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400mph club: Danny Thompson breaks father’s speed record

1 September, 2016

We’re all familiar with the name Mickey Thompson, but we’re not so familiar with his son Danny. Ever since Mickey was murdered in 1988, Danny has endeavoured to follow in his father’s footsteps. Until just recently, Danny has been chasing his father’s 400mph-plus record in a vehicle designed by Mickey. Mickey’s ’60s-designed streamliner, named Challenger 2, is an aerodynamics masterpiece, designed in a time when CAD didn’t exist and engine technology was nowhere near as close to what it is now. During the August 13–19 Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Danny broke his father’s record by a tenth of a second with a 656.23kph (407.767mph) run. 

If only it was as easy as running that speed once, then calling it a record. Unfortunately it’s much tougher than that as drivers have to prove over two runs that their vehicle can pull that speed. The times are then averaged out and used officially. 

If you thought the engines that propelled Challenger 2 back in the ’60s were still in place, you were wrong. Now Challenger 2 runs two 2500hp dry-block Hemis with an 80-per-cent nitro load. According to Danny, once the engines were installed, the rest of the drivetrain had to be designed around them to cope with the newfound power. 

“I can’t quit. We call it salt fever. You just want to come back to Bonneville. You just want to go faster,” Danny said in an interview with CNN. Danny is confident the Challenger will run in the 725–756kph (450–470mph) range in the future, potentially making it the fastest piston-powered vehicle in the world, with the current record being held by Speed Demon at 439.562mph. 

Grand Routier — in the french tradition

10 July, 2025

Sitting in Paddy and Patsy Williams’ Dunedin garage is a stunning example of one of these rare French grand routier sedans. It is a 1949 four-door Lago-Record Factory Berline sedan, to give its full name. Daughter Cath let us know how proud she was of her dad, who had been tinkering away in his garage on this car for so many years.
Without exaggeration, it has been a mammoth task. I first saw this Talbot-Lago in mid 2019. The long-nosed, sweeping, curved four-door saloon, clothed in its misty green metallic paint, was quite breathtaking. There’s more than a little English influence in it, too, harking back to company owner Tony Lago’s involvement in the Clement-Talbot-Darracq era. The long front wings and bonnet, usually multi-louvred, highlighted with artful touches of chrome bling, are typical of the era, but these were indeed luxury length. Interiors provided leather-clad, armchair-style seating and ample legroom, with touches of wood and surprising details such as dainty childproof interior locks — a far cry from today’s lozenge boxes.
Paddy, a retired civil and structural engineer, knows his way around a lathe. He has a well-equipped garage-workshop to assist in any machining tasks along with his other passion for restoring classic motorcycles.

The Great River Road

4 July, 2025

A few years ago my family, knowing my fondness for driving, gave me the book Unforgettable Road Trips: Thirty-Six Drives of a Lifetime by Martin Derrick. Most of the road trips listed take less than a day in places like Scotland, Monaco, and Australia, plus one in New Zealand. Most of these places were too far to go just for a short drive but four of them would take several days. My interest was piqued, and those four drives were added to the bucket list. To date, I have done three of them: ‘Route 66’ (USA 21 days), ‘State Highway 6’ (NZ 10 days) and ‘The Great River Road’ (USA 22 days). You can drive all of them in less time, but you could also fly over them. We wanted a decent immersion in their charms.
The great river referred to is the Mississippi. While the name conjures the deep south, the river actually starts at the bottom of the great lakes, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico about 3800km later. The great road is more of a concept than a specific strip of tarmac, as you can drive down either side of the river on various routes. Regardless of which side you drive, time should be kept aside for detours to places such as Nashville, which is famous for something or other.