Green Monster (car)
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The Green Monster was the name of several vehicles built by Art Arfons who was often described as a "junk yard genius", and his half brother Walt Arfons. They were initially Dragsters, at first powered by junked automobile engines, then by war surplus piston aircraft engines (Ranger and Allison V-1710), which were plentiful, durable, and cheap, then by jet aircraft engines. The jet powered dragsters developed into jet powered vehicles built to break the land speed record, finally a series of turbine powered pulling tractors.
The first "Green Monster", in 1952 was a three wheeled dragster powered by an Oldsmobile six cylinder engine, and painted with left-over green tractor paint. The name was applied on the car's first outing by the track announcer, who laughingly said "Okay folks here it comes; The Green Monster", and it stuck to all Arfons' creations. The car only reached 85 miles per hour (137 km/h), 20 miles per hour (30 km/h) short of the fastest car, but by 1953 the Green Monster Number 2, a 20 foot (6 m) long six wheeled car powered by a 2000 horsepower (1.5 MW) Allison aircraft engine, was hitting 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) in the quarter mile. Green Monster Number 2 was painted by Arfons' mother to resemble the World War II Curtiss P-40 Flying Tigers fighter airplane, with an open mouth showing large teeth. The top speed of the car was estimated at 270 miles per hour (435 km/h), and it could reach 140 miles per hour (225 km/h) in eight seconds from a standing start. Running on passenger car tires, the car required four wheels on the rear drive axle to withstand the power. At the first World Series of Drag Racing at Lawrenceville, Illinois, it clocked the highest top speed at 132.35 miles per hour (213.00 km/h), and eventually a world record of 145.16 mph (233.61 km/h).
The later cars had various paint schemes where green was not necessarily the dominant color. The six-wheeled Green Monster Number 6 became the first dragster to break 150 miles per hour (241 km/h) in the quarter mile. Green Monster Number 11, Art Arfons' favorite, hit 191 miles per hour to beat Don Garlits.
The Arfons brothers then split up, and each became interested in land speed record racing.
The most famous "Green Monster" was powered by an F-104 Starfighter General Electric J79 17,500 lbf static thrust jet engine with four-stage afterburner, which Arfons purchased from a scrap dealer for $600 and rebuilt himself, over the objections of General Electric and the government, and despite all manuals for the engine being classified top secret.
Reportedly, the engine's fan had broken blades. Art Arfons tested it by tying it to trees in his garden, a procedure which drew complaints from his neighbors.
This car, painted in red and blue, won the land speed record three times during the close competition of 1964 and 1965 with 434, 536 and 576 miles per hour (698, 863, and 927 km/h) in the flying mile (despite blowing a tire on the last record run). It competed against Art's brother Walt's Wingfoot Express cars (Walt could not pilot the car himself having suffered a stroke prior to) and Craig Breedlove who eventually won the record with 600.601 miles per hour (966.574 km/h).
In 1966 Arfons returned once again to Bonneville, but reached an average speed of only 554.017 miles per hour. (891.604 km/h) On run number seven at 8:03 AM on November 17, Arfons crashed his vehicle travelling 610 miles per hour (982 km/h) when a wheel bearing froze. He subsequently built another Green Monster land speed record car, but sold it to California rancher Slick Gardner without ever driving it.
In view of his wife's concern over the risk involved in land speed record racing, Arfons instead turned his talents to turbine powered tractor pulling with great success, fielding a series of Green Monster pull tractors along with his son and daughter.
However, in 1989, Arfons returned to Bonneville with Green Monster Number 27, an 1800 pound (820 kg), 22 foot (7 m) long two wheeler. The car left the ground at 350 miles per hour (563 km/h), and Arfons rebuilt it into a less radical four wheeled vehicle for 1990, but could manage only 177, 308 and 338 miles per hour (285, 496, and 544 km/h). In 1991 he tried again, but once again had to give up with handling problems.
