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?