Salt Lake Telegram | 1938-08-27 | Page 2 | New Record Cost Fixed at $86,038

New Record Cost Fix Fixed a At Eighty six Eighty six tho thousand d dollars dollars' That's what it ii co cost t in measurable measurable measurable able cash for Capt Captain Jn George E. E ET T. T Eyston to set the worlds world's land speed record Saturday of ot miles per hour hour plus many more tI times es that amount in years of engineering experimentation experimentation tation designed effort The a actual al dollars and cents cost of everything that went into Thunderbolt and record probably can ile measured exactly be be- the captains captain's reticence on subject and difficulty of computing intangible things like like geni genius s and time The actual cost of ot the Thunderbolt Thunderbolt Thunder Thunder- bolt bot itself has been estimated by various rious authorities at from t to However Captain Eyston himself decla declared ed the cash value of the machine and its parts Including tires at when he signed entry papers at the United States customs office here Gus P. P Backman executive secretary see sec of the Salt Lake City chamber of ot commerce and the Bonneville Speedway association which controls the salt bed race racecourse racecourse racecourse course said the figure included included in in- eluded only the cost of the machine machine machine ma ma- chine itself and that engineering costs are at least more Customs records show that Captain Eyston brought 32 wheels with tires on them and 48 extra tires with him from England Cost of ot manufacturing manufacturing manufacturing man man- the specially made tires exclusive of experimentation tion and design has been placed at about 70 each Actual cost of the tires includIng including ing engineering and design was set at each When the run had been made Saturday at least 48 tires had I been burned up Each tire is used only once The captain used 16 tires each race race eight on each run and charges off oft eight other tires against each run for test runs runs runs-or or 24 tires per race Itemized the expenses of setting setting setting set set- ting the land mile record would look like this Thunderbolt Thunderbolt Tires used up up Cost of preparing the flats per race race or 1000 for the two races Painting the mile 13 black line Policing and first aid precautions Housing regular crew and emergency workers equipment and incidentals' incidentals for the entire time on the salt beds beds 2000 2000 Transportation of ot men and machine machine machine ma ma- chine from England England Timing Timing includes expenses expenses ex ex- of ot bringing officials to salt beds beas and housing them Total cost cost Some interesting mechanical specifications of df the Thunderbolt Time spent In b building eight building eight months months' act actual al construction on the 1937 Thunderbolt plus an additional eight months in re redesign redesign redesign re- re design and rebuilding for the 1938 runs Length 34 feet width 7 feet 1 inches height 46 inches with foot 7 fin weight just under 7 tons motors Rolls Royce cyl 12 inder R type power horse gasoline capa capacity ity 30 30 gallons oi oil capacity 28 gallons brakes 4 mechanical operate directly on front and back wheels wheels 8 set tandem on front and dual on rear tires inch 44 diameter springs coil with hydraulic shock absorbers transmission normal pinion type 3 speeds forward no reverse cockpit A special compressed air machine machine ma ma- chine is used to start the motors