Belly Tank

Bill Burke's P-51 Belly Tank is known as the first Belly Tank Streamliner racer. Bill was racing on the dry lakes long before the war started. While stationed in the South Pacific during WWII he saw potential in using a Belly Tank as the body for a dry lakes car. Shortly after returning home from the war he built his first Belly Tank Streamliner. In 1946 he raced his brand new car. Burke was the first to run a belly tank in the "Streamliner" class and ran at both El Mirage and Harper Dry Lake. The first Bill Burke streamliner used a small 165-gallon steel wing tank from a P-51 Mustang. The car was a front engine design, and a bicycle seat was welded to the torque tube for driving. Photo from The Howard Gribble Collection.

Bill Burke and Don Francisco's P-38 Bellytank

Jerauld-Barber's Belly Tank

The Lady Bug

Valley Drifters' Streamliner

Geoffrey Hacker's Recreation of Bill Burke's P-51 Belly Tank of Tampa, Florida. Bill Burke's P-51 Belly Tank is known as the first belly tank Streamliner racer. Bill was racing on the dry lakes long before the war started. While stationed in the South Pacific during WWII he saw potential in using a belly tank as the body for a dry lakes car. Shortly after returning home from the war he built his first Belly Tank Streamliner. In 1946 he raced his brand new car. Burke was the first to run a belly tank in the "Streamliner" class and ran at both El Mirage and Harper Dry Lake. In 2009 Geoffrey Hacker commissioned Creative Motion Concepts to build him a recreation of Bill's groundbreaking belly tank. The recreation made its debut at the 2009 Bonneville Speed Week.

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Bill Burke and the First Belly Tank Streamliner

Bill Burke's P-51 Belly Tank is known as the first Belly Tank Streamliner racer. Bill was racing on the dry lakes long before the war started. While stationed in the South Pacific during WWII he saw potential in using a belly tank as the body for a dry lakes car. Shortly after returning home from the war he built his first Belly Tank Streamliner. In 1946 he raced his brand new car. Burke was the first to run a belly tank in the "Streamliner" class and ran at both El Mirage and Harper Dry Lake. The first Bill Burke streamliner used a small 165-gallon steel wing tank from a P-51 Mustang. The car was a front engine design, and a bicycle seat was welded to the torque tube for driving.

Belly Tank Streamliners

Bill Burke and Don Francisco's P-38 Bellytank
Bill Burke's P-51 Bellytank
Geoffrey Hacker's Recreation of Bill Burke's P-51 Belly Tank
Jerauld-Barber's Belly Tank
The Lady Bug
Valley Drifters' Streamliner