HOT ROD Drag Week: The British Invasion! - HOT ROD Unlimited Episode 20
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2024
- HOT ROD Drag Week is the event where racers compete and five drag races at four different drag strips in five days, driving their competition cars on the street from track to track. At the 2012 event, presented by Gear Vendors, 180-plus cars drove 1,400 miles, starting and ending in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is the ultimate test of the quickest real street cars, and racers battle mechanical problems and sleepless nights just to finish.
Now imagine how difficult that would be if you had never been to the US, you shipped your car from another continent, drove it 600 miles to the start of Drag Week, and raced the whole five days. And your car is a Bedford van that you handbuilt with a turbo four-cylinder that runs 11.50s at 120 mph in the quarter, and there's a not a single part for it that you can buy in America. Now imagine doing all that while helping other racers at every step along the way, with a smile on your face the whole time. That was Mick "Wacky" Wilkes from England, who was the 2012 winner of HOT ROD Spirit of Drag Week award, an honor that the magazine and the racers take very seriously.
When Drag Week was done, Mick and his girlfriend Deb hit the road again, traveling all of Route 66 until they wound up at the HOT ROD magazine office in Southern California. Watch this episode of HOT ROD Unlimited to see their adventure.
HOT ROD Unlimited appears every other Friday on the new Motor Trend channel. / motortrend
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I'm the one who managed to get Mick's car out there and have to say what a lovely couple they are, the stress and strains they went through to make sure things ran smoothly, i'm so chuffed he was awarded the Spirit award, what you didn't see is the preparation that was put into it, we started planning the export/import of it almnost 12 months ago, with calls weekly, turning to daily the closer it got. Well done Mick and Debbie well and truly deserved
This comment isn't meant to be detrimental to any other race creed or colour, but it is blokes like Mick that make me so proud, and feel so lucky, to be British.........
GOD BLESS HIM!
He is not British! He is English!! British people do not exist!!!
As I assume your name is meant to be amusing and is not your actual name, and as I therefore further assume that you too are "British"..I suggest you check your passport for confirmation that we do exist!...If however the second of my two assumptions is incorrect it's got nothing to do with you anyway so I wouldn't worry about it mon amie
NYJALB
You do not have a British Passport!
Yes I do!
NYJALB
They do not exist, be careful! I am a black belt in pedantry!
Brings a tear to the eye.done us Brits proud ...
In the spirit of Burt Munroe who took his bike from New Zealand to Bonneville, USA. See the film The Worlds Fastest Indian.
Have known this guy over 20yrs now and he aint changed one bit..always ready to help others out...well done mate,,,you deserve it
no country in the world can compare or even beat the US drag racing scene and all that goes into it nobody is as enthusiastic as the yanks with their big block chevy's and hemi's - but the brit guy deserved his win such a nice bloke nice one dude
mopar man plus you can push 300hp in a four cylinder engine so plus it is lighter.
Waky, you sir have brought my faith into humanity back. You are definatly the spirit of drag week, all that drag week is about and what it is suposed to be, you inbraced it with a smile in your face. Waky, you rule \m/
What a great guy! He truly deserves the award. Cool ride, too.
opel. never dies.
+paul heikamp Irony ? x)
The fastest Postman Pat van in the world ! Most impressive, as Darth Vader would say....
thank you mick, you have shown us english to be very good people, have been following this channel for months and love every video, big up the UK and the USA, And Hotrods!
What a great thing to do. Shipping you car to the USA to race is mad - I salute you :)
What a guy. What an absolute character. He's fantastic ;'D
my 1st car was a 1973 HA viva/bedford van........i still have in the memorys from the back of that little van that make me smile today
Lol me too - had one as a firms van...a brand new K reg '71. Rolled it!
What an awesome souvenir of your trip.
Spirit is something you have never been short of Mick, so I'm not at all surprised to see everyone else spot it too. Congratulations!
The guy is an excellent ambasador for his country: undoing a lot of the Simon Cowell/Piers Morgan related damage to our reputation in the US.
I wish I knew more people like this guy, Well done Mick.
Brilliant story and Mick is a credit to all petrol heads everywhere.
Just awesome story, Wacky truly made the most of his visit, true gearhead in the purest sense of the term. Hope he makes a return visit soon, the world needs more people like "Wacky" :)
Mick you are a true English gentleman
excellent, showing how mad we can be here in the UK but putting 100% effort into reaching the goal.
well done, awesome! a credit to the UK.
I wish my wife could be that cool about my car obsession haha. Congrats to Mick Wilkes, not only for winning 'Spirit of Drag Week', but for also knowing how to enjoy life.
Great to see the spirit of friendship extend beyond the pond...Well deserved!
Mick- well done mate! Give that little Bedford hell!
little Bedford HA drag racing in the US, yup, I think I've seen it all now :)
In British culture, aside from being once-numerous yellow Telecom vans, the most famous Bedford HA was probaly the one featured in the comedy drama series The Beiderbecke Trilogy in the 1980s.
What a hell of a guy and thats why I always stop to help. I wouldnt want to stand there and watch people pass and not stop to check on me.Way to go a true car guy.
They should totally have Mick back for an episode of Roadkill, i bet he's got a ton of tricks up his sleeve
My dad used to have a HA van. It was a ex Harlow council van in a fetching shade of safety yellow. My dad used to drop me and my brother off to school in it. We rode in the back sitting on buckets for seats....
crashcommander We got dropped off in a Dodge Commer van, loved that old thing, sadly some drunk nutter plowed into one night and wiped it out, got a Ford Sierra (awful horrible thing) after that : (
Best friends dad had a Talbot Rancho!, oddball thing but kind of fun.
Road Kill was the Whole reason why i subscribed to this channel..
Give me back my damn Road Kill!
This guy needs his own show!
From my dealings with Englishmen, they are just like this chap -- fun to be around and always wanting to help out.....great story
i never know "what state" i'm in!..lol...sooo much respect for this fella..love sleepers..watch this video!
Mick you are a star, well done mate....best of British! (from Tamworth Staffs)
Good on him what a champ, true British spirit! Good on you mate
God I love drag racing, and with crazy cars like that van it's just so much better.
West Midlands represent!
I've visited england. The people over there are so genuine and helpful. Its a shame the USA couldn't live up to this. It would be a better place if we took some lessons in respect from the UK
I love this, for it's the ultimate sleeper. Looks like a stock truck on Lotus steels, but can blow the doors off an hot hatch in style
That guy is the real deal! a real class act!
well Done Mick, seen your van a couple year back at the hot rod drags at shakey, loved it. Top work mate. Mikey Hamilton.
Respect. Really cool guy and wife for enjoying her husbands adventures.
What a story! Great work Mick, an inspiration!
Met this guy today (with van!) at Shelsley Walsh. Hero and a really nice guy. Hero and Mick I hope you get back to the States at some point. 👍
thanks nice to meet you.sorry didn,t do many runs up hill ,hurt the turbo on first run!!!
Salt of the earth comes to mind this guy's got it in sack fulls,top man.
Ive known Mick all my life and i can honestly say that on his grave it wil lsay "HE DIED AS HE LIVED,..EVERYONES FRIEND". Deb and Mick are the perfect couple and i have massive respect for them both and what they do. I can still remember when he jumped the bridge just below our local police station in his MK 2 Escort,...ACE.
Makes me proud to be a car guy :) Congrats Mick!
You can't imagine how excited I am now!
Nice one Mick & Deb, you done us proud....
A hero and an example!
what a great guy well done congratulations.... to the British man!!!!!!!
What an ace experience that must have been, nice one bud. I often dream if shipping my lovely old jag out to America and touring the country in it.
The award was well deserved and couldn't have gone to a nicer guy.
Nice Bloke with a Cool Van!
Good old Brummie, Very proud of you mate :-)
What a nice chap. Legendary!
Brilliant story guys , the UK is brilliant and helpful to anyone !
Proud of him. Well done.
In brummie, "Noiys lay dun aah kid" in english "nicley done our kid"
Brummies n motors .......props
Love that van!
not bad at all. well deserved award with a very unique and cool vehicle there.
Loved the video and the story - Well done Mick , great job ! :-)
In the 1960s there was an "estate car" version of that van called the Bedford Beagle.
A Bedford HA van - crazy! Fully loaded in it's original form, the worlds slowest way to travel lol. Reliable though - very basic but *always* worked :)
true British Respect !!!.
Top man makes me proud to be British
Bad ass van! Cheers.
Really weird seeing someone I've seen in the flesh do drag week, hats off to him tho. And him helping everyone is what people do in the West Midlands, I've had so much respect for him it's unreal. And the reliability of that 2 litre redtop is pretty good aye (I'm a stone's throw away from Dudley)
What a top guy.
thats how most of the boy racer community are in the uk. i swopped my engine mounts for broken ones with a guy i only knew 2 hours so he could go down the strip.(santa pod) and i let him keep them as i only had 8 miles to drive home and he had 60...
great video. better guy, way to go Mick!!!
nice one Mick, showing how us Brits do things
Wacky is an awesome dude! Glad you enjoyed your time in America buddy. :)
I know what drag week needs,
a public transport class
seriously.. old buses with any power plant possible to see how fast they really could go
that would.. be something
Best story EVER!
Wow! That's flippin epic you guys.
Sweet waking up at 5:30 payed off
im from the west midlands and he makes me PROUD
I love watching your guys channel. Re run after re run. Good job guys. Keep em coming.
Awesome mate, well deserved...
Great job on that car mate, great job
Gotta love The Snake, my favorite driver of all time.
Roadkill should visit this guy back! And with a wacky car too!
He put faith back in humanity for me
This guy is great!
Glad I finally watched this episode. This was fantastic
well done mick well deserved mate
Well deserved , Godspeed to you "Wacky" .
it's the kind of car i would expect ozzy osbourne to drive. could you imagine ozzy pulling up in and saying "do you want a lift a love" with that engine sounding crazy just at tickover.
Most impressed!
great story!!!!!!! love this event.
Damn Postman Pat should have one of these!!
Superb. Mother had a white one, passed my test in it. The HAV, certainly not the best van, but...
Thank God!
Great camera work guys!
The wait will soon be over. Roadkill returns next Friday, Nov. 2!
I had to work on one those little vans at college. Well done Mick A true Brit :)
he understands the point of drag week
Good man Mick! My dad had one of those vans when I was a kid, a yellow one. I think it was painted with a paint roller.
Wow. that is awesome man, well done..
What a guy, what a story!
...coincidentally my dad said the worst car he ever owned was a Vauxhall Viva van, and he owned some proper mingers :)