Don Wickstrum loves cars. Within five minutes of meeting, we're onto the subject of what he has in the garage. Or rather, garages.
The non-exhaustive list includes a 1934 Ford Model A, a 1957 Mack B61 truck, a 750bhp Audi 90 that runs on ethanol, an E34 BMW M3 drift car, a 1946 Dodge that's now a ratrod with a 600bhp Cummins 4BT engine in it in tribute to Don's uncle Joe, a 1972 Ford Bronco and a 2000 Ford F-150 Lightning.
Deep breath, because there's also a 1968 Ford Mustang with an EcoBoost four pot, a 1955 Ford F-250, a 1964 Ford F-100 with a modern Mustang GT350 5.2-litre Voodoo V8, another Ford F-100 with an electric powertrain, yet another F-100 (this time a 1972 that wears its patina beautifully), a Roush tuned sixth gen Ford Mustang, a 997.2 Porsche 911 Turbo S bought from Copart, a Mercury Cougar that's awaiting restoration, a Ford Torino, an ex-military Humvee and an F-150 Raptor daily. There's also the excellently named 'Holy Smoke' for competitive tractor pulling.
Oh, and his son owns a 1957 Ford F-150 and his daughter a 1964 ice cream truck that acts as a summer earner and is fitted with a Cummins 6BT 5.9-litre in-line six. "It's rapid," says Don excitedly.
Despite all that we're not here to talk road-going creations. We're not even really here to talk about the modified Riley LMP3 racecar that you see on these pages (although more on that later). We're at Blackhawk Farms Raceway right on the border between Wisconsin and Illinois, and we're here to talk about Don, otherwise known as the Fastest Pastor.
Rather aptly, the rain is falling biblically onto the tin garage roof. Bad news for Don's day of testing, but great news for TG as after just a couple of sodden laps he's forced to give up bedding in a new fuel system and has to spend his morning talking to me. Luckily, Don is a very good talker.
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av BBC Top Gear UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av BBC Top Gear UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
INEOS GRENADIER
\"It looks like it could batter its way through anything\"
The 1,000bhp P1 drift car is finished (on the outside] and doesn't it look sensational?
WHAT IS IT? A McLaren racecar carbon tub clothed in P1 GTR panels with the full drift car treatment. Consider us well and truly intrigued
HEAD TO HEAD SUPER SALOONS
This should just be your usual, regular, ultra fast, four door battle. But after what AMG has done to one of our very favourite speed machines, it's anything but. It's AMG C63 vs Alfa QF...
REAR OF THE YEAR
What happens when you cross Zagato with Alpine? An A110 that can change its clothes...
SAVE THE WHALES
Since a Californian startup began reimagining 15 years ago, the popularity of restomod Porsches has exploded. Does Singer still do it best? We'll let its latest-turbocharged - creation answer that one...
...sell on Monday
Driving to Pikes Peak in Ford's Mustang Mach-E Rally on the path least trodden, arriving in time to see its F-150 SuperTruck take on the hillclimb. What could go wrong?
GO WITH THE FLOW
The most aerodynamic car Audi has ever made... is a great big executive barge. And when the smoke clears, you'll see it's been a long time coming...
SCRAMBLED SEGG
The Koenigsegg Chimera is a one-off mashup of Agera RS, Jesko and, CC850 - potent, but what exactly is the point?
SIMPLIFLY AND ADD LIGHTNESS
At the peak of Lotus's powers, boss Colin Chapman bought himself the coolest aircraft in motorsport history... 45 years later, TopGear's on a mission to find it again
CANNON BULL
Adrian Newey's RB17 hybrid V10 hypercar is at long last (almost) ready Track car, perfection or pointless?