NEWSLETTER - , 2008
Editor: Richard Parks

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President's Corner: By Jim Miller.
  No report received this week.

Editorial: The subject of borrowing, returning, using, taking credit and/or theft of artifacts simply won't go away. In fact the amount of complaints about people borrowing and failing to return objects is growing and growing. I spoke to our President, Jim Miller, who does a great deal of copying of materials on behalf of the American Hot Rod Foundation. He told me that this Society could not be in the business of detective work in retrieving stolen records. We just don't have the time to do that he said. Part of the problem is that we don't have a consistent standard to apply to borrowing artifacts and what constitutes "delays," and what truly becomes "theft." I asked Jim to take some time and draft up rules that we could use as a basis on which to create a framework of rules to follow. Another thing that we can do is to create a list of names of people who have borrowed materials. That list would NOT be made public, but would be kept in the Society. When someone made a complaint, it would be registered. When someone said something positive, that would be recorded. When someone asks you if they can borrow your records, all you have to do is email and ask, "what's his record in returning records?" At that point you would receive a simple report of positive or negative marks. We wouldn't tell you who sent in the reports, both negative or positive. We would simply say, "TWO bad marks, FIVE good marks." It would then be up to you to determine to lend your materials or not. We want people to share their artifacts, but we want them returned to you in good order after they have copied them.

On Wednesday April 16th, 2008, Don Cox passed away after a year's battle with cancer. Don was a WWII veteran and dry lakes racer. He was also a world class photographer, with whom I share the MPG's Dean Batchelor award for The Birth of Hot Rodding. He was a sweet and good man that I will miss. As I get more information I will pass it on. Robert Genat, Zone Five Photo, Website: www.zonefivephoto.com, Blog: http://robergenat.blogspot.com/.
Robert: So sorry to hear the news. Don's photos were truly world class. I did a book review on The Birth of Hot Rodding for www.hotrodhotline.com, and the photographs were truly outstanding.

Howard Eichenhofer, passed away Tuesday, the 16th of April, 2008, at 8PM. Funeral arrangements are pending. Howard was the first man to officially go over 200 mph and set a record at El Mirage in 1957. Bob Brissette
Bob: Our condolences to Howard's family and friends. Ken Kelley also sent this in, so thanks to you both. Can anyone write a biography on Howard and send it in to the Newsletter?

Regarding the "borrowing" of historical materials, I would caution your readers about xxxxx who collects early lakes and Bonneville photos, and who is reported to be putting a book together. I met xxxxx about seven or eight years ago at the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame meet at Jack Mendenhall's. I had brought a photo album of pictures I had taken at Bonneville in 1953 which I had attended with my uncle, Johnny Moore, of Firestone. Xxxxxx saw my photo album on the table where I was sitting and asked to look at it. While going through the album he spotted a photo I had taken of Harvey Haller, standing beside his belly tank lakester, which he thought was an exceptional picture. He persuaded me to "loan" him my negative which, in good faith, I agreed to do. Months went by without the return of my negative, and then years, despite numerous letters I wrote to him, and a face to face encounter at the Hot Rod Reunion several years ago. He kept promising to return the negative, but his promises were mere lies. My wife finally convinced me that I might as well give up trying to retrieve it, which I have since done. I am enjoying your newsletter greatly. Many thanks, Jim Moore
Jim: You raise a very good point and it needs to be answered. The first thing is that as the editor, I try and print only that which I know to be true, which is why the person you named is spelled xxxxx. If there is a court case that becomes public record, then I have no problem publishing that person's name. The next point is that the Newsletter is the official publication of the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians. We attempt to be a group of amateur and professional historians and the difference between the two is usually one of employment. For example, I was trained as a historian in college, but I never actually worked as a historian, so I consider myself an amateur land speed historian. There is little difference between the knowledge, scholarship, acumen and hard work between the two. As a group we are really sincere about what we do, to dig up history and preserve it. The next point is this, records need to be respected. Both Jim and I will be glad to call on your behalf, or on anyone else's behalf. We will not bully or threaten, that's not what we do, but if we have a conversation with someone, then that information is what we call FIRST HAND and such information is printable in the newsletter. Before the SLSRH formed, there were few alternatives to getting the word out to the public about HOW to be a good historian. Unfortunately, you learned the hard way, and don't despair, because a lot of my father's records and my records have developed "feet" and moved on. There is a big difference between a collector and a historian. In my opinion, a collector amasses history for himself, as a hunter pursues game, for the trophy on his wall. It is ego, pure and simple. A historian also amasses history, but his goal in doing so is to learn and share that learning. The SLSRH has no problem with collectors or collector/historians. It is better that SOMEONE collect our history than letting artifacts go out to the curb on the way to the dump. I can't guarantee to anyone that Jim Miller or I can have an impact on helping to resolve problems, except that Jim has earned a great deal of respect for what he does. When we determine that an injustice has been done, and know it to be fact, and the person causing such harm refuses to do what is right, we shall ask that person to leave our group. We shall ask that individual to leave publicly. I hope the past problems will convince all of us to be more judicious. We should never lend original documents out, only copies of the original. Copies don't hurt when we lose them. If you have a print of this photo, you can take a digital photo of it and create a new negative and positives. Finally, while we cannot offer you the same protection as the courts, should matters go that far, we can make inquiries and see if our influence will help. While we don't want to add to hurt feelings, if the truth warrants it we will proffer our opinions. If the person who has your photograph is doing a book, we can help him by publicizing his book, doing a book review or showing up for a signing. The opposite is also true, we can withhold our support.

Editor's notes: The following emails were received by descendants of original Throttler club members.
a) Jim Seely (Dad) ran with the throttlers after the war. He ran with Manny Ayulo before the war and was his mechanic when he fatally hit the wall at indy.. During the war dad made speed runs across Europe. He told about sleeping in the roadster as it was being towed to Muroc. We have some pics of Ted's Marmon Buckboard that ran in the 130s. Jay Chamberlain was also a Throttler after the war. I included Beverly Chamberlain as she may have some documentation left over from that era and knew most of the guys even though she was/is very young for her age...Richard-are you looking for pre-war stuff only? Dave Seely
b) Hi Dave; Jay was a Hollywood Bungholer before he became a Throttler. I remember sitting out side Gus and Baldies shop in Hollywood while he joined in the meetings. I went with Baldie thru the speed traps at Muroc dry lakes. We would go out in the night and freeze waiting for our turn. They would make oil fires in a 50 gal drum and we would at least keep one side warm. I do remember Homer Farnemen but that's about it. I also remember Thatcher but only slightly. I knew Rick's grandparents Walter and Allie. They lived next door to Joy and Ted when they were first married. Your uncle Ralph helped Ted build the house in Sun Valley. Joy told him he was worse than Ted. They named their burro Ralph after him. I went to Hollywood High and did not know Betty. Beverly Chamberlain
c) It's worse, they named their pet skunk "Ralph" mostly because Ralph had named his poodle "Ted." They found out later on the Ralph (the skunk not the person) had never been properly de-scented. Yeesh. I wonder in what way Ralph was worse than Ted. Do we (anyone) have Joy's email address? Dave Seely
d) The Cannon brothers were my dad and his 3 brothers. I'll talk to my brothers and cousins and see what they remember in the way of stories. I've copied Dave Seely whose dad was also a Throttler. Here are some vague memories of Throttler stories. 1) Sleeping on Muroc lake bed. 2) Guys racing at night running into barbed wire fences. 3) My grandfather providing the first timing equipment in the late 1920's early '30's. 4) Ted making the "Buckboard" out of a V16 Marman. 5) Ted towing guys in broken cars home with buckboard saying ride the brakes slightly to keep the rope tight. Their brakes would be gone by the time they got home. 6) My grandfather during the war, melting down the Marmon (aluminum block) into pots and pans (I have a few). 7) Early name of the club in San Fernando was Desert Goats, which later merged with the Throttlers. More later, Rick Cannon

When I re-read the article that led to the complaint about selling tapes, I saw the word ‘contRact’ in the text. Editorially, it could have been better as ‘contact.’ Possibly, this is why the party thought that there was some commercialization afoot. Aren’t words interesting? Churchill was said to write “Ireland(r), or Iceland(c) to make sure no one confused one for the other. Ken Berg
Ken: That's very plausible. I correct spelling errors that come to me from the readers and a few grammatical errors, but try never to change the meaning. But I tread carefully when making any changes, because I don't want the readers of the newsletter to think that I am looking down at them. People write the way they are comfortable. Sometimes they use commas everywhere and sometimes they don't use any punctuation marks. I try to standardize the newsletter as much as I can, but sometimes the mistakes are mine. Apologies to all for any mistakes that I make or fail to correct.

Report from Walt James on CRA/USAC Sprint Car schedule: May 3, 2008 at Las Vegas Bullring. May 16, 2008 Chowchilla. May 17, 2008 Merced. May 31, 2008 Madera. June 14, 2008 Santa Maria. June 21, 2008 Perris Automotive Speedway. July 5, 2008 Orange Show in San Bernardino. July 26, 2008 Madera. August 16, 2008 Madera. September 6, 2008 Wag's Dash Ventura. September 27, 2008 Orange Show in San Bernardino. November 1, 2008 Las Vegas Bullring. November 29-30, 2008 Willow Springs Raceway. Turkey Night at Irwindale Speedway vintage cars will be on display.

Editor's notes: I had a nice phone conversation with a writer of a popular hot rodding book. The reason I called him is that I had received a complaint that he had not returned photographs that he had borrowed to include in his book. He explained that he made every effort to return all the photographs that he borrowed, but that some photographs came from sources that had since passed away and other photographs were mixed up by the publisher and it has been very difficult to get all the photographs returned to the proper source. He estimates that he has since returned 75%, but has another 25% left to return. This points up another problem. When you lend your photos to people, have you marked on the back "Property of So-and-So, with your phone number and address." It costs about $10 to have a rubber stamp made that gives your name, phone number and address on it. It costs another $2 for a light blue/green ink pad. By stamping your information on the back, you make it easier for the honest researcher to figure out which photograph belongs to which owner. From what I have heard, photographs get mixed up by a number of sources and the borrower, if he hasn't been carefully recording where the photos came from, can get very confused. Yes, it is always up to the borrower to make sure a proper inventory is taken and the photographs are returned intact. But, it is also the lender's obligation to make sure that photographs are a) properly captioned, and b) properly marked with the owner's name, phone number and address.

Editor's notes: The following is a public service warning from Ron Main. I received a message from a friend with information about grease fires in kitchens. He says that half of all home fires start in the kitchen because of grease fires and that throwing water on it makes the fire spread. What happens is that the water vaporizes into steam and the pressure of the steam knocks the burning oil all over the kitchen, creating more fires. Throwing flour or sugar on the fire creates another hazard, in that the particles are finely sifted and thus they burn so quickly that the result is an explosive event. Grain mill and silo owners in the Midwest will affirm that dust particles, when ignited, will explode. The only way to put out oil fires is to smother them. A wet towel thrown over a small grease fire will take away the oxygen and smother the flames. Or, have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen that is certified to handle grease and electrical fires. Water will only make grease and electrical fires more deadly.

Glen Barrett sent in the following link on a car out of Connecticut. I tried my best, but could not copy the article successfully, so use the following link to see the photographs and the article. http://www.jalopyjournal.com:80/?p=2122

3rd Annual Charity Car Show benefiting the Center for Learning Unlimited. Greetings Hot Rod Enthusiast! Join us for a day of car show fun for a good cause.
When: Sunday April 27, 2008.
Where: Edelbrock Corp, 510 Madrid, Torrance, CA 90501.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Car Entry: $40.00 (pre-registered) or $45.00 (day of show). Spectator Entry: $5.00 (donation).
Benefits: Center for Learning Unlimited helping children with learning disabilities. Website: www.revvedup4kidz.com. These kids can really use your support. We'll see you at the show! For More Info Contact Debbie Baker: 714-803-9216, or visit: www.revvedup4kidz.com. April is Autism Awareness Month? Autism usually develops within the first 3-years of a child's life? Autism affects 1 in 150 births and 1-1.5 million Americans? Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability? Estimated annual cost for Autism treatment is $90-billion? Source: Autism Society of America

The latest discoveries by Auto Archeologist Joe Bortz will be among the many historic GM Motorama "Dream Cars" on display. Images can be found at: http://media.pcgcampbell.com/pebblebeachconcoursdelegance/HighResImages/Photography/index.html. Pictures of Bortz' Motorama cars must be credited to Bortz Auto Collection Archives. PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (April 22, 2008) - Fifty-three years ago, the LaSalle II Roadster and the Chevrolet Biscayne were among the concepts that showcased General Motors' vision of the future in its traveling Motorama. After the debut of this automotive eye candy, these cars were not only discarded but destroyed. Joe Bortz, who was a young boy when he saw these "dream cars" at the 1955 Chicago Auto Show, found their remains decades later in a Detroit-area junkyard and worked laboriously to resurrect them. Now Bortz will bring these rescued vehicles to the Aug. 17 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of GM. Throughout the 1950s, the General Motors Motorama took concept cars on tour to cities throughout the United States, inviting the public to enter the future by stepping through the doors of a GM automobile. After each cross-country show was concluded, these futuristic cars were relegated to the trash heap. In fact, since most of these vehicles had not been road tested, GM often ordered their total destruction to prevent legal problems. "A GM executive was required to watch each of the dream cars get cut into pieces and crushed," said Bortz, who is retired and living in suburban Chicago. "The GM exec took the LaSalle Roadster and Biscayne to the junkyard, and he figured the guys at the junkyard would finish the job properly, so he took off early to go Christmas shopping. The junkyard workers never crushed the LaSalle, instead leaving it in many pieces." The Biscayne's chassis was crushed, but the junkyard owner managed to save all the pieces of the original body. "I felt like an automotive archeologist," said Bortz, who first showed some of his concept cars on the upper lawn at Pebble Beach in 1989 and 1990, drawing a crowd that couldn't believe any of the cars still existed. "I had to dig pieces out of the ground. The body of the car was fiberglass, so it didn't oxidize, but other remaining parts were almost hopeless. The body had to be glued back together from all the bits and pieces; it was like resurrecting a dinosaur. I've been doing this since '78 - being a treasure hunter and restoring concept cars. These cars are a treat for the eyes and a study in history, and I'm excited to bring several of these gems to Pebble Beach. These and other historical treasures from Motorama demonstrate the forward-thinking that led GM to the front of the pack," said Sandra Kasky Button, Chairman of the Concours. "Joe Bortz has somehow managed to rescue and resurrect concept cars from that era, allowing us to see the sometimes-radical GM designs that influenced industry styling for decades."
General Motors will also be bringing nearly a dozen dream cars that the company itself has saved, and these cars will join the Bortz Collection and Motorama treasures owned by other collectors during the Concours' celebration of the General Motors Centennial. "These Motorama cars fit perfectly with Pebble Beach's history of showing only the rarest vehicles and they allow us to emphasize the importance of preserving our automotive history," said Button. Lines from the 1955 LaSalle II Roadster can be found in such icons as the '56 and '57 Corvette, while lines from the 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne are visible in the 1960 Corvair. The Chevrolet Biscayne was considered "one of the most desirable and beautiful concept cars of all-time," said Bortz, who's restoring all aspects of the Biscayne in collaboration with Kerry Hopperstadt and Fran Roxas. "It was called the 'Miracle Car' inside General Motors because it drew the largest crowds of any of the concepts shown in Motorama. Pebble Beach will be the first time the Biscayne will be shown publicly since 1955. Since the windows weren't flat, we had to create a wraparound windshield. And the door mechanisms are made with the help of Swiss clockmakers. It's not fully restored. It's still a work in progress." The "junkyard fresh" LaSalle II Roadster has been seen in public only a couple of times since 1955. In addition to the Harley Earl-led stylists, GM engineers got involved in creating this car. The LaSalle II was equipped with an aluminum-block, lightweight V-6, double overhead cam, fuel-injected engine and independent rear suspension. While innovations of this type were features that would appear in European cars in the '50s and '60s, GM would not incorporate them for decades. The Motorama cars that will be appearing at Pebble Beach will be joined by a rare assortment of GM Woodies, Cadillac V-16s and GM-powered sports cars. Other featured marques for 2008 include Lancia and Lamborghini. See www.pebblebeachconcours.com. Contact: PCGCampbell - Jeff Green 310- 224-4961 ([email protected]).

Editor's notes: The following came from John Bisci in Las Vegas. While the events listed are peripheral to our charter, they do touch upon the edges of our interests. Here's the event.
May 3-4, 2008. Las Vegas Speed Spectacular at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, features nostalgia Funny Car racing, hot rod show, live music, pin-up girl contest. LAS VEGAS – The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will present a new daytime event – the Las Vegas Speed Spectacular – on Saturday, May 3, and Sunday, May 4. The inaugural Las Vegas Speed Spectacular will include nostalgia drag racing featuring the NHRA’s Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series. The traveling NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series was created to preserve the rich history and tradition of drag racing and will contest nostalgia drag racing classes, including: nostalgia nitro-burning Funny Cars, A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas, Hot Rod and three Nostalgia Eliminator classes. A pair of Fuel Altereds also will battle in heads-up, first-man-to-the-finish-line-wins match racing. Nostalgia Funny Car entries include: Mendy Fry’s “Future Flash” (1972 Charger), Bucky Austin’s “Northwest Hitter” (1977 Arrow), Jeff Utterback’s “Pisano & Matsubara” (1977 Vega), Mike Grekul’s “Pleuger & Gyger” (1969 Mustang Mach I), Rian Konno’s “Hot Wheels” (1973 Mustang), Mike Adams’ “Bomb Squad” (1973 Duster), Kris Krabill’s “Pedaler” (1977 Arrow), Dennis LaCharite’s “Back In Black” (1969 GTO), Chris Bennett’s “Pure Heaven IV” (1969 Camaro), Terry Capp’s “Bubble-Up” (1977 Firebird), Dan Horan’s “Dan’s Electric” (1966 Mustang), Steve Romanazzi’s “Warrior” (1977 Firebird, Jim Adolph’s “Nitro Charger” (1971 Dodge Daytona), Ed Dugan’s “Nitro Psycho” (1977 Arrow) and Nate Bugg’s “Li’l’ Nate” (1970 Barracuda). A car show, hosted by the Las Vegas Cruisin’ Association, will exhibit nostalgia machines: hot rods, street rods, custom cars, competition cars and classics. Live music will include Danny Dean & The Homewreckers and Mad Max & The Wild Ones. DJ “Flattop Tom” Jacob (of Rockabilly Rod Reunion fame) will spin classic rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly tunes while Master of Ceremonies Nathan Hirschi handles the announcing chores on the main stage. A huge midway, next to the auto swap meet, will showcase the wares of hot rod and automotive vendors. On Saturday, May 3, The Strip will host its annual $500-to-win pin-up girl contest. More than 200 Quarter Midgets will be in competition as the Las Vegas Quarter Midget Association presents races on the midway.
Racer and car show gates will open at 7 a.m. each day. Spectator gates will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Racing will take place on the quarter-mile drag strip from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., with feature cars scheduled for runs at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. On Saturday night, the action switches to the Bullring – LVMS’ 3/8-mile asphalt oval – for nostalgia Midget and Sprint Car races, in addition to the regular program of NASCAR-sanctioned stock cars. Las Vegas Speed Spectacular attendees may present their ticket stub at the Bullring to receive a $5 discount on adult admission. A number of Las Vegas Speed Spectacular car show entries will be invited to participate in the hot rod nostalgia parade prior to the National Anthem at the Bullring. For Car show entries: Art Kam, Las Vegas Cruisin’ Association, [email protected].
Pre-entry fee: $40 per vehicle (if received by April 25). Gate or late-entry fee: $50 per vehicle (if received after April 26 or at the gate). The first 300 pre-entrants will receive a t-shirt, dash plaque, lapel pin and one free ticket to the Bullring on May 3 for vintage Sprint Car and Midget racing. Vendor and swap meet information and reservations, pin-up girl contest entries: Mysti Haynes, The Strip at LVMS (702) 632-8213.
Contact: John Bisci, LVMS Public Relations, (702) 632-8231, [email protected]

Members:

Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Mike Bastian, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, George Callaway, Gary Carmichael, John Backus, 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, Maggie Summers, Gary Svoboda, Pat Swanson, Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy Travis, Jack Underwood and Tina Van Curen, Richard Venza.

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