<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<ST1At Bonneville Sppedweek will be the Alexander Special - a clone to Art Chrisman's No.25 Dragster.</ST1</st1:country-region> <O</O For the Alexander Special Racing Team their dedication to accurately clone the Chrisman car has garnered worldwide recognition and to top that, the team wishes to better the 1953 speed record of the original Chrisman car when it ran 144mph at Bonneville. Whilst the Alexander Special is powered by a similar Ford Flathead V8 engine to that of the original Chrisman car, a great deal of Kiwi ingenuity as been applied. Not unlike the ambition of Burt Munro. <O</O Dave Alexander is the owner/builder of the Alexander Special. The 54 year old company director of Bombay, Auckland has been involved in a diverse mix of motorsport since the sixties, including speedway, rallying, hot rodding and drag racing. Together with his wife, Pam, Dave has completed a number of restoration and hot rod projects including the Alexander Special. <O</O Dave will share the driving with Paul Sattler, a 47 year old self employed auto electrician/mechanic from Tauranga. Paul has been hot rodding and drag racing since the 1970’s and shares a similar p***ion to the heritage of the hot rodding hobby with the restoration of a mid sixties front engine dragster that he campaigns today. <O</O The balance of the crew consists of Pam Alexander and fellow hot rod and drag racing enthusiasts, Dave Best and Mike Coyle. Both guys also share a p***ion for the importance of the Alexander Special to acquaint itself with the original Chrisman Car. Both Dave and Mike are also mechanically talented to properly prepare the Alexander Special for high speed runs at Bonneville Speedweek – a five day event. <O</O The Alexander Special is a clone of one of the worlds most significant hot rods – the Art Chrisman No.25 dragster. The original Chrisman car has been chronicled in hundreds if not thousands of magazines and books since the late 1930’s. <O</O The car has experienced all forms of motorsport from land speed racing and drag racing and was renowned for its incredible build quality and show appearance. Art Chrisman restored the car a number of years ago and it is usually on display at the NHRA Wally Parks Museum in Pomona, California, USA. <O</O Dave and Pam Alexander built the Alexander Special as accurately as possible to the original Chrisman Car half a world away. The 1929 Chev ch***is is home to a Mike Gearing built flathead Ford V8 and the motor alone features the ingenuity that parallels the Burt Munro story. Much like the original Chrisman car, the Alexander Special is totally handmade and in most cases a lot of the work has been carried out by Dave Alexander himself. <O</O The car pays tribute to not only the Chrisman car but all those cars, drivers and manufacturers before us and being part of the 60<SUP>th</SUP> Anniversary Bonneville Speedweek will be a totally memorable experience for the Alexander Special Racing Team. ALSO, this car has been built to New Zealand road regulations making it street legal. Dave has quick release brackets for the headlights etc. Making this car street legal in New Zealand is no small feat when you consider the regulations we have - its not too bad but in comparison to the USA its a whole different deal
The crew have been working with Kiwi Steve Davies in regards to the regulations required to run at Bonneville. To fit within an acceptable cl***, the car has been fitted with a midget tail and an SCTA/BNI roll cage manufactured by John Reid of Rods By Reid - www.rodsbyreid.co.nz
Dave ALexander ran 130mph on a 123mph record at Bonneville yesterday. The car is impound and will be run this morning to back up the record more info and updates here: http://www.nz-hotrod.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=49063#post49063
The Jalopy Journal
