Inside Jesse James’ Record-Breaking Hydrogen Racer

• By Chuck Squatriglia

Motorcycle madman Jesse James has broken the land speed record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle, and he did it in a car that packs modern technology into a vintage racer more than 40 years old.

The guy behind West Coast Choppers blazed across El Mirage Dry Lake Bed at 199.7 mph in a car he claims he spent “a couple million bucks” building. He’d been toying with the idea of an alt-fuel racer, but rather than start from scratch — as BMW did with the slick H2R racer that previously held the record — he modified a ’60s-era streamliner to run on gaseous hydrogen.

“I think it’s way cooler to take an old hunk of shit that many considered useless and make it haul ass,” James told Wired.com. “It has built-in soul and history. Plus, it’s recycling.”

That hunk of shit is a somewhat historic machine called the Dees Milodon Engineering - Davis B streamliner, and it is no stranger to the salt. The car once hit 237 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats using a Chrysler engine, and James says it set a record for a front-wheel-drive vehicle. It hadn’t seen action for awhile, and when James first saw the car it was hanging in a friend’s shop.

“I always loved the way it looked,” James said. “Kinda like an evil flying saucer.”

After getting some design help from renowned land speed racer Mike Cook, the crew at West Coast Choppers lengthened the car 24 inches and brought the frame and suspension up to modern safety specs. James handled all the bodywork himself, then called on engine expert Kurt Urban to help develop the powerplant.

They went a bit nuts, building a 572-cubic-inch twin-turbo Chevrolet engine that produces prodigious power.

“BMW set the record with liquid hydrogen, which is way easier to make a motor run on but it will never be practical for everyday cars,” James told us. “The engine produces 780 horsepower and 900 foot-pounds of torque. That’s some serious power from the world’s most plentiful resource.”

A Liberty airshifted 5-speed transmission and a Winters quick-change differential round out the drivetrain. The hydrogen is stored at 5,000 PSI in three tanks built by Quantum Technologies — the same outfit developing the plug-in electric drivetrain for Fisker Automotive.

“It sounds like an iron lung when it’s working,” James said.

James fired up the engine for the first time at 12:45 a.m. on June 8. He says sounds “like a real race car, just done in a non-ozone-killing way.” (Judge for yourself by watching a video posted here.)

By that point, the only thing left to do was suit up, get in and hold on. James made his record-setting run on Tuesday and taped it for his TV show “Jesse James Is A Dead Man.” He fell just short of his goal of 200 mph, but it was enough to top the 186.52 mph record BMW held. The speed was confirmed by the Southern California Timing Association, a sanctioning body for land speed racing .

So why did a guy known for building customized motorcycles decide to go alt-fuel racing?

“I’m not so blinded by the things I build that I can’t see change is needed,” he said. “I’m in love with anything with wheels and a big engine. I hope my son will be able to love the same things. They’ll just be running on a different kind of gas.”

The episode featuring James’ record run will air Aug. 9.

UPDATE, 12:10 p.m. ET June 19: Roy Creel, president of the Southern California Timing Association, sent this note to correct a point in the original post:

The SCTA (Southern Calif. Timing Association) was neither involved in, nor did we confirm Mr Jame’s “record.” In fact, Mr James did not set any record. What he did accomplish was to exceed an existing record speed previously set by BMW. His private timing event was timed by the same folks that time SCTA events and the course was set up by the same folks who set SCTA courses.

Main photo: Hildie Katibah for Spike TV. Second photo: Jesse James.