Jesse James successfully sets new hydrogen land-speed record
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Jun 18th 2009 at 10:57AM 
Earlier this month, we caught wind of Jesse James' plan to set a new land-speed record in a hydrogen-powered vehicle. According to a press release issued by Spike TV, the daredevil motorcycle enthusiast was successful in his quest, hitting a top speed of 199.7 miles per hour on a run in the El Mirage dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert in California.
Though ultimately successful, the run didn't go off without a hitch. Apparently, the car needed three passes before the crew was able to keep enough blowing dust out of the cockpit and feed enough air into the monster 740-horsepower hydrogen-fueled 572 cubic-inch Chevrolet V8 engine.
The previous mark for a hydrogen-burning car was set by BMW in Germany a few years back with its H2H race car. James seems pleased with his accomplishment, saying, "This, I honestly believe, is world-changing. We can't rely on gasoline forever. I'm paying it forward." Modest, isn't he?
Want to see the whole thing go down? Tune in to Spike TV to watch Jesse James is a Dead Man on Sunday, August 9th at 10 pm Eastern. Spoiler Alert: Jesse James does not die in this episode.
[Source: Spike TV]
PRESS RELEASE:
Jesse James Successfully Reaches 199.7mph While Filming His Hit Show "Jesse James Is A Dead Man" on Spike TV
EL MIRAGE DRY LAKE BED, Calif., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Jesse James successfully shattered the land speed record for a hydrogen powered vehicle yesterday in the Mojave Desert. James attempted the challenge while filming his hit television show "Jesse James Is A Dead Man" which premiered May 30, 2009. The show was filmed yesterday and will air as the season one finale of "Jesse James Is A Dead Man" premiering on Sunday, August 9 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on Spike TV.
Jesse's time was documented by the Southern California Timing Association and beat the previous record holder, the BMW H2R, which previously held the land-speed record for an H2 car of 185mph in Germany. The vehicle used by Jesse was an emission free vehicle with a "Breathable Exhaust."
Jesse went to El Mirage Dry Lake Bed with an extreme purpose: to break the land speed record of 185 MPH for a hydrogen-fueled vehicle. It's a record that has long been on his mind and it has not been an easy road getting here. Jesse has consulted the help of legendary land speed racer Mike Cook. Mike gave Jesse invaluable advice on the design of the car. He also helped Jesse pick up the nuance of driving the car and was with him in the testing phase. Engine wizard Kurt Urban came from Detroit and auto row to help him develop a superior hydrogen engine: an internal combustion throwback to the days of overpowering American steel. Together they created an emission free vehicle that will dispel any notions of the power of alternative fuels. Jesse prepared for a worst case scenario situation by escaping from a burning fuselage, narrowly avoiding injury and testing his mettle to the limit.
"Jesse James Is A Dead Man" is being produced for Spike TV by executive producers Jesse James and Hildie Katibah through his production company, Payupsucker Productions, in conjunction with executive producers John Brenkus and Mickey Stern of BASE Productions ("Sport Science," "Crime 360"). Kevin Lee also serves as executive producer. Sharon Levy and Tim Duffy are executives in charge of production for Spike TV.
Jesse James is a custom bike and car builder, producer, publisher, television host and restaurateur. In 2000, James started his TV career with Discovery Channel's "Motorcycle Mania," and in 2002 produced and starred in the international television hit, "Monster Garage." Before his TV gigs, James started West Coast Choppers by doing what he loved, building motorcycles in his mom's garage. As an expert welder, James produces only 12-14 bikes a year, making a very long wait list for his coveted custom machines.
More recently, James established his own production company, Payupsucker Productions, and in 2004, he became publisher of Garage Magazine and launched Payupsucker Publications. In 2006 he opened an eco-friendly burger joint, Cisco Burger, in Long Beach, CA.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Derk McRockgroin 11:12AM (6/18/2009)
"We can't rely on gasoline forever."
We can't rely on hydrogen either...
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kert 11:40AM (6/18/2009)
Easy recipe to beat the hydrogen record : slap an appropriately sized LH2/LOX rocket engine ( say , Space Shuttle Main Engine or SSME ) on a 1967 Chevy Impala, and light it somewhere in Arizona desert... oh wait:
http://www.snopes.com/autos/dream/jato.asp
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jharlan 11:54AM (6/18/2009)
Isn't that interesting? Next he can set a new landspeed record, using methane produced from heated bull shit. It's probably more relevant.
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daniel_w_evans@yahoo.com 12:58PM (6/18/2009)
Hydrogen will be the future... eventually.
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Serge 1:31PM (6/18/2009)
Propulsion based on burning hydrogen in an ICE is one of the dumbest and least green "technologies" around. Powering the run with regular gas or alcohol would likely achieve higher speeds (are you sure that engine achieves 740 hp when fueled by hydrogen?) and cost 2-3 times less. What does this demonstrate to me? I will refrain from further comment.
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Chris M 5:19PM (6/18/2009)
yep, the land speed record for gasoline piston engines broke 200 mph a long time ago, as did diesel, gas turbine, and jets. Come to think of it, battery electrics broke that limit a long time ago, too!.
RG 2:14PM (6/18/2009)
I think you guys are missing the point. First they are setting a speed record in a class. The fact that it may make no sense on a road car has no relevance. They set it. The second thing is that Jesse James did it because it's for a TV show. I guarantee if he wasn't filming for a show, he wouldn't have done it.
He also didn't say that we can rely on hydrogen forever. He only said we can't rely on gasoline forever which is true. What part of that sounds controversial?
It doesn't matter that hydrogen isn't very efficient as a fuel for an internal combustion engine. There are also other land speed classes such as steam. Now while I have a fascination for steam engines, I don't see a steam engine powering the wheels directly as being the future of transportation yet a new record was just set. Don't question why something was done. Just look at it for what it is. In this case it's a new class speed record. That's worth bragging about.
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gorr 3:15PM (6/18/2009)
I knew that gazeous hydrogen fed ices could achieve big h.p if you mess-up a little bit with the carburation mecanism. All it take is someone that already know carburation mecanisms in actual ices, there is many folks already messing with that, car compagnies engineers and managers, car technicians, car mechanics, car freaks, home mechanics, general public, all that since 100 years. And to my knowledge 750 h.p is the record, LOL. They should try my 2 strokes design with the gazeous injector placed into the cylinder head with water mist too for an easy 8000+ h.p. They actually have this kind of power in dragsters but it cost 10 000$ to fuel and the engine is good for 5 seconds, not to mention the idle problems noise and pollution and hard drivability in town. Me im speaking of normal operation and normal reliability 8000+ h.p is better for the consumer if he or she wants to go at the dragstrip on weekends.
That kind of engine can fit too in ships, trains, tractor-trailers trucks, agricol machineries, roads construction machineries, race cars, helicopters and electrical generation machineries, karts, motorcycles, lawn mowers, radio-guided small helicopters, radio-guided big helicopters and radio-guided spaceships. Actually my gadjet that im talking about is used by the nasa for the space shuttle. So why not use it for normal ices ( internal combustion engines ). This 2 strokes hydrogen ice don't need a air flow dragging huge energy air transfert wasting radiator that 100% of actual cars from gm, ford and toyota sold to normal paying consumers all over the world since 100 years are fitted with and no platinum catalytic converters for burning the gasoline that didn't burn into the combustion chamber because gasoline burn slow with few power and big pollution.
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Chris M 5:17PM (6/18/2009)
Gorr, look at that photo and ask yourself if you'd really want to drive around in a car that looks like that. Then ask yourself if you really want to have to fill the engine cooler with ice - notice, no radiator, it is cooled by a box full of ice - every time you wanted to go anywhere.
Not that you'd go very far. With that large of an engine, range would be less than 20 miles.
lazybones 8:39PM (6/18/2009)
"Propulsion based on burning hydrogen in an ICE is one of the dumbest and least green "technologies" around."
Amazing how many people miss this point. To me its the only reason why so many accept H2, its because they want to keep their ICE cars. A big clue came from the BMW H7, a car which needs soooo much H2 to get any decent range from its ICE that fuel has to be liquified at cryogenic temperatures!!
If you want a landspeed record with H2, take a tip from NASA. Fit a rocket to the car and then you'll see some serious speed.
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Daryl 10:06PM (6/18/2009)
The US Fed Gov has halted all funding for hydrogen fuel related projects. HELLO!!! ANYONE IN THERE??? Why waste your time Jessie? Build an all electric for god's sake like the kids at Keio University in Tokyo Japan FIVE years ago that goes 235MPH!!!! Don't even get me started on the motor technology...a Chevy V8 with 100's of moving parts vs. 8 electric WHEEL motors with ONE moving part?? Come on! What's next Jessie? World's fastest tortoise?
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bob 3:13PM (6/19/2009)
Daryl, in case you haven't noticed, the federal government doesn't always make the best decisions.....
http://hydrogendiscoveries.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/general-motors-congressional-briefing-june-12-2009.pdf
lvy 1:24AM (6/19/2009)
oh,very good
http://www.jb-electricbikes.com/
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Paul 3:31AM (6/19/2009)
Big F@%&ing Deal!!!
Burning Hydrogen in an ICE actually makes it significantly LESS fuel/energy efficient because Liquid Hydrogen has LESS than 1/3rd the energy per gallon compared to gasoline.
If Natural Gas is the most common source used to MAKE hydrogen, why not cut out the middle man and run the dumb looking thing on LNG, it has almost TRIPLE the BTU/US gal of Hydrogen.
I still haven't seen the episode where he fills the boot of a 2 ton Impala with power tool batteries and bolts a forklift motor to the transmission...... ground breaking stuff!!
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