AirSpeed VW Community Forums
General Forums => Air Speed Lounge => Topic started by: Alp on April 14, 2011, 10:50:02 PM
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haven't found the details as of yet but here it is:
(https://airspeedparts.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthe510realm.com%2Fdownload%2Ffile.php%3Fid%3D18960&hash=cc6b2793e763bdac7879c812b802459ea771e143)
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And here is the car it was in...The Black Widow, after a 183 mph crash through the lights flying in the air. Crazy things people tried back then.
(https://airspeedparts.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.hemmings.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F%2F2009%2F07%2Fvwad_resized.jpg&hash=58f3916054429bae5fadf5f3d184dc31226efb3a)
All kinds of crazy stuff can be witnessed in the ads found in old dragzines. This one dates back to 1966, from the pages of Drag Racing, a copy of which was lent to us by Ed Rachanski in Nevada.
It’s an “after” photo of Roy “Mr. Pitiful” Drew, an exhibition racer from Kansas City, who concocted this sort-of Volkswagen called the Black Widow. No 36hp mouse, it instead got its motivation from a rocket-engine rear axle produced by a once-infamous Florida company called Turbonique. Here, essentially, was how it worked: Turbonique geared an acutal rocket to a quick-change rear axle – you can see the Black Widow’s monster rear hubs – using a Borg-Warner sprag clutch. The whole thing was engaged by a flip switch, the driver holding a panic fuel-shutoff cord. It advertised an instant 1,000 horsepower, apparently truthfully – Drew, whose major claim to fame was beating Tommy Ivo’s four-engine dragster with this thing, launched it in the lights on a test run, flying inverted through the beams at 183 MPH. Another early Turbonique ad identified a young Evel Knievel as a customer. The Orlando firm went kaput, allegedly, after people began creating rocket-powered go-karts with its products, resulting in at least one ghastly fatality.
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They were very popular in the domestic scene for a few years, Here's one of the go karts.
(https://airspeedparts.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhorsepowersports.com%2Fimages%2Fturboniquekart5.jpg&hash=6d365f0ee2bb31850b11196cefcda66526f8f22b)
For the price below (in the 60's) you could either buy a set of webers for your beetle or this with 1000hp! lol_hitting
(https://airspeedparts.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhorsepowersports.com%2Fimages%2Fturboniqueformulaj.jpg&hash=86fc3f2e1097595ec684f9076c68be9c00bd2a8f)
good story and photos of the VW below
http://032b0eb.netsolhost.com/site/turbonique.htm
The go kart video is crazy, looks like a 9 sec pass?!?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiVRv1ZPtWw&feature=related
And the black widow racing, vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9FOOMCPUd0&feature=related
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Simply amazing!
I've always wondered what 'lines of technology' we have lost over time. We seem to focus on what's new and discard the rest.
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i can just imagine the liability insurance this company would have to buy to be in buisness today
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Oh wow!, I remember seeing those ads in the back of Popular Mechanics and thinking "Ooooohhh dammmmmnnn, I could have some fun with that!", likely a good thing I didn't have $199.50 back then lol_hitting, now I just have to clear my consience over what happened to those poor Sea monkeys and get over how lame the X-ray goggles were :huh:
(https://airspeedparts.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhorsepowersports.com%2Fimages%2Fturboniqueformulaj.jpg&hash=86fc3f2e1097595ec684f9076c68be9c00bd2a8f)