Bonneville Racer’s Hardworking Trailer

 

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Burton Brown of Fremont, Wis., has Salt Flats Fever. His red Datsun Z car is a class record holder and his gold and black streamliner is a technical marvel. The car is big and long and fast, but the engine is a tiny Ford Pinto block with all kinds of high-tech go-fast equipment. It cranks up about 400 ponies and moves that big aerodynamic hunk of iron along at blinding speed. These days Burton usually pulls the big streamliner in a bigger trailer than the one you see here, but this one is also a honey that made many trips to Utah. It’s definitely a working man’s rig, but a very well organized one.

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The manufacturers of this trailer were Pace American and they build a sturdy product. It features tandem axles, a ramp door and a large folding awning on the right-hand side that comes in handy for providing shade on the famous salt flats. In addition to the ramp door at the rear, there is a service door at the front right-hand corner.Burton Brown ‘s black and white checkerboard floor reflects his race-ready spirit. It shows some battle scars but still looks good.

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Brown has a Pit Pal storage shelf to hold his brake parts cleaner, jack oil, nut-buster sprays, Brad Penn oil and brake parts cleaner,A clock, a broom and an electrical cord reel are mounted on the sidewall near the back door on the right-hand side.. Nearby is a fold-down workbench or desk. Burton carries some heavy-duty chassis tools and suspension parts on two plywood boards mounted to either side wall.

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For decorations he has a large VP Racing Fuels banner, a number of posters and lots of decals. There’s a note board for scribbling notes with an erasable dry marker or hanging up snapshots of racing cars. And there’s a poster dedicated to American soldiers that reminds everyone entering the trailer that “Freedom is Not Free!”

About John Gunnell 143 Articles
John “Gunner” Gunnell has been writing about cars since ‘72. As a kid in Staten Island, N.Y., he played with a tin Marx “Service Garage” loaded with toy vehicles, his favorite being a Hubley hot rod. In 2010, he opened Gunner’s Great Garage, in Manawa, Wis., a shop that helps enthusiasts restore cars. To no one’s surprise, he decorated 3G’s with tin gas stations and car toys. Gunner started writing for two car club magazines. In 1978, publisher Chet Krause hired him at Old Cars Weekly, where he worked from 1978-2008. Hot rodding legend LeRoi “Tex” Smith was his boss for a while. Gunner had no formal journalism training, but working at a weekly quickly taught him the trade. Over three decades, he’s met famous collectors, penned thousands of articles and written over 85 books. He lives in Iola, Wis., with his nine old cars, three trucks and seven motorcycles.

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