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The ''Mormon Meteor I'' and ''III'' were two land speed record cars built in the 1930s by Ab Jenkins.〔 ==Duesenberg Special== The ''Duesenberg Special'' was a one-off speed record car.〔 It was built in 1935 on a supercharged Duesenberg Model J rolling chassis with a standard wheelbase〔 of ,〔〔 a dropped front axle,〔〔 wheels instead of the standard wheels, and a non-standard 3:1 rear axle ratio.〔 The engine was highly tuned by August Duesenberg,〔 with the compression ratio raised to 7.5:1 and different engine bearings being used.〔 High performance parts developed for the Special, especially the "ram's horn" twin-carburetor inlet manifold, would be used on later supercharged Js (or "SJ"s as they were called by the public).〔 Financing for the Duesenberg Special came from sponsorship solicited by Ab Jenkins from oil companies and accessory manufacturers and distributors. Jenkins guaranteed his sponsors that he would break established speed records with the car. He delivered on his guarantee in October 1935, when he set a one hour record of and a twenty-four hour record of at a circuit on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The 24-hour record would be held until 1961.〔 ==Mormon Meteor== In search of higher speed records, Jenkins had the Duesenberg Special modified by replacing the Duesenberg engine with a Curtiss Conqueror aircraft engine.〔〔 August Duesenberg designed new parts to connect the aircraft engine to the car's drivetrain. Work on the car was supervised by August Duesenberg and done largely by him and by Ab Jenkins' son Marvin.〔 This version of the car was named ''Mormon Meteor''〔 and Ab Jenkins began breaking records with it in 1936, beginning with a record of . Jenkins and Babe Stapp drove the car to a 24-hour average of and a 48-hour average of . In 1937, Jenkins and Louis Meyer increased the car's 24-hour record to .〔 The combination of the V12 aircraft engine and the almost stock Duesenberg chassis caused understeer at high speed. Jenkins had August Duesenberg, now an independent engineer after the closure of Duesenberg Inc., design and build a new chassis to contain the aircraft engine.〔 After the aircraft engine was removed from the Mormon Meteor in 1938, the car was restored to Duesenberg Special specifications,〔 the body was modified for road use,〔 and the car was driven by Ab and Marv Jenkins on the streets for about until 1943.〔〔 The car was kept in street form until 2004.〔 That year, the family that had owned it since 1959〔〔〔 had it sold at Gooding & Company's Pebble Beach Auction.〔〔 The new owner had the car restored to its 1935 racing condition〔 and entered it in the 2007 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, which it won.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mormon Meteor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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