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Old 09-25-2012, 08:15 PM   #13 (permalink)
metromizer
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Join Date: Jun 2008
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Some pictures of my friend Dick Beith's VW Bonneville racer. I have some picture of the construction phase as well, if you are interested (but I took them with my cell phone, not very good quality)

Mostly retired, Dick is a bit of a celebrity as he set the very first SCTA land speed record using a VW, back in the early 1960's. More or less retired now, he started this project to go race at Bonneville again. He narrowed the front beam about 10" total, removing the bulbous front fenders entirely. He stretched the nose and hood about 24". The filler panels and new nose were made by hand. The hood was fabricated from 2 beetle hoods, opens and closes like the original.

He chopped the top and shaved the drip rails and laid the windshield back to 25 degrees. He also shaved the door handles. They open by using your index finder to push in a small oval button, that is flush with the bodywork. All the rest of the door latches are factory, which is pretty cleaver. He used lexan in place of glass, flush mounting them smooth with the body.

The shot from the rear shows the rear track was also narrowed, removing the fenders and hand fabricating filler panels, just like the front. The rear view shows these interesting vertical rectangular openings, between the rear apron and what were rear fenders. It was an attempt to channel air from the rear wheel openings, and fill the area behind the decklid with higher pressure air, to reduce drag.
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