SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS
NEWSLETTER 80 - October 9, 2008
Editor: Richard Parks RnParks1@juno.com
President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)

Click On All Images For Larger View

Some Names To Look For In This Newsletter:
Annual "Gas Up", USFRA World of Speed Update, California Hot Rod Reunion, Ab & Marvin Jenkins book review.

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President's Corner:
   For all you Land Speeders the annual "Gas Up" was held last weekend. This happens to have been the 16th annual party for the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame and featured a who's who of racers. It's always fun to listen to Louis Senter and Nick Arias tell their stories. Two of my other favorites are Don Ferrara whose roadster tied for best of show with the Nitty car back at the first hot rod show in 1948 and Hut Watkins, founding father of the Bakersfield Smokers in the early 1950's. This year the Deed's 4WD Roadster, Danny Boy Streamliner and Vance Breeze Harley powered motorcycle Streamliner were inducted as vehicles. People who've contributed were Don Ferguson III, Mike Manghelli, Steve Toller, Dennis Varney and Bob Webb. From the past were Quin Epperly and Jim Feuling. Manufacturer of the year was Rick Gold's ERC Racing Fuel and Historian was John Thawley. Bravo to all these gents and what they've given to us racers over the years.
   I have to mention Quin Epperly for a moment. Everybody always associates him with Indy cars. First at Kurtis and then with Lesovsky and then on his own. He was ahead of his time with the Belond Streamliner at Indy in 1955 and the stillborn Hilborn and Travers Keck liner for Vukovich. The Belond liner actually ran at b-ville in 1965 as the Fireside Inn AA Sports Racer with fenders and headlights and was powered by a supercharged 457" Ford. Two other monumental rides he beat tin for are Breedlove's first Spirit of America and the Summers Brothers Polywog. As a strange twist of fate Tim Rochlitzer, Gas-Up put-er-oner, owns the Wog today. I also have to mention Art Male, 1937 lakes man and charter member of the S.C.T.A. in '37. He also takes care of the Gas-Up history with scrapbooks. He received special recognition at the event. Check out the September 2008 issue of Hot Rod Deluxe for a story on Art. Outside was an assortment of cool cars, including the recently purchased Chrisman-Duncan '32 Ford coupe. What a beauty. Last week there was also an FIA event at B-ville. See www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,4720.0.html, for a day by day report on the event. Starting October 8 there is another meet at Bonneville called the World Finals. Be there or be square. I'll take pix for you and bring back some stories too. Since I shot the Cobb model car at the Gas Up it's only fair that I show you an Eyston shot from September 1938. Here is a little trivia. The graphics painted on the side of the car was used to help trip the timing light. Enjoy. 

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Editorial:
I had two future newsletters in the process to be published and came back to my computer to see that they were both gone. I stored them as Drafts in my Saved Drafts storage area, ready to pull them up and work on them, then store them until the next email or letter came in from a fan or member of our Land Speed group. A great deal of information was lost and I have no idea how to retrieve it or if it can ever be retrieved. I thought that I had a good system in place to keep losses like that from happening. Roger Rohrdanz, a member of our group and a great photographer, keeps material on his computer for me, but in this instance, I did not send him this information yet. Until a catastrophe hits, we haven't got a clue as to the peril we are in. Kind of like the recent stock market crash. It was a problem that we all knew about, felt something would happen some day, and became a shock when the disaster actually hit us. I had no idea that the computer would delete, without my commands, my "Retrieve Draft" material. Another fail safe system is that I send all the material on to Mary Ann Lawford at www.landspeedracing.com and www.hotrodhotline.com for safekeeping, but in this case I had not sent the two newsletters that I was working on to the websites yet.
This isn't the end of the world and as my brother, David, has told me, "It forces you to learn." Of course, he added a name on to what he said, which I cannot repeat here in mixed company. It did force me to learn. I learned what defragment means. I learned to write all the articles in Word, and then copy and paste from Word back into a regular email and then send the finished product to the website that way. Finally, I learned that no matter what one does to protect oneself, there are always dangers and perils that we don't know about, but have to overcome. I also learned that if I don't write my biography and caption my photographs today, there may not be a tomorrow. Death, stroke, dementia, fire, earthquake, tornado, hurricanes and many more disasters are just waiting to destroy our records or our memories. Precious history is lost each and every day because people put off what they knew in their hearts that they needed to do. What do we say? We say something like this; "Jim was such a nice guy, it's a shame that he didn't write and record what he saw and knew before his wife hit him over the head with the frying pan. Look at him resting there peacefully in his coffin, dead as a doornail and he knew so much. He was always going to write it down, promising us that if we didn't nag him that he would do it over the weekend. Well, now he has an eternity of weekends, but he'll never get the chance to keep his commitment to us." That's what we usually say.
I thought that I had many, many fail safe systems in place to keep from losing valuable information and the computer pulled a new wrinkle. I never heard of the computer emptying a file or folder without a command, but it did. Many people come to me and say, "I've got a lot of history and stories to tell, but no one has come to me to do my story." I hear that all the time, over and over again. Yes, I know that many people are loath to write or speak and are quite taciturn, but there simply aren't that many people out there who have the time, inclination, sacrifice, effort and money to do YOUR story for you. Guys like Jim Miller are rare. I could count the number of people like him on one hand who would sacrifice their lives to record and keep alive the history and heritage of land speed racing and hot rodding. There are a lot of professional writers, but even they can't reach all of the people who want to tell their stories. You have to start on your life's story now and caption your photographs and leave it to your family and friends as best as you are able to write it. There is no "writers" cavalry coming to your rescue. So if you don't do this, it's not going to get done. We call that "hot rodders dementia." Hot rodders and land speed racers and fans simply fade away, forgetting or refusing to leave behind their life story and being forgotten forever. Sad, isn't it!

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Finally saw a Surgeon. Gives me a 95% chance of getting my problem fixed. Will bet on those odds any time. A diagnosis is Vascular Cardiac disease. It's not really a disease but a payback for careless dietary habits over 90 years. A great many old folks get it. My arteries and veins are partially closed down with a plaque built up over the years. To add to this I have a leaking heart valve. Bottom line, Heart cannot get enough blood to pump, and can't pump any blood it gets very efficiently. Blood must go through lungs first to dump carbon dioxide etc and pick up oxygen, blood carries oxygen throughout the body to energize the muscles. Little blood, little energy. I am constantly tired. Can just get round the house and that is it. Have to watch balance. Planning on surgery in mid to late Oct. Will keep everyone advised. Reading literature on operation. They use a small power saw to split the breast bone apart down its full length. Pull left side of rib cage away to reach heart. Heart valve is replaced with a valve from Pig heart. Veins and arteries are bypassed by replacement blood vessels, usually taken from the leg where they will regenerate over time. Breast bones will we wired back together to heal. Many have had it so it must work. If it doesn't work I will never know it.  Eric Rickman
   Eric: You are a National treasure to land speed racers, so take care of yourself and record your history. I might add that you should caption your photographs, but what would that be in round numbers, ONE or TWO million?

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You really covered it. Thanks much for the mentions and credits on me. Glad you got Lee Blaisdell in too. Have to chide you on one person you left out that was very influential in causing Pete to start a magazine. Remember Veda Orr? She was the first to publish anything about Dry Lakes racing and included some pictures. It was shortly after she quit publishing anything that Pete got the idea and sort of took over. She was never really seriously into it, but did publish some sort of a newspaper. Check with an old timer such as Xydias he would know about her. A favor, can you send me the stuff you wrote. I tried to copy it into my computer files, but must have pushed a wrong button, lost it. Want to make prints to send to relatives and to Blaisdell. Veda does have to get some credit for recording some of the early Dry Lakes stuff. You misspelled my name a couple of times, but I will correct the copy when I get it. Have a good story re: Ab Jenkins and the car at the first Show Pete put on. E. Rick (Rickman)
Dear Rick: Sorry about misspelling your name, but then I've seen you write it a number of ways. There are so many important people who did so much to further auto racing in the 1930's and on. That's why I enjoy seeing what our members send in every week. It truly is exciting to see what the emails bring in each day. Please tell us more about Veda and Karl Orr and the story about Ab Jenkins and his car. You must write your life story and tell us all the interesting things that you've seen, especially on the first Safety Safari, or was it the DRAG Safari? I forget that you and Alex are in your 80's. Can it be? How can it be that we have gotten so old so fast? So write your biography and caption your photographs. We really want to know. About the articles that Roger and I have written. They number some 600 and the number of newsletters is now 80. So the easiest thing to do is to go to www.landspeedracing.com to see the newsletters and to www.hotrodhotline.com, Richard's Corner, to see the articles and bios. To send you all the stories at once would crash your system.

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I might suggest that you go to the SCTA or USFRA web sites and click on Save the Salt. Great Work is being done by the Save the Salt organization, working with the BLM and Intrepid Chemical Co. Salt is being pumped back on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Mary West, Secretary of Save the Salt/20 years.
Mary: Thank you for writing in and expressing your viewpoints. One point, please don't use capital letters when you want to post your views. I have to retype capital letters into normal type size. Jim Miller suggested the topic and the view that the salt was very thin compared to the past. The topic of the editorial is the need for racing organizations and racing fans of all types to organize and fight for the protection of their racing venues. Below is what I wrote in the editorial that you are referring to in Newsletter #78.
"This editorial is not criticizing the efforts of Save the Salt, which is a fine group, doing what they can to protect Bonneville.
This editorial is concerned with the political fight that racers must exert if they want to save their oval, drag and other racing
sites from extinction."
Perhaps I didn't make my point as clear as I should have done. So I went back and reread the editorial that I wrote, then I reread it a second and a third time. Then I thought about it for a while, then reread your message and the conclusion that I came to is that the only thing that I would change is a reference to this section of the editorial:
"How can that be when the different timing associations do all that they can and the political and business communities
have so much counter-clout? The truth is, they don't have as much power as you think they do."
When I mentioned "they," I was referring to businesses or groups opposed to racing, not the racing organizations themselves. And that's exactly what I meant then and what I mean now. Save the Salt is a fine organization. My father said so, my brother said so and I say so. My comments are not directed at or toward them. My comments are focused on groups and individuals who whine and moan about the closing of their drag strip, oval track or other type of venue and who gave a nod or a groan at the time and that was all. If you read the article that I wrote entitled Politics in Racing, reread the editorial and then this response, you will see that Save the Salt is one of those groups that rises above the average racing association. I am using the Newsletter and my position as the editor to stress a point and the point is that the racing community does not have to lose any more venues to race on if they find the courage to exercise their power as voters. The gist of the editorial and the article is that group or bloc voting can win back our racing venues and the kind of racing does not matter. I have seen too many tracks close because it was expedient. The landowner wished to make more money, the residents complained, the zoning boards objected, contractors and builders eyed profits, or any one of dozens of other reasons were brought forth. Nothing was ever said about having safe and sanctioned facilities to offer to young street racers, until people lay mangled, bloody and dying on our roads, then indignant citizens raised their voices. Could we lose Bonneville? Could we lose any land speed racing site? The answer is possibly, but not probably. How could any reasonable and sane person say otherwise? Those sites, along with oval tracks and drag strips are saved for racing on a daily battle by strong men and women who interface with our governmental agencies, property owners and non-racing citizens. The Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter often praises those people and groups who rise to the challenge and protect the sport. One of those groups that we have lauded is Save the Salt. One thing that we would ask of you, Mary, is to write your biography and caption your photographs. Some of our readers may not know that you were a record setting land speed, drag and boat racer and that your heritage in racing goes back a long ways. The more we hear from our readers, the better history we can save.

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I believe you were asking some questions regarding Karl Orr and his race cars. Page 101 of Joe Scalzo's latest book, "City of Speed" shows a photo of a very young Troy Ruttman aboard Karl's Big Car (Sprint Car in today's language). I would guess the shot was taken at Carrell Speedway when it was a paved track. Note that it was powered by a flathead Ford engine. The cowling is lettered "KO Special" and is painted black and white. At that time, Troy was doing very well in CRA Roadster Racing driving Bert Letner's car that featured a Ford V8 flathead equipped with Letner's dual spark plug cylinder heads. Bert was Danny's father. Bob Falcon
Bob: We have tried to portray Karl and Veda Orr in the SLSRH Newsletter on many occasions and we will give them more space as our readers respond. Karl and Veda were two of the original SCTA members and even preceded the SCTA. They were a monumental force in land speed racing and we want to know more about them. Karl was known for his crusty attitude and this makes stories about him very interesting and fun. Land speed racers are known for being independent and resistant to authority and that's one of their charms. In one of the monthly programs for the SCTA, my father wrote a column that was "newsy" after calling around to the various clubs. In that column he said that "Karl Orr is the father of that car," or words close to that. It seemed just an innocent turn of phrase, meant to praise, not humiliate Karl. He read that and closed his shop, taking some friends with him and proceeded down to the SCTA office where he was going to bash the guy that wrote that. When I heard that story it reminded me of the times I tried to "turn a phrase" in writing about somebody and how somebody out there took offense and wrote in, but not flatteringly. Yet, that grouchiness is what endears some of the early guys to us today. Our goal isn't to prettify the times we are saving or make people lovable. Our goal is to save the history and stories as they really occurred. Karl was special and Veda even more so. I will ask you all to make a special effort to save as much as we can on the Orrs and other early land speed racers

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It has been a while since I've seen you, but I have been reading your newsletters in www.HotRodHotLine.com, and enjoy them very much. You did an excellent job on the one about the beginning of HRM. About the only thing I could find that was not included was about the Art Department with Bob Green and Tom Medley (Stroker McGurk), also the pocket size book called Honk and its editor Dick Day. If you want to do a story on the beginning of NHRA, I can give you some info on that as well being a Charter Member and employee #3. I first remember meeting you when you were about 6 years old, your Brother and your Mother in the parking lot behind 5959 Hollywood Blvd. I'm not sure how much older you are than Dave, but I remember he was in your Mothers arms and probably about 6 month's old. Keep up the good writing, Chic Cannon
Chic: Greetings. Thank you for the information. We are working on land speed racing history, but I would enjoy reading your biography about the early days of dry lakes, hot rodding, HRM and NHRA. Also, caption your photographs, because uncaptioned photos are nearly worthless. I am 8 years older than my brother, David, but he claims to be 8 inches taller. Please, send us ALL the memories you have, especially the Safety Safari and Drag Safari days. The stories that I've heard you, Rickman, Coons and Evans tell have been utterly fascinating. The Society is interested in all land speed racing, hot rodding and early drag racing, up to around 1959. It is beyond our resources to cover drag racing post-1960 and there are a lot of fine organizations that do that.

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Are you familiar with the name "David Gooley?" He is a photographer/writer and has a magazine by the name of "Pre War Notes." He specializes in pictures of old cars. I heard about him from my Doctor's wife today. He is her sister's boyfriend. They are good friends with the lady has the auto bookstore on Magnolia in Burbank (which is 5 minutes from my house). Regards, Patty Geiger
   Patty: Are you referring to Tina Van Curren, owner of Autobooks/Aerobooks? Gooley is a writer/photographer and does mostly classical and vintage car articles. He has a website, which you can access by going to Google.

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With all your fine words about the passing of Marv and the references to his booklet and in another note, Louise Noeth's fine book, I'm surprised that you didn't mention Gordon White's very well researched book on the father son duo. Gordon is a lifelong car enthusiast, long time reporter for the Salt Lake City newspaper, and chief adviser to the Smithsonian on auto racing. He set a record for midgets in his Kurtis, which he actively races against sports cars in vintage events. I've purchased several copies for friends and reviewed it in my Christmas gift lists for newspapers. I hope he has copies left, and have included his email above. Gordon is at gewhite@crosslink.net. I'm actually surprised he is not a member of your group. Cheers, Bob Storck
   Bob: The world is our audience and membership consists of simply going to www.landspeedracing.com and signing in. Simple as that. We have mentioned Gordon White in our pages in past issues and I have done a book review on Ab & Marvin Jenkins; The Studebaker Connection and the Mormon Meteors, by Gordon White. You can access the review at www.hotrodhotline.com, Richard's Corner. I enjoyed Gordon's book and recommended it to all land speed racers to add to their library. If we don't buy, authors can't write, so the more we support them, the more they do fine research and writing. I give this caveat to all readers of the newsletter; we are an extension of your memories and experiences. The more our members write in and share their past, the less that I have to do in order to keep the newsletter filled with subjects. Another problem is this; all editors go in the direction of their talent, interest and expertise. We can't help that, we're human. So to balance out the newsletter and cover all the many areas, it is imperative that the readers of the Society become the writers too. The more members that write in and share, the easier it is to save and keep our heritage.

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About 50 automotive students from Antelope Valley High School, Lancaster, California, will get a lesson in Hot Rod 101 thanks to the veteran racing parts maker Joe Mondello and the California Hot Rod Reunion. Mondello will be the featured lecturer at this year's education seminar hosted by the Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, on Friday, October 10, 2008. According to Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum (produced of the Hot Rod Reunion), "the seminar was created to increase awareness of American automotive history and the many rewarding education and career opportunities within the automotive industry." The seminar is at The Doubletree Hotel in Bakersfield, Calif. and also offers the students a day at the Reunion. "The education seminar at the Reunion is part of the Parks Museum's 'living history' philosophy, which works to bring to life for younger generations the sights, sounds and people who made history in the early days of drag racing, land speed racing and the golden age of American car culture," added Thacker
Mondello, founder of Mondello Tech Center in Tennessee, will discuss his 50 years of building high-performance racing engines.  Mondello began his fascination with speed at the age of 14. 

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Dateline: Bonneville Salt Flats, USFRA World of Speed, Wendover, Utah. September 20, 2008. Beautiful salt, super weather and great competition made the USFRA's 22nd annual World of Speed a perfect venue for the west coast segment of the National 36hp Landspeed Challenge. Competitors came from the west, east and in between to challenge the 36hp records set so many years ago by Dick Beith and Mel Ellis. Steve Ward and Joe Klokkevold came from Newman Lake, Washington, hoping to beat the new age (NA36) record of 83.921 miles per hour set by Tom Bruch in my 1969 Beetle in 2006. They pulled the big street motor from Steve's daily driven 77 Beetle sedan, installed a healthy but otherwise refreshed stock 36hp motor fitted with a homebuilt yet technically sophisticated turbo-charger system and trailered to the salt. The Washington crew raced, tuned, raced, and tuned again until they achieved their goal, beating the old record with a top speed of 83.921 miles per hour. Unfortunately, Tom was back with a more powerful 1378cc new age turbo motor and would add almost twenty miles per hour to that same record. Sandy, Utah, resident Ed Fall, proprietor of Vintagewerks, the 36hp distributor, carburetor and fuel pump restorer, drove his beautiful black 57 oval daily driver out to attack Bruce Cooks Stone Stock (SS) record of 73.005 miles per hour. With over 40,000 miles on his self built 36er, Ed did not get the overall record but did exceed Craig Wilson's record Bonneville set two years ago with a top speed of 70.670 miles per hour. Bonneville's thinner atmosphere affects top speeds and Ed hopes to visit the low altitude Maxton, North Carolina, ECTA speed trials next year for a head to head challenge of Bruce's record. Ed enjoyed a great first effort after which he loaded up his spare tire, Hazet tool kit, sleeping bag and tea pot and drove back to Salt Lake City.
The highlight of the Challenge came when perennial land speed racer Tom Bruch teamed with Gaylen Anderson to attempt beating Dick Beiths overall all top speed 36hp record. Spring testing of the stroked, stock bore (1378cc) motor on the country roads around his home resulted in a top end failure due to too high of compression that mandated a rebuild in between helping a friend recover from the devastating floods that hit Cedar Rapids this summer. In August Tom lowered the compression ratio under the single port Bruchrasa/VW 36hp cylinder heads and headed west. Unloading the car off the trailer, Tom made the first of three passes, all of which exceeded Dick Beiths top speed of 101.296 miles per hour and which has been the goal of the Challenge since it's inception over four years ago. Tom achieved a top speed of 103.489 miles per hour with his turbo-charged new age (NA36) 36er capturing that elusive overall speed goal but left Dicks supercharged (K36) class record still intact as the class (K36-Supercharger pre-1980) record holder. Joining the racers on the salt this year were Britt Grannis and his wife Chris, the California connection to Team Ireland and the Beaver Geezers from the bay area, a group of three former fraternity brothers originating at Oregon State University in the fifties. Britt is partnered with Paul Cullen in Northern Ireland and will campaign both a bug and Ghia using Irish sourced 36hp engines in the Super Stock Single (SSS) and Stone Stock (SS) classes. The Geezers, consisting of Al Leggett, Dan Durle and Glenn Patterson are preparing a 58 Beetle for Stone Stock (SS) purchased this year but undergoing a total transformation to include a change to OSU's colors of black and orange. All were in attendance to experience the salt and familiarize themselves with the USFRA's 130 Mile Per Hour Club event under whose guidance we race.
The 36hp Challenge was conceived in 2005 to encourage the world wide family of Volkswagen enthusiasts to resurrect the onetime throwaway 36ers and to go out and try to go faster than our Volksfathers had four decades earlier, using today's skills, tools and technologies. The basis for the 36hp Challenge still exists with both Dicks 101.296 mile per hour supercharged (K36) and Mel Ellis's 94.400 mile per hour dual carburetor (DSS) records still untouched. After receiving numerous requests, the 36hp Challenge will grow with the addition of a Ghia category and will also see the return of the Super Stock Single (SSS) class as noted above. The SSS current record is 81.223 miles per hour and should prove very popular with those racers who do not want to invest in expensive period speed equipment but utilize their skills and craftsmanship to modify the existing single stock 28 PCI carburetor, single port heads and exhaust system. SSS allows for a different crank, cam and pistons and cylinders but restricts other modifications to improving the performance of the stock components, ideal for maximizing horsepower of the basic 36hp engine. 2009 should see the largest contingent of 36hp Challengers contesting events at all three land speed racing venues. Racers form Oklahoma, Ireland, North Carolina, Iowa, California and elsewhere have committed to racing in Texas, North Carolina and on the salt flats of Utah. Keep tuned, keep in touch, keep thrashing and keep your foot on the gas. Questions? Please visit the links for the ECTA, TEXAS Mile and the USFRA at www.saltflats.com and for 36hp specific questions, please visit www.burlyb.com or contact me at the above address. Remember, the final 36hp Challenge event will be held at the ECTA's Maxton Mile in just four weeks, the last weekend of October on the 25th and 26th. Please spectate or participate if you can and join us in 09 as the 36hp Challenge goes "International" with the Irish connection. Did you hear that Tom Burkland got another 415 record and the motorcycle record was bumped also this past week in a private FIA session? Burly Burlile

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"Salt of the Earth" by Wendell Ashton details something that is misstated in the latest newsletter. Ab was, in fact, elected as the mayor of Salt Lake City in 1939 by 51 votes in a regular city wide election, without ever campaigning. His opponent, Herbert A. Snow, never had a chance primarily because of Ab's popularity in Salt Lake. He served as mayor during the World War II years, after which he became the State Safety Engineer for the State of Utah. There was nothing honorary about his mayoralty, he was very effective and direct in his administration. The city needed that kind of leadership because of the impact of eight major military installations within an hour's drive of downtown. Mr. Snow was the grandfather of my good friend Ashby Snow Decker. Marv Jenkins was born in Blackfoot, Idaho because that's where his dad, Ab, was building homes. My aunt and uncle's home on University Street was one of the homes he built. Blackfoot was never "home" to the Jenkins family other than the temporary situation where he could make money building "spec" homes. Ab was from Spanish Fork, Utah and proudly mentioned that fact when he addressed a student assembly at Brigham Young University High School when I was a sophomore there in 1950. After the assembly we approached him about help in getting a quarter mile drag strip built and were brusquely told he had no patience for that kind of racing. I'm sure that as the State Safety Engineer he had no option but to say that. Ever the showman though, Ab once drove a car down Broadway (300 South) in Salt Lake at speed and made the kind of U turn that depends on the emergency brake for successfully completing the "bootlegger turn," just to show how it could safely be accomplished by a "skilled" driver. Ab definitely was skilled as his driving has shown by his 1931 hill climbing exploits in a Studebaker roadster randomly selected from the assembly line by AAA officials. He entered and won the top 35 hill climbs in the US with the Studebaker that year. Wester Potter, Media Relations, Utah Salt Flats Racing Association
Wes: Thank you for the correction concerning Ab Jenkins's election as Mayor of Salt Lake City. My error may be due to the sources that said that Ab was in charge of the city council, while a city manager ran the town. I believe Ak Miller told me that. In no way should you consider that anyone in the SLSRH would ever criticize the Jenkins' family, one of the finest racing families that America has ever produced. Since most of our work is field research, that is compiling oral histories, and there are only a few history books to guide us, we sometimes err and it is the members letters that allows us to correct inaccuracies. My family also came from Spanish Fork, Utah, though they left there prior to 1910. Small world, isn't it. If you have any more stories or history to share about the Jenkins' family or your own, please write in

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Without taking up your time, have you ever heard the tale of Bob Estes, his hot rod, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow? I can tell the tale as related by Bob to me some 40 years ago. Herb Jones
Herb: I would be delighted to hear about any stories of the past. I'll post it to the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter, which I edit. You can find it at www.landspeedracing.com. While Estes, Gable, Arbuckle and the old Hollywood crowd is more famously known and seen at the oval tracks, there is ample records of many stars racing their expensive cars on the dry lakes, sometimes for pink slips. Robert Stack is one such hot rodder of the 1930's, who raced on the dry lakes, in boat racing and who had a lifetime love of car racing. Stack is well known for his movie roles and for portraying Elliot Ness in the TV series "The Untouchables." Hollywood and car racing often went hand in hand in the early days

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Thanks for the kudos on the Jenkins book. The Jenkins book is still available, though the sales are a little less than the publisher had hoped. About 1,100 copies to date. I sell the book myself, as well as of course the publisher does through the usual channels. Copies I sell I autograph.
Gordon White
Gordon: I enjoyed your book immensely and my review (click here to view review) of it is on www.hotrodhotline.com, Richard's Corner and Book Reviews. For our readers, here is some information on where you can purchase this fine book for your library.
Ab & Marvin Jenkins; The Studebaker Connection and the Mormon Meteors, by Gordon Eliot White. $32.95 + $4.95 s&h, Box 129
Hardyville, VA 23070.
Readers: If you have written a book on auto racing, and especially on Land Speed Racing and would like it reviewed, please let Mary Ann Lawford know. She is the owner of www.hotrodhotline.com and there is a special section on the website that has book, movie and magazine reviews. There are several reviewers who do this work and I am one of them. I often purchase books to review, so it is not required to have to give books away to get a review done. But if you want the book returned, you have to provide a return envelope with postage. How we review books is different than what you see in newspapers. I take a hot rodders view of the books that I review. We check the quality of the book, its photographs and visual plates, the text, size of the book, whether it has an index and the look of the book. We review books like hot rodders tear apart an engine. When we're done, our reviews will tell you whether this is a book that you will enjoy owning or not. There is no better way to increase your knowledge and enjoyment of hot rodding and racing than to have a well-stocked library

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We should see some improvement in both content formatting and delivery next week as we think we have the bugs figured out with the new software. We are also going to begin putting a short description below each Newsletter listing on the Landspeed Racing menu page, at least mentioning some of the names in that newsletter so that people will know what they can find in each one. We may also try to add a "Search" feature so if someone is looking for a particular person or car or event they may be able to find it more easily. Mary Ann Lawford
Mary Ann: Thank you for continuing to publish the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter in the www.landspeedracing.com website. It is a first class product. Readers, Mary Ann and Jack Lawford also publish www.hotrodhotline.com and you can find other stories and reviews about racing subjects there. For those of you with memorabilia or cars to sell, they offer a super 6 month deal. Contact them to find out their latest ad rates, which are a fraction of printed ad rates.

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Gordon White has spent a tremendous amount of time and effort establishing the facts related to Ab Jenkins who could easily be identified as the most important person toward developing the Bonneville Salts as a speed record Mecca. Gordon has a long association with a Salt Lake City newspaper and with the Smithsonian, plus his record in his Offy Kurtis Midget. He wrote perhaps some of the best books on the Offenhauser, the Kurtis cars and Lost Race Tracks. With the passing of Marv, it is especially important that the truthful details get raised from the many tales and exaggerations. Thanks for getting the word out. My ties relate to sharing the lakes with the speed junkies, and being inspired to try my own efforts. They didn't come to fruition, but I had some curious experiences. As tales start running down, rest assured I'll tell some of them.  Bob Storck
   Bob: We will hold you to your promise to tell us more about your experiences

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 I commend your efforts. Land Speed Racing is close to my heart. I first laid eyes on Mormon Meteor III at the Linden, N.J. car show in 1951. While eastern midgets were my first love, Bonneville was second. When my high school buddy and I drove from New Jersey to California that summer, we stopped at Bonneville during that early Speed Week - it was almost as much a draw for us as seeing the hot rods on the streets in Southern California. I covered Speed Week in 1954 for the Salt Lake Tribune, and Associated Press used some of my photos. Obviously I did not get a chance to run a car of my own there until 1986 when the late Mark Dees recruited me for the then-new VOT class. It was a treat to run on the late Rex Mays' midget record, which we finally broke in 1988 and 1989. My niche with LSR of course is the open-wheel oval track group, which ran many early trials, going back to Bob Burman, Frank Lockhart, Tommy Milton, etc. Ab Jenkins, I discovered, ran on both speedways and straight-aways and would have run in the Indianapolis 500 had he gotten there at just a little younger age. I sent you the data on my Jenkins book - something I wanted to do for many years. Luckily I did it while Marvin, an old friend, was still alive. Gordon Eliot White

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What is a hot rod? What makes them hot? And how does a style and lifestyle, begun over 75 years ago, stay so popular and bring additional business to local rod shops? The answers can be found at the 17th annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, and set for Oct 10-12 at Auto Club Famoso (just outside Bakersfield). Hot rods and street rods are part of what makes the Reunion such a fun event for car nuts as well as families. "They are," as Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum (producers of the Reunion) said, "flat-out cool-looking cars." Scores of the rods of all kinds will be parked in the Grove at Famoso. Plus, the Street Rodder magazine tour is making a stop at the Reunion bringing even more rods. All this is good news to local rod shops such as the Kiwi Konnection in Bakersfield. "The Reunion does bring in more business," said owner Duane Jones, a New Zealand native. "I take a lot of orders during and after the event which are worth $20,000 to $30,000." Jones, who bought the Kiwi Konnection two years ago from his old boss, Squeak Bell, said the street rod business has been picking up lately. "It did drop because of the economy but is starting to gain ground again. And, of course, we export." Jones' shop specializes in 1932-'34 Ford chassis, some of the favorites for street rodders. Since taking over Kiwi Konnection, Duane has built more than 150 chassis and exported half of them. He has also exported more than 1,400 classic cars and hot rods which certainly helps the U.S. economy. Hot rodding began in the late 1930s and immediately after World War II when young men took castoff cars, stripped them down and added junkyard parts from other cars to create vehicles that could outperform some of the best in the world. With their intuitive engineering and form-follows-function sense of style, these ingenious pioneers changed the face of American motorsports and automotive culture. "The American hot rod is an interesting paradox," said Greg Sharp, curator of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and one the nation's foremost authorities on hot rodding and early motorsports. "While there are definite rules regarding what makes a hot rod, the creativity and ingenuity of builders both past and present allow for tremendous variation within those rules. And at the Reunion you can see it all; traditional, smoothies, rat rods." The broadest definition of a hot rod would be a car that has been modified in both appearance and for performance. Most enthusiasts would narrow this definition to include only cars that were originally from 1947 or earlier. Fords from the mid-1930s were and are the most desired base on which to build a hot rod, with 1932 Ford roadsters and coupes the undisputed quintessential hot rods. In fact, so desirable are these body styles that reproductions of these models are now being manufactured in both steel and fiberglass. Over the decades, hot rod fads have come and gone; the all-show-and-no-go show rods of the '60s, the resto-rods of the 1970s, the 1990s fascination with monochromatic versions using lots of billet aluminum parts, and now back to the traditional looking cars that mimic early, classic hot rods. Across the country young builders have even taken this look several steps further and created what some call "rat rods." These are cars that are almost cartoon like in their exaggerated appearance and rudimentary assembly. The builders of these cars have also built a lifestyle around their hobby that features rockabilly-style rock 'n roll, tattoos and clothing modeled on the archetypical "bad boys" of the 1950's.   By Bill Groak

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The 17th annual California National Hot Rod Reunion, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, is coming, October 10-12, 2008 at Auto Club Famoso, just north of Bakersfield, on Interstate 99. The Reunion is a 3-day festival of speed, hot rods and American automotive enthusiasm. It's also the season finale of the inaugural NHRA's Hot Rod Heritage nostalgia drag racing series. Produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, and located in Pomona, the Reunion is part of the museum's "living history" philosophy, which works to bring to life the sights, sounds and people who made history in the early days of drag racing, land speed racing and the golden age of American car culture. Unique among motorsports events, the Reunion honors some of the top names in hot rodding from the past and features a fabulous array of cool drag cars, street rods and customs of the historic and present-day hot rod eras. Daily general admission tickets/pit passes will be available at Auto Club Famoso Raceway gate, (www.famosoraceway.com). Cost per person: Friday, $20; Saturday, $20; Sunday, $15. Children 15 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Auto Club discount is also available at the gate: $2 off Friday and Saturday and, $1 off Sunday. Active military personnel get in free on Sunday. The Reunion features a wide variety of activities and events, including: NHRA vintage drag racing, featuring some the sport's most famous and historic cars and drivers, racing in such classes at Nostalgia Top Fuel, Funny Car, Fuel Altereds, Supercharged Gassers, Classic Super Stock, Hot Rods and others. It's the grand finale of the NHRA's Hot Rod Heritage Series. Hundreds of gleaming pre-1972 hot rods, street rods, custom cars, rat rods, classics and muscle cars. "Memory Lane" will have a display of nostalgic race cars. The Justice Bros. Spotlight Award will fall on drag racer Gas Ronda. California Hot Rod Reunion Reception, held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bakersfield, Friday, October 10, from 7 p.m.- 10 p.m. Open to everyone at no charge, it's a tribute to the Reunion's Grand Marshal, gasser great Junior Thompson, and the other Honorees. The reception offers a chance for fans to meet some of drag racing's heroes. Cacklefest on Saturday evening, where nitro-burning historic, front-engine top-fuel dragsters and other classic race cars are push started just like in the "old days." The Swap meet and Reunion Midway filled with hot rod and automotive related vendors. Something for everyone! Information, including a full activities schedule, entry forms and tickets, is available through the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at http://museum.nhra.com or by sending a post card or note to California Hot Rod Reunion, 1101 McKinley Ave., Bldg, 3A, Pomona, Calif. 91768. Requests can be emailed to themuseum@nhra.com. From Bill Groak

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The California National Hot Rod Reunion, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, returns to Auto Club Famoso (just outside Bakersfield) for the 17th time, Oct. 10-12. While the hot rodding/nostalgia drag racing spectacular offers a cornucopia of things to do, here are 10 family-fun events to consider:

a) Meet drag racing legends such as "TV Tommy" Ivo: Drag racing icons abound at the Reunion. "TV" Tommy Ivo, one of the most likeable and competitive drag racers of all time (he was voted No. 25 on the NHRA's greatest drivers list) will have three of his most famous rides at the Reunion. The lineup includes the four-motor Showboat from 1961 courtesy of America's Automobile Collection; Ron Johnson's Barnstormer tribute car and Tommy's last Top Fuel dragster from 1974. Restored by Bruce Larson, this car gave Tommy the "wild ride" of his life when it went through the traps at Pomona, upside down, backwards and on fire-at 200 mph. Tommy walked away with only one minor scratch.
b) Honoree Reception, Fri., Oct. 10, Doubletree Hotel, Bakersfield, 7 p.m.: Open to the public, this free event is what the California Hot Rod Reunion is all about: honoring hot rod heroes of the past. This year's Honorees are Grand Marshal Junior Thompson, Steve Davis, John Edmunds, Georgia Seipel, Walt Rhoades and Butch Maas. The Justice Brothers' Reunion Spotlight will shine on Gas Ronda.
c) Nostalgia Drag Racing, Fri-Sun, Oct. 10-12: As the final race of the NHRA's inaugural Hot Rod Heritage Series, this looks to be the biggest and most competitive California Hot Rod Reunion when it comes to racing. Showcased on the track will be NHRA vintage drag racing, featuring some the sport's most famous and historic cars and drivers, competing in such classes at Nostalgia Top Fuel, Funny Car, Altereds, Supercharged Gassers, Classic Super Stock, Hot Rods and others, plus and a variety of exhibition entries. More than 200 cars are registered. All the top names in nostalgia racing will be competing, including Adam Sorokin, Denver Schultz, Brett Harris, Jim Murphy, Rick White, Jack "the Sherriff" Harris and Troy Green. Unfortunately, Brad Thompson (Visalia, Calif.), who was leading the series, will not race due to injuries from a crash in Boise, Idaho.
d) Street Rods in the Grove: Some of the coolest cars around, everything from street rods to hot rod to rat rods will be on display in the Grove, ready to check out. Also, the Street Rodder magazine tour is making a stop at the Reunion, bringing dozens more rods to the event.
e) Manufacturers Midway/Swap Meet: Looking for the latest in hot rod gear or hard-to-find part? Check out the Manufacturers Midway where there will be dozens and dozens of vendors offering everything from hot rod art and videos to ladies racing apparel. The Swap Meet is where the memorabilia, magazines and car parts can be found. Word of advice: bring some spending money.
f) Military Appreciation Day: all active service people get in the Reunion free of charge on Sun., Oct. 12. Plus, the Fueled By The Fallen Memorial Race Cars will be on display. Included in the lineup will be their '63 Chevy Nova and their two '66 Novas including the Pro Stocker. Be sure to check them out and pay tribute to our troops.
g) Cacklefest: For Reunion-goers, Cacklefest is the sweetest sight and sound in the world: 40 or more vintage dragsters fire up and "cackle" 400 gallons of nitromethane fuel in less than five minutes. The sound of that exploding nitro will be music to the ears of thousands of fans at fabled Auto Club Famoso Raceway when 40 or more early-style front-engine dragsters will be push-started like they were in the 1950s and '60s and then lined-up down the center of the drag strip at Famoso with the headers glowing and the motors 'cackling.'
h) Historic dragsters on display: Scattered all over Auto Club Famoso will be famous racer cars from the 1960s-'70s such as the Rat Trap, More Aggravation, Tennessee Bo Weevil, Gang Green, the Bankamericar and the Mastercar, to name but a few.
i) The Dynamic Legends Honoree and VIP site: Sponsored by Dynamat, the special new area (located in the Grove under the Auto Club sign and next to the Justice Brothers Car Care Products display), is where fans will be able to find many of the past and present Honorees. Swing by, say hello and maybe get a souvenir signed.
j) Mingle with international racers and fans: When Reunion officials say it "brings the world to Bakersfield," they are not fooling. Racers, fans and media from Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Canada will descend upon Auto Club Famoso Raceway, bringing millions of tourism dollars and good cheer.
Received from Bill Groak

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Links to other land speed and hotrodding websites:
www.landspeedproductions.biz, http://www.landracing.com, www.speedrecordclub.com,
http://www.ahrf.com/video.php, www.hotrodhotline.com,
www.landspeedracing.com, www.Autobooks-Aerobooks.com

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Members:

Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Mike Bastian, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, Burly Burlile, 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, Eric Loe, Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre, Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy, Landspeed 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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