City of Burbank-Bob Estes Special

Photo courtesy of the Hill Davis Facebook Page.

Bill Davis, on the left, and George Hill with their record braking streamliner.

Photo courtesy of the Hill Davis Facebook Page.

Photo courtesy of the Hill Davis Facebook Page.

Keeping Burbank History Alive! Click here to order Burbank Supporter Merch on the Kustomrama Online Store.

Photo courtesy of the Hill Davis Facebook Page.

The Hill Davis Streamliner on the cover of Motor Sports World September 12, 1952.

The Hill Davis Streamliner on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine November 1952.

The Hill Davis streamliner on the cover of Hop Up December 1952.

The City of Burbank streamliner was featured on the cover of Fawcett Book 189 Best Hot Rods from 1953.

A photo of the C-T Automotive custom conversion from the Hill-Davis streamliner on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine May 1955.

The City of Burbank/Bob Estes Special is a streamliner built and owned by George Hill and Bill Davis of Burbank, California. Davis and Hill had both been racing with roadsters at the dry lakes since the late war. Their streamliner was constructed in eight months in Hill's garage, and then proceeded to capture the International Class C record using a hopped up production engine, a record Auto-Union has held since 1937. The car was tried and tested at the fourth annual Bonneville Speed Trials where George drove the car to a new B streamliner record. The car made the first leg of the record run at a speed of 233 mph and then returned back up the course to establish an average of 230.16 mph. Because this was eleven miles per hour over the present Class C International record, the crew decided to return to the salt two weeks later to try for the International record. The run was successful, and it appeared that the groundwork had been laid for many more hot rodders to try their hand at record breaking. Six records, in all, were made by the car on September 13, 1952, two International and four American records. The flying start mile record at 229.774 mph and the flying start kilometer record at 226.898 were both International and American records.

November 10 - 16, 1952 the streamliner was shown at the 1952 Motorama at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

Magazine Features

Motor Sports World September 12, 1952
Hop Up November 1952
Hot Rod Magazine November 1952
Hop Up December 1952
Hop Up July 1953
Hot Rod Magazine May 1955