A-C Land Speed Record Tractor

I just watched a great documentary on Ab Jenkins and the many land speed records that he set on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats...Including vintage footage of him going nearly 70 miles per hour on an Allis-Chalmers U in 1934. This movie is called; BOYS OF BONNEVILLE: RACING ON A RIBBON OF SALT. It's a great movie even if it didn't include the tractor racing action! The movie DVD is available at www.boysofbonneville.com for $19.99. Kip

Edited by Kip-Utah - 20 Jul 2012 at 1:45pm

if that ab jenkins movie is out there someone must have it to put on here, and how about Barney  Oldfield and his racing records and fair grounds racing? i had seen a tvcommercial featuring the tractors racingbut have no idea where it is.

Surely they used the leafspring front end option on the U's for racing. Still going around a circle at 70MPH on a 5000lb tractor would have been exciting.

And I thought going 20mph on a Farmall was fast! 

The first tractor tires were aircraft tires. Where they had to survive 50 to 80 mph landing and take off speeds.

Gerald J.

I became aqainted with Ab's son Marvin while he was finishing the restoration of his Dad's Mormon Meteor III race car that set many land speed records on the salt flats. He was present when Ab raced the U on the salt. After the run Ab commented that it was like sitting on top of a charging buffalo! Ab was also often one of the celebrity drivers along with Barney Oldfield and others that raced Model U tractors on dirt tracks all over the mid-west. According to Marvin, Oldfield's contract with A-C & Firestone required him to win every time. Once on a fair grounds track somewhere in Iowa, Ab beat Barney in a three lap race and was required to forfeit his appearance money. He was also sternly warned to never let it happen again! 

Edited by Kip-Utah - 20 Jul 2012 at 1:41pm

i DON'T SEE NO SPRINGS ON THE FRONT AXLE! WHO ELSE HAS PICS, I SOLD THE ONES I HAD FROM ALLIS IN MY  AUCTION LAST FALL.

I agree with Brettphillips

It looks to me like the rear tires have tread similar to what is used today on puller tractors.  Wonder if that would help in keep in going in a straight line.