Art Arfons Green Monster

A photo of the Green Monster taken in 1961, when Charley and Art took it to Bonneville to try for the record. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

A photo of the wooden scale model that Charley made of the Green Monster in 1961. Working at Wright Patt, and having friends in all the right places, Charley was able to put the wooden model in the wind tunnel. The car they actually built for the World Land Speed Record in 1964 was very close to the model that Charley sketched and constructed. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

Another photo of Charley's model. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

During the build, they tied the Green Monster to the trees behind the shop so they could fire the monster engine. There used to be a swamp behind the shop, but the Monster's afterburner dried it up. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

Charley, Art and Ed Snider working on the monster. Ed was Art's partner, and he made the body panels for the Green Monster. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

A photo of Art's crew. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

Charles Mayenschein with the Green Monster. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

The Green Monster making a record run. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

The bus they used to haul the Green Monster around. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

Charley sneaking into the spare seat to go for a ride. Art wasn't aware of it. During that run Art was trying for 500 mph. Three quarters thru the mile the car went a little out of control, and Art had to let up on the throttle. Because of that ride, Charley became the World's Fastest Hitch Hiker at 396 mph. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

A newspaper story about Charley and his ride in the Green Monster.

A photo of Charley from the newspaper article.

A photo of the Green Monster's final run in September of 1966. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

During the last run, the front wheel came off. The car's front dug into the salt and the Green Monster crashed and rolled for a mile. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

The remains of the Green Monster after the crash. Art told Charles Mayenschein's son Tom that there were pieces of the car scattered over a mile. Art survived the crash with salt in his eyes. After the accident all he needed was some stitches over his eye. Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

Photo courtesy of Tom Mayenschein.

The Green Monster is a land speed record racer owned and raced by Art Arfons. In 1961 Art and his friend Charles Mayenschein took the Green Monster to Bonneville to try for a record. They soon realized that the car couldn't hold enough gas to get the speeds they wanted. They needed a new car. Art found a J79 jet engine in a surplus store in Miami, Florida. Charley rode down with Art to get the engine. On the way back home Art asked Charley "If this was your car, how would you build it?" Charley sat down with a piece of cardboard and a pencil and begun sketching out a car. While sketching, Art would try and get a glance of it, but Charley wouldn't let him see it until it was done. When the drawing was done, Charley showed it to Art, who immediately pulled the bus over to check it out. He glared at the picture for a few minutes before he started grinning and said, "This is exactly the way I was thinking!" When they got home Charley made a wooden scale model of the car in his garage. Working at Wright Patt, and having friends in all the right places, Charley was able to put the wooden model in the wind tunnel. The car they actually built for the World Land Speed Record in 1964 is very close to the model that Charles made and sketched.

In 1964, during the first speed run the Green Monster made on Bonneville, Charles sneaked into the spare seat of the Green Monster to go for a ride. Art wasn't aware of it. During that run Art was trying for 500 mph. Three quarters thru the mile the car went a little out of control, and Art had to let up on the throttle. Because of that ride, Charles became the World's Fastest Hitch Hiker at 396 mph. Later on, without Charley in the spare seat, the Green Monster went 536.76 mph at Bonneville for a world land speed record.

In 1966, when Art and the team were getting ready to try for the record one more time before the season ended, Charles was killed in a motorcycle accident, and Art and the crew had to head to Bonneville without him in September. During that run, the front wheel came off. The car's front dug into the salt and the Green Monster crashed and rolled for a mile. Art told Charles' son that there were pieces of the car scattered over a mile. Art survived the crash with salt in his eyes, and needed some stitches over his eye.