NEWSLETTER 37 - January 2, 2008 |
President's Corner: By Jim Miller. |
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Although an LSR attempt was never made with Bill Frederick's Valkyrie J-46 jet car, the Valkyrie went on to have a long drag racing career under several owners, including Mickey Thompson. In 1962, the Valkyrie was driven at Long Beach by Gary Gabelich against Romeo Palamides' Untouchable in the first all jet drag race. In 1964 the car that broke Breedlove's 407 mph record was Walt Arfons' Wingfoot Express J-46 car. The attached black and white photos were shot in November 1974 at Orlando Speedworld. The color photos were taken at Lakeland in February 1977. Sincerely, Franklin Ratliff (sent in by Doug Stokes) |
Please add Mike Bastian to your list. Mike is the GM of a heat treating concern located in South Gate and has been involved with a Vintage Drag Fueler running in the Nostalgia events. His shop provides heat treating service to many of people involved in racing from Thursday Night Door Slammers to Formula One. Thanks, Bob Falcon Bob and Mike: Welcome to the SLSRH Newsletter. |
Attached are photos of the Valkyrie/U.S. 1 and another J-46 car, Doug Rose's Green Mamba, shot at the Bradenton dragstrip on December 1, 1985. So, 23 years after Gary Gabelich drove the Valkyrie at Long Beach in the first side-by-side jet race, here was Fred Sibley driving that same car in what was, in all probability, one of the last drag races between old school jet cars. Outside of Bob Motz J-79 truck, these two jets remain the most powerful cars I have ever seen. Sincerely, Franklin Ratliff |
Editor's notes: Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth sent in a request to ask if it would be alright to discuss her book in the Newsletter. The policy of the Newsletter is to encourage everyone in land speed racing and hot rodding to contribute what they have done concerning the history and heritage of our sport. We are glad to give Louise some space here in the newsletter. I've written a book review on her book and it ranks as one of the best books ever done on land speed racing. It is one of those books that you start a library around it. The type of book that relates to all the other books out there on the market. The Society of Land Speed Racing Historians hopes to encourage all of you to write, photograph and leave your mark on our sport. We are looking into ways to help you self-publish your own works on land speed racing and hot rodding. Many of our members are successful authors and have written many fine books and as we come across them we will do reviews for all of them. Don Montgomery has finished and self-published eight books so far and each one of them is crucial and central to our history. We will accept all books and reviews here in the Newsletter and give you all the publicity that we can, for a book that is unsold does us no good. A book in someone's library is what we are aiming for. There is a possibility that the society will have its own funding and be able to assist in finding publishers and printers who will take on your projects. While Landspeed Louise is a professional writer and her works are of the highest caliber, that does not mean that we don't find value in your albums and artifacts. You can take what you have, your photographs, memories and scanned research collections and turn them into a book or booklet and we will help you find sources to assist you. Don't worry about whether you are a professional writer or photographer, it is the CONTENT that is important, not whether you are adept at writing skills. What you have to say is vitally important and the Society and its Newsletter stands behind your efforts to publish. The costs are not as high nor as threatening as you might think. It is the publicity and sales network that is difficult, but we have contacts and we will make them available to you. |
Some time back, you asked for details on LSR books. I hesitated in responding because in the summer of 2007 Motorbooks International informed me that it would allow my book: “Bonneville the Fastest Place on Earth” to go out of print after 6 printings. No amount of negotiation could change their mind, so I opted to buy every blessed copy in their inventory over the new couple months. There must have been some magic in the buying strategy, because 1,500 copies were delivered to the warehouse in late November. That means the book has one last fling in this, its seventh printing since 1999. I am grateful for the reprieve but recognize that unless sales are brisk, the book will go out of print in 2008. When that happens, it is my intention to regain the copyright to all materials, update the book to include the last decade, add a DVD and republish on my own. Until than, I offer the following background on the book – more for new folks coming into the sport, than the many august folks who have populated the sport for decades. No one is more stunned at the success of this book's appeal than I. That many, many thousands of copies are on shelves around the world still staggers my consciousness and humbles me to know so many appreciate the work, considering all I did was thread together a story of many people and events at one special place. Lucky me to have been given the chance to do so. There are two different books: hard cover and soft cover. Bonneville - The Fastest Place on Earth, Bonneville Salt Flats – HARD COVER/SOLD OUT. Limited slipcase edition – SOLD OUT. ISBN # 0-7603-1372-5, 156 pages/125 color and 50 b&w photos. James A. Valentine Award, 2002 Society of Automotive Historians, "Excellence in automotive Research." Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame, 2001 "Historian of the Year." International Automotive Journalism Conference 2000 Silver Medallion Award - Presented for "Excellence in Automotive Writing, Photography and Historical Accuracy." Classic & Sports Car Magazine 2000 "Book of the Month." Autographed soft cover copies are available for $37. Send check or money order to: LandSpeed Productions, 1761 Dwight Avenue, Camarillo, CA 93010. Allow 4 weeks for delivery. This book is the first of its kind to compile the 102-year racing history of the famed Bonneville Salt Flats. From 1896 to 1998, the book chronicles the efforts of straight-line and endurance record setting on the salt. Tracing the origins of land speed racing all the way back to when a couple horn-rimmed bicycle rallyists made their way over the 22-mile desolate stretch of salt pancake, to the blistering 409 mph world record laid out by a hand-crafted streamlined race car, the story is more than just a tribute to racing machines, it reveals a rich, utterly American slice of life. More than "The Right Stuff," salt racers are "The Real Stuff," people who you are glad to know and marvel at how much they accomplish with so little resources. Salt racers are a mechanized, modern day embodiment of the old west, a family affair where three generations routinely trip the timing lights over 200 mile-per-hour, a sport where age, money and status is relatively meaningless and going as fast as you can means everything! Testimonials: "Books about Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats are nothing new, until this one." Shave Glick, Motorsports Columnist, Los Angeles Times. "LandSpeed Louise has captured the essence of what is magical in the salt's many attractions for special breed of automotive experimenters . . .(we) are deeply indebted to author Noeth for her preservation of that awesome history." Wally Parks, founder and Chairman, National Hot Rod Association. "This is a great book, I really enjoyed it." Jay Leno, Tonight Show Host, NBC-TV. "The book does full justice to the little guys who invade Bonneville every August; it is rich in human stories . . ." Mick Walsh, Editor, Classic & Sports Car, UK. "Fascinating Reading . . ." Popular Mechanics Magazine. "The best book ever written about the salt . . . even if you are not a land speed fan, this book makes for great reading." Jeff Smith, Editor, Chevy High Performance. "Louise digs into the heart of the matter . . . a touch of magic." Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. "This new book makes up for what has been lacking; it is well-researched and beautifully printed, one you'll want to own." Albert Drake, Author and Reviewer, Old Cars Weekly. "Louise Ann Noeth has captured the unique flavor of this extreme edge of the motorsports world." RACER! Magazine, December 2000. "A masterful job of digging into the personalities and the amazing speed machines . . ." Edward R. Noble, Wheels Section Editor, The Oakland Press. "A labor of love, and could not be duplicated or matched by anyone. . . certainly a gift that you have given us all . . . lasting contributions to the automotive world." Dale Moreau, Street Rodder Magazine. |
Editor's notes: Articles, comments and other written works should be sent to me here at the Newsletter. You can send photographs and scanned materials, but I haven't learned how to use my new system to send it on to the websites. You should send scanned documents and photographs directly to the websites. Please include captions along with the photos so that there is an explanation for the readers. Please remember to support our websites. They offer their services and help by giving us a forum to express our ideas, but they need sponsorship in the form of ads in order to pay their expenses and keep their sites on-air. If you have a business, please advertise with our website operators. |
Gone Racin' with the Berardini Brothers. Story by Richard Parks, photographs by Roger Rohrdanz |
Members: Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Mike Bastian, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, George Callaway, Gary Carmichael, John Chambard, Jerry Cornelison, G. Thatcher Darwin, Jack Dolan, Ugo Fadini, Bob Falcon, Rich Fox, Glenn Freudenberger, Don Garlits, Bruce Geisler, Stan Goldstein, Andy Granatelli, Walt James, Wendy Jeffries, Ken Kelley, Mike Kelly, Bret Kepner, Kay Kimes, Jim Lattin, Mary Ann and Jack Lawford, Fred Lobello, Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre, Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy, Louise Ann Noeth, Frank Oddo, David Parks, Richard Parks, Wally Parks (in memoriam), Eric Rickman, Willard Ritchie, Roger Rohrdanz, Evelyn Roth, Ed Safarik, Frank Salzberg, Dave Seely, Charles Shaffer, Mike Stanton, David Steele, Doug Stokes, Bob Storck, Zach Suhr, Pat Swanson, Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy Travis, Jack Underwood and Tina Van Curen, Richard Venza. |
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