TheHEMI.com

In 1965, with a shiny, gold streamliner they'd built in a shed — and four Hemi V8s — brothers Bill and Bob "Butch" Summers ended the longstanding British rule over the wheel-driven land-speed record. Bill Summers died last week at 75.

It was called Goldenrod; the name came from its lancelike profile and paintjob, but more important was the small frontal area that allowed it to pierce the air. Before Goldenrod, most wheel-driven land-speed cars, like the Bluebird CN7 in which Campbell had reached 403.135 mph in 1964 — had their engines side-by-side. In a masterwork of packaging, the Summers placed four, fuel-injected, naturally aspirated Chrysler Hemi V8s, totaling 3,000hp, in a single line. The front two engines drove the front wheels, the rear drove the rear wheels.