Watch This Land Speed Car Blast Past 267 MPH Thanks to a Homemade V-12

There are very few people that can say that they’ve designed and built their own V-12 engine without an automaker behind them. Fewer yet can say that they’ve used that engine to power a land-speed-record-holding car. Pete Aarmeda and Kevin Braun are two of those select few, having just posted a record-setting pass of 267 MPH at El Mirage in San Bernardino County, California.

Road & Track readers might already be familiar with Aarmeda and Braun, as we covered the build process behind this ridiculous V-12 in May 2023. The process started with old IndyCar and NASCAR engines, which the pair studied and reworked for their purposes on the dry lake bed. Things then moved to a 3D printer, where the pair incorporated the best features from either powertrain.

Both the block and the heads are entirely bespoke units, further necessitating a custom crankshaft. The resulting 6.0-liter (or 369 cubic-inch) engine is capable of spinning up to 11,000 RPM — mighty impressive given its size. With a little help from a 300 shot of nitrous, the folks at Race Team Aardema Braun believe this thing cranks out around 1200 horsepower.

As you can hear in the video above, it also happens to sound insane in the process.

The race team had video cameras rolling during their latest record-setting run in El Mirage, which took place on June 9, 2024. Driver Scott Geotz was responsible for piloting the machine down the 1.3-mile surface of the dry-lake bed. While going straight might seem like a simple task, Geotz is clearly working hard to keep the dragster in check for a lot of the run. The surface at El Mirage is made up of compacted silt, as opposed to salt like you’ll find in Bonneville, which provides a very different driving (and viewing) experience. The speed on display is immense, particularly once that 300 shot came in at around 180 mph.

While it takes a special gearhead to embark on a build of this magnitude, we’re glad that there are folks out there who are still committed to big speed.

You Might Also Like

• You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox

• Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners

• The Man Who Signs Every Car