Editors Note: A relative of Sig is currently looking for the Wisconsin Special, it’s known to still exist as of 2008. If you have any information please contact me via the email address in the footer of the website.
In 1922 Sig Haugdahl (Sigurd Olson “Sig” Haugdahl) built a car with an aluminium 836 cu. in. (13.7 litre), 250 h.p., 6-cylinder aeroplane engine, He managed to push the car, dubbed the “Wisconsin Special” to a top speed of 180mph at Daytona Beach, Florida setting an unofficial World Record.
The record wasn’t officially recognised as he wasn’t a member of the American Automobile Association at the time of his run. Although it has been unofficially recognised by many, he beat the previous record by a respectable 24mph and did it all on a public beach, not a dead smooth salt lake.
The design of the Wisconsin Special is eye-catching, the teardrop front grill, shark-gill heat vents on the underside of the bodywork, Spitfire style exhaust outlets and tiny little windshield are all quite unique as is the fact that Sig set a 180mph top speed on what appear to be wheels off a horse-drawn cart. They just don’t make ’em like they used to.
Read more about Sig Haugdahl here.
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
