3 time world land speed record holder, Art Arfons passed away on Monday at age 81. The legendary racer was a drag racer, land speed challenger and even a tractor puller. Arfons was an old school innovator who built his own machines, along with his brother Walt.
Up here in Ontario, we didn’t see too much about land speed racers before the internet and drag racing was in a whole different world to what I grew up in. During the winter though, we could get our combustion fix by a visit to an indoor tractor pull. It was at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario that I first saw the Green Monster. What a cool scene. I’ll never forget hearing the turbine whine as it spooled up, followed by flames that shot straight up with a whoosh from the after burner. Then, as the jet built power, the rear wheels would begin to spin and the flames subsided to a concentrated blue flame. Pretty heady stuff for a young gearhead. I’m sure that kids and adults alike that had the opportunity to see Arfons compete were likewise affected.
