Land Speed Records Set by Diesel Engines

By John Stafford
 
Many diesel automobiles have made racing history through their excellent design, economy and performance. The year was 1931 when Clessie Cummins installed his first diesel engine in a racecar. During his race at Daytona, it clocked 162 km/hr or 97.2 mph while at Indianapolis his car went 138 km/hr or 82.8 mph winning him 12th place.
A 1925 Bentley rebuilt with a Gardner 4LW diesel engine raced in the 1933 Monte Carlo placing fifth by Lord Howard de Clifford. In 1952, a Cummins diesel won the pole at Indianapolis 500 with a 3-liter engine, the car stayed in the lead until the debris from the track clogged the air intake. The year was 1998 and diesel car racing made it a “first” in the annals of history when a BMW E36 fitted with a modern high-pressure diesel fuel technology won the 24-hour Nuremberg race. The winning factor was that the BMW raced continuously for four hours straight without stopping.
Between the years of 1952 and 2005 diesel racing car research and touring car racing improved the diesel. BMW, Volkswagen and Alfa Romeo provided invaluable improvements to the diesel racing car engine. Audi won both the Sebring 12 hour rally with their diesel R10 and the 24-hour Le Mans. They made diesel history since they won over methanol, bio-ethanol or regular gasoline fueled racecars.
NATO forces in Europe, (these included all the U.S. Military Forces stationed there) standardized all their vehicles to run on diesel during the 1980s. This idea was American since we provided 95% of all military forces at the time in Europe.