All kinds of crazy stuff can be witnessed in the ads found in old
dragzines. This one dates back to 1966, from the pages of Drag Racing. It's an "after" photo of Roy "Mr. Pitiful" Drew, an exhibition racer
from Kansas City, who concocted this sort-of Volkswagen called the
Black Widow.
No 36hp mouse, it instead got its motivation from a
rocket-engine rear axle produced by a once-infamous Florida company
called Turbonique. Here, essentially, was how it worked: Turbonique
geared an acutal rocket to a quick-change rear axle – you can see the
Black Widow's monster rear hubs – using a Borg-Warner sprag clutch.
The
whole thing was engaged by a flip switch, the driver holding a panic
fuel-shutoff cord. It advertised an instant 1,000 horsepower,
apparently truthfully – Drew, whose major claim to fame was beating
Tommy Ivo's four-engine dragster with this thing, launched it in the
lights on a test run, flying inverted through the beams at 183 MPH.
Another early Turbonique ad identified a young Evel Knievel as a
customer.
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Re: Fire Bug: Rocket-Engine Rear Axles
