Waikato man Dave Alexander heads to the United States to break the land speed record in his homebuilt Lakester car.
Waikato man Dave Alexander has never shied away from a challenge, and the 72-year-old is about to face his biggest one yet.
After nearly nine years of chipping away in his garage at his Mangatāwhiri home, he’s built a turbocharged Lakester, designed for land speed racing.
The car will gointo a shipping container on Friday and make its way to the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States, where Alexander hopes to break the land speed record of 422km/h set in 1996 in the Lakester class, one of the top two classes in land speed racing.
He is aiming to break the record at Bonneville Speed Week, which takes place between August 2-8.
This isn’t Alexander’s first adventure to Bonneville. He initially broke a record in the 1990s in a single-seater. He returned in 2008 in another car he built and broke three records in one week.
While thousands of hours have gone into making it and there is still heaps to do before the car gets on the ship, Alexander admits it still hasn’t sunk in what he’s done.
“It’s been non-stop,” Alexander told the Herald. “It’s a massive project.
“Maybe when we get over there, and Americans start commenting on it, it’ll hit me.
“Sitting on that start line looking out across the salt, it hits you. We’ve grown up reading the American hot rod magazines, following those stories.
“There have been a dozen or so Kiwis who’ve gone over since the 80s. You feel like you’re carrying their flag, following in their footsteps. It’s humbling.”
The land speed record is measured over a 1km or 1.6km (1 mile) course and is set for an average speed over two passes in opposite directions within an hour.
Alexander has been liaising with another US-based Kiwi, who is on the safety committee for the event, to ensure the car adheres to the standards needed to compete.
With the attempt taking place on the other side of the world, it is vital Alexander has everything he needs before the car departs, including spare parts, while some late alterations such as arm restraints inside the cockpit, have been added.
This project is bigger, bolder and more technically demanding than anything he’s taken on before.
Alexander said he had to start from scratch and looked through the record book to find a record that was achievable.
His creation is an impressive 7m Lakester, powered by a turbocharged Nissan RB30 engine, which was built with the guidance of a friend dubbed the “Nissan guru”.
The car has been tested on a dynamometer, a device which measures the torque and rotational speed of an engine, and it reached 1000 horsepower in a 3-litre, 6-cylinder engine.
There have been plenty of ups and downs during the process, which includes redesigning the icebox system and rebuilding the transmission, while swapping to a smaller turbo engine to get power lower down the rev range.
Alexander admits he’s never added up all the costs of assembling the car, as it might give his wife a “heart attack”.
“If you’re worried about cost, you probably shouldn’t be doing it,” he said.
“Anything with ‘race’ in front of it costs double. But we’re nearly there. Once it’s in the container, I can finally take a breath.”
Alexander will be in the cockpit when attempting to break the record. There is little to no space inside the car, and he will have to wear a five-layer fire suit.
Dave Alexander will attempt to break the land speed record of 422km/h in his homebuilt Lakester car. Photo / Corey Fleming
While Alexander’s last trip to Bonneville was more than a decade ago, he is hoping his previous experience will help.
“When you’re racing at that speed, it’s like time slows down,” he said.
