1952 Buick Super Riviera-Land Speed Race Car "Bombshell Betty",Bonneville Record

1952 Buick Super Riviera-Land Speed Race Car “Bombshell Betty”

If you’re seeking one of the ultimate automotive conversation pieces of modern automotive history, you can stop looking. For a unique bit of rolling sculpture, complete with a legitimate history of Bonneville records. MotoeXotica Classic Cars is proud to present the famous “Bombshell Betty”. We at MotoeXotica are hard core car guys with a little bit of art backgrounds so we totally appreciate the art of Bombshell Betty, built and raced by sculptor Jeff Brock and then sold to renowned landscape photographer Peter Lik, we are all so in love with Betty!

Bombshell Betty is 1952 Buick Super Riviera-Land Speed Race Car (Gas Competition Coupe vintage engine). With an sculpted sheet metal body, the car holds six Land Speed World Records. The engine is a 340HP 320 CID straight eight from a 1950 Buick Roadmaster and the top custom intake manifold is from Hart’s Collision-Racing Shop with a Jegs-Quick-Fuel 750cm racing carburetor. Betty currently has a twin carburetor setup, runs on racing fuel and has a four-gallon fuel tank next to the engine block. She also sports aftermarket pistons and a solid lifter camshaft from Automotive Machine Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Linked to the engine is a Borg-Warner Super T-10 four-speed manual transmission. At the back is a nine-inch Ford rear end lifted from a 1973 Thunderbird that has Traction-Lok and 2.73:1 gearing.

Created by sculptor and photographer Jeff Brock, who was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, Buick’s headquarters during the height of its ability and prowess. He later moved to the southwestern part of the country, where he reportedly found a 1952 Buick Super Riviera at an old sawmill near Phoenix, Arizona in 2008 (original photo in gallery). He purchased the car and had it transported to his shop near Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it sat untouched until June of the following year.

Inspired by watching the Fastest Indian movie with Anthony Hopkins starring, Brock and his assistants worked 10–12 hours a day, often seven days a week, and as a result they built a car in record short terms. The contribution to the Bombshell Betty construction was also made by Jeff’s wife, Star York, and Doug Anderson mechanic from Albuquerque, who helped with the high-performance units and parts construction.

In less than two months, Brock and his crew of volunteers worked around the clock to prepare the car for entry into that year’s Speed Week event, which takes place in August. Outside, Brock and crew made many changes to prepare the car for racing on the salt flats. He inverted a truck’s front bumper to use as Betty’s prow, and he created the rockers and fender skirts for aerodynamic reasons while trying to maintain at least a modicum of Buick styling cues. The car does not have brakes. They chopped eight inches out of the roof and raised the rear shelf to meet the deck. A custom windscreen was created but the car has no backlight or taillamps for a better coefficient of drag. Helping that Cd are the headlight covers, inverted bucket headlamp assemblies sprung from a 1930s Chevrolet. Under the car is a full belly pan, a 1968 front axle assembly from a Chevrolet van narrowed to fit between the fender skirts and allow for movement. Finally, Betty gets her nickname from an air intake that is fitted within a bombshell.

In 2009, at the Bonneville Nationals Speed Week, she set the Land Speed Record in XO class (pre-1960 OHV inline engines)/GCC or Gas-powered Competition Coupes, reaching 130.838 mph. The same year at the Bonneville Nationals World Finals, it won for Land Speed Record XO/GCC, reaching 134.054 mph. Speed Week is typically in August while the World Finals occur in September or October. In 2010, at the Bonneville Nationals World Finals, it won the Land Speed Record XO/GCC, reaching 141.821 mph. In 2012, at the Bonneville Nationals Speed Week, it won the Land Speed Record XO/GCC, reaching 162.481 mph. In 2012 at the Bonneville Nationals World Finals, it won the Land Speed Record XO/GCC, reaching 165.380 mph. In 2013, at the Bonneville Nationals Speed Week, it won the Land Speed Record XO/GCC, reaching 165.735 mph. Betty’s previous owner was the renowned photographer Peter Lik.

Documentation includes five trophies, Event Record copy, Southern California Timing Association Official Vehicle Log Book.

This car is currently located at our facility in St. Louis, Missouri. It is sold as is, where is, on a bill of sale only!

VIN: 16596553 ID#: AZ291463

Team owner / constructor / pilot: Jeff Brock

Team: Ted Seeley, Mike Oestreich, Star York, Dennis Little, Sean Cridland, Sandra One Feather. Team Manager: Sergio Juarez

Note: Please see full terms and conditions listed below that pertain to the purchase of any said vehicle, thank you.

We have received the news that Jeff Brock is currently fighting a tough battle with cancer and donations can be sent at his Gofundmepage at https://www.gofundme.com/z68h9ysk