A year before Johnny Allen charged across the Bonneville Salt Flats with the Texas Cee-Gar, he broke the record held by Russell Wright and his Vincent-HRD and edged closer to the 200mph barrier.
Johnny’s Triumph Thunderbird powered streamliner, the Devil’s Arrow, achieved an average speed of 192.719 mph (310.151 kph) in 1955. The FIM didn’t recognise the record but it was ratified by the AMA.
Johnny Allen was a pioneer in the purest sense, a man for whom the fear of the unknown was merely an added incentive to cut through the salt of Bonneville at approaching a third of the speed of sound.