It took a lot of work, but Milwaukeean Chris Conrad is finally in the record books. Or, at least his car is.
In September, Conrad drove his 1971 MG Midget – a historic, diminutive British car – faster than anyone had ever driven a car of its type before. He set a new record at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, averaging 122.539 miles per hour and breaking a record which had stood for 22 years.
Conrad writes about the experience in the pages of MG Enthusiast magazine.
He also shares the really remarkable tale, and what originally drew him to the unique car with Lake Effect's Mitch Teich.
"An MG was in a lot of ways the perfect car," Conrad says. "It didn't take up much space, [has] good fuel mileage, and you look pretty good driving one too."
"They were an inexpensive fun car that a single person or a young married couple could own, use as daily transportation, and have some fun with them. They were never intended to be anything more than that," he says.
Clearly, Conrad had greater intentions for the tiny car and worked on improving its A-series engine to work to its full capacity in order to break the standing record.
"You're actually pushing the boundary, and that's when you need to actually take a physical deep breath and relax at the wheel and trust that the car is going to wind up working for you rather than trying to work the car," Conrad says.
Watch Chris Conrad's 2013 attempt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3rfF_YCZHQ
And, him set the record in 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRYNKIMGCEs
