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Every winter for 13 years between 1954 and 1966 the greatest sports cars as well as the greatest sports car drivers in the world would gather in the Bahamas for what may well have been the coolest racing event in history.  10 days of partying, racing, hanging out on the beach, and enjoying life with some of the world's greatest stars is just as awesome as you think it is. Racers like Stirling Moss, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Phil Hill, Masten Gregory, Roger Penske, Carrol Shelby and others showed up year in and year out to battle for the money and glory in the world's coolest cars.  The first ever 427 Cobra race car debuted at this event, Duntov brought the Gran Sport Corvettes, Ferrari, Porsche, and on and on it goes.  The history is interesting, led by a tyrant named Red Crise the event was his idea and with a unique combo of an iron fist on one side and a velvet gloved Baronet's hand on the other, he made magic.  This is the fantastic story of Bahamas Speed Week. 

During three winters in the 1960s, hot rodders in Chicago had the unique opportunity to do something no one has been able to do before or since. They went drag racing indoors. The didn't just do it once or twice, they did it weekly. How? Where? Why? Who put it together?  The story actually begins in the 1930s and the indoor drag strip followed go kart racing, midget car racing, even a road course indoors! The promoter, a man named Bill Schade is a story in and unto himself.    This is a story of the city of Chicago, a brilliant promoter, and a hot rodding culture starved for action in the winter. Enjoy!

In early March of 1969, the single worst disaster in the history of American motorsports took place at a small, virtually unknown drag strip in rural Georgia. Yellow River Drag Strip was the scene of horror as a funny car flew off the racing surface and into the unprotected crowd. A dozen people died and scores were injured.    In this episode of the Dork-O-Motive podcast, we tell the story in every way possible. The history of the track, the history of the poeple involved, the immediate aftermath of the incident, how it changed motorsports in America, and so much more.    This is a bleak day for racing and one that carried with it very, very significant consequences. 

You think you know, but you have no idea. Stock car racing in the United States was born in the south, but not the south you are think of. On this episode of the Dork-O-Motive podcast, host Brian Lohnes tells the story of the first true stock car race as we know it in America, the 1934 Mines Field Gilmore Cup race.  The greatest stars of racing were gathered to compete against one another in "stock" automobiles. There was cheating, there was a wild promoter, and there was more star power in one place than the racing world had ever seen.  Learn the full story of how this race changed American motorsports and understand how deadly, daring, and downright dangerous auto racing was in this era. Loads of research, period materials, and information was gathered for this exhaustive look at a race that truly changed the world. 

What if I told you that the first Ferris wheel, built in 1893 was 265ft tall, powered by a 1,000hp steam engine, and carried 2,160 people at the same time! George Washington Gale Ferris is the man who engineered this marvel and the man who's name is synonymous with this ever-present attraction at fairs and amusement parks.   What if I told you that the machine simultaneously made Ferris a world-wide celebrity while destroying his life. This is a story with so many twists and turns you'll hardly believe it.  It is a fascinating look at the way engineering and the American spirit converged in the late 1800s to help the fledgling country arrive on the world stage and how anyone, even someone as smart as Ferris can become obsessed to the point of destruction in their personal and professional pursuits.    Did Ferris steal the idea? Where did it come from, anyway? How was it HIM that got the glory? All those questions and the amazing size of the machine are all covered here!

The US Air Force Heavy Press program, executed between 1950 and 1957 is one of the most incredible industrial achievements in history. After identifying a huge technology gap at the end of WWII, the government worked with private industry to create the world’s most extensive network of heavy press capability.

In 1992 Hot Rod Magazine gathered a collection of the fastest street cars in America for a showdown in Memphis, Tennessee. The reverberations of this event are still being felt today as it helped to rocket the movement of "fast street cars" into the hot rodding stratosphere. This is the story of that event, as told be the editors, racers, and fans that were there.  Some of the guests on this show remember the race fondly, some with regret, and some, frankly, with their teeth gritted together, even 30 years later. It is a story about an event that changed the course of drag racing, changed the course of lives, and ultimately created things like Drag Week, Sick Week, Rocky Mountain Race Week, and the entire genre of Drag-n-Drive competition. 

This is a historical look back at the incredible Massey Harris Harvest Brigade of 1944. An operation that collected the largest grain crop in US history to that time.

Imagine a racing event where 30 of the best drivers came from all corners of the world to clash at the nicest race track ever built. Imagine that half of them would be driving F1 cars and the other half would be driving small block V8 powered open wheeled machines with way less tech but more horsepower. Imagine it were 1971.  This was the premise behind the Questor Grand Prix, a race held at Ontario Motor Speedway with a massive prize fund and more importantly bragging rights on the line.  Who won and how it all went down is only half the story. There's all kinds of cool sub plots here and if you love racing history, you'll totally dig this deep dive into one of the coolest and weirdest one off races in history. 

The automotive headlight is not exactly the most exciting part of a car, right? Wrong. Back in the early 1900s not only were headlights new and exciting, they were explosive and deadly. This incredible look back at the early history of headlights is likely a topic you've never heard about or thought about before.  Because no suitable electric bulb for cars had been invented yet, brave entrepreneurs looked for a solution and found one in the form of acetylene gas. This cheap to produce and highly flammable gas burned bright enough to shame all other available light sources. There were problems, though. Like the fact that the Prest-O-Lite company had 15 plants explode between 1907 and 1917.  This episode of the Dork-O-Motive podcast looks back at these wild years, the technology behind it, how fortunes were made, buildings were leveled, and lives were lost. All to simply see a little bit better in the dark. 

The world's water speed record has been held by only 9 people since 1928. It has an 85% death rate in attempts and the current record has stood since 1978 with each successive attempt to unseat it resulting in the death of the driver.    This long form look back at the history of the water speed record is a blow by blow account of an activity that has captivated and killed many people over the years. The people and machines who have shot across bodies of water from Argentina to Italy to Australia are each unique in their own way but their vision was the same. To defy the laws of physics and end up on the right side of the game.    To our knowledge this is the most in-depth look back at the history of the record using research materials, newspapers, period audio, and personal interviews with the subjects at hand.    An amazing tale that once dominated the headlines of the 20th century and has now all but dropped off into obscurity. 

Imagine a single weapon of war with such vicious tactics that it nearly defeated an entire country. Such was the case with Germany's fleet of U-boats during WWI. As the U-boats sunk hundreds of ships per month, Britain was in danger of running short on food, war materials, and basic necessities of life. The mighty British Navy had no answer for these silent killers of the seas. And then someone had an idea.    By creating a shadow Navy of secretly armed merchant ships, Britain created their first line of submarine defense and it was brilliant. They were called Q-ships and from the outside they looked like fishing trawlers, sailing ships, and simple tramp steamers, but they were manned by experienced gunnery crews and had powerful secrets hiding in plain sight.  Starting in 1915 when U-Boat captains surfaced to attack an unsuspecting merchant ship, they were at risk of they themselves becoming the victims of these awesome new weapons.  On this episode of the Dork-o-Motive podcast we examine the incredible history, bravery, and innovation that these oddball fighting ships brought to WWI and how they were a legit threat to U-boats and frustrated German commanders on the high seas. Wild history you never knew!