Cliff passed away Thursday morning (12/20/07). The last time I talked with my friend and racing partner Cliff Ransom was about ten days ago. He has been heavely sedated; they call it pain management.

He said he "is almost there". Cliff sometimes says things in a manner that I don't pick up on right away. By "there", of course he is talking about passing on. Cliff is a very religious man and he is dying of Cancer. It is coming to a close, the greatest road trip in my life-our Bonneville partnership. Our friendship, however will be timeless.

Bonneville, this year, was a great adventure to me. We did not set any records but I got my time on the Salt; five runs on the short-course, my license and two runs over 150 mph!. We also had some great moments and, of course, made some new friends.

Cliff and I have talked about this time of his passing and I've told him about my concept of immortality. As long as he is a memory of some one who is alive, he will live. Cliff has touched many lives in many ways over the years and our Bonneville experience has touched the lives of everyone in my family let alone my circle of friends. His memory will run for generations; he will be immortal in that respect.

Cliff, over the years, has taught me a lot. He let the mechanical "monkey" out of my box and was working on teaching me patience when the Cancer started taking over. Of course, he has taught me about courage and honor.

It has been a great honor to have a man of Cliff's stature in my life. I hope that you, out there in this forum, are fortunate enough to have someone in your life like my friend Cliff. I know you do and my council is enjoy them as if it were your last days together. That is how its been with Cliff and I over the past six years or more, when we first learned about the Cancer. It makes his passing a little easier.

Cliff is in a better place now and the pain is gone. For those of us left behind, his family and friends, it is tough to let go even though we all know that it is good that his suffering has come to a close. “It’s been a good run these past few years”, Cliff said and I can’t say it any better. Bob

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Everyone is a little tense around here; it’s been that way for the past two weeks. The car is running! We whipped our computer problems and now we are down to small refinements that can make a big difference in performance. The tension is all good however. While we are concerned about what we have forgotten or missed we know we are ready to take a serious shot at the record There are a million details and, as we’ve learned over the past three years, it only take one to send you home. Again, the car is running and it sounds like thunder!

Cliff called last night, “we have to make a decision” he says. It took a while for me to respond; another setback I thought. We were all set to go have the car “dynamically tuned” today and we planned to leave the first thing this morning. Yesterday we learned that Henry, the dyno guy, was in a racing accident last weekend and has been in the hospital. Seems like a water hose blew up and Henry was seriously burned. So, I thought to myself, “we are not going to be able to have the car on the dynamometer before the race after all”? That has been the story of this car. We whip one problem to see two more jump up. Oh well, we’ve whipped them all so far and we’ll continue to do so.

Nope, that was not it. We are still on to get to the dyno Friday. Seems after I left the shop yesterday afternoon, on my way home from work, Cliff and Russ decided to fire her up just to see how she’s doing. It’s just too much temptation to walk past her not to just hear how she sounds-one more time! “Too much fuel” Cliff says, “we need to decide about those injectors”. Needless to say, this issue has a lot of history but in short we were working with modified injectors (Toyota Supra) to get more fuel flow. That was before we learned that we had a clogged fuel filter. Now we have fixed the filter issue and we are getting too much fuel and the engine is fowling plugs. By the way, the other solution is hotter plugs (more fuel, more horsepower) but that is for another day’s discussion.

We will not be going to Sacramento today but Cliff and Russ will pull the top of the engine and replace the injectors instead. We go to Sacramento Friday morning. Time is running out!

The game plan is simple; our car is running. We will not need to fabricate much at the raceway this year. In 2004, we built much of the car on the Salt Flats because we ran out of time. Last year we spent most of our time trying to get our computer system set up. We have made several small modifications to the car structurally and added some new instruments to give us a better picture of what is happening with the engine. Of special concern is the NOX-fuel mixture. To lean or to rich can cause serious problems so we’ve added some new monitoring gauges. As for the stereo system, I’m afraid I’ve lost on that one; “the sound of the engine is all the music you need Bob” according to the boys. Overall, the car is ready to run so this year we get to race, not build.

We have reserved three RV spaces and a camping spot at the KOA (all hotel rooms are booked because of two golf tournaments and a car show scheduled around the first weekend of Speed Week) and we have rented two RVs to live in for the week; Sterling is bringing the his trailer to complete the team accommodations. We leave first thing Thursday morning.

That will be the beginning of the circus. First thing in the morning to me is about 7:00 AM, I’m typically up at 5:00; some folks in our organization do not arrive at the new day until 10:00 AM and then there is the morning wake-up ritual. Ahh, it’s all good though! We will be on the road when we ALL of us are ready! I’ll wait.

We pick up the RV’s in Reno and caravan over to Windover arriving Friday morning. We have Friday to set up camp at the KOA and set up our pit area at the Salt Flats. The very first thing though, is to unpack the car and get it into the inspection line. Saturday is driver orientation and then its race time!

At Bonneville, there is a system that everyone must follow. Cars need to meet all BNI safety standards and both the car and the driver(s) must go through a series of speed tests before they can make the big run for a record. So far, Cliff is the only one who has made it onto the salt and he and the car have been certified at the 140 mph level.

The fuel record (our car runs NOX) is around 160 mph for our class. There is one more element; Bonneville raceway has two tracks. The short-course and the long-course. Big records, over 200 mph are set on the long-course and that is where we hope to put our names in the Big Book. We have to do better than 175 mph on the short-course before we can qualify to run the long course. We need to be on the long course to get our car to its full potential but that means that we will break the world record for our class and that triggers a back up record run-the car goes into the impound area until Sunday and we all get to sit around and watch the cars go by on Saturday after our run! Then, Sunday we back up our record, and we will be qualified to get “on the porch with the big dogs”!

As if this is not enough drama, there is the NOX system. We have never had an opportunity to “light it up” because we have never got past other problems (our on-board computer system communicating with the engine-our set up computer communicating with our on-board computer). The objective of our Friday session with the dynamometer is to establish the peak performance range for the engine, tune the engine and determine what the tuning needs to be for our NOX system. Our engine can turn 8K rpm but we suspect it makes its best power at 6.5K or 7K rpm.

Nitrous Oxide adds more oxygen to the fuel-air mixture and simply makes a bigger bang. In our case, it should add about 100 horsepower to our little 3 liter engine putting in the 500 hp range. That is enough to put us in the 200-230 mph range on the raceway.

A NOX system is “lit up” at the very top of the power-speed range; it is a little extra boost near the end of the timed run. NOX, however, changes the engine dynamics significantly and so the computer resets the engine settings (timing, dwell, etc.,) on the run to accommodate the new fuel mixture. Needless to say, the NOX puts a major strain on the engine and everything has to be just right or we get a little bigger bang that we expected or need.

Our NOX system is what is referred to as a two stage system or a “wet system” and a “dry system”. Nitrous can be added at either the “wet” level, at the “dry” level or both can be turned on at the same time. Each level adds a significant boost to horsepower. Each adds a little different dimension to the tuning of the engine. All of this is done through the on-board computer. It’s very complicated and now you know why we’ve had so many problems the past two years.

As I’ve said, we have the computer working and with the tune-up Friday, our life will be good on the Salt this year. Yes, we are all very excited and, as I’ve said, things are very tense. We think we have it all figured out but, after the past two years, we can’t take anything for granted.

With all this working perfectly, the NOX system, the computer, our modified air intake, the fuel system, our new tires and modified rims, the newly designed tail, differential set up, etc., there is still a great unknown out there. Will the car be stable at high speed?
Most cars want to become airborne at a certain speed. All our horsepower is of no use if we cannot keep it on the ground. Like most small town mechanics (many of the folks at Bonneville are small town mechanics) we don’t have access to wind tunnel data for our car. We have tried to estimate the effect of air movement around the car and how that will impact the car at high speed. We have some modifications that we might employ based on test runs but there will be a steep learning curve out there on the Salt. The point though is that this year, our learning curve will take place on the “Salt” instead of the pit area!

Last night, after Cliff’s call, there was another though that came back to me. There are a lot of people who spend countless hours working on their cars (trucks, motorcycles, streamliners, etc.) and going to Bonneville with the expectation of setting a world record. Most of them do not succeed and they spend more time on the Salt trying (sometimes for many years), than we have, and still never make the record books. This is a goal we are shooting at and maybe we can pull it off; maybe everything will work perfectly and maybe we will have the best conditions on the salt and maybe we have a good plan.

We are small town mechanics (and a city planner) and this might not be the year or maybe our plan has a hole in it or maybe we have forgotten something but what a trip it has been so far! You have to be out there to see the innovation, hear the engines, watch the cars flying by operating at the very edge; see the disappointment and the excitement of the winners and losers to really understand the magnitude to this adventure. I’ve tried to capture some of that in the pictures I’ve taken but they cannot really reflect what this is all about. It is truly a grand scale of activity.

With that said, win or lose, this will most likely be my last year of this racing adventure. I might go visit from time to time but after this year I don’t think it will be the same for me. I’ve given my interest in the car to three of Cliff’s children who have helped us get to this point. Perhaps they will carry on and move this project to another level, maybe is will sit in a garage someplace. Again, last night the thought came back to me that this is a world class adventure but win or lose, from here on out it can’t be the same. Both Cliff and I are tired; exhausted but excited. After the 18th, the excitement will just fade to exhaustion. That was what it was like last year except for the major disappointment of not being able to run.

In closing, we will be in Windover/Bonneville from Friday August 11 to Friday August 18, 2006. If any of you want to see what goes on out here, you are invited to visit. Our accommodations at the KOA are a little primitive but the company and the overall environment is great. Later on in the week (14th through the 18th ) there will be some rooms in the local hotels. That is after all the Speed Week groupies go home and the work of racing gets focused. We can get you a visitor pass to the pits and you can join us on the “line” during a launch-assuming everything is working well.

For those of you who know the background of this great adventure, my partner Cliff is doing well. He, of course, has ups and downs with his therapy and this year we have the added struggle of oxygen. He’s moving a little slow but for the past week, since we got the computer working and the engine running, he has been a ball of fire.

As for the driving arrangements, we have determined that everyone on the team should get a run at the salt this year. As long as we don’t push the NOX buttons to many times, this engine should carry the load. There are two records in this car, the NOX record and the gas record. I hope to take a run at the gas record after we’ve reach 200+ with Cliff on NOX.

Oh yea, I almost forgot. I have my own race suit this year. I won’t have to borrow one. I got a red suit with “Spirit of Bootjack”, on the back. You, of course, know that Bootjack is a small crossroad community in Mariposa. The “Sprit” part plays on Craig Breedlove and the “Spirit of America” race car that set the jet record back in the 50’s or was it the 60’s? The “Spirit” in the name has started some small debate among the team and the fact that the suite is red (team color is supposed to be blue) will fuel the fires a little more out in the salt. From my perspective, the conflicts and debates are part of the team camaraderie and all about tension relief. We do a lot of that as it gets more intense on the Salt.

We also will be conducting tours of some of our favorite spots in Windover; the Speedway Café-Truck Stop with the owner who does not write down your order because he has total recall (not!), the little Mexican restaurant at the edge of town and, the new city swimming pool a block away from the KOA. The pit area is huge, over a mile long, with some of the world’s fastest cars setting out there to see and hear. These tours are available to those of you who are up for the trek across Nevada in the middle of the heat wave. Remember, however, “it’s a dry heat” and you will be so distracted by everything going on that you won’t even notice? Let me know if you’re interested. I hope to stay connected via e-mail and, of course, my cell works. If I don’t see or hear from you before this is over, I will be sending a wrap-up report after the 18th. Bob

July 29, 2007

This is it, the final year for Cliff and I. Our Bonneville Story-Year Five.

For the past several months it’s been very discouraging. Cliff’s health is not good. His energy has been low (not to be confused with enthusiasm) and solving our technical problems has been a challenge. As you may recall, we blew the engine last year. “Sucked a valve” that shattered two pistons and ended our run for the record three days early in 2006.

The year before it was a combination of the computer system and a rain storm that covered the salt with 4-inches of water. The year before that, it was the computer system and tuning. It seemed like this is never going to happen, getting the record run. Cliff’s attitude is that “if setting world land speed record was easy, any one could do it-set a!” It does not end there; Cliff has spent the past year training me to be patient. As you know, me (Type “A”) and the word patient me is an oxymoron. The only way I can be patient is to get a personality transplant. I’m working on it though.

Well today I saw progress! The new re-built engine fired on the first turn of the key (actually push of a button). This was huge; we were at the verge of going back through our re-build to correct a possible error in our assembly. Last night, we turned the engine over and could not get any oil pressure. After going back over a few things (a wasted day of engine installation) we got oil pressure and fired’er up. It was one of those moments when I could not look at anyone directly because of the tears. The frustration was over. It seemed like everything had gone wrong that could go wrong and I was beginning to feel like this was never going to happen. That is where the “patients” lessons came in.

As you may know, this is a very steep learning curve for all of us. First off, this is not your average hot-rod. We built a very small (3-liter) Nissan engine. It uses modern technology (fuel injection/computer driven) that injects nitrous oxide (Nitro) and extra fuel into the engine to boost horsepower. We have added a specially designed AEM computer that replaced the standard engine management system (EMS) that runs the car.

We are learning to use “cutting-edge” technology coupled with an “advanced” engine design. I’m sure that the “book” has been written on this application of technology to Land Speed Racing but we’ve not found it yet.

We have also “tricked” up the engine a little with a hot cam, forged aluminum pistons, special rods and everything balanced to permit the engine to run at higher revolutions. After our blowup last year, the rebuilt engine now has special valves (stronger) and we have improved the porting (breathing) of both the intake and exhaust systems. We have also added a new fuel management system that improves our Nitrous delivery to the engine.

This new computerized fuel management system permits us to modulate the injection of Nitrous into the engine on the fly. Up to know we had been running and “all-on” or “all-off” system that gave us an instant boost of around 150 horsepower. Last year this boost simply spun the wheels out of control (170 + MPH indicated) while the car was only traveling around 148 MPH. It was a great show; salt spun off the tires 10 to 15 feet in the air. Imagine spinning the tires on your town-car at nearly 150 MPH! This was the cause, we think, of the engine melt-down. The engine was simply running out of control with no load on the tires.

Bonneville “07”
The engine, after we solved a small oil pressure problem, fired up for the first time on July 29th. Monday the car goes back to the paint shop for the final touch-up (another clear-coat and “Pearls”). Not only will we be driving the world’s fastest 3-Liter Nissan but it will look like a show-car instead of a homebuilt racing workhorse. Ahh, little steps.

The show goes on the road early in the morning, assuming “Doc” can get up in time, on Thursday, August 9, 2007; my birthday present! We hope to be on the Salt Friday morning to start our Tech review and get the Car certified to run. Saturday morning, we will try to be the first in line to begin the new driver certification process. The show is over on the 17th, or when the car gives up, which ever occurs first.

Cliff will not be driving this year. His fight with Cancer over the past few years has taken its toll and he promised his wife that he would not drive. She is concerned that if something goes wrong, he won’t be able to get out of the Car. He’s not moving around very well any more. I, and others, will get a shot at setting behind the wheel of our salt rocket. That means we need to go through the license process where we do several runs at a progressively faster speed; 125, 150, 175 and beyond; our record goal is in the mid-160s. Our car has been designed to exceed 200 MPH, at least that is what our new tires are rated for );

Invitation:
As in the past, you are invited to join us in this little adventure. Wendover/Bonneville Salt Flats is approximately a 12-hour drive from Mariposa and the Central Valley, right on I-80. This year, however, there are no accommodations within a hundred miles of the race course unless you camp-out in the salt desert. Seems as though a movie, “The Worlds Fastest Indian” sparked some interest in what we do out there on the Salt and all accommodations were booked solid by the first of the year.

We will be camping on the desert and you are welcome join us. A couple of notes, however. The Truck Stop on I-80, about a mile up the road, and is where we can take a shower!
There is also the famous Mexican restaurant at this truck stop, that I’ve spoke of in previous editions of this “Update”. This is a very popular breakfast spot and you will literally rub shoulders with some to the top hot-rod builders and Bonneville race drivers in the world (along with an assortment of tourists and truck drivers!).

Work starts early on the salt, sunrise, and ends at sundown. In the evening, we have special events planned which typically includes at least one “Bardini Pasta Feast” a fire-works display and, of course, a DVD “big screen” showing of “The Worlds Fastest Indian”. Other evenings are spent dining in all the Wendover hot spots and maybe even catching a show at one of the Casinos. There is typically a major hot-rod Show in town along with a Golf Tournament. Most of the time, however, our time is spent resting, rethinking our car settings or race strategy and re-connecting with our extended “race family” form around the country.

In short, what we lack in accommodations is more than compensated for by getting to enjoy a genuine racing tradition. During the day, you would get to see some of the hottest piston-engine driven cars in the world. This is where innovation drives the program. While some of the “Biggies” are there, like GM, most of the time it is a small town innovator, like us, who is pushing the limits of technology to try to build on a tradition of speed that dates back to the 40’s. Watch the “Indian” movie to get the flavor of this “Burning Man” type celebration “With Cars”.

In closing, this IS my last year of Bonneville for both Cliff and I. We might be there in the future but the car is going to Cliff kids; Joanna, Jeff and Lisa who have been there with us from the start. I hope they continue to race (and improve) the “Spirit of Bootjack”. As for myself, I plan to set my Corvette up for a ride in the 200 MPH range on the Nevada Highway system (the Autobahn Program and maybe a ride around Laguna Seca). See what happens when you get bit by the “Speed Bug”?

For more information you can “Google” SCTA-BNI or go the organization’s web site at http://www.scta-bni.org/ .

2007 Bonneville Wrap-Up

We began our 2007 pilgrimage to the “Salt” early Thursday morning, August the 9th; my birthday.

We had hoped to get an early morning start of around 6:00 am but, as expected, some of our team are not early morning risers and we did not get on the road until around 7:30. The caravan consisted of Kevin and Joanna pulling the Car, Jim Bardini’s truck pulling a trailer and Cliff pulling a tool trailer with miscellaneous equipment.

We had two challenges this year; 1) the “pit” site on the Salt which is a pretty complete sheltered garage and maintenance site and, 2) our camp. We are not allowed to live on the Salt and we were unable to book rooms in Windover Nevada. We expected to dry-camp on some BLM land approximately 5-miles from the raceway.

The first day out was a challenge. We blew two tires on the trailer and had to replace all four tires along the road. We also got some good news, as we were parked along Highway 99 changing tires, that we would be able to stay at the Windover KOA and have a “wet” camp. No motel rooms through.

As you may be aware, this was the last year that Cliff and I plan to participate in this event. The car has been turned over to Cliff’s children, Jeff Ransom, of Mariposa and his two daughters Lisa and Joanna, all of whom have made this race event a part of their lives over the past five years.

Cliff’s health will limit his ability to directly participate in future racing of the car affectionately known as the “Spirit of Bootjack”. This name was coined after Craig Breedlove’s famous land speed record holder “Spirit of America”. Bootjack is a small community in Mariposa along Highway 49. Cliff will, however, be a source of inspiration to future “team” members and a fountain of technical insight on how to “go faster”.

Cliff was diagnosed with Cancer several years ago. With a little help from his many friends, he built this high-tech racer to finish a journey he started as a young man and member of the Southern California “Throttle Merchants”. All members of our team have been inspired by Cliff’s courage in waging his personal battle with the pain of Cancer. His endless generosity, caring and patience with his “crew” has forever changed all of the team members’ lives.

Cliff’s creation, the “Spirit of Bootjack”, will be a source of pride and inspiration to many in the future as well. Over the past 5-years his effort has grown to include many people in the community of Mariposa. To name just a few 2007 supporters, there is Jim Bardini who has donated his time and his equipment to transport the car over thousands of miles to race and back home. The folks at Above All Towing have helped getting the car back and forth from Stan’s Body Shop where Stan Rothfuss’s artistry transformed our humble race car into a world class show car. Stan also donated a trailer to house some of the crew at Bonneville and drove across Nevada to support us.

There was Gary Williams who took time out of his busy schedule to add the finishing “name and title” touches to the paint job, Jeff Schutt who was there in the shop at every opportunity to engineer special parts and lend support and a helping hand where ever it was needed. Cole became a new and invaluable member of the crew in 2006 and continued to support our efforts in 2007. We also need to thank Russ Kanarowski for his support. There are countless others who have worked tirelessly and donated money, tools, equipment and technical support to this effort over years past. This has truly become a “community” project.

In past years the Ransom Racing Team has attracted supporters from around the U.S and world and this year was no exception. Our new friends include the Corvette Club of Christchurch New Zealand, some fellow racers from England in addition to folks from Idaho and especially Roger Wood and his wife Jennifer from Portland Oregon; even Monterey, Aptos and Berkeley were represented on our team. Of course there was a large group of “Throttle Merchants” from all over the state who showed up to support our home-town team.

At times there were over 30-people at our camp-site causing a little “stir” among the KOA campground management staff. All of our neighbors where cool with it, however, they all joined in for movies, conversation and especially Jim Bardini’s special dinner events.

The “Spirit of Bootjack” and the Ransom Racing team have represented Mariposa at this world class event for five years and earned the respect of the Land Speed Racing community in the process. It has been a great honor to be part of this tradition and I would like to thank Cliff Ransom, his family and all of the team’s supporters for allowing me to participate in this very special event.

The Ransom Racing Team, returned to Mariposa the weekend of August 18, 2007. Over the eight day stay on the “Salt”, the team made eight timed high speed runs; some in excess of 150 MPH. Due to problems with the installation of the Nitrous fuel management system, the team was not able to exceed the 166 MPH record or achieve their 175 MPH goal.

The Birth of the Spirit of Bootjack

When asked if they could see the plans, Cliff explained that “the plans are in my head”.

It’s a lot easier to talk about building this car, “The Spirit of Bootjack”, as an organic process that has evolved or “morphed” into a final concept than as something that follows a well-planned design. The car has evolved, up to this point, from a series of informal conversations between its builders, its builders and the project’s supporters and finally, the network of technical experts that have been brought into the planning of this car by the builders. In short, it has become, more or less, Cliff’s vision modified by a “committee” of partners, associates, friends and well wishers.

The car’s principal builders (partners) include Cliff Ransom, myself (Bob Borchard), and Kevin Warren. The “committee” includes Jim Bardini, Sam DeGrace, Jeff Schutt and Russ “Doc” Kanarowski, and Lou among others, and have been the source of the car’s body and many of the parts and material used in fabricating the car in addition to technical support and advice as well as physical labor.

The engine to power this car over 200-mph has also “morphed” in concept from the conventional “L-28” in-line six-cylinder Datson 280ZX engine to a more modern Nissan “VQ35DE” 350 cc engine that is de-stroked to 300 cc with a VQ-23 crankshaft.

This second stage of the engine “morph” came as the direct result of the creative ideas of a master Nissan race engine builder named Vernon Brunges of RaVer Motorsports in Visalia. All of this, however, is getting ahead of the story. In its final stage of evolution, we settled on a VG-30 engine that was less expensive to build and left the VQ engine to 2005. This engine, with a lot of help from Vernon, should be strong enough to set a new Bonneville (World) record in our class. The “Team”, Cliff on the right, Kevin, Jeff (red hat) and myself in the driver’s seat.

In order to under stand how a project like ours evolves or “morphs” you need to understand the “context” within which we live and work. Yes, we have a goal but that has been evolving for the past several months. I recall driving back from Bonneville with Cliff last August (2003) and he asks, “well, how fast do you want to go?” For Cliff that question was a question within a question. He wanted to know how much I had absorbed from this four-day adventure to the Salt. My answer “300 mph”.

Bonneville 2003.

It seemed like a good answer to me. I saw cars that did it and it did not seem to far out of the realm of possibility. Wrong! We are talking about a 3 liter (300 cc or 183 ci) displacement engine (Class “F”) with a current record held by a guy named Andy A Flagg of 172.121 set in 2002 in the Un-blown Gas Competition Coup and Sedan (GCC) class. While I did not learn a lot at Bonneville about the technical end of this adventure, I got a good feel as to what this is aspect of motor sport racing is all about.

Bonneville (the Salt Flats) is about speed; fast and straight. This is “No Speed Limit” country made famous by Craig Breedlove in the 60s with his “Spirit of America” land-speed record of 526 mph. Incidentally, Art Afrons broke Breedlove’s record with a speed of 536 mph. Of course, these cars were powered by jet engines and we are racing with a conventional internal combustion piston engine.

I did not learn a lot about the car or class of car we were about to build but I did learn about who the people are that spend big chunks of their lives (and personal wealth) building these experimental cars with the sole purpose of going fast. I learned that this is not about corporate sponsorship, TV or other media rights, or even big name race people (except among the small group of Bonneville fans).

This is about “small town America”; it’s about our national love affair with cars (particularly in California), our addiction to speed and the American spirit of invention and innovation. This “spirit” exists in small machine and auto repair shops across the country. The folks that were at Bonneville were not search for fame or recognition. They were not pursuing prizes or trophies; there are none! They were at Bonneville to see how fast they could go-period.

So, here we are. Building a car to race on the Salt Flats of Bonneville. After all these months of being involved in the world of land-speed racing and car building, what have I learned? Well first off, 300 mph is going to take a lot of doing in the class that we are building in. Secondly, these cars are often not designed on paper but rather grow out of collaboration, consultation and experimentation. The payoff is going to be in an August day on the hot salt with all of our peers watching. We will also be there with all our friends (the committee).

We have become part of the community of Mariposa’s entrance into the world of land speed racing; a truly small town tradition. It has become a “community” project. The name, “Spirit of Bootjack” was suggested by Cliff in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek statement. I was thinking of something like the “Butterfly Express”, “mariposa” meaning “butterfly” in Spanish-dah. That was quickly dismissed as much to “wussy” for a race-car. So be it, The “Spirit of Bootjack” it is and we are off to the races in August.

By “community” I mean that it the first question that people ask; “how’s the car coming?” Of course there the little things like the steel bill that got lost or the bad fuel injectors that got replaced at no cost. The list goes on and on and this project could not have progressed without this support community support.

About Cliff Ransom
Cliff Ransom’s first job was sweeping floors at a local grocery store. At Thirteen he bought a 1941 Oldsmobile coupe. He could not drive yet, but this was not a problem for Cliff. Later he would get a job at a local auto parts store. He wanted to be around the cars and learn how they worked so badly that he bugged the owner mercilessly. His persistence paid off, as he was hired for sweeping and stocking He soon worked his way up to sales.

During this time he met lots of guys who shared the same dream, to build a hot rod. Keep in mind during this time to be called a "hot-rodder" was not a good thing. They were known as a "rebel rouser" and "trouble maker". But not all the young teens were rotten apples they just craved the smell burning rubber and the sweet sound of a big powerful engine.

The guys all became part of a club called the Throttle Merchants. Frank Huzzar, the oldest of the bunch allowed the use of his garage, tools, and expertise. As with most clubs, rules had to be followed. First, "Do Not Rev the engine’s near the house!" or Mrs. Hazzar will get very angry. Second, show up and help each other, work together as a team. This structure changed the lives of these young men, it gave them direction and a purpose.

They sacrificed the basic needs of life so they could buy that much needed new part or something a simple as gas. The streets were never the same as these boys, including Cliff, raced at lunch while still in High School at Van Nuys. This was just practice for the weekend and evening meets at the Race Track.

On the weekends it was time to Race as the Cars lined up at Famoso Drag Strip in Bakersfield. Here the guys honed their skills made mistakes and tried again. If you broke something serious you might have to walk home. The golden event at the end of the year was to take your car to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Cliff tells great stories of the trip to Bonneville and how the guys would pack their stuff in a small trailer, hook it to the car and drive from southern California to Utah.

Cliff has gone to Bonneville three times, once during his hot rod days, once with his daughter a two years ago and last year with me, his friend and soon to be partner in this great adventure. The first time, he and his buddies tried hard to race and set a record.” They hauled their drag racing street roadster to the salt. The car was a complicated machine and not really designed for Salt Flat type racing. There is a big difference between a quarter-mile sprint and a 3 to 5 mile high speed run.

There were many problems with the car and it never was able to complete a timed run. It was not an uncommon site to see some guys rebuilding the engines in their hotel rooms at night. They tried several changes in fuel, tuning, etc. to try to get the car to perform competitively and on a test run achieved about 140 mph.

“The trick was to break records but not your car” Cliff says. The reason is simple, “so you can get back home”. Many of the cars that raced at the salt were driven to the race by their owners. This is still a tradition for some at Bonneville to this day. Cliff and the boys had towed their fuel dragster to the Salt so, at least, there was no issue as to how they were going to get home. Disappointed and on the way home, they finally figured out the problem was in the size of the carburetor jets but it was too late. It was a trip that was not to be repeated.

Cliff married his first wife at around this time and spent two years in the army as a tank mechanic. When his mother and sister moved to Mariposa he soon followed. It was a larger distance to travel down to the races from his new home so dreams of racing gave way to the priorities of life. Years passed. A divorce, a new marriage and family and work took most of Cliff’s time.

After several jobs in and around Mariposa County, Cliff finally landed a job in the trade that was close to his heart. He worked for Merced Nissan for 17 years and commuted over a hundred miles a day, five days a week. Then when the dealership changed its product he decided to work for himself and share the shop with his stepson Mike.

When some of the guys from Cliff’s old car club called 2000, his daughter, Joanna, encouraged him to go to the Reunion at Famoso (Bakersfield). The reunion is a big gathering of the old car clubs, mostly from Southern California. Cliff had the opportunity to visit old friends and reminisce about all the adventures and good times with his friends. He and Joanna have attended the reunion for the last few years. Returning from Palo Alto with his daughter Joanna Cliff said "I want to build a car and race at Bonneville."

He was concerned that it would be hard to get the stuff together that he would need to build a race-car. She told him that it would work out and they would find a way. Then an amazing thing happened, Cliff told some friends about his plan and suddenly donations of car parts and space for storage and labor came in from all the people Cliff had spent years helping.

The Family

As I think about where we are and how we got here, this whole thing seems to be more like a “reality TV script” than a race car journal story. The car is simply a “vehicle” for the assorted local community characters interact. What a cast of characters they are. There is, of course, the “Ransom Family” with Cliff as its heart and soul.

Cliff is very religious man. He does not, however, impose his beliefs on others and this is one reason why we have become close friends over the years. I tend to be a little bit of an agnostic. Cliff and his wife moved to Mariposa and, after a while, got divorced. He had three children with his first wife, married (Loweta) who had two children. From this union Joanna was born. So begins the union of the Butler-Ransom household and the mixture of two families with different cultures, traditions and roots. The Butlers have historic roots in Mariposa; the Ransoms are from the L.A. area.

Mike (Butler) and Cliff share a shop where they operate their separate mechanic businesses. Mike is typical of the “Butler” line. A free spirit; kind of “quirky” Mike’s life is about hang-gliding and the shop is the means to feed his passion. Mike has an apartment upstairs above the shop and the whole place is a junk-yard with Mike’s half finished or broken projects. Mike, while very bright and creative, is a pack-rat. Many of his inventions originated in the County Dump, next door, but after they have run their course, they just stay around the shop and property. This is a constant source of frustration to Cliff who is a very neat, tidy and organized individual. I think it is only because of the strong “Christian” belief that these two men share that they can share this shop. Joanna lives in the old house that sits on this piece of “Butler” family property. Cliff and Loweta live in their “highly modified” mobile home in the “Jerseydale” area of the county.

Joanna is Cliff and Loweta’s love child. She is in her early thirties and is dating another principal actor in this project, Kevin. Joanna is divorced with two young daughters. She supports herself “detailing” cars and goes to school at Merced College majoring in Journalism and Photography. Joanna is her mother’s daughter. She is very opinionated, strong-willed and not the least bit shy about letting anyone know how she feels about things. She is also one of her dad’s biggest fans and the energy behind this car project.

Joanna met Kevin at a boating accident on Lake McClure three or four years ago. A bunch of friends (I among them) took two boats down to the lake and the one that Joanna (and her daughters) was on sprung a leak and sunk. They (we) were rescued by Kevin and his party of friends from San Jose. Kevin has an interest in restoring and showing old “muscle cars” is a creative fabricator and works in the technology industry of Silicon Valley. He lives in hills above Santa Cruz. Joanna spends most weekends over there and they both come over about once a month to spend the weekend working on the car.

Loweta, Cliff’s wife and Joanna and Mike’s mother, plays a very interesting role in this family process. She is adamantly opposed to it! The project is not mentioned in her presence and there is an elaborate system of little white lies that everyone (including Loweta) has agreed on as a way to not create an opportunity for a confrontation on this project. No one is quite sure of the source of her opposition. One guess is that it takes away from the little time that she and Cliff have left together. She, unlike her son or her daughter, has very little interest in cars. I would characterize Loweta as having a little different attitude and philosophy about the world. She is the source of the “Butler” free-spirit and quirky-ness that adds to the manner of how this project evolves.

There are others in this family that play minor roles in the social dimensions of the car’s progress. There is Pam (Butler), Jeff (Ransom) Lisa (Ransom) and the other siblings who live outside the area. Pam is a very complex and talented women; a musician. Jeff is a Mariposa County Sheriff’s Department Deputy and Lisa lives in Reno with her husband Mondo. There is also Cliff’s first wife who supports this project and is sponsoring the Car to the tune of two tires. Note that this is NOT an inconsequential item of support. The tires for this car have to be rated to run in excess of 240 mph and cost several hundred dollars each.

As immediate family goes, Cliff has one of the most complex and loving collection of personalities that I think I have ever seen in a family group. Needless to say, this group tends to attract a similar “eclectic” band of friends and supporters and as a result, there is never a dull moment either in the “family” environment or with the Car project.

The Toy Shop

When this project was first conceived another close “eclectic” friend of the Family, Jim Bardini, offered the use of space at his “Toy Shop”. The Toy Shop is where Jimmy keeps and works on his passion; the building/restoring of old cars and trucks. Actually, there are a number of people in this community who are involved with car restoration.

Mostly, these people have A project car and it occupies a little part of their life. With Jim, he has a four-bay workshop (the Toy Shop) that has everything that anyone could ever think of to build and restore cars. Welders (different types), machine tools, metal fabrication tools, a fully equipped paint booth; you name it. Every week (it seems) there is something new added to the shops resources. The last (major) item we got a new high-tech metal lath, and then it was a new tube-bending machine.

Along with the Toy Shop comes Jim's partner, Sam. Sam is the source of answers for technical fabrication questions that no one else in the world could ever answer. He is a retired construction contractor from Southern California and is, in his words, squandering his retirement savings on Toy Shop projects. Note that these are not just Jim’s Shop projects or Sam’s projects. There are many people who have gravitated to the Toy Shop, and its resources, along with their projects. Some of these “projects” have a similar story to Cliff’s, some are there because (I think) that the Toy Shop has become the local “Boys (and their toys) Club”. There are a number of rituals that have evolved around the Toy Shop like John (Amos) and Sam’s minudo breakfast break on Saturday morning at Sal’s, a local Mexican Restaurant.

Since sometime in October or November (2004) a new ritual has evolved. Cliff and I (and an assorted cast of others) meet about 10:00 on Saturday morning to spend the day working on the Car. Work goes on until around five and then Cliff and I slip back to our homes; I to boast about the days progress and Cliff to pretend (with Loweta’s full knowledge) that he has been working at HIS shop on a customer’s car. The pretending with Loweta has changed in recent months but that is a whole other story.

Another ritual that has been evolving is the Lunch Meeting. This usually involves burgers or chicken sandwiches from a burger place town and the latest news of Toy Shop/Car Project concern. Attendance varies from week to week. During the week, Cliff typically sneaks away from his shop to go up to the Toy Shop and work on some small aspect of the project and join the “boys” for lunch.

There are a hundred different stories going on at the Toy Shop at any one time. Projects, people, their family problems, business; it’s sort of like a community within a community. A network of technicians, craftsmen, parts suppliers, artisans, hobbyists all interacting around the Toy Shop. I think that Jimmy is perhaps the only one that fully appreciates what he has created. Jackie, his wife, does not; for that reason Jim is not present at the Shop for any extended period of time. With the sole exception of Joanna, this is, a truly “boys” world.

The Car Community

This is not NASCAR although the people who build and race at Bonneville tend to become "known" in their local community as their participation in this world-wide, but little publicized, event becomes known. As a car (or truck) competes over time, the community of origin tends to become involved in many ways. Typically, the builders of these cars come from small communities or suburban areas; many of them come from Southern California (surprise, surprise).

The builder/racer at Bonneville is not your typical "racing" star. The may achieve some notoriety locally and among their Salt-Flat peers but otherwise they are not well known. Unlike NASCAR, Bonneville racers seldom get any press outside of the Windover Times. You are not likely to read about a Land Speed unless it is in the hometown newspaper of the event participant. There are cases, however, where a large contingency of the “hometown crowd” take a week off and go to Bonneville to “pit” for the car and its driver. T-Shirts, coffee mugs, hats, flags, badges, etc., abound in the pit area and in Windover announcing someone’s support for their hometown car or driver.

Mariposa is still, somewhat, unaware of the “blooming” car builders in their midst. Certainly some people know that Cliff has a dream and work is under way to fulfill that dream but it has not progressed much beyond a network of family, friends and associates. This will change soon and maybe sooner than anyone involved with the project is prepared to deal with. As for Cliff, he is a shy man who is not going to be very comfortable with public exposure.

Mariposa is a very unique community. It is small, about 16,000 population in the entire county and maybe 3,000 to 4,000 in the Mariposa-Bootjack “metropolitan” area. Mariposa’s economy is dominated by Yosemite National Park tourism, retirement and government (in that order).

As a rural area, with an inter-national tourist flavor, located adjacent to one of the fastest growing areas in the country (the San Joaquin Valley), it has an odd mixture of Park-oriented naturalists, retired people from the Bay Area or Southern California, and natives. The politics are decidedly conservative Republican, however, there is a strong sense “live-and-let-live” that results in people accepting a little more diversity here than might be thought of in a small conservative community.

Most people around here live on “acreage”; there are no small lot houses in the county outside of a few “village” areas like the community of Mariposa which is the County Seat of Government. We will get into that subject later.

Community life in Mariposa revolves around a few institutions; naturally churches provide a social focus for many in the community. We also have other centers of community culture like the Fish & Game Hall, Bootjack Stompers Hall and, of course, the Building “A” culture center where most of the communities most popular social events are held (Lion’s Club Crab Feed, Black & White Ball, FFA Dinner, etc). Building “A” is located at the Mariposa County Fair Grounds (District 35-Fair) where the annual County Fair is held during Labor Day Weekend.

Mariposa has no movie theater (nor does it have a stop-light) or even a bowling alley. As a result, we tend to make a big thing out local youth sport and school events. Our major pre-occupation tends to be politics, both national, state and local. This is a pretty close nit community and very pro-active when it comes to taking care of our own. We tend to be very protective of our “rural mountain lifestyle” although for every person you ask, there will be a different answer as to what that exactly is.

As a snap-shot, Mariposa is sort of an ideal small town. It’s as close as you can get to New England in California. This is a great place to raise a family. There is a strong sense of community and it’s a natural nest for the hatching of a schema to capture the Unblown Fuel Competition Coupe and Sedan F/GCC world record in 2004.

The Race Car

It’s hard to pinpoint where we started. Where I came into the process was on a trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats with Cliff on August 15-18, 2003. We left Friday morning about 10:00 a.m. and headed east over Highway 120 through Yosemite National Park. It is about 10 to 12 hours through the Sierra and across Nevada to Windover and the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah. I knew nothing about the project except that we were going to build a racecar and we were going to run it at Bonneville-maybe.

There are many types of racing and many types of cars that are designed to accomplish a specific racing goal. Some cars need quick acceleration exclusively (drag-racing); some need the ability to maneuver at high-speed like a Grand-Prix racer. On the salt, it’s all about straight and fast.

The characteristics of the car is that it is typically very aerodynamic. The name of the game is keeping the car “stuck-to-the-ground” at high-speed. A car typically becomes un-stable (wants to air-borne) at speeds approaching 150 mph. At the end of Breedlove’s 526 mph record, a mal-function resulted in his losing both his drag-parachutes and wheel brakes resulting in his slicing through a row of telephone poles at 400 mph and then “flying” at 200 mph into an 18-foot deep salt-brine pond. The car, “Spirit of America” is presently on display at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. Craig emerged from the car unscathed and swam to safety from the pond.

Naturally, the first consideration in developing a car “concept” is to define a racing Class goal and select the best possible body style to race in this Class. We selected the Datson (Nissan) 1974 260 ZX body. This is a 2+2 model meaning that it seats four (two adults and two adult-midgets or two large children) to classify as a “sedan”. Along with body-style, there are a separate Classes for engine size, type of fuel and if the engine is “super-charged”. We are racing in a 3.0 liter “fuel” class “naturally aspirated” engine class. The Class distinction of “fuel” is tied to the addition of Nitrous Oxide to the gasoline to boost horsepower (over 500 horsepower from an engine with only about 180 cubic inches of displacement!

When it comes to “fast and straight” we don’t need the Datson’s maneuverability; we wanted the body-style for its aerodynamic properties. As a result, we began our project by stripping everything out of the car including its engine, transmission, differential (drive-train) and its rear suspension system. The front suspension system was completely rebuilt, along the original Datson design, with some new strut design, we removed most of the up and down movement in the front-end. As a result, the car has all the ride characteristics of a tractor; very stiff. That is because we do not want any bounce or room for “float” in the ride at high speed.

The Datson rear-end was replaced with a traditional Ford 9-inch differential with a “Chicago” limited slip attachment to improve traction. Keep in mind that the tires on a land-speed car are narrow (less resistance and ground friction) and so it is important that you get the maximum amount of even power application to the ground. The narrow tires also contribute to the high-speed side-to-side instability of the car that can be amplified by a “soft” traditional suspension system.

The rear-end of our car is mounted directly to the uni-body frame of the car. There is no suspension in the rear of the car! Our challenge was (and still may be) getting the tires and drive-train aligned with the body of the car. Can you imagine what it would be like for the tires to be slightly misaligned with the body of the car at 200+ mph?

As part of the design, we have to consider engine placement with respect to height and weight distribution. As the car goes faster, the center of gravity will shift as a result of air pressure or vacuum. At this point of design, there is a lot of guessing going on and that is what Bonneville is all about. You take your best guess about the interaction of all these factors that affect a car at speed and make adjustments. Some are made at the Salt; others are made back at the workshop for a future year’s stab at a record.

While there are a lot of unknowns and un-knowables in the land-speed car design process, there are a lot of given; these are “given” by the Southern California Timing Association/Bonneville Nationals, Inc. (SCTA/BNI). This organization is responsible for managing the sanctioned Bonneville Speed Week and World Finals were the Land Speed Record is set every year.

The event has an enviable record with respect to car racing and the organization maintains that record by having some of the toughest set safety specifications in the racing industry. Most of the work that goes into building a competition car is complying with the multitude of safety requirements that go way beyond simply installing a roll-cage and fire extinguisher.

Due to the complexity of the safety regulations, sometimes the design of the safety system becomes one of the “un-knowables” when you get the car to the check-in line at Bonneville. Many cars do not pass this inspection and, as a result, never get the opportunity to run on the Salt their first time out.

At Bonneville last August, an “old man of the salt” said something like “when building a Land Speed car, all you gotta due build a slick stable platform and then you keep adding horsepower until the records yours”. So far we have been focusing on designing a “slick and stable” racing platform for our engine. There are many details that need to be completed on this platform but the next major challenge is going to be how we teak the maximum amount of horsepower out of our 3.0 liter engine.

A Closing-For Now

This story of Cliff is the story of our road-trip through Bonneville. Like any trip, the story is in the journey. Our journey will take years to play out. It will inevitably involve our entire village here in Mariposa. This is how the “Bonneville experience” has played out in thousand of small towns throughout the country and in other countries as well. Did you know that there was a Swedish and a Kiwi team on the salt in 2003?