Sports Craft Cars
Precision Miniatures 1/18 1952 “So-Cal” Belly Tank Lakester
1952 “So-Cal” Belly Tank Lakester
One of the more extraordinary cars to run the lakes was the wing tank, belly tank or drop tank cars. Unlike amateur hot rodders, airmen from the USAF understood the importance of aerodynamics, and so an inspired group built salt flat racers built from 315 gallon auxiliary fuel tanks which were originally fitted to the bottom of P-38 Lightning aircraft. After the 2nd World war, discarded drop tanks could be bought as scrap for $5 each.
Alex Xydias’s So-Cal Speed Shop was one of the leading garages producing exceptional salt flat cars and the So-Cal tank ran three different flat-head Ford engines in 1952 in three different classes. It broke two records in 1952 at 198.34 mph and would probably have broken a third had the first Chrysler Hemi powered tanks not arrived. At the Bonneville Speed Week in 1952 it won 6 awards and was declared “The Most Honored Car In The History Of Bonneville.”
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| PRM03 |  1952 “So-Cal” Belly Tank Lakester |
$129.95 |