Driver, designer, fabricator, manufacturer, innovator

Hot-rodding pioneer and record-setter Beatty is known as the “father of the blower,” adapting the speed part beginning in 1949. He also pioneered the use of former WWII-surplus external aircraft fuel tanks as a teardrop car body of choice for chasing speed on dry lakebeds and Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. Beatty’s tanks were the world's fastest in their class at the Bonneville National Speed Trials in 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, and 1962. Beatty’s tank was named “Hot Rod of the Month” in the November 1952 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. He innovated a four-wheel independent suspension for his Class C Mercury Flathead lakester in 1955, setting a 211.267 mph record that remains unbroken. At Bonneville he was known for dramatic 200-mph U-turns on the salt after his runs. Moving into speed equipment manufacture, Beatty produced overdrives for four-speed manuals and automatics. His belly tank is now part of The Henry Ford Museum collection. Beatty was inducted into the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame in 2000.