200 MPH?
Cyclone Spoiler II Goes to Bonneville
If you are a regular here, you already know about Mike Callaghan and his Bonneville street Spoiler II. Mike is not only a really nice guy, but he is also a very dedicated Mercury Spoiler II owner chasing a 200 MPH Club Membership! This year (2022) Mike made his annual trip to Bonneville. His current goal is to break 200 MPH in not just a street legal car, but an actual, regular street driven car!
If you haven’t seen Mike’s Spoiler II you are missing a real treat. The car was originally built by the late Lou Witfield. All of the previous runs at Bonneville were done with a “cruiser engine” Lou built years ago when he owned the car. That engine went 170 on the salt (see video below).
Mike recently sent the following comments as way of follow up.
There is a big difference in the Bonneville specs for a car that tries for 200 MPH vs one shooting for 170. Therefore, Mike has been making extensive modifications to the car while still keeping it a street usable car. We have given you updates on these modifications previously. Mike finished those this year and headed to Bonneville. The following is his report to us on the status of that attempt.
Morning Richard. Just checking in. Looks like our last contact was at Xmas. Finally got my new 408 Cleveland engine done late spring. Went to Bonneville but got rained out before we could run. Luckily, I drove my car into town before the salt flooded. A week later I was driving the Merc in Detroit on Woodward. I have accomplished getting a true street car thru Bonneville tech. Next 200mph. I appreciate your support and the support of everyone who has followed my adventures. Every year after Bonneville, Erin (Lou’s widow) contacts me and checks up on how I did with Lou’s old car. She encourages me the same as Lou would do. I’m sending some pictures from this year. Your friend, Mike.
I haven’t run 200 yet. Easier said than done. It might take me a couple of years to get there. I always say, if I wanted to do something easy, I would climb Mount Everest. A lot more people have made it to the top of Everest than have run over 200 on salt.
