dsca1584.jpg

The sign accompanying the start cart. It reads

---

AG-330 SR-71 Start Cart

The AG-330 Start Cart uses two Buick "Wildcat" 401 cubic inch V-8 engines with automatic transmissions. Each engine produces approximately 325 horsepower. They are coupled together and drive a vertical shaft that engages the starter mechanism on the SR-71 engines.

By the mid 1970s some start carts were converted over to a Chevrolet 454 cu. in. engine. Despite this, the AG-330 start cart was almost universally referred to as a a "Buick". (This start cart still retains the Buick 401 engines.)

The AG-330 was phased out of service starting in the mid-1980s in favor of using a pneumatic (air) starter for the SR-71.

---