Tuesday, April 30, 2019

An update on Larry Dixon Jr.'s 
two-seat dragster 

On April 11 drag racer Larry Dixon Junior filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Glendora, California, based national Hot Rod Association (NHRA) with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis. Dixon’s suit accused the sanctioning body of wrongfully suspending him and blacklisting him two years ago, which has deprived him of his livelihood. The plaintiffs in the suit are Championship Adventures, LLC, Larry Dixon, and Larry Dixon Racing, LLC.

According to the suit, Dixon, with 62 career NHRA victories and his investment partner Nick Salamone, a Philadelphia-area businessman, spent two years and “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to develop a unique two-seater car that caters to the popular fan-experience trend.  

Larry Dixon in happier times 
at the 2017 SEMA show


The two-seat dragster unveiled 
at the 2017 SEMA show


Dixon said the NHRA supported the idea he pitched it to NHRA officials in 2016, but the trouble began when the vehicle went on display at the Traxxas booth at the 2017 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) trade show in Las Vegas Nevada. Dixon distributed a press release unveiling Larry Dixon Top Fuel Experience, billing it as the “fastest ride in drag racing.”



Larry Dixon Jr.'s two-seat dragster 
as shown at the 2018 PRI show 


Dixon’s complaint claims that on the opening day of the trade show, an NHRA official “strategically visited Championship Adventures’ booth at a time when Mr. Dixon was not there and conducted an unauthorized ‘inspection’ of the prototype of the two-seater car.” 

The NHRA official spotted an expired NHRA safety inspection sticker in the car, which Dixon said was there “simply because the chassis for the prototype for the two-seater dragster was originally a car that had competed in the NHRA.” Dixon argues was that “no one had removed the sticker, as there was no need to remove an expired sticker when the car was not built as a competition car.”

Days after the SEMA show the NHRA issued a “statement of action against participant” notice which claimed Dixon had violated NHRA rules and suspended him indefinitely as a driver, team owner or crew member. Dixon’s suit alleges that the NHRA’s action was “an obvious effort to use NHRA’s unfettered control over professional drag racing to control the market in which two-seater exhibition cars compete for business.”

The complaint said Dixon “has now been entirely deprived of his livelihood and sole source of income by this unjustifiable suspension — which is, in effect, a lifetime ban from NHRA — unless he relinquishes an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars, as well as the future profits that he could derive from that investment.”

All photos by the author 

Monday, April 29, 2019


POWRi BCRA midgets visit 
Stockton 99 Speedway



On Saturday April 27, the Lucas Oil POWRi Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) midget series made their first 2019 visit to the historic Stockton 99 Speedway to help celebrate the club’s 80th year of racing. The midgets raced as part of a program that also included the BCRA vintage division, the Gunslingers winged sprint cars, the North State Modifieds, and the Legends of Kearny Bowl.

Unfortunately, during practice, two POWRi BCRA midgets suffered mechanical problems and were forced to withdraw; Cody Jessop’s engine spun a bearing, and David Goodwill’s car broke a throttle shaft. 

Chad Nichols in the #17 Shanoian Esslinger was the first drvier out for time trials and Chad set the mark for others to try to match at 13.005 seconds. Mark Maliepaard in his #51 Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors Special was second fastest with his best lap of 13.228 seconds, followed by Frankie Guerrini in Bob Rosen’s #4 midget third fastest at 13.714 seconds. BCRA stalwart JR Williams in the J& J Racing #74 was fourth fastest and fourth-generation racer Robert Carson was the fifth fastest qualifier.

Guerrini and Maliepaard shared the front row for the start of the evening’s 20-lap feature race with quick qualifier Chad Nichols slotted into third place. Guerrini held the point for the first lap before Maliepaard slipped past in turn three into the race lead, then on the next lap Nichols dropped Guerrini to third place. Nichols gave chase to the leader but Maliepaard ran consistently fast laps and Nichols could never get close enough to make a move. 

By the end of the race #51 held a comfortable 4-car advantage over Nichols. Guerrini came home third with JR Williams fourth and rookie of the year contender Robert Carson in fifth place. The feature ran caution flag free and was completed in four minutes, 22 and 92/100 seconds.

The POWRi BCRA midget series kicks off the month of May with an action-packed doubleheader first weekend. The first race on Friday night May 3 at the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park will have the mighty midgets in action along with the track’s Pro Stock and American Stocks series and the 305-cubic inch winged sprint cars. 

The following day, Saturday May 4 the POWRi BCRA midget series will visit the paved Madera Speedway along with the Legends of the Kearney Bowl, the California Hard Tops, the Western US Midgets, SWT (South West Tour) Trucks, Legends cars and the 100-lap California Challenge Cup for the track’s stock car division.
  
    

Thursday, April 25, 2019


Trent Stephens’ ISMA supermodified


The Schaeffer’s specialized lubricants booth at the 208 PRI (Performance Racing Industry) show in Indianapolis Indiana featured the ISMA (International Supermodified Association) race car driven by Trent Stephens of Talmadge Ohio to an eighth-place finish in the 2018 ISMA points.



During the 2018 11-race season, Trent who has three career ISMA victories, scored two fifth place finishes, with four other top ten finishes.    



The #19 car, owned by Steve Stout’s ACME Racing team, in addition to the typical supermodfied details such as extreme offset engine location, push-rod front suspension and air cylinders which allow the top wing to “plane” on the straightaways, also sports a very unusual cantilevered rear suspension.




During the 2018 PRI show, Steve Stout announced that the ACME Racing team will expand to a two-car program for 2019 with 2015 and 2016 ISMA champion Dave Shullick Jr. joining to drive the #49 supermodfied. 

In 2019, ISMA’s forty-third season of operation the racers have a 13-race schedule with two visits each at Oswego Speedway, Delaware (Ontario) Speedway, and Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway.



Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants founded in 1839 in St. Louis Missouri offers engine oils, greases, hydraulic and transmission fluids, gear lubes and fuel additives for the agriculture, trucking, food, heavy construction and racing industries. Check them out at  https://www.schaefferoil.com/



Thursday, April 18, 2019

Gasratz Customs cruise night 
Torrance California 



This week the author paid a visit to the Gasratz Customs cruise night in Torrance California. It was a very eclectic show, that included Jeeps, pickup trucks, sports cars, street rods, muscle cars, customs, hot rods and Volkswagens.

Here are a few of the of the author's favorites:

Ferrari 246 Dino GT






First generation Oldsmobile 442 in original condition






Custom Chevrolet  with great 
Watson seaweed style flames




This dog was patiently waiting for his owner
in a cool supercharged Ford Model A hot rod 



All photographs by the author 





Monday, April 15, 2019


A Bugatti built 70 years later
 
The Bugatti Type 64 on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum is the culmination of a decade of work and dedication by the owner Peter Mullin (the chairman of the Petersen board of directors), the designer, Art Center College of Design’s Stewart Reed and Mike Kleeves, owner of the Automobile Shaping Company of Kimball Michigan.

The Bugatti Type 64 was conceived by Gianoberto Maria Carlo “Jean” Bugatti in 1937 to be a successor to the type 57 Atlantic coupe with papillon (butterfly -  what we now call gull-wing) doors, with the detailed design work performed by Noel Domboy and Antonio Pichetto. The car was powered 270-cubic inch 2-valve DOHC straight-8 engine with chain-driven camshafts and rode on a 130-inch wheelbase chassis of riveted duralumin (then known as duraluminum) with a cast duralumin firewall and suspension pieces.

Duralumin is an alloy that is 95% aluminum, 4% copper, 0.5% magnesium, and 0.5% manganese which is malleable but after it is heat treated it becomes very hard and strong. Duralumin was used extensively in rigid airships that included the German passenger Zeppelins and the US Navy dirigibles.


While the addition of copper to the alloy added strength it also it also made it susceptible to corrosion. The combination of the labor intensive riveting process and the duralumin corrosion considerations make it hard to believe that the Bugatti type 64 could have ever been viable for production.

The ground-breaking chassis design also used Lockheed hydraulic brakes (with twin master cylinders) and telescopic shock absorbers. The transmission on this car, chassis #64002, is an Armstrong-Siddeley pre-selector gearbox paired with a Daimler fluid flywheel, a forerunner to modern automatic transmissions.    

Alas, the dreams of Jean’s “papillon” doors for the type 64 died with him in a testing accident in August 1939. While he was testing the 1939 LeMans 24-hour race wining supercharged Bugatti type 57G “tank” on a closed public road at night Jean the eldest son of company owner and founder Ettore Bugatti clipped a bicyclist struck a tree and was killed instantly at age 30.       

The Bugatti factory built three Type 64 chassis and engines and it appears that the factory built two bodies - both coupes (one with a “B” pillar – a ‘berline’ and the other a ‘hardtop’ with no “B” pillar) but both versions lacked gull-wing doors. According to the book Bugatti 57 - The last French Bugatti written by Barrie Price in testing, the type 64 “was not up to Bugatti standards with regards to the handling at high speed,” The completed berline Type 64 is shown at the museum Cité of the Automobile in Mulhouse, France which also owns the remaining chassis and engine  




The third Type 64 chassis, #64002 was completed as a running chassis before the project was abandoned.  After it passed through multiple owners, financier, car collector and museum owner Peter Mullin acquired the Type 64 chassis in 2003, Reed designed the body as an homage to Jean Bugatti’s design. Automotive Metal Shaping Company built the water-cut mahogany buck that was then used to form the car’s aluminum body panels. The Mullin car was completed in 2013, both the car and the wooden buck on part of the Petersen permanent display.
 
Photos by the author  

Wednesday, April 10, 2019


1957 BMW Isetta 300 “Bubble Car”



Recently on a visit to the Blackhawk Museum, the author spied on display a restored 1957 BMW Isetta 300, a micro-car that due to its unique shape is known as a “bubble car.”  Originally designed by Iso in Italy the Isetta powered by a two-stroke motorcycle engine was first shown to the public in November 1953, the tiny seven-and-a-half-foot long car was a sensation. Iso made a few hundred of these cars, but most production was by license to manufacturers in France, Brazil, Argentina and Germany.
The German manufacturer, BMW (Bavarian Motor Works) introduced its version of the Isetta, known initially as the Motocoupe, in late 1955 with a single-cylinder four-stroke engine that displaced 250 cubic centimeters (CC) (15 cubic inches) and developed 12 horsepower. In early 1956 BMW added the larger 300 CC (18 cubic inches) that developed 13 horsepower to the product line.



Although the horsepower change is slight, and the top speed of 53 miles per hour (MPH) is unchanged, the 300 CC engine provides more torque and better hill-climbing ability. The engine is connected to a BMW 4-speed transmission with reverse that fed the rear two wheels and is cooled by a forced air fan. The nearly 800-pound Isetta was not designed for performance but fuel economy and a BMW Isetta could easily achieve over 60 miles per gallon of gasoline.  





Believe it or not, Isettas competed in the famed Italian road race the 1,000 mile Mille Miglia in 1954 and 1955. In 1954, Iso Isettas finished first, second, third, fourth and sixth in the economy car division and averaged over 43 miles per gallon with a winning average speed of 45 miles per hour.
a page from a BMW Isetta owners manual


As part of the licensing agreement BMW also purchased the body dies from Iso so the BMW cars are very similar to the Iso, but the deluxe versions such as the one on display in Danville, featured sliding side windows. The tubular chassis features independent front suspension with coil sprint, while the narrow rear suspension uses quarter elliptical leaf springs, and the car features four-wheel hydraulic brakes.   The design allowed a turning radius of 27 feet.


 
One of the most striking features of the Isetta is the front opening door with the hinged swing-away steering wheel and dashboard to allow passengers easy access to the bench seat. The author remembers as a nine-year old taking a ride in a BMW Isetta which was used by the local Rambler dealer, Dale Rambler, to ferry service customers home while their car was being serviced.   The BMW Isetta was marketed as an ideal suburban second car for shopping and picking the children up after school.  
After a peak of nearly 40,000 built in 1957, sales declined as BMW introduced larger cars - first the 4-seat 600 bubble car and then the model 700. In 1962, BMW manufactured the Isetta until May 1962 with a total of 161,728 built making it the most popular single-cylinder car ever built.
The fully restored 1957 BMW Isetta Model 57 Deluxe example on display at the Blackhawk Museum is finished in coral red and ivory with a folding black roof and gray and black interior.  The car is currently offered for sale at $35,000.

Sunday, April 7, 2019


USAC 2019 national event schedules

The United States Auto Club (USAC) announced the 2019 event schedules for their three national series at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis Indiana.  

NOS Energy Drink becomes the new title sponsor for the all-dirt national midget series, while AMSOIL remains the title sponsor of the all-dirt national sprint car series.  The Silver Crown series expands to twelve races for 2019 evenly split with six races each on dirt and pavement.





Thursday, April 4, 2019


 Today we share an article by the renowned West Coast racing reporter Tim Kennedy

Thrilling finish to the NASCAR K & N WEST 150 at Irwindale Speedway  

By Tim Kennedy

The first visit to Irwindale Speedway by the touring NASCAR K & N Pro Series-West in two years on Saturday March 30th was followed by five LKQ Pick Your Part fan-popular events on “Salute to Saugus Speedway Night”. NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Ron Hornaday, Jr. served as grand marshal. He briefly paced the ENEOS/NAPA NASCAR K & N 150 by driving the 1964 Galpin Ford NASCAR No. 97 Ford race car that his father Ron raced in the NASCAR Pacific Coast Division.

All the attractions Saturday resulted in the largest NASCAR racing crowd in years at the San Gabriel Valley speedway that opened in 1999. More than 7,000 spectators packed the grandstand, suites and pit grandstand to watch 22 NASCAR K & N West late models open the evening with a 150-lap feature on the progressively-banked half-mile. Veteran observers called the exciting race the best K & N West point race in track history. Fans and cars were still entering the track parking lot at 7:30 pm as the 150-lap race was nearing the halfway mark.

The 150-lap race had a ten-minute break at the 75-lap mark. Teams pitting in the fourth turn of the third-mile oval made adjustments and changed up to two tires, now supplied by General Tire. The entire race was a thrilling duel among three young drivers. All three of the front-runners led the race at some point and the finish was a two-car photo finish that captivated the attention of everyone. (NOTE: NBCTV Network recorded the race for telecast Monday, April 8 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm.)

Trevor Huddleston, 22, won the 150-lap race by 0.030 in a side-by-side, door banging duel on the final lap from turn four to the finish line. He beat rookie Tanner Gray, 19, from New Mexico, who was making only his second NASCAR K & N start and was racing at Irwindale for the first time. Gray, a third-generation NHRA drag racer, originally from North Carolina, won eight NHRA Pro Stock events and the 2018 NHRA Pro Stock championship.

Huddleston, a second year K & N West driver, experienced some transmission problems enroute to his initial K & N feature triumph aboard the No. 9 Sunrise Ford-sponsored Ford. He had a cut left rear tire send his car spinning into the first turn following the checkered flag. His car hit the crash wall on the drivers' side and Huddleston said he briefly had “the wind knocked out of me”.

Huddleson, the 2015-17 Irwindale and California State NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion, keyed his radio and asked his long-time spotter Will Kozak if he had won. Assured he was the winner, Huddleston had his winning car towed by the track's official towing service--Jan's Towing--to the finish line for victory ceremonies. His father Tim Huddleston, also a three-time NASCAR Irwindale and California Whelen late model champion, handled PA mic interviews as usual during victory ceremonies.

 

Irwindale Speedway co-promoters had reason to rejoice in addition to warm weather in the 70s, 7,000+ standing room only attendance, an exciting race for all 150 laps, and thrilling photo finish. Car dealer Bob Bruncati's race car won the 150 and his driver Trevor Huddleston is the son of co-promoter Tim Huddleston. It was Trevor's initial K & N West victory after placing second in 2018 series rookie points driving a third Bruncati Sunrise Ford.

Bruncati's second car (No. 6 Sunrise Ford) was driven by Jagger Jones, 16, a Huddleston HPR organization NASCAR late model driver for two years. Jones, from Scottsdale, AZ finished fourth in only his second K & N West race. The son of racer P. J. Jones and grandson of 1963 ‘Indianapolis 500’ winner Parnelli Jones, ran up front all night.

The temperature was in the low 80s at 4:00 pm and still in the low 70s when the 3.5 hours entertaining evening concluded at 10:26 pm with a ten-minute aerial fireworks show. N of D fans normally come out 5,000 to 6,000 strong at IS for mayhem events. This week they also witnessed a classic NASCAR K & N West late model race as well. The pairing of NASCAR K & N West race and fan-popular Night of Destruction events was an experiment by co-promoters Huddleston and Bruncati that will likely be repeated in 2020.

TOP DUO: Winner Huddleston, a business major at Moorpark Junior College, won his 45th Irwindale feature victory. He moved into a fourth-place tie for most main event triumphs (including all divisions) in IS track history. His father Tim and Robert Rice also have 45 feature victories. Huddleston said he won as a birthday present for his girl friend Katie, who cheered him home. He held his impressive first place trophy and said he will give it to car owner Bruncati.

Runner-up Gray has raced micro sprints, outlaw karts, late models, modifieds and local track stock cars. Following his 2018 NHRA Pro Stock championship, Gray decided to switch from NHRA to NASCAR. This year he is contracted to race the No. 15 DGR/Crosley Toyota co-owned by David Gilliland in the NASCAR K & N East Series. He made his series debut during February and placed 12th in the New Smyrna, (FL) 175 lap race. Gilliland, an 11-time Irwindale feature winner in the early years of the track, moved to North Carolina and raced in all three NASCAR National Series. He was present in the pits at Saturday and advised his latest protege about chassis set-up and IS track conditions.

ENEOS / NAPA 150: The feature had 21 starters and ten were K & N series rookies. Six of the top ten finishers were rookies. The top five finishers represented an impressive corps of upcoming NASCAR talented teenage drivers in second through fifth positions. All are ages 16 to 19. Top finishers behind Huddleston and Gary were: Wisconsin-based Derek Kraus, 17, who is a third year NAPA Toyota driver for Bill McAnally, J. Jones, 16, and fastest qualifier Hailie Deegan, 17-year old winner of the 2019 K & N West season opener February 28 at the Las Vegas dirt half-mile.

Cole Cabrera, Matt Levin, rookie Brittney Zamora, 20, from Kennewick, WA, Irwindale late model veteran/K & N rookie Dylan Garner, 20, and Jack Wood completed the top ten. All logged the full 150-lap distance. Eleventh place finisher Todd Souza, finished 17-seconds off the lead, and was the final lead lap finisher. Twenty of 21 starters were racing at the finish. Deegan, from Temecula, ran the fastest lap of 96.951 mph.

The entire K & N field used group qualifying from 5:05 to 5:20 pm with three groups of seven cars qualifying simultaneously on the track. Cars were grouped together based upon practice speeds. Deegan's 18.183 (98.994 mph) was fastest in the McAnally No. 19 NAPA Toyota. She barely edged her teammate Kraus' 18.200 in the No. 16 NAPA Toyota. Gray, Huddleston, and Jones qualified third through fifth quickest. Garner, in his K & N debut, was sixth fastest and occupied the outside row three starting position.

THE RACE: At the 7:04 pm start, Kraus shot into the lead and led Deegan, Gray, Jones, Huddleston, Wood, Zamora and Garner at lap 10. The top three were a tight pack as they began lapping on lap 10. At lap 25 Gray passed Deegan for P. 2 on the inside leaving turn four. He used the same move on lap 26 to pass race-long leader Kraus. At lap 50, Gray extended his lead to 0.645. Second-running Deegan had cut that to 0.545 when the half-time break red flag sent all cars to the pits in the fourth turn of the third-mile.

A two-by-two restart at lap 78 had Kraus shoot back into the lead over Gray, Deegan, Huddleston, Zamora and Jones. On lap 81 third place Deegan spun out low in turn two. She restarted at the back and charged forward to P. 9 by lap 86. Kraus continued leading and opened a 0.8 advantage over Gray. On lap 91 Huddleston executed an inside pass in the fourth turn and took second from Gray as Deegan charged to P. 6 with 11 cars on the lead lap.

At lap 100 Kraus led by 0.8 over Huddleston with Gray 1.7 back. On lap 112 rookie Joey Tanner spun in turn four, causing a brief yellow flag. A side-by-side restart on lap 118 had Huddleston inside and Kraus outside, with Jones and Gray in row two. On lap 119, Gray dropped Jones to fourth place and a lap later Gray took second from Huddlestonn with the top four cars racing in a tight pack. Deegan took fifth from Cabrera on lap 120 and a lap later passed Jones for fourth on the outside.

With 20 laps to go the position order was Kraus, Gray, Huddleston, Deegan, Jones, Cabrera, Levin, Zamora, Garner and Wood. Huddleston took second from Gray in the third/fourth turns on lap 140. On lap 144, leader Kraus lost his brakes and went high in the first two corners. Huddleston took his first lead on lap 144.

Gray passed Kraus for second on lap 145 on the inside at the third corner. He then cut into Huddleston's lead using the inside groove. Gray trailed by one length as they started the final lap. He made a banzai charge on the inside out of turn four and the two leaders bumped there and again at the finish line. Huddleston's car had half a front fender advantage at the dramatic photo finish captured from turn one by photographer Albert Wong.

Night of Destruction events

A 25-lap enduro car race on the third-mile at 8:35 pm used a five-turn”roval” with a cone-marked jog onto the half-mile finish line. Joe Labrasciano led lap. Dewitt Jones' 1992 Honda Accord paced laps 2-23. Back row starter Rodney Argo reached P. 2 on lap 20 and shot past Jones on lap 24 to win by 3.632 seconds over Jones. He collected $300 and Jones $200.

 

 

 

 

Enduro cars race for Irwindale NASCAR track points. This year the enduros have two classes—a sports class with 2.3 liter engines and slower stock class with 2.0 liter engines. Argo won the sport class and Jones won the stock class trophies. Bobby Ozman, Labrasciano and Rick Conti completed the top five with 11 finishers on the lead lap. The all-green flag race took 8:27.555. Former sprint car racer Argo ran the fastest lap of 18.324.

Figure 8: Next was an all-green light 25-lap F-8 race with 14 starters. It lasted 9+ minutes. Pole starter Robbie Salcido, from Perris, led every lap in his Honda Accord. Argo started last in his same Honda Prelude and charged to P. 2 on lap 13. At lap 20 he was pressing leader Salcido. Argo tried an outside pass entering turn three on the final lap, but he got loose and almost spun. He lost 30-yards and placed second. Labrosciano, D. Jones and Joseph Bereiter followed. Only near collisions occurred at the X-intersection.

SKID PLATE 20: A field of 15 enduro cars raced the five-turn “roval” with metal skid plates installed on the back axle instead of tires. It became a Lee family battle for the victory with father Wayne leading the first 17 laps. Son Austin Lee passed him and led the final three laps. He won his second SPC main in a row and fourth ever. Lee's daughter Ashlee Rice started on pole and finished sixth, down a lap. R. Salcido and Mike McIntyre finsihed fourth and fifth and ran all 20 laps in the all-green flag 11-minute event.

Next event was the PYP GMC pickup truck with an aircraft jet engine mounted at the back. It torched an old sedan with jet thrusts in the infield near the light pole. The final event before the ten-minute pyrotechnics show was the always hectic and track-littering trailer race. Various cars and trucks towed trailers with large and small boats, various cargo, and small mobile homes.

The object was to destroy as much as possible and entertain spectators to win their votes as the event winner. After 15+ laps the top position went to rookie trailer racer Jason Jonasson over past winners Cheryl Hyland, Robert Rice and R. Salcido respectively. Earlier, Hyland's decorated boat won the fan vote for best appearing trailer.

The next Irwindale Speedway race will be Saturday, April 13 with a NASCAR night of races on the half and third-mile ovals.

Monday, April 1, 2019


An electric 1949 Mercury at SEMA 2018


The ICON 4x4 and Customs shop in Los Angeles California is renowned for its past “derelict restomod” builds that featured modern running gear under old sheetmetal such as the shop’s original 1951 DeSoto station wagon, the 1950 Buick Roadmaster, and the 1946 Lincoln Club Coupe, and the 1949 Mercury coupe shown at SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) 2018 is equally ground-breaking.



The 1949 Mercury features two 150 KW permanent magnet electric motors that combined to look like a V-8 engine develops an estimated 400 horsepower and 470 ft/lbs. of torque.  A Tesla 85 KWH battery pack provides the power with dual motor controllers and dual fast chargers.



The coupe rides on a custom-built Art Morrison chassis with four-wheel independent suspension equipped with Brembo brakes, electric power steering, Relicate custom leather and textile interior and electric air conditioning. The whole package has an estimated 120 mile per hour (MPH) top speed and a range of 150 to 200 miles.     


All photos by the author