Scotty Birdsall: Pikes Peak Diesel World Record Holder (Eps. 2) - a podcast by Hemmings

Take one 1949 Ford F1 pickup truck. Add a full-tube race chassis, a raced prepped Cummins diesel with compound turbochargers, and an insane builder/racer named Scotty Birdsall. Do that, and maybe, just maybe, you too could set a world record at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and in the process best one of the oldest, and most well-respected automakers the world has ever seen. 

Scott Birdsall of Chuckles Garage in Santa Rosa, California created “Old Smokey” out of a farm truck which he purchased for a mere $250.00. Initially slated to be a parts hauler for his shop, the old F1 quickly escalated into one of the coolest diesel-powered vehicles ever created. 

Old Smokey however isn’t Scotty’s first foray into the world of mechanized awesomeness though. Some may remember Strange Bird, the 1962 Ford Falcon Gasser that was powered by a supercharged 401 Buick Nailhead. Or Brutus, the BMY Harsco M931A2 6x6 5-ton tractor. Either way it doesn’t much matter as this week on the Hot Rod BBQ, we’ve got him, and he’s here to tell us not only about his new world record, but how he got into this business, how he loathes the corporate world, and what’s next in his pursuit of flat-out speed. 

We’ve also got a wicked 1965 Volvo P1800 racer that we pulled from the Hemmings classifieds in honor of our special guest because, it looks like something he’d get a kick out of!

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