| quote | Originally posted by Patrick:
I was intrigued by the blower setup on the car at 12:04. Has anyone ever seen anything like that before? It looks like a blower is mounted in front of twin V8 engines!
| CLICK FOR FULL SIZE |
|
|
Front mounted blowers were common in the 1950s. A major supplier of kits was Potvin. There were three major advantages and two important disadvantages. The Potvin blowers provided better visibility and less aerodynamic drag, particularly for land speed record cars, and there was less power loss than a belt driven blower. However, the long runners created problems with fuel atomization, and changing drive ratios (
and therefore manifold pressure) was not as easy as on a belt drive.
Twin engine dragsters were not uncommon in the late '50s and '60s, but when purpose built engines such as Donovan and Keith Black became common, there was no longer a need.
I think that particular picture is Dode Martin, worth looking up if you want to learn about early drag racing history.