It’s not every day that a chance to own a Bonneville record holder pops up on the internet. This 1956 Kurtis-Kraft Offy Midget holds the record in the Midget Vintage Oval Track (MVOT) class with the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) on the salt flats in Utah. The current record is 136.1 mph and it’s ready for more.
Before it began its racing career, the current owner of the Kurtis-Kraft Midget chassis found it in Michigan and brought it to Illinois where it was stored in his rafters until the 1990s. After attending a Bonneville Speedweek event, he came home inspired and started building. The Midget sports an all-aluminum body protected by a 4130 chromoly roll cage and a full nose to tail belly pan. It’s powered by a 110 Offenhauser engine with Carillo rods, a Moldex crank, J&E pistons, Dema Elgin cams and Don Ricard valve springs, and it pushes around 200 horsepower.
The car and owner broke the original MVOT land speed record in 2006, then exceeded that record three more times, the most recent run taking place in 2010. The race car was also invited by Al Unser himself to be displayed at the Al Unser Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico for a year and a half. Now it’s listed for sale on Hemmings.
The seller states that this registered no. 714 race car has passed tech five times at Bonneville and will again. Will its next owner run it into the 140s, or stash it away for show?