Streamlined dream: a 21st-century tribute to the speed kings of Daytona and Dessau

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Campbell, Segrave, Cobb. Caracciola, Rosemeyer, Nuvolari. These are names we all admire, but one man's interest in pre-war motor racing and record-breaking went beyond admiration and into the realm of inspiration.

Glenn Billqvist has been fascinated with cars his entire life. His father, Kalle, has been a mechanic since he was 14, and Glenn inherited his mechanical aptitude. Like many young Swedes, he had a predilection for old American cars and bought his first when he was 17. Within a few years, he was customising a Volvo Amazon and a Ford Model A. It was not until 1998 that his interest in vintage cars truly took hold, when Glenn was offered a drive in an Amilcar and immediately became a convert. The more he learnt about the pre-war period, the more his interest and admiration for the drivers of the time grew. He became quite active racing pre-war cars and then, in 2009, he decided to join the ranks of car builders and, with Kalle, construct his first special.

What resulted was the Forgatti, a hot-rodded Ford Model A with Bugatti-inspired bodywork. Constructing that was a breeze compared with what would follow. In 2013, half of Sweden shook when the Billqvists fired up their next creation, Il Drago Ruggente, a flame-spitting special utilising a 1924 Delage DI chassis and a 27-litre Isotta Fraschini V12 aero engine. There then followed the Glennster S-12, a single-seater influenced by the 1930s Mercedes-Benz 'Silver Arrow' Grand Prix cars but utilising a 1928 Buick chassis and a 1940 Lincoln V12 engine with a Marshall supercharger.

Eight thousand hours later...

They were all labours of love which took vision and talent to create, but Glenn and Kalle are only among a number of people in the 21st century who have been building aero-engined specials and 1930s-inspired single-seaters. The Billqvists, however, were working towards something far grander. A favourite car of Glenn's was the Stutz Black Hawk, an ill-fated land speed record car which was driven up to 203.45 mph at Daytona in April 1928, in a bid to beat the 206.956 mph set by Malcolm Campbell in Bluebird two months previously. Tragically, a tyre blew and the Stutz went into a spin before rolling, killing its 25-year-old driver, Frank Lockhart. Ill luck had condemned what had been a truly intelligently designed car which prioritised lightness and streamlining over brute power, with two 1½-litre Miller straight-eights mated to a common crankcase to create one sub-three-litre V16.

Glenn made up his mind to pay tribute to Lockhart and the Stutz, but his plans were significantly altered when he first saw a picture of the 1938 Mercedes-Benz W154 Rekordwagen, the second of three streamlined record cars built by Mercedes-Benz in the late 1930s. It was based on the W154 Grand Prix car with its three-litre V12 and ran in the two-to-three-litre class. It ran on a closed section of Autobahn in Dessau where, piloted by Rudolf Caracciola, it set records for the standing mile (28.32 s) and standing kilometre (20.29 s) at an average of 110 mph. The three Mercedes Rekordwagen still survive and are on display at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, but probably will never run again.

Even if we cannot see the original historic cars run in anger, it is our privilege that we are able to see Glenn's Streamliner C-16, the result of his fascination with the Black Hawk and the Rekordwagen, which allows enthusiasts to experience sights and sounds very much like those witnessed at Daytona and Dessau in period. The project commenced in January 2020 and took eight thousand hours to complete, ultimately being seen by the public for the first time at the Vintage Hot Rod Association's beach races at Pendine Sands in May 2022.

German skin, American heart

At a glance, it is almost indistinguishable from the Mercedes, but its engineering is more in the spirit of the Stutz. Like the Stutz, it is powered by a conjoined pair of straight-eights, although they are of the late-1930s Buick 4,065 cc variety and are fixed in-line. With each block equipped with twin Stromberg 81 carburettors, the engine's total output is estimated at 200 bhp. The chassis originally underpinned a 1938 Chevrolet COE truck. Needless to say, getting the engines to run as one straight-sixteen was quite an undertaking, requiring one of the crankshafts to be turned 22½ degrees. A standard Buick three-speed transmission from 1938 copes with the extra power thanks to a sintered clutch. The Chevrolet also donated its rear axle to the build, while the front axle is from a 1940 Ford truck. It was a true father-and-son effort, Kalle taking responsibility for the engine, transmission, brakes and electrics, while Glenn attended to the chassis and produced from scratch the beautifully curvaceous body.

On its inaugural runs at Pendine, it managed 88.54 mph, which left Glenn with something to work towards as he was hoping to hit 140 mph. Since then, it has continued to run or be shown at speed events across Europe, including the Kilomètre Lancé in St. Moritz and Autumn Motorsports Day at Brooklands in 2022, and the Custom Motor Show in Jönköping, Classic Days in Düsseldorf and Rockin' Race Jamboree in Torremolinos in 2023. It has been admired far and wide, but is now looking for a new home.

One ambition which has not yet been realised is to see Streamliner C-16 run at Bonneville, so perhaps that should be the target for its next owner? It would certainly be the star of Speed Week. If the cost and logistics of shipping the car to America prove too troublesome, it should be no great shame, for beach racing has now become quite a popular phenomenon in Europe, not only at Pendine Sands but also at the Crossroad Motor Festival in Seville and other venues, which always attract large crowds of international participants and spectators. There will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy it and push it past the ton in a competitive environment. And all the time you're not driving it, you've got a superb piece of Futurist sculpture to admire whenever you go to your garage.

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