The World's Most INSANE Dragster

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Thanks to Mike Hand for joining us on this, you can check out his current project here! bit.ly/3Vk5Pd6
The Jade Warrior was created by a guy called Angus MacPhail, an engineer who had worked on projects like the GT40. Yeah you heard that right, he was part of the design team behind (probably) the most iconic GT car ever.
And he worked with Mike Hand, an extremely skilled machinist.
McFail fitted the bike with a huge supercharger and a torque converter to drive the rear wheel. This is something that you would find in a traditional road car, automatic gearbox, not like the other race clutches that other top fuel dragsters were using at the time.
It meant that Ag could keep the weight down, and also only use a single gear. But it came with it’s compromises.
The way it works is that you have two discs, within an oil. One is attached to the engine and one to the drivetrain. So the engine could idle, with the driven disc spinning and the wheels stationary. But when the revs pick up, the driven disc actually spins the oil so much that it begins to sprin the driven disc - giving you torque to the rear wheels.
And at high revs, the discs actually become effectively locked together!
This was a simple and light solution - but one that had it’s drawbacks.
The Jade Warrior took part in the 'Top Fuel' category, competing with bikes that looked like this.
They were able to hit 155mph by the end of the strip and often used two engines, with one in front of the other!
They produced between 400 and 500 horsepower and were fitted to specially modified, and much longer, bike chassis'.
Now, drag bikes look like this with Larry McBride setting the record of 5.83 seconds over an eighth-mile and hitting 232mph before deploying the parachutes!
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#Dragster #DragRacing #DragBike

[@ClaireSeverino-tn5ty]

So very proud of this man, an inspiration to so many, forever in my heart and always in my thoughts Rest in Peace DAD. I love seeing these clips from the early 80's and have many fond memories of watching Dad race at Santa Pod.

[@joechancio5177]

It had to be really cool growing up around this. Godbless you and your dad!

[@Anonnymouse53]

It was a bit before my time before my time but I remember stories about this bike at Santa Pod when I did get to go & even read articles about it in magazines over a decade later. I'd say he certainly left a legacy & won't be forgotten. They must be fantastic memories!

[@silverXnoise]

He sounds like a very generous, affable guy who was clearly exceptionally smart and talented. Good show, old chap.

[@ARCE_ANGELS-en4pg]

agreed he is now a man i will forever remember

[@alancooke1877]

Just talking about this today with Deanna and Mick. Crazy times hanging out at Santa pod with ur dad and Mick. I was only a kid at the time but remember it really well

[@ateague01]

Rest in peace to the mad genius Angus MacPhail

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

Imagine him and Smokey Yunick getting together.

[@FUJITRACK10]

And mick hand

[@256k_]

truly worthy of the label "insane". incredible ingenuity of engineering and solid adamantium balls driving that sled of hell

[@bruizey7319]

Sorry to burst your ignorant little bubble, but if you had any experience you know it is the opposite way around. That thing is for pussies too scared to pilot a real drag bike.🤣

[@happivaras]

@256k No, A and i say A because there are many other vermin in need of mention. A definition of insanity is believing in a childish fantasy magic skyman, parasitic, perverted, predatory, and pathetic in every case.

[@ilcylic]

I've driven some sketchy nonsense, but yeah. NOPE!

[@AwesomePhysio]

My Uncle Ag. He and my Dad, Nick MacPhail, worked together on Jade Warrior (my dad went on to race his mini powered by nitro methane). Ag sadly died at the beginning of the pandemic, and my dad died last year from heart problems. If you'd like to see more, I have some videos and photos of both of them, I'm sure I can send some your way.

[@JoeTomicki]

thanks for sharing , one of my most memerable things I made terry vance kick his dragbike and yell at his crew for getting beat on a stock looking bike I built😁just appered that way everything was cut in some way nothing was stock

[@NZbird]

I drag raced at the same time as Ag, including when he campaigned Ag's Barra. It was an absolute pleasure to host Nick and Irene in NZ when they visited Down Under, after many years of emails.

[@Anarchy-Is-Liberty]

So sorry to hear that. Thanks for sharing!

[@xPookie]

that sponsor cut was brutal

[@jamdc2000]

it seems to be pre-recorded, like he forgot where to put it hahaha

[@GnuSnu]

They don’t even try to hide it at this point😅

[@GardenGuy1943]

I watch this channel only for the sponsors. I hate racing.

[@herethererainbows]

Maybe they should take brilliants course on editing. I’m kidding i saw a video on how hard it is to turn off autopay

[@Sharpened_Spoon]

Any ideas why it was in 144p..?

[@Duvstep910]

super cool piece of kit. Also you never really see how wide F1 tires are until they are on anything but an F1 car lol

[@mitchhifi9192]

F1 cars are gigantic, they're like the width of 1 and a half cars and longer than a Maybach S series Mercedes

[@paradiselost9946]

they make handy seats for the shop with a bit of ply and cushion shoved on one end...

[@Boyso5407]

Can you imagine what it must look like at 200 mph only a couple inches off the ground. That’s insane.

[@SpielkindFR]

Not only that. The front wheel is like right under his chin.

[@UnitSe7en]

The only thing you see the whole time is the end of the barrier at the finish line. Just a tunnel into the future.

[@davestagner]

This makes me think of one of my favorite engineering moments, when I was a kid. I grew up around motorcycle drag racing in the 1970s. Back then, top fuel bikes were two or three engine fuel injected monsters. Then some team came up with a bike running a single Honda 750 engine, with a tiny supercharger from a European sports car. People laughed at them. They were always the slowest bike, by multiple seconds - if it ran at all. Then one day, in Bowling Green Kentucky, there was a huge rainstorm. I remember holding up dad’s bike in the lane to race, with water running past my ankles. There were thunderstorms all night. By the next morning, temps had dropped 30 degrees, from scorching heat to cool humidity. And that little Honda went out and SHATTERED the record. And then shattered it again. I think the speed record jumped like 0.3 seconds that day - an astonishing feat. It was the meteor landing on the dinosaurs. Within three or four years, multi-engine bikes were totally obsolete, and single-engine supercharged machines ruled.

[@mikedrop4421]

Can you imagine building something like that and then saying yeah, I'd ride that.

[@bodanerius]

Thanks for redoing the video with updated info and interview. It was an awesome machine and I would love to see more innovations like this in motorsport. Its sorely missing. ❤❤❤

[@mrblablablabla]

How exactly did they manage to overcome the massive inertia of the giant-sized testicles required to drive this terror machine?

[@axel3895]

mountain dew

[@heikos4264]

easy, he doesn't have testicles

[@Derekzparty]

Thats what the one ton of downforce was for!

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

Mass dampers

[@daliborzak2485]

Probably used to shift weight ballance as fuel burned. Like in Concorde

[@catastrophic82]

That's incredible you got the interview before he passed away. The story has now been immortalized for all time

[@Anonnymouse53]

I didn't go until until the very late 90's, hell maybe it was even the early 2000's. But the old heads still talked about that bike like it was tearing up the strip yesterday. Without meaning to do it any kind of injustice (since those guys were obviously very, very talented), there's something to the "blokes in a shed with indominable will" vibe that just can't be replicated today. Though I know it was way more than fellas in a shed. It's crazy to think how much they achieved with an idea, determination, perseverance & hard work. The fact we're even still talking about it now says enough, even though progress never stops.

[@klutchcustoms2428]

Thanks. Brilliant video. My old man raced drag bikes back then. Jade Warrior was an absolute weapon!

[@combatrock]

Thanks so much to you and Mike for making this happen, and rest in power to the mad king of drag bikes

[@Tminus89]

Interesting piece of machinery, I always like unique, far out projects like this. Other crazy stories are quite welcome :)

[@richardlumley2581]

The modern photos you have shown is not the jade warrior, it was an attempt to go down the same route but with a gsxr engine.

[@daubrey377]

Very cool that you got to talk to him about it before his passing.

[@olivertoeknuckleiii2093]

F1 and IndyCar used to allow ‘outside the box’ thinking and engineering. While the racing was not always exciting, the engineering was totally insane! Only the geeks amongst us could appreciate and understand the concepts that were presented. I wish there were still racing platforms that allowed this kind of eccentricity to exist.

[@easytos]

Hill Climb

[@greenificationnow]

Seconded on hill climb. And Le Mans still lets prototype stuff through onto the track at the same time as the other racers.

[@deltavee2]

Never heard of it but now that I've seen it I'll never forget it, nor Angus. Thanks for the treat!

[@TrevorDennis100]

It puts me in mind of Kiwi John Britten with his V1000 racing motorcycle. I never saw it race, but every time I go to Te Papa - New Zealand's most important and largest museum where the V1000 now resides - I spend some time looking closely at the bike.

[@deldridg]

Indeed - "One Man's Dream" is quite the story. There's also a NZ Grand Designs that showcases John Britten's amazing house and his daughter and son-in-law's restoration project. A very innovative family. The Britten bike is a staggering achievement build with JB's brilliance and a lot of labour from friends! Cheers - Dave

[@davidrayner9832]

I've seen it race at Bathurst, Australia. 'Awesome' doesn't describe it in action.

[@N4CR5]

Yeah that V1000 is a masterpiece of thinking outside the box. It passed the GP Ducatis of the time on the back wheel..

[@tonyduncan9852]

True to life. Behind the present, but well ahead of his time. Admirable. Thanks.

[@Bambihunter1971]

Glad you were able to get the interview recorded for history.

[@ThomasDoubting5]

Incredible thanks , it's guys like these in my opinion made this country great , shed based genius

[@radders261]

I've been to santa pod & fast jet airshows many times and the drag bikes have been not only the loudest, but also the most bone shaking moments of joy! What a legend.

[@lesklower7281]

Angus a true genius what a life involved in building the Dehavallan Mosquito and the Ford GT40 a British car

[@wmden1]

Thank you for a great, informative, and educational video. Great power to weight, traction, stability, and downright genius, over all design. I almost clouded up over the work these men put into this. Very inspirational, is the best description I can think of.

[@g0fvt]

I think I saw Jade Warrior at Santapod maybe about 1980? I remember the deathtrap look of it and the transverse twincam engine by the rider's feet. Great to hear the innovative thinking that went into the design. Probably the cleverest bits were those which are easiest to not spot.

[@syrup_710]

3:38 "you dont have the optimum amount of grip well todays sponser brilliant can help you"

[@alanpengo3335]

What a character, typical British dude who never heard the sentence 'you can't do that' his children can be very proud of their dad. What a double act these two men formed when getting together ❤️ 👏

[@Jaq365]

Out-of-the-box thinking backed up by experience and ability. Outstanding!

[@philigan2339]

I would love to see it Bonnyville with the appropriate changes to go for a land speed record.

[@milviodeleon4421]

This channel should be called “the Racing History Channel”. Learn so much interesting history here.

[@bugjuicer]

Glad you got the story for the history books in time.. We need more mad men like Angus

[@1gabysoto]

Someone should create a show series called (When Engineers get Bored) because there is people out there that made some mad creations that were MEGA!!!

[@MeteTopcuoglu]

incredible story. fantastic bike. thanks for shraring this marvelous story...

[@williamkerr3350]

Great show thanks.

[@willemp6432]

That bike should be kept in a museum.

[@fredherfst8148]

Enjoyed!

[@charlesharper7292]

Mc Phail,Munroe, and Jessup would have made one hell of a racing team! Thanks for an obscure piece of racing history.🏁

[@willb1157]

Wonderful. I recently watched a program searching for "The Great British Eccentric", I came away from that quite saddened by how this behaviour, is now frowned on, and how people have become "too afraid" of deviating from the norm, for fear of ridicule and failure...(both of which are pre-requisites to success). Anyway, I know what I mean. I think MacPhail was a GREAT ECCENTRIC. Bravo. What an amazing mind. A real Engineer, Legend. Brilliant. Thanks Driver61 - truly awful day made better by watching this. xx

[@MrRexquando]

The collector does not work by creating a vacuum and the venturi effect. There is NO throat in the collector it opens to a larger diameter pipe. It works by fluid momentum with the exhaust high pressure charges gaining fluid momentum and pulling the charge behind it in the collector.

[@MuzzaBikeFix]

awesome video,thankyou

[@howardrundle4862]

Fantastic stuff! Brilliant engineering and the love of speed just for the sake of it ✌

[@skepticfucker280]

Need a modern take with a kseries and huge turbo ect Damn, wish he had more time to share with us all...... rip

[@frank3305]

Sounds like a great guy need more like him sounds like the guy talking was a good buddy thats what racing is good job please make more

[@chazsutherland]

I'm not sure what I find more amazing: this friggin' bike (and the men who built it) or the fact that drag racing was happening outside of the U.S.

[@Bryan-jd7os]

Absolutely awesome.

[@DetroitMicroSound]

So, wait......He 'reduced & re-used' and still wound up beating everybody? A man way ahead of his time.

[@mattjohnson1775]

Wow what a Legend Angus was!!!!! A Genius.......1 of a kind. Could do anything. Those types are very rare.

[@pavulon5000]

I mean I wouldn't expect anything less from a bloke named Angus

[@MrVorpalsword]

Anyone old enough to remember Revrods - (it was a flywheel driven toy car fired off with a plastic notched belt you pulled out as fast as you could)

[@Chaphillionaire]

R.I.P. Angus... You made a bad ass machine!

[@BarbaricAvatar]

That's mental. And amazing.

[@neilgillam9919]

this was the inspiration for our laydown land speed record bike. (accelatron). turbo hyabusa

[@Gomorragh]

Jade warrior was my favourite bike whenever i went to santa pod as a child

[@ratheonhudson3311]

Angus will rest well knowing he inspired many people to build and just be given positive experiences to learn from.

[@jafanatyk9583]

Amazing!!!

[@legoferrari14]

2:19 God-DAMN! That guy got crushed by his own bike! He was insanely lucky that it wasn't the drive wheel that landed on him first because I shudder to think what the torque on that wheel would've done to his insides.

[@Underpantsniper]

I would love to see more about how the box worked to create negative ground effect.

[@Chris-ml3hw]

Awesome!!!

[@Commander-McBragg]

RIP Russ Collins. HRC legend.

[@elvalvinoskyo3307]

This is the most insane bad ass thing I’ve seen

[@Anarchy-Is-Liberty]

Wow, that's cool as hell!!

[@chrisdemario2636]

RIP to a legend of motorsports.

[@Dragracingduleist]

You need to do a video on big daddy don garlits 1st rear motor top fuel car so u can interview him before he passes away.

[@adi.olteanu.1982]

Intelligent ground effect, the exhaust venturi one 🎉🎉🧠🧠🧠

[@paulmeynell8866]

Thats brilliant guys

[@freescape08]

This is exactly how I design cars in trailmakers. So cool to see that it's actually been done in steel on a track.

[@sheanyquist]

@driver61 you should do a video on Jack Costella and all his CRAZY speed records and cars. He had a landspeed motorcycle just like this but enclosed!

[@GrumpyIan]

I hope this makes it to a museum someday.

[@cracklecracklebaybay5612]

"If you copy it, all you're doing is copying it...." Preach my brotha. Preach. Truer words have never been spoken. 😆

[@extragoogleaccount6061]

Also an engineer with the last name "MacPhail" is great! (Best engineers aren't afraid to fail, etc, wetc)

[@IB3MOR3PR0]

My Aunty has her own drag racing team down here in Australia, I’ve gotten to tinker on one of her friends TopFuel bike and they’re genuinely biblical. He ran a 5.19 and came back mad it’s running slow hahaha You guys should come down to Australia for WinterNationals or Jamboree; all the worlds fastest Rotaries and JZs show up for the weekend

[@gregparrott]

I first saw Australian racing in a video of a race at Sandown raceway. You guys 'down under' have some epic race categories. I smiled at the notion of a 1960's Ford Galaxie (about as nimble, aerodynamic and elegant as a brick) road racing against a Porsche 911 That changed to a hard laugh when the Galaxie beat the Porsche. Got to admit, I love the sound of a 7+ liter big block V-8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pl7HnWSVi52smtU

[@maheshperera171]

seems like a good brain, thanks i picked up some little ideas that i never knew before ...

[@charlievargas3224]

I think the Jade Warrior was used as inspiration for the Cavefish bikes design in Full Throttle, the classic LucasArts adventure game.

[@mattbranham1105]

That mad scientist had Brass Balls!

[@friguy4444]

AWESOME!! So where is the bike NOW??

[@georgedreisch2662]

Fascinating and very nice tribute. I believe the four into one collector would be called a augmentation tube / ejector.

[@guinnessgonz]

Great video guys! I hope all the ad revenue from the video is going to the MacPhail family?

[@3089io]

The Jade Warrior is all I care about now. I need a black velvet airbrushed UV painting of it.

[@royerrington4871]

Triumph over adversity... Legend

[@ubergama30]

man these old time british motorsport grease monkeys are the best - i hope new gen keeps the spirit alive

[@K-Effect]

Looks like a great idea to create a land speed bike or car after

[@gerryvandepol7630]

These guys could shake hands with Russ Collins and Byron Hines

[@tjenadonn6158]

Imagine showing up to the Isle of Man TT with this thing.

[@tinetannies4637]

Ha ha would be dead in the first turn

[@tommaguzzi1723]

I have seen this bike up close at Santa's Pod raceway in the 1980's.

[@jadesmith6823]

Jade worrier ❤️

[@matt4148]

Very cool! Might want to look up it's spiritual successor - built by Jay Upton in Western Australia...

[@Mtlmshr]

Crazy! But in a really great way!

[@zaidkidwai7831]

This is how my parents view my motorcycle 😂

[@TheHarrie93]

Imagine F1, where teams of 1500 people work for two cars. Then imagine that this bike was built by two blokes in a garage chop shop with a half blown F1 engine from the 70's.

[@chrisprobert6]

that was more than just genius.. while watching i swore aq whole lot and more, then me and presenter said genius at same time wow!👍 really glad i clicked thar one

[@noahmercy-mann4323]

The Jade Warrior puts me in mind of some of the modified snowmobiles used at grass drags. 200-300 horsepower two strokes, 300 pounds, with a flat aluminum (excuse me, "aluminium") deck for the pilot to lay upon. One of the locals runs over 160MPH in 500 feet with his.

[@gregparrott]

Quite a story!

[@Phantom-mk4kp]

That is the scariest ride I've seen

[@theheroweneededbutdidntdeserve]

What is it with British plumbers?

[@timkis64]

going into the sand trap in netting would be an interesting ride on such a machine.chances are you may end up with neck issues if your lucky enough to live thru it.

[@romancrusade2931]

they say sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic , these guys are wizards

[@thomasgoodwin2648]

So that's what it's like to ride a torpedo... Cool!

[@crusherbmx]

It's like a cross between a fan car and a blown diffuser...ingenius! Did anybody else try that?