the Modified Roadster class, the headlights are removed, and a home-built nose, roll cage fairing, and belly pan are added.
The car was parked in 2018 after losing an engine, and the team has been campaigning their blown ArdunLakester since (five more records), but the Fast Four Special is returning to the dry lakes in the summer of 2024with a homemade overhead valve head, which will bump it into the specialty-head banger (V4) classes.

All of this is made possible by generous sponsorship from fellow AHRF member Ron Cooper, ARP, Vortech Superchargers, CP/Carrillo, and Mopar Vintage Speed.