1971 Camaro Crushes Bonneville Salt Flats Records at 260mph

As I wrote this article, the song “Don’t Stop Me Now” by the band Queen continued to pop into my head. Not just because the owner of this three-time land speed record-holding 1971 Camaro has been having such a good time “traveling at the speed of light,” but because the guy and his nitrous-fed Chevy big-block genuinely cannot be stopped.

After successfully competing in the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) in the 130–150 mph classes with a ’73 Camaro, Gary Spencer knew he wanted to go faster. He also knew that he wanted to remain behind the wheel of a chassis that was already familiar to him. The only issue was finding another car to build.

There really aren’t a whole lot of land speed-homologated 1971 Camaro donor cars floating around out there nowadays. If they haven’t been turned into historic cruising cars or trailer queens, they are stripped down and drag raced on the weekends. That, or they were totaled in the 1980s by some guy with a mullet named Leroy who for a moment there thought he too could set a new land speed record on the drive home.

I’m Gonna Go, Go, Go

One day while flipping through a copy of the National Dragster Magazine, Gary came across an advertisement for a 1971 Camaro in the classifieds. The car already had a rollcage and a bunch of other go-fast goods, so he decided to give the owner a shout and learn a bit more about the vehicle. A southern California drag car with a slew of track wins across the state to its name, things looked promising, at least on paper. After getting some additional information on the vehicle from the owner, Gary agreed to go see the car in person over in Las Vegas.

Upon arrival, Gary was greeted with the sight of a lightweight, stripped-down drag car, which for land-speed racing is the complete opposite of what you want. Weight is your friend when it comes to long-distance high-speed racing, so upon taking possession of the vehicle, Gary immediately set to adding ballast to the 1971 Camaro until it sat squarely at 4,300 lbs.

The 1971 Camaro also didn’t have an engine or transmission when Gary bought it, so a 427 was sourced from a guy who had wrecked his Corvette, and Gary set to rebuilding it in his storage bay. Along the way, the car’s rearend gearing had to be changed up, along with the tire and wheel compounds, and any necessary safety homologation requirements.

During its first outing at Bonneville, the car ran 189 mph on the 427 Chevrolet big-block, and while Gary and his team were happy, they were not completely satisfied. The next year, in 2003, Gary came ready to race with a 496 Chevy big-block stuffed inside, and man did that 1971 Camaro go. An impressive 217 mph later, and Gary was getting close to setting a new land speed record for his class.

But the guy still needed to go faster, so he added a little nitrous oxide injection to the mix, which bumped the vehicle’s overall speed capabilities up to 227 mph. This placed Gary Spencer as a recognized contender for the world title in his class, which at the time was being held by Lee Sicilio and his Hemi-powered Charger Daytona.

Some of you may recall this Charger, which for the longest time had been revered (and feared) for being the fastest naturally aspirated Classic Production car on record. This was all well documented by the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), so feel free to peruse their archives for more on that side of the story. 

The World, I’ll Turn It Inside Out

At Bonneville USFRA meets, as well as at SCTA meets, there’s a standing rule about setting a new record. First, you have to run over the record during a run. After which, you are allowed up to four hours to work on your vehicle in an impound lot before retiring for the evening. The next morning you must make your backup (aka “return run”) a success, and either meet or surpass your previous day’s speed.

For Gary Spencer and his Camaro, everything went well when it came to setting the record speed of 227.298 mph in the A/CFALT class that the team was competing in. That’s land speed jargon, designating “A” for engine size, while “CFALT” stands for the “Classic Fuel Altered” category.

With a Bonneville motor, you’re going [a total of] 5 miles, so everything has to be very strong, especially connecting rods and pistons. Also, your tune needs to be on the safe side to control excess heat… and a larger piston ring end gap is also crucial.—Gary Spencer

When Gary and his team first set the record for the 1971 Camaro’s fuel class, nitrous bottle heaters were not commonly utilized. So to warm the bottle they took it back to their motel and submerged it in the bathtub. Before heading to the track, they wrapped the bottle in blankets to keep it warm and used hand warmer packets taped to all sides of the nitrous bottle to ward off those frigid Bonneville mornings.

However, Gary’s car wasn’t able to qualify for the famed “200 MPH Club” based purely upon the fact that you have to exceed a standing record and then best the minimum requirement for that specific class. Apparently, minimums remain set in place to “maintain club integrity.” This can be a bit confusing (and frustrating) for those who are unused to these sorts of race rules.

So in essence Gary and his 1971 Camaro were so close, yet so very, very far away…

Eventually, that 227.298 mph record the two set together was topped by Lee Sicilio and his Charger, with a total speed of 229 and some change being their competitor’s final figures. Needless to say, Gary Spencer was nonplussed over the entire situation and swore that he was going to get that title properly the next time around.

Call Me Mr. Fahrenheit

The next year, Gary and his team showed up with a 540 cubic-inch motor crammed into the 1971 Camaro and a big old bottle of laughing gas on board. While the abbreviated build list below will give you a more in-depth look at this record-setting setup, we’ll go over a few key upgrades that Gary feels proved to be of considerable importance.

Starting things off is the Profiler tunnel ram intake and the twin Pro Systems feeding that duo of 1050 Holley Dominators. This is backed by a Big Shot Cheater nitrous system, AFR cylinder heads, a Straub Technologies Roller Cam, Oliver connecting rods, Wiseco pistons, and a whole bucket of valvetrain finishing touches to tie it all together.

Some hefty tuning time later, the car was responding extremely well to this new configuration, setting the record at 236.903 that day. This made the Gary Spencer Racing team a clear land speed front runner!

However, the car was running into handling problems at that speed, and Gary was hesitant about running the vehicle further for fear of things going sideways… literally. So he told his girlfriend and racing partner, Pat Christensen, that this was the absolute fastest he felt comfortable driving the car as it sat. He went on to explain that if she wanted him to go faster she would have to find a new driver. An ultimatum that wisely was taken quite seriously.

After conducting some research, the high-speed couple came up with a fresh plan of attack, with an air dam up front and a much larger spoiler out back keeping the earth’s atmosphere working in the car’s favor. Gary contacted his good friend, Jay Barnard, for the construction of the front air dam, with the rear spoiler being the product of Boise, Idaho builder Dan Soran Race Cars. The latter of whom also crafted the additional roll cage and seat improvements that Gary knew he needed for safety and stability.

Then, in 2008, with a fresh paint job and a bunch of aero and safety enhancements on board, Gary Spencer Racing showed up at Speedweek with high expectations and a genuine record-setter at the ready. After amending a few issues associated with the newly added spoiler and air dam, the car ran a speed of 250.704, easily topping the previous record of 246 set by the Daytona Charger, and placing the Gary Spencer Racing 1971 Camaro in the history books.

Gary Spencer and the rest of his team would like to encourage people to go check out “Save the Salt” savethesalt.org where they can learn about the deteriorating conditions at Bonneville and the need to preserve this precious environment for future generations of land speed record holders.

Like a Tiger, Defying the Laws of Gravity

So naturally, that got Gary and his ’71 1971 Camaro into the 200 mph club right? Wrong! No sooner had he finished his record-setting pass, that the race officials came over to verify his engine’s cubic inches. As ill fortune would have it, the motor had been damaged on the last run and wouldn’t pump up to the point where it could have its displacement checked.

After a quick conversation with the race officials, it became apparent that the entire engine needed to be disassembled in order to have both its bore and stroke manually measured. After a “quick” tear down (and a few busted knuckles) teammates Dan Warner and Larry Volk had the entire engine measured and the officials were able to verify that it sat right at 582 cubic inches just like Gary had claimed. At that moment, both Gary Spencer and his 1971 1971 Camaro were inducted into the “200 MPH Club” right there on the spot, achieving a lifelong dream for the automotive enthusiast of someday being immortalized as one of the legends of Bonneville.

And while Gary Spencer and his 1971 Camaro currently own three records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, the guy says he wants to go even faster than his 260.587 mph top speed and be that supersonic man Freddy Mercury sings about. Future plans are simple, as they include bumping the 246 mph record to over 250+ and then giving the car three consecutive records of reaching over 250 mph.