zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
Buy This Harley-Powered Piece Of Hot Rod History
Buy This Harley-Powered Piece Of Hot Rod History-March 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:44

The 1950s were an incredible time of ingenuity in the motorsport world. Guys in sheds were building incredible contraptions that were capable of speeds never seen before. Take the Super Shaker streamliner seen here for example. It started life as a Cooper sports racer chassis, and then the original builder/racer Bill Burke put a Harley trike drivetrain in it, threw some quasi-aerodynamic panels over the bundle of tubes, and took it to 151.38 MPH. And that was in 1959!

Burke was an original hot rodder, joining the SCTA as member #45, and becoming just the fifth person ever to exceed 100 MPH on the salt flats. He was allegedly the first guy to build a belly tanker, as well.

Burke was famous for building simple no-frills racers, and that’s well evident in the Super Shaker. He assembled the racer with standard Ford Anglia front suspension with a transverse leaf spring. At the rear was the engine, transmission, driveshaft, and rear axle assembly from a Harley Davidson 3-wheel service cart. Powering the whole thing was a Harley “Knucklehead” V-twin that was bored out, fitted with a stroker crankshaft, and the heads were reworked for a pair of larger carburetors.

The whole car, all together, weighed just over 600 pounds, and the bodywork was crafted so there was just enough room for the drivetrain and Burke’s body to go flat out. In 1959 Burke and the Super Shaker won the F/Streamliner class, and it was subsequently featured in issues of Hot Rod, Rod & Custom, Car Craft, and Sportscar Graphic.

After shifting through a number of owners who did nothing with it, the car was sold in 2004 to Jerry Weeks Baker, who painstakingly restored the car back to its glory days over a four-year restoration. It was finished just in time to open the Bonneville Nationals in 2008. It has since been on display at Wally Parks NHRA Museum in Pomona.

Now is your chance to own this machine, as it’s coming up for auction on Saturday March 16th .

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
1984 Mercedes Benz 500SL for $85,000!
1984 Mercedes Benz 500SL for $85,000!
Everything is bigger in Texas, including insane price tags for used old-money mobiles. So pop open a Lone Star, get ready to stimulate somebody's economy, and let's go kick some tires. Our subject for today is a 500SL, for which the seller is asking $85,000. And no, it is neither...
Mar 1, 2026
Malaise-Era 1980 Triumph TR7 for $6,495!!!
Malaise-Era 1980 Triumph TR7 for $6,495!!!
Nebraska's flatter than the fourth grade. Which is good, because with a Triumph TR7, there inevitably comes a time when you may need to get out and push. So, new day, new . And how could you go wrong with a steak and kidney pie mixture of British socialist labor...
Mar 1, 2026
2010 Mazda3: First Drive
2010 Mazda3: First Drive
The Mazda3 is back and with some shiny new friends. It seems Mazda has brought on a crew of to ruthlessly attack every with sparkling injustice. Full Disclosure: Mazda flew me out to a ritzy Laguna Beach resort, fed me mountains of delicious food and allowed for carte blanche access...
Mar 1, 2026
2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
2010 Shelby GT500: First Drive
With the , SVT's engineers claim they've turned a 500 HP Mustang into a 540 HP super car. They've succeeded, but don't worry; it'll still do enormous burnouts. Like the , this new GT500 isn't an all-new car, but rather an extreme development of the previous platform. That old set...
Mar 1, 2026
$219,000 for a 1994 Jaguar Two-Door!
$219,000 for a 1994 Jaguar Two-Door!
Get ready to let the cat out of the bag with a 550 HP Jaguar super car that's rarer than a working Lucas ignition system. Here kitty, kitty, kitty. You can count the number of mid-engine Jaguar models on one hand. And that's even if you're missing a finger or...
Mar 1, 2026
Ford Fiesta: First Drive
Ford Fiesta: First Drive
Want a small, cheap, fun-to-drive, economical, practical car? Right now there's not many choices at all and none if you want to buy American. The will change that. Earlier today we picked up this Europe-spec (or international-spec, depending on who from Ford you speak with) and spent a few hours...
Mar 1, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved