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Johnny Bohmer couldn’t drive 55 mph. He wasn’t even happy driving 305 mph.
The racing and high speed test driver claimed the record for fastest street-legal vehicle on Dec. 9 with a 310.8 mph run on the old Space Shuttle landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center.
His company Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds leases the runway to provide testing services for automakers and parts manufacturers, and the occasional top speed.
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Bohmer completed the feat with a 2006 Ford GT that he has been modifying since he first picked it up from the dealer.
“I bought the car brand new and as soon as I bought it I wanted to make it the first car to go 250 mph,” Bohmer told Fox News Digital.
Bohmer’s Ford GT can produce more than 2,700 hp.
(Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds)
After achieving that goal in 2010, he set his sights on 300 mph, which has never been reached in a street-legal car. However, it was a longer road to get there than he expected.
“I failed for years at this, this 300 run,” he said.
“I failed for years at this, this 300 run.”
The Ford GT came from the factory with a 550 hp supercharged 5.4-liter V8 and a claimed top speed of 205 mph.
Bohmer replaced the supercharger with a twin turbocharger and updated almost the entire drivetrain, except for the engine block and transmission case.
It now makes over 2,700 horsepower, but he’s always kept it street legal, with license plates and insurance.
“For years I’ve taken my kids to school here,” he said.
Johnny Bohmer set the Space Shuttle landing strip record.
(Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds)
The GT is a popular car for high speed events thanks to its naturally aerodynamic shape. Bohmer made only minor modifications to the body, using what he describes as a “hillbilly” testing system he developed.
The big issue is creating enough downforce to keep the front of the car from flipping like a racing power boat hitting a big wave while not creating too much air resistance.
He also says his GT weighs about 4,000 pounds, which is a lot for a sports car, but helps keep it stable at triple digit speeds.
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“At the end of the day you want a car with good power delivery, a good delivery of a high-revving engine, because that’s the key, and then the weight,” he explained.
“Light pieces of paper float when you hit them with a leaf blower.”
Bohmer set a Guinness record for acceleration over a standing mile with it in 2012, hitting 283 mph and reaching 292 mph in 2017.
Then things got worse. The machine blows up, and he decides to take it back to the drawing board, redesigning it with new parts.
Johnny Bohmer only slightly modified the bodywork of his 2006 GT.
(Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds)
But while he was doing it as a side hobby, another Ford GT posted a speed of 300.4 mph at the Texas Mile event in 2019.
Later that year, a $3 million Bugatti Chiron hit 304.77 mph on a test track in Germany. Then came the pandemic, which caused parts supply issues and other challenges.
“It took five years to get it back on the road,” Bohmer said.
When he finally did, he wasn’t even planning on recording, just shaking it up on a test run.
“I felt really good and when things feel right you just go for it,” he said.
Johnny Bohmer used a parachute to help slow the car down from 310.8 mph.
(Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds)
Bohmer kept one eye on the hyper-accurate V-Box speedometer and said when he saw it hit 303 he told himself “it’s on.”
“So I stayed here and said I want to go to 310,” he recalled.
Although he was driving faster than he was used to, he said he used his years of experience to stay calm.
“I just get in the car and do it. I don’t think about it.”
“I just get in the car and do it. I don’t think about it. I’ve been driving a long time,” he said.
“I’ve always found that if you think about things you make mistakes, because you can’t react quickly when you’re thinking. Everything has to be pretty automatic.”
Johnny Bohmer thinks his car can reach 322 mph.
(Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds)
The runway was not quite three miles long, and when he saw 310.8 mph on the display, he pulled the parachute he had installed for extra stopping power. It was still short, and he had to lock the brakes as the runoff area approached.
“I pushed it a little bit toward the end of the runway,” Bohmer said.
However, he still did not stop. The car was running below its maximum turbo boost level, and Bohmer calculated that it could go faster in half the distance he covered this time, with an estimated top speed as high as 322 mph.
“If I could go out and clip a 317 to a 322, that would stand, maybe, I would imagine, the rest of my life in a real street car,” Bohmer said.
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“It’s going to be very difficult for someone to beat that.”
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