Angus McPhail went head first into the history books
Of course it was. One is shaped like a brick to move over rough terrain, one is shaped like a living torpedo to move through the water. That being said, the same principles apply to drag racing. That’s why the “HR” in NHRA and IHRA is there and still stands for “Hot Rod,” but there is hardly a stereotypical “Hot Rod” to be seen on the track. Quite simply, they’re obsolete due to an aerodynamic disadvantage. Vertical grille shells, vertical windshields, and very little room for the safety equipment of the modern-day make them a somewhat poor choice for a race car platform for the track. Don’t get me wrong, they’re fast, they’re light, and they’re one of my favourite generations of automobiles, they’re just not as streamlined as say, a Mustang or a Camaro or whatever. Motorcycles are the same way. Your typical motorcycle has gadgets sticking out everywhere, mostly for comfort, convenience, and style. Drag bikes are these big, long, rocketship looking things, sort of like half a funny car, but different. Back in the day, drag cars and streetcars weren’t all that different, and the same went for drag bikes and street bikes. Then Angus McPhail came along with his Jade Warrior.
Superman was fast, so why not sit on the bike in flight-position? How high off the ground should it be? Only as high as it needs to be, with careful considerations being made for maximum downforce at high speed to keep it from lifting up and spiralling off into deadly oblivion. The rear tire was a single drag slick fit for a car, and the front end was a single tire as well, also car style. I’m not sure how exactly the steering worked being in close quarters like that, but it reportedly was reasonably easy to drive (ride?), even at two-hundred miles-per-hour. Powering it was this wild two-litre four-cylinder engine with a bunch of Ford Cosworth parts along with a ton of custom cast and machined parts. How fast was it? Under eight seconds in the quarter-mile in 1985. Angus McPhail was a wild man, and quite honestly a genius when it came to creating the Jade Warrior. Some might say he was nuts, but really, I grew up in the era of lawn darts, so I get it. There’s something fun about cutting through the air at high speed with a strong sense of danger present. Angus passed away this year at the age of eighty-five, not in his prime in a motorcycle accident, despite how sketchy the Jade Warrior may have looked. He may be gone, but his legend will live on forever, and if you want to see him in action, check it out on YouTube. The footage has that excellent grainy VHS quality that you never realized you missed.
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