Author: Jennifer Curcio

Lee Sklar’s 1923 T-bucket roadster pickup is a force to be reckoned with. This street rod is not your typical hot rod; it’s a powerhouse on wheels. Boasting a twin-turbocharged 350 small block engine that delivers a staggering 900 horsepower to a mere 1,700-pound vehicle, this T-bucket is more engine than car. With a mind-blowing compression ratio and the ability to be bottle-fed with nitrous oxide, this street rod is a true beast.

Classic Corvette Blasts to World Record Speed at Bonneville Salt Flats

Car enthusiasts, rejoice! Buckle up for a story of American muscle reaching legendary speeds. In 1981, a specially modified Corvette nicknamed the “Sundowner” claimed the title of “World’s Fastest Passenger Car” at the Bonneville Salt Flats. This feat of engineering was powered by a monstrous Banks 430 cubic inch twin-turbo engine, achieving an earth-shattering 240 mph. Even by today’s standards, the Sundowner’s power is a marvel, generating well over 1,000 horsepower on pump gas!

1981– How to Build and Tune Cars for Performance with Economy You know the book is good when a Gale Banks twin turbocharged engine is featured on

Unleash the Beast: Banks and the Birth of the Turbo Tuner

Car enthusiasts rejoice! Buckle up and crank it to eleven as we revisit the iconic Banks Power and their American Turbocar Corporation. These visionaries weren’t just building cars, they were igniting a revolution – the turbo tuner craze.

Imagine street-legal Camaros and Firebirds transformed into fire-breathing beasts. Banks offered a range of power upgrades, culminating in the legendary 700-horsepower monster featured in Car and Driver’s 1984 issue. This wasn’t just about brute force; precision handling kept it glued to the track, pulling a staggering 1G lateral force and leaving the 200 mph barrier in the dust…all with the A/C on! Stay tuned for the full story and how you might even land your own piece of automotive history.