If you get a chance pick up the January 2008 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. We are featured in an article about E85 with some pictures including one of me helping out during our run. For a kid who grew up reading Hot Rod magazine it is a dream come true to have my car in their pages. Thanks Hot Rod!
Okay we are already green but Tony Perkins and Ed Ring invited us to participate in the GoingGreen Conference at U.C. Davis. This was a fantastic conference. They expected 700 people and over 800 showed up which is amazing given the drive from San Francisco is about an hour and twenty minutes. I drove up on Monday night to meet Ron Jr and Ron Sr then I drove the car over to the venue. Here are some pics of the Robert Mondavi Conference Center and the car in the auto garden.
Then we went to the cocktail reception after the Keynote from my friend Zem Joaquin (nice job Zem!) and William McDonough. Here are some pics from the packed cocktail reception and the boys from Chicago enjoying some California hospitality. Ron Sr was out charming the crowd and even met a guy who owned Aston Martin back in the 70's!
The next day was jam packed with people coming by to check out the E85 Viper in a sea of electric and hydrogen powered cars that looked like this
I think my favorite moment of the day was someone who spotted the car from across the way and came stomping over looking quite upset. He looks at me and said "Please don't tell me you neutered this beautiful car so it could run on biofuel". He was ecstatic to hear it was just the opposite and we had in fact more than doubled the horsepower. He smiled from ear to ear and said "that is good to hear...I own a white Viper". Got to love Viper owners. We also had some great visitors from the press including Michael Kanellos who I haven't seen in years. He wrote a nice story. BTW Michael the "source close to the company" was not me but I sure wish I knew who it was since they almost tanked my first acquisition. Finally Bambi Francisco stopped by to to an interview for her new startup up vator.tv
I attended several sessions including one on biofuels and another on the next generation car. Three things became quite clear
Another cocktail reception where I ran into my good friend Paul Denninger, it was great to catch up and get his take on the conference as well as the overall tech industry.
Finally, we closed down the Auto Garden and it was time to drive my baby home. After two long years of waiting I finally drove her home. I must say running her on E85 at high boost is epic!
She is finally sitting in my garage safe and sound. Here is a pic from the garden right before we left. I like the reflection of the tree on the trunk and hood, kind of says it all...
We are honored that Wired Magazine named us the fastest green car in the world. Check out the article
Well I asked for an E85 map and sure enough I got it :) Joe Francis created a really cool Google map with all the E85 locations in the United States. Check out www.e85map.net
Rusty, who was one of the attendees at our world record run, wrote a great article for Automobile Magazine.
Going out soon to pick the car up as they are just finishing up the last few items and some tweaks since the run. I will post some pics from the trip!
Another video from the world record run this time from inside the car. Make sure you check out the rear view camera and see how fast the marks on the runway are moving!
As promised here is another video that shows the car as it is passing the halfway mark and some behind the scenes footage. One thing to note is Ron pouring fuel into the car and how it looks almost like water it is so clear. Enjoy.
This day has been a long time coming and I am happy to say WE DID IT! All the upgrades paid off and we ran Wed and Thurs with a best of 220.7 mph at 27.41 seconds. This beats the current record held by a gasoline car at 217.85
In attendance were members of the press and Joel Sheltrown a State Representative for Michigan. Thanks first to Ron Jr and Sr, Johnnie and Drake. Also thanks to all those who attended and helped out. Finally thanks Trish (my wife) and Mahanna (my daughter) for hanging out on a runway all day :)
First up pictures of the venue
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Now the car...notice something different?
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Now some of the runs
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The crew and guests
Now the main event...
After a lot of work and some serious upgrades we are making another run on Thursday. This time our run will take place at the Oscoda Wurth Airport and we are excited to have several members of the press attending the event. I am particularly psyched since I spent my summers in White Lake, Michigan where I am currently vacationing. With so many E85 stations in Michigan we are going to try to drive back on E85, there is even a station in White Lake! Keep checking back, I will post the numbers from our runs as soon as I can as well as video and pics!
Motor Trend was out to watch us do both our runs and ran the article below on our progress. Thanks Motor Trend and John for the support!
Motor Trend Story on the E85 Viper
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