![]() "If I was going to succeed, I had to race," he explains. But in 1948 Alex knew that for So-Cal Speed Shop to survive, he had to run at the dry lakes-there was no other way to get your name out. "Financed not by giant corporations but by whatever Xydias and his buddies could spare from their paychecks, So-Cal Speed Shop produced the first hot rods ro run 170, 180, and 190 miles per hour."*1 Alex Xydias returned from the war and opened the doors to So-Cal Speed in 1946. Another piece of the puzzle is obviously the emergence of Salt Flat racing in Australia, at Lake Gairdner in South Oz, making it much more accessible than a trip to Bonneville.įinally, I've also read a lot about iconic US "brand" So-Cal Speed Shop, and it was very much on the salt flats of Bonneville that their legend was born. When I discovered that many of the early "Gasser" racers also ran their cars on the Salt I was definitely sold. Whilst I've always been interested in all things related to speed it was the combination of the release of "The Worlds Fastest Indian", the fantastic movie detailing the efforts of Burt Munro from NZ, and the building of Troy's "Blowfish" (1969 Barracuda for George Poteet) that combined to make Salt Flat Racing a "must do" challenge for myself. Although the first dry lakes races were ran in the 1920's, the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) wasn't formed until 1937, and it was really the post WWII era when things started getting serious from a hot rod perspective. Salt Flat racing is currently going through somewhat of a revival, no doubt in some part due to the developments noted below. ![]() Salt Flat Racing has long been an important component of hot-rodding history, with hot-rodders looking to find the ultimate potential of their vehicles.
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