{"id":8715,"date":"2023-09-12T16:05:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T16:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=8715"},"modified":"2023-09-26T13:11:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T13:11:00","slug":"how-americas-most-beautiful-hot-rod-conquered-the-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=8715","title":{"rendered":"How America\u2019s most beautiful roadster conquered the mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Martin Special was named \u2018America\u2019s most beautiful roadster’ and ‘Goodguys hot rod of the year\u2019 in 2018. As you\u2019d expect, it\u2019s quick in a straight line. But it needn\u2019t shy away from the twisties either, as we noticed at last year\u2019s Bernina Gran Turismo. We sat down and talked to owner\/designer David Martin.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine how out of place it looks. Up ahead looms the Bernina summit, with the pass situated at 2326 metres (7631 feet) above sea level. We are 5.7 kilometres (3.56 miles) away from the finish, at the top of the pass. But that means 450 metres (1312 feet) of altitude to overcome, and 50 curves to tackle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Martin at Bernina Gran Turismo, 2022. Photo ISAW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a field including a Porsche 550 Spyder and a Lotus 59B Formula 2 single-seater, it\u2019s not the most obvious choice. But when you hear it, and when you see it gently lighting up its tyres at the start line, you can\u2019t help but fall in love with it. You can\u2019t see it of course. Oh wait, you can. Have a look at this small clip<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISAW motor week<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Martin Special was one of the most spectacular entrants ever for the Bernina Gran Turismo<\/a>, the main program of the International St Moritz Automobile Week<\/a> (ISAW). The hill climb is now in its ninth year, and is becoming one of the finest \u2018off-Broadway\u2019 classic racing events. It does not play in the same league as Goodwood, but the convivial atmosphere among the participants is something the big events simply cannot offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Martin Special during Km Lanc\u00e9, Int St Moritz Automobile Week. Photo Lienhard Racing\/Solitude GmbH<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Junkyard motor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Back to the hot rod. David Martin was just 13 when he bought his first Ford Model A \u201cfor the pricely sum of 25 bucks,\u201d he chuckles. \u201cMy parents refused to buy me a car, but they encouraged me to mend things. This happened at the tail end of the hot rod movement in Southern California, around 1956 \u2013 1958. The formula was easy: any pre-1934 Ford was ideal for a hot rod transformation. You\u2019d go to a junkyard and pull out a powerful motor for 200 dollars. I put one in the Model A. With part hydraulic brakes, it wouldn\u2019t really qualify as safe, but it got me going in the hot rod scene.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As I went to college and studied architecture, I gave up on the hot rod for some time. My mind turned to the Baja, in fact. I raced with my brother in the Unlimited class and we were getting quite good at the long-distance driving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Martin at Bernina Gran Turismo, 2022. Photo ISAW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By then, David had sold his first Model A. But early in the eighties, he couldn\u2019t resist having a go with another one. \u201cIt came with a Flathead engine that lasted just two weeks. I changed it for a Chevy 350 V8, an incredible engine. Sometimes, we\u2019d supercharge it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Master fabricator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next step came in 1995, when David teamed up with Scott Bonowski. \u201cHe is a master fabricator.\u201d Looking at it, it\u2019s the attention to detail and the beautiful finishing that strike you in the Martin Special. The action pictures here fail to show you the beauty of the louvres in the bonnet for instance, or the sensual twists of the exhaust pipes. \u201cThe idea of the detail is important. This is about the beauty of architecture.\u201d In 2018, it was named \u2018America\u2019s Most Beautiful Roadster\u2019 at the Grand National Roadster Show. It won ‘Goodguys hot rod of the year’ as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Martin at Bernina Gran Turismo, 2022. Photo ISAW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Maybe we should supercharge it the next time<\/p>\nDavid Martin<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Martin Special wasn\u2019t just beautifully built, it was fast too. It hit an average of 101.5057 mph (162.41 kph) at the 90-mile-long Silver State Classic Challenge in Nevada. After that, attention tuned to make the hot rod handle in the turns as well. \u201cIt had a solid axle at the rear, which we switched for a triangulated, four-beam solution. At the front, we were inspired by old Bugatti techniques with the pivot in the middle of the axle.\u201d The shock absorbers needed retuning as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Martin at Bernina Gran Turismo, 2022. Photo ISAW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Downtuned\u2026 a little<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Bernina, the engine was downtuned a little. \u201cI asked to back it off to around 495 hp and 500 foot pounds of torque.\u201d It comes with a five-speed manual and with a limited-slip diff to ease power delivery in the corners. David Martin first entered the Martin Special on the airstrip near St Moritz for the Kilometre Lanc\u00e9<\/a>, run in diabolical rain. Fortunately, for the hill climb the next weekend, the weather improved. Apparently, four runs on the mountain left David with just one question: \u201cWhat do you think, should we supercharge it next time?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Martin Special was named \u2018America\u2019s most beautiful hot rod\u2019 in 2018. Owner David Martin took it up the mountain at Bernina Gran Turismo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,104],"tags":[202,188,1231,196,1235,1233,1234,522,523,1230,1232],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-8715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historic-rallies","category-news-pictures-videos","tag-bernina","tag-bernina-gran-turismo","tag-david-martin","tag-ford","tag-ford-model-a","tag-hill-climb","tag-hot-rod","tag-isaw","tag-kilometre-lance","tag-martin-special","tag-scott-bonowski","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/DSC_9186copy.LienhardRacingBildwerke.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8715"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8863,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8715\/revisions\/8863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8715"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fthb-sponsors&post=8715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}