Hot Rods On Muroc Dry Lake 1938

Muroc Dry Lake, now known as NASA's Edwards Air Force Base, was the site of hot-roddings first major lakes event. In 1938 Ernie McAfee's record-breaking four-cylinder Ford with a Winfield cylinder head ran 136.33 miles an hour. The body was torpedo shaped, there was no suspension and exhaust headers and pipes were enclosed within the body. By the end of 1939 only 29 cars had passed the 100 mile a hour mark but by 1948 the average speed was more than 130 miles an hour. The book, Muroc, is full of previously unpublished pictures of the 1938 SCTA event, copies of programs, maps and a most unusual set of low-level aerial views showing what lakes racing was all about. This is what hot rodding really was. The 80-page, coffee-table format, 11 by 8-1/2-inch book has been so popular it is now in its third printing.