as for the four wheels. A flat belly pan and a tapered tail further
streamlined the car.
The car’s 6.9-liter straight-eight Duesenberg engine had dual
overhead cams, and two Stromberg carbs fed an intake that was
boosted using a centrifugal supercharger. A standard Duesey SJ
engine made 320 bhp; with the help of cam-grinding legend Ed
Winfield, the Jenkins car’s mill pumped out 400 bhp.
Jenkins, co-driving with Tony Gulotta, managed an average of
135.580 mph for 24 hours to set a new record, but that record was
soon surpassed. Jenkins knew he needed more power, so he installed
a Curtiss Conquerer V-12 aircraft engine more than twice the size
of the Duesenberg engine, subsequently dubbed the car Mormon
Meteor II, and eventually set a 157.27 mph 24-hour mark, among
other records.
Jenkins felt this was probably the limit of the chassis though,
so he soon constructed the Mormon Meteor III, which carried on
with a Curtiss engine. He retired the old car’s chassis, installed a
Duesenberg engine, and drove it on the road for more than 20,000
miles. It is now restored to its 1935 configuration.
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