AutoCult Buick Super Riviera “Bombshell Betty” (1952) (USA)

About the Original:

Salt, Records and lots of Aluminum

In 2008, photographer Jeff Bock moved from Flint, Michigan, to Phoenix, Arizona. At his new home, he noticed a run-down car in an old sawmill, which after a closer inspection turned out to be a ‘Buick Super Riviere’ from 1952. Coincidentally, he saw a feature film at that time, which was about speed record chasing and from then on his mind was made up to resurrect the old road cruiser into a world record car! In just two month, the ultimate high-speed racing car was created – just in time for the ‘Speed Week’ event on a salt lake in Bonneville in August 2009. Jeff Bock competed in the class XO/GCC, which he also wrote in large letters onto the aluminum body just above the rear wheels. The cryptic designation of the star class included combustion engines of older design.

Jeff Bock achieved a record speed of exactly 130.838 mph on his debut. This was enough to set a new record in his class. In the same year, he forced up his own record to 134.054 mph, and in 2010 he improved it again to 141.821 mph. He reached his fourth record in 2012 with a measured speed of 162.481 and in the same year he surpassed that record at the Nationals World Finals when the speed was officially confirmed at 165.380 mph. The last improvement of his record was 165.735 mph – exactly 266.72 km/h – in 2013. After its final speed record, ‘Bombshell Betty’ – as Jeff Bock called his vehicle – had fulfilled its duty and was for sale.

In 2016, the car changed hands for a sum of 36,300 US dollars.