Michigan man unveils 400+ mph ‘Streamliner’ vehicle he took 26 years to build

An 86-year-old man is trying to join the land speed elite after unveiling his streamliner, which he’s been building since 1996 as he prepares to race it on Utah’s Salt Flats and fulfill his wife’s dying wish .

Jim Byerly has been obsessed with racing since he was young and has worked on several cars over the years, but told Fox 17 his Streamliner will outperform the rest.

Once complete, Byerly hopes to take the vehicle to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where some of the fastest cars have reached speeds of nearly 500 miles per hour.

According to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the absolute world record for land speed is 763.035 mph, but many factors come into play when it comes to beating land speed records.

86-year-old Jim Byerly is trying to join the land speed elite after unveiling his streamliner, which he has been building since 1996

“There are hundreds of other records in countless classes based on factors like engine type and displacement, weight or body shape,” explains the FIA ​​website.

“Record attempts can be made on straight playa, salt or tarmac courses, where they are averaged over two runs in opposite directions, or over distance or time runs on closed circuits.”

For Byerly, the Utah Salt Flats will be where he will test the limits of what has become his life’s work, fueling his love and passion for the industry from a young age.

“It actually clearly started when I graduated from high school because I went over to the drugstore,” Byerly said.

“The hot rod magazines were small back then. I thought, ‘Boy, that’s pretty interesting.’ It slowly crept up from there.”

After 26 years of work on this vehicle, his Streamliner is nearing the finish line.

Once complete, Byerly hopes to take the vehicle to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where some of the fastest cars have reached speeds of nearly 500 miles per hour

The hope is to have it race-ready in August and take the nearly 27-foot, 4,000-pound wagon. Vehicle traveling at half the speed of sound

After 26 years of work on this vehicle, his Streamliner is nearing the finish line

The hope is to have it race-ready in August and take the nearly 27-foot, 4,000-pound wagon. Vehicle traveling at half the speed of sound.

Byerly won’t be the one behind the wheel though, that honor goes to his neighbor and now friend Eric Bair.

“My wish list was to go to Bonneville, just walk there, not drive,” Bair said.

Bair has competed in several drag races himself since the ’90s, but he’s never gone faster than 140mph, the Streamliner will hopefully triple that speed.

“Oh, I’m excited,” he said, adding that August couldn’t have come sooner.

“There are no nerves. I just want to get behind the wheel and steer this thing.”

Byerly won’t be the one behind the wheel though, that honor goes to his neighbor and now friend Eric Bair

In 2020, the Speed ​​Demon 715, a piston-powered landspeed streamliner, made history by hitting 470.016 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats

While Byerly didn’t need additional motivation, his desire to bring his project to life was further reignited following the death of his 63-year-old wife, Loa, in 2020.

Byerly said Loa would always tell him, “I just want that to do what you want.”

In 2020, the Speed ​​Demon 715, a piston-powered landspeed streamliner, made history by hitting 470.016 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The performance sets a record as the best piston-powered land speed run to date.

The Streamliner, powered by a 555 cubic inch twin-turbocharged Chevy, was piloted by George Poteet.

The performance surpassed the previous record of 448.75 mph set in 2018 by Danny Thompson, son of off-road and landspeed racing legend Mickey Thompson.