Bob Barber in the Barber-Nichols Steam Turbine

The last assault on the steam LSR came from the salt flats of Bonneville during the speedweek event in 1985. Speedweek is renown for certifying American national records but is an event in which only one pass through the timing lights is sufficient for record purposes.

After the death of William Lear several tons of the defunct California Steam Bus project were sold to Jim Crank, a steam enthusiast and SACA. Included in the mix was the Barber Nichols steam turbine and an experimental boiler rig built by Lear’s engineers.

The car Jim constructed was part VW, part Cadillac, and part Jim Crank original. The chassis was welded steel box members while other bits were borrowed from existing vehicles. The front suspension was torsion bar sprung twin trailing arms from a VW, the rear end was the front end of a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado complete with drive unit, the body was partly Fiberfab Astec and part hand made prototype.

Jim did not get the car to run reliably and eventually sold it to Bob Barber. Barber, determined to salvage the reputation of his turbine, made some subtle improvements to the car that eventually made the difference. His speed of 145.607 was authenticated by the Southern California Timing Association for the measured mile.

Due to a space problem, the turbine drive unit output was connected to the differential of the car rear end by way of a Reynolds Silent Chain. The sprockets were sized to give the proper overdrive ratio and at 1100F and 1200 PSI steam temperature and pressure, the turbine was supposed to provide 300 horsepower.

The completed car weighed 4500 pounds, was ready for an attempt in 1982 but that year and the two following Bonneville was flooded so no trials were possible. However, in August of 1985, Bob earned his place in the history books. 

After the run establishing his speed of 145.607 MPH, Bob was sure he could exceed 150. During the last attempt, the car lost a door at 140 and some residual fuel that had pooled in the undercarriage caught fire. The damage was enough that it could not be repaired “on the salt”. At the time, Bob felt as though enough events conspired in keeping him from the attempt that he acquiesced, retired the car and did not make another attempt.

(c) 1999-2008, British Steam Car Challenge