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Big-block-Chevy streamliner tops piston-powered land speed record

Its 71-year-old driver took down the previous title set by a 69-year-old

Jil McIntosh
Aug 14, 2020  •  1 year ago  •  1 minute read  •  Join the conversation
George Poteet beat Danny Thompson’s fastest speed a day after Challenger 2’s record run but he would not win the Hot Rod Magazine trophy for a record 8th year.
George Poteet beat Danny Thompson’s fastest speed a day after Challenger 2’s record run but he would not win the Hot Rod Magazine trophy for a record 8th year. Photo by Liz Leggett Papp /Driving

The Speed Demon 715, a streamlined car that looks akin to a wingless jet on wheels, has made history at the Bonneville Salt Flats by hitting 470.016 mph. For those more familiar with metric, that comes out to 756.4174 km/h.

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That’s not the fastest anyone’s ever gone on the salt, but it is the new record for a piston-powered car.

The Speed Demon 715 is driven by a twin-turbocharged 555-cubic-inch (9.0L) Chevy engine.

Driven by George Poteet, the car set an initial time of 469.298 mph over a five-mile run, its fastest time on the course. The record requires two runs, and the final tally is the average speed between them. The second run was enough to clinch the title.

https://www.facebook.com/speeddemon715/photos/a.493672577649427/1227074260975918/?type=3&theater

What Speed Demon 715 broke was the previous record of 448.75 mph, set in 2018 by Danny Thompson, son of the late and legendary Mickey Thompson, in his Challenger II.

And here’s the best part: Thompson was 69 when he set that record, and Poteet is 71.

Following the record-setting run, Speed Demon 715 had its engine swapped out for a 256-cubic-inch engine, in an attempt to break the 348-mph record for a different class. But the oil light came on at the first mile and the car was pulled over, dissolving any hope of two separate land speed records for the same car — at least for now. Records are made to be broken, and it’s likely not the last time this machine will get its tires salty in the quest to go even faster.

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