Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus’ New ‘SCG Boot’ Is a Street-Legal, 460-HP Baja Racer
Its racing sibling will race in Baja next week, just like its predecessor did in the ’60s with Steve McQueen at the wheel.
Boutique supercar manufacturer Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus released delightful new photos of its Baja-ready SCG Boot; a re-imagination of the pioneering "Baja Boot" once raced by Steve McQueen in the late '60s.
The original may have had a name like a cruel prank and the face of an arachnid, but the Baja Boot's 450-horsepower V8 and four-wheel-drive (which didn't catch on in the rally world for another decade and a half) made it a cutting-edge and competitive machine upon its introduction in 1967. Its performance wasn't all pretty and pink, however, as its first outings were plagued with mechanical failures, one of which involved losing a wheel at full tilt with Steve McQueen behind the wheel. Nevertheless, the Boot was made reliable enough not just to finish races, but win Baja outright by the end of the decade.
Some four decades later, the Boot fell into the hands of noted Ferrari collector and SCG proprietor James Glickenhaus, whose company has evidently been modernizing the monster. Its 350 cubic-inch GM small-block has been upgraded to a 6.2-liter, 460-horsepower LT1 V8 from the Chevrolet Camaro SS paired to a 4L80E four-speed automatic. Its clever four-wheel-drive spins 17-inch Method Race wheels wrapped with BFGoodrich tires. Lastly, Fox-supplied suspension. affords the SCG Boot 19 inches of travel.
More importantly, that's just the 49-state road-legal version of the SCG Boot, not the race-ready version designed to take on the Baja 1000 later this month. That truck gets an extra three inches of suspension travel, boxed lower control arms for added strength, dual shock absorbers on both axles, and a widened version of the Boot's already broad track, growing from 84 to 88 inches. Accordingly, the race-spec Boot gets a power bump from the supercharged LT4 V8 found in the last-gen Corvette Z06, where it made 650 horsepower. Quenching its thirst is a long-range fuel cell, which gives the Boot a 500-mile driving range even at racing speeds.
One SCG-backed Boot will race this year's Baja 1000, which kicks off next Tuesday. Along the way, it'll be shadowed by its road-legal companion the whole way, which will apparently be capable of safely holding a car seat. Start 'em young, they say.
