Father, son hoping to break speed record

Terry Nish has a goal: To prove one motor can do what four did 45 years ago.

For more than a decade, Nish has been trying to break a record set in 1965.

Bob and Bill Summer took a streamliner with four Chrysler engines, one for each wheel, to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set a land speed record for a naturally aspirated car of 409.27 miles per hour.

Nish believes he can best the record using power from a single engine.

Thus far, however, luck has not been with him.

He used the annual Speed Week as a test-and-tune platform. He then returned to the salt a month later for a more personal experience. Instead of the other 500 cars lined up during Speed Week, Nish's event drew three cars in 2006 and will have no more than a dozen next week.

In 2006, there was a problem in the shifting linkage; in 2007 it was a rod that went; in 2008 a burned valve; and in 2009 a problem with the oil system.

"We have more than enough horsepower," Nish said. "We've simply been plagued with small nagging problems. It has never been a big issue. We've never blown an engine.

"It's just the little things that put us out of the hunt," he said as he looked forward to next week's record attempt.

He will move his crew and car to the salt on Sunday and make his record run, with his son Mike at the wheel, on Monday.

The Summer brothers were smart in that they used four hemi-Chrysler engines, one for each wheel and each turning out 600 horsepower for a total of 2,400 horsepower.

"They weren't killer motors," Nish said. "With that much power there was not much stress on the motors. I'm using a single engine and to go over 400 (mph)there is a lot of stress on the motor and all its parts."

The motor he'll use is 720 cubic inches and is capable of producing upwards of 1,800 horsepower. The car itself weighs about 3,000 pounds. The Summers' car weighed around 8,000 pounds.

"My goal has always been to beat the record with one engine and two-wheel drive," Nish said. "If and when we reach the goal it will be a major accomplishment. In my heart I know the car is capable of those speeds. It handled extremely well at 396 (mph).

"All we need now is a little luck. Every year we've gone back and made improvements. We just need a little luck ridding with us.