Fred Luther was a motorcycle racer, who competed as early as 1913 at the Jack Prince Motordrome, a board track in Atlanta, Georgia. Not much more is known about him other than at that time he was from Texas, and was listed as an entrant in a few other races on board tracks in the period. Twenty years later in 1934 Luther was in California where he built this motorcycle to compete for a 300 m.p.h. land speed record and a cash prize.
And what a monster the machine turned out to be. Into a stretched and reinforced Excelsior frame, he installed a 1934 Plymouth six-cylinder engine and transmission that was supposedly supplied by Chrysler, who he worked for. It has been reported that none other than Harry Miller worked over the engine and increased its power output from 77 to 125 h.p.
Of particular interest is the braking system that was built for it. Both sides of the rear of the machine carried pivoting lever-controlled arms complete with steel skids that were used to slow it down and also keep it upright when stationary.
Luther took it to the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1935 to try for the record and there he was only able to get in two runs with the machine. His first trip down the salt resulted in a speed of 140 m.p.h. On his second run while still in second gear the engine broke a connecting rod at 180 m.p.h. and his attempt was finished.
Factual information is hard to find about the Luther’s run and the story that has been spread around the internet tells of the $10,000 prize money turning out to be a hoax. Luther’s machine has survived and can be seen here. If you can find a credible news source with more information send us a comment.
Thanks Theoldmotor.com for this amazing story
