Little lozenges with wheels and a view port zip along a dry lake bed. They show up in drawings and logos. They pop up at local car shows and land speed events. People call them belly tanks, tankers, ...

Call it American ingenuity. Call it American craziness. No matter what you call it, it's pretty wild: the idea that you could turn an empty gas tank from a World War II fighter into a race car. But So ...

People call them belly tanks, tankers, or drop tanks, and they are associated with vintage dry lakes racing. But where did they come from, and why do they look the way they do? Belly tank racers are a ...