WALLINGFORD, Conn. (AP) – Walking into Street Rod Steve’s Garage on Christoni Lane in Wallingford is like taking a trip through time.

Fully restored, shiny, bright-colored cars and motorcycles ranging from 1930s coupes to 1950s and ’60s sedans and convertibles sit on the floor or under tarps. All, that is, except one.

One car in the garage is a matte black. It’s maybe a third of the size of the others, mostly because its entire front end, including the motor, is missing.

But this particular car stands out for more reasons than one. Besides its age – the car is built on a chassis from a 1928 Ford roadster and has the body from a 1932 Ford roadster – its speed also makes it stand out. This car was clocked going 211 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, last August.

Bonneville, Steve Van Blarcom explained, is pretty much “the Mecca of hot rodding.”

And in a few days, Van Blarcom and his entourage – crew chief Jim Hanson of Turner, Maine, Rich Libassi of Durham and Ron San Giovanni of Wallingford – will head off to the Flats again. They hope to do better than they did last year, intending to finally break that speed record they came so close to shattering last summer.

Because of Bonneville rules, Van Blarcom’s speed of 211 mph over the five-mile strip of salt didn’t break the standing record for his class – 208.8 mph – because he wasn’t able to do it again for judges on his next run. It was during the second run that a stuck transmission and a burst radiator hose combined to cripple the car.

Van Blarcom will soon leave his Wallingford home and trek out across America’s Interstates, towing the car with his RV all the way to Bonneville. Once he gets out there, his travel buddies will help him prepare to race for the record.

But even without the record, the car has a reputation.

“To see the shock on the people’s faces to see a 1928 Ford Roadster drive down the lot at 211 miles per hour is pretty remarkable,” Hanson said. He added that it’s always highly photographed at every race.

“No matter where you go with the car, it’s always a big draw,” he said. “People especially like to hear it start up – it’s like 900 horsepower, so it makes a big sound.”

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