The chassis rides on a 110-inch wheelbase and utilizes a ’39-’40 Ford rear axle. The tank measures 148 inches in length, by 35.5 inches wide at the center, and the seller reports that the tank has been stretched in the center. The drop tank itself was allegedly sourced from a WWII aircraft, but no model or make is given. The lakester project offered here on eBay exhibits a high degree of originality, with most major components derived from period-correct sources. Most lakesters would follow Burke’s formula from there on out, albeit with larger tanks from aircraft like the P-38 Lightening, and the drop-tank silhouette would become a common sight on America’s salt flats for decades. After noting that the dimensions of the tank would accommodate early Ford mechanicals, Burke created the first lakester with a 168-gallon tank from a P-51 Mustang. These tanks were produced in huge numbers, and allowed aircraft to carry additional fuel supply with the ability to drop the tanks afterward. The idea for converting aircraft fuel tanks into streamlined racers is most commonly credited back to So-Cal Speed Shop’s Bill Burke, who noted the aerodynamic shape of the drop tanks after seeing a barge full of them at Guadalcanal. These methods were taken to extreme in the traditional lakester, or belly tanker. It was all about modifying and fine-tuning bits and pieces from the big OEs or military surplus, like a ’30s Ford chassis here, a small-block Chevrolet engine there, and maybe even some aircraft switches for good measure. At least not in the case of your average hot rodder or shade-tree mechanic, as speed was more commonly created with cutting torches, mills and lathes. Back in the 1940s and ’50s, they didn’t build speed with ball bearing turbos, titanium valvetrains or methanol injection.
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