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SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS
NEWSLETTER 147 - January 21, 2010
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:
 President's Corner, Editorials, Dick Wells passed away tonight Monday January 18 2010 at about 10:30pm, The official American West Coast launch of the Haynes Publishing 224 page book Crazy Horses - the history of British drag racing will be on February 12, I'm glad you liked my site -Here is a little more background about me and my site, Thank you very much Richard I agree with you but for European people every thing that comes from USA is fantastic in music and also in motor racing, My good friend and mentor Bud Meyer built a screaming V-8 60 Ardun in 1952 for Sterling Edwards sports car that I was fortunate enough to ride in, California AB 619 This is an "amnesty" bill If you have violated the law when registering your vehicle you may apply to the DMV for amnesty against prosecution, The Rosco McGlashan/Aussie Invader Land Speed Record News Update, Racing Clubs: Historians listed for each club, Dangerous tires sent in by Marilyn Lachman, The following video was sent to us by Betty Packard who received it from Ed Justice Junior, Re Newsletter #142 December 17 2009 You asked "what happened to Jeff Foulk's Cougar?", Hello Gear Grinders! As we all know the Gear Grinders Banquet is coming up on February 20, I haven't received any newsletters for quite awhile now I guess you have backed off I enjoyed the info and miss them, 1935 Chevrolet movie theater commercial, Here are several extra events planned for the B'ville NW Banquet February 13th, The Gear Grinders Annual Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday February 20, The hot rod/custom and racing history of Norway is on my to-do list, Thanks for the non-closing clarification about the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Gone Racin'… Those Wild Fuel Altered Drag Racing in the Sixties by Don Montgomery, Gone Racin'… The Story of Thrust SSC the World's first Supersonic Car by Dave Morris

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President's Corner:  
I get calls all the time from folks wanting some information on an old car or info on a relative that use to run at the lakes. Sometimes it's, "my uncle who helped a guy back in '41 and the car was a roadster or he went 106.8 mph." This kind of stuff is tough. About five years ago I started a comprehensive listing of lakes runners. It's a list of dates, who ran, car numbers, club affiliation etc. This stuff has come from programs, results, magazine and newspaper clips, books or anything that's been published on land speed racing. Naturally there are a lot of holes because nobody kept very good records. Sometimes an old program will have a speed in it. Another program from the same race will have a different speed for the same guy. Most of the time you will get nothing. There are a few programs that have just a car number and a speed. As luck would have it lots of times the car number was a post entry. What makes it even harder is in some years the number was issued at the track and the same guy would run different numbers in the same year. It is all very confusing.
   After the war the programs were better sometimes. It would list entries but as usual there were guys that showed up the day of the race so they weren't listed. Then you would have to go to the results for the event if you had them and find the guys that weren't in the program. It got to a point that so many guys were running that they just started listing the top ten or so in class. Another problem I've run across just like today is that guys would make multiple runs at the same meet and in the end only the fastest was recorded. I've been lucky to run across some of the early timing slips that got taped on the cars. They had the runs speeds written down on them. One I found had nine runs by the same car at the same meet and none of it listed in the program. All in all it just takes a lot of time. When there is enough filled holes I'll publish it so future historians will be able use them. Right now it runs from 1923 to the middle sixties. Some years only have one page, other years have up to twenty. Not to fear for the races since the 1960's for we have most of the official results nice and neat by date in binders.
   The ones that are causing trouble are mostly the non-S.C.T.A. stuff from before the war up till when Russetta merged with the S.C.T.A. A few months ago I ran down the former president of the Bell Timing Association and he doesn't have anything from then so if you multiply that for all the other timing groups that ran I guess you could say, "Houston, we've got a problem." We're always on the lookout for the missing stuff. We don't want to keep it all; what we want to do is borrow it to copy so we can fill in the holes. Below is just a few lines from seventeen pages from the year 1941. As you will note there is a lot of info that needs to be found 1941 (S.C.T.A. meets, 6-15, 7/20, 8/24, 9/28, WTA meets, 5/4, 5/25, 7/13, 9/14, 10/19, Revs Meet, 6/29)

Alan Hall

Sidewinders

#244

June 15

98.68

Roadster Stock V8

 

 

#234

July 20

 

Roadster Ford V8

 

 

#234

Aug 24

 

Roadster Ford V8

 

 

#234

Sept 28

104.04

Roadster Ford V8

Bill Hall

Centuries

#311

July 20

 

Roadster Ford 4

 

 

#311

Aug 24

 

Roadster Ford 4

 

 

#311

Sept 28

96.87

Roadster Ford 4

Howard Hamburger

Lancers

#295

June 15

 

Roadster Stock Buick 8

Bill Hanggie

Idler

#120

June 15

 

Roadster Cragar

 

 

#120

July 20

103.93

Roadster Cragar Ford 4

 

 

#120

Aug 24

 

Roadster Ford

Leonard Harbison

Road Runners

#37

June 15

 

Roadster Winfield

Paul Harestad

Albata

#21

June 15

 

Modified Olds 3-Port

 

 

#21

Sept 28

 

Modified Chevy 4

JulySeptember-'57-Rusetta

Caption-
Here are the covers of two Russetta programs lent to us by S.C.T.A. Racing News Editor Ed Safarik to help fill in your racing heritage. Do you have any that could help us? From Ed Safarik and Jim Miller

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Editorial:   
As you will see in today's newsletter, we are fortunate to have a series of emails from Jean-Pierre Potier on European racing. He and I wrote back and formed a dialog. We don't have a great wealth of land speed history on the SLSRH, mainly due to the fact that much of their LSR racing was done a century ago and records get lost or misplaced in such a great time span. Also, it seems like the Europeans preferred road course racing and that evolved into Formula racing as we know it today. The Europeans are also proficient and interested in motorcycle racing and their short track Speedway bike racing is extremely popular. Different countries and cultures develop their own styles of racing, but where we can we look for land speed racing around the globe, wherever it exists. Endurance racing is a distant cousin of LSR, and many land speed racers also reveled in doing enduro racing as well. Both sports are intended to pit man and machine against the clock in attempts to set records.
On a sadder note is the death of Richard "Dick" Wells. I've written on Dick before and published a story on his life, a bio that is way too short. It's not as if Dick is a forgotten man or that he outlived his generation, for he was still active and vibrant in auto racing. The truth is that Dick was a man who fit in too well with everyone and did things so smoothly that he never received the recognition that went to more volatile and outrageous types of personalities. There are the John Force's of the world and then there are the Dick Wells' who accomplish much, but draw little attention. We need both sorts of people in our world. Dick did things so effortlessly and with skill and tact. Few would have guessed at the success that he would achieve if they looked at his background as a teenager. In fact, Dick was the proverbial example of "being in the right place at the right time." As a young man he left his native Nebraska and went to California with a buddy to see some of the activities that he could only read about in Hot Rod magazine and other publications. He stopped off at the NHRA offices and in the early 1960's anyone could just walk in and talk to anyone, it was that open. They gave him a job to edit the National Dragster and later he would edit Hot Rod magazine and go on to run SEMA. He had no formal education or training, he was just a hot rodder and in those early days that was all that was needed; a burning desire to try.
He earned numerous accolades and honors. He was instrumental in helping to found groups and organizations that supported car racing, especially drags, and other public relation bodies. He was a man you could confide in and who would give you an honest answer. He was friends with the rich and powerful in the sport of auto racing. He sat on many board of directors and his counsel was listened to and respected. Dick never married and had no children. His family was all the racers and organizations that he helped to found or to work for. He was a friend to all and he made everyone feel welcome and important. My family always respected the way Dick helped us and supported us. We could always rely on him to be there if we had a problem or a question. He simply was indispensible. Yet it was never about him or his needs. He never made a scene or put the emphasis on his life or his problems. Dick joined my political newsletter and shared his views with us and they were always about the logical needs of the group and what was right or wrong. He was conservative in his philosophies, prudent in his finances and Liberal in his treatment of others. As his health deteriorated we heard from him less and less and deeply felt the loss of his views and feelings. You will often hear of the decisions of better known personalities, but you would be amazed if you knew that they often relied on Dick Wells for advice. He was a friend and business associate of my father, Wally Parks, for the better part of four and a half decades. In fact he was more like a son to my dad. I watched Dick Wells for all those nearly five decades and saw what a dedicated and loyal man he was and I will miss him. When things don't work as smoothly as they once did, you too will ponder and wonder why. I know why. Dick Wells is no longer with us. A giant of a man is gone.

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Some of you may already know about Dick Wells but I thought I would forward Dallas' email to me in case you haven't heard. I contacted Mari Palash by phone. I'll miss Dick a lot as we have had great mental gymnastics together and now who will send me all the great "Jewish" jokes. I'm sure he is now "up there" with Wally editing an article or book that Wally is writing or arguing with Barbara over something. Have fun you guys! Marilyn Lachman
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Dick Wells passed away tonight, Monday, January 18, 2010, at about 10:30pm. He fought a great fight, but in the end he just had too many complications to overcome. We were with him along with Ivan, Ron and Bobbi Evans (Dick's 2nd cousin). He was peaceful and in no pain when he passed. Ivan will know more about what comes next in a day or two. Please pass this email on to others I have missed. Dick was a great part of NHRA, and a friend to all. We will miss him. I don't have Steve Gibbs or Eileen Daniels email address. Leila, will you please forward this to them. Thanks, Dallas Gardner

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The official American West Coast launch of the Haynes Publishing 224 page book Crazy Horses - the history of British drag racing, will be held at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, 1101 West McKinley Avenue, Pomona. The launch is at between five and six pm on Friday 12th February, during the Museum's Night of Champions presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California and in conjunction with the 50th Annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals taking place over February 11-14, 2009 at Pomona. Europe's first five second runner Peter Crane (the first outside the USA; put down in 1976) is joining author Brian Taylor at the signings, with others featured in the book being announced during the next few weeks.

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I'm glad you liked my site. Here is a little more background about me and my site. First of all, I have to tell you that I'm way too young to have experienced anything in the golden days of salt flat racing and backyard kustomizing. I'm also living thousands a mile away! I'm 27 years old (young), and I live in Oslo, Norway! I have always been into old American cars and the 1940-50's culture. My first car was a 1955 Cadillac Coupe DeVille that I restyled on an 18 year old kid's budget (http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Sondre_Kvipt%27s_1955_Cadillac)! I guess that was what light my passion for hot rods and Kustoms. Fast forward to 2010, the Cadillac is long gone, and replaced by some other cars. I currently have a 1934 Ford Four door turned into a pick up that I have given a 1940's shop truck treatment (Link: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Sondre_Kvipt%27s_1934_Ford), a Tucker '48 Movie Replica that we are working on turning into a late 1940s Kustom: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superfleye/sets/72157612708516731/, and I have recently bought a 1949 Chevrolet Club Coupe that was restyled by Barris Kustoms in the mid '50's: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Tom_Carroll%27s_1949_Chevrolet. The Chevy by the way was owned by a gentleman from Culver City named Tom Carroll, if anyone knew or know Tom Carroll I would love to find out more about him and his car! The car is mildly customized, and I haven't been able to find any info on it in any small magazines yet.
OK, that was a little bit about my automotive background. I combined this passion with my web development and design skills and launched the Kustomrama Wikipedia Project in October 2007. It started out as a fun thing to do, and evolved into something huge and time consuming. I guess if I knew what I began back then I probably never would have started. It is a true pleasure to build and enrich it, but sometimes I get very scared about what a huge project I have dived into. My goal with the site is to document the traditional rod and Kustom history and all the people, cars, places, shops etc that are involved with this culture. There are many great books and magazines coming out on the subject, but when a book is published it is final. You can't go back and edit it as new facts, and forgotten cars suddenly pop up! A wiki on the other hand is dynamic, and everyone can go in and edit the story. So far we are a handful of people working on enriching the site. But others are slowly starting to chip in, and our job becomes also then to check that the fact who is added has valid sources! OK, that was a short but long version. Thanks again for coming back to me! Regards, Sondre Kvipt
Sondre: Jim Miller and I founded the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians (SLSRH) group just for people like you. We realized that many of us were avid professional and amateur historians who often duplicated the work that others did and we thought that if we could get historians and fans together to share what we are doing, and then we could help everyone with their projects as they in turn helped others with their project. We do this for the love of the history of straight-line racing and hot rodding. My father was a hot rodder back in the 1920's and so we've been involved in this life for almost a century. It becomes addictive, this pursuit of going faster, challenging time itself and making cars more efficient and productive than what the automakers designed them for. My purpose was to find out more about you and then to make sure our members get to know you and your site. It makes no difference where a hot rodder comes from or his/her nationality or gender. We are tinkerers and builders and that builds bridges among people.
Not too long ago I interviewed a dozen Norwegians who visited the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum Twilight Cruise and what a delightful group they were. Sometimes we Americans get rather jaded since we are so blessed with the rich car racing traditions in our country. But I would ask you to also research the history and heritage of hot rodding, customizing and car racing in your country as well, for if you don't do it, who will. I just finished a book review on Brian Taylor's book, Crazy Horses, about the history of drag racing in England. Taylor's book will fill a void and we need other people in Europe and throughout the world who will do the same thing that he did. I don't know much about Norway's hotrodding and racing history. Therefore, as the editor of the SLSRH my concern is that we find someone who will do the research and make it available. Jim and I also believe that it's fine if people from other countries would like to do research on American racing and hot rodding; in a way we are flattered that people think so well of us. Even though our group of some 700 members have real jobs and dabble in history as a sideline, we do take ourselves seriously. We are always striving to become more professional and adopt ways to preserve artifacts and memorabilia. You and your friends are adding to that growing repository of knowledge, therefore I want you to sign up for membership in the SLSRH and ask your friends to do the same. It's free and it's easy.
You can contribute or just read the newsletters, but we try and encourage all our members to write their biography, or start on it, and caption all their photographs. An uncaptioned photograph is a nearly worthless one. Then when you have done that, find a hot rodder or racer in Norway and get his bio and help him caption his photos. Your site is similar to a few others, but I really like it. I thought for years that I would write an "Encyclopedia of American Auto Racing," but gave up on the idea when I realized that the project would come to total some half a million people and millions of terms, dates, events, race tracks and cars. With the computer it's a doable project, if there are a handful of dedicated people willing to take on the task. It appears that you are willing, but simply do not have the resources and that is where the SLSRH, HAMB, Bonneville Racing News, SCTA Racing News and other sources come in. We will help you with sources. George Barris is still very active and I expect to see him at the Grand National Roadster Show in a few weeks. I will ask Jim Miller if he knows Tom Carroll from Culver City or someone who worked and knew Carroll. When you want to find someone, write in and ask and we will post your email. Now its your turn; tell us more about your hot rodding history in Norway, your friends and their names, what they are doing and what your plans are to increase your website capacity. It sounds like you are on your way to creating a very special group and we want your group to be a part of our group.

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Thank you very much Richard, I agree with you. But, for European people every thing that comes from USA is fantastic; in music, and also in motor racing. When I was a little boy and still now it's always a dream to imagine, Indianapolis, jet cars, dragsters and speed week at Bonneville. It's a legend that will never stop. That's why, I am so happy to be able to send a message to Mrs Paula Murphy, and speak about her racing career. If you need some information about history of motor racing in France, please contact: Emmanuel Piat, Commission Historique Automobile Club de France, Place de la Concorde, Paris. Email: e.piat@sgacf.com. Best wishes, Jean-Pierre Potier
Jean-Pierre: Place www.landspeedracing.com on your list of favorites and check it periodically to see what we have found out about our American past. We are not quite as responsible as we should be in saving what we have found out. In some regards I have to contest the view of many Europeans and some from Asia, such as Japan and China. Yes, a good deal of the car culture was originally American, but we borrowed from Europe a great deal and much of what we gave back came because of two disastrous world wars that devastated the continent. There is usually a free flow of ideas that is the cause for inventions and progress. Jim Miller and I spend most of our time looking into the 1940's history of land speed racing, because we will probably never have a greater decade of progress and destruction as occurred then. But we realize that land speed racing started in Europe and came to the United States only because the speeds had gotten so great that the Europeans needed longer and better racing venues. I just spoke to Paula on the phone and she said to Google her name and you will come up with this website; http://www.americanjetcars.com/pmurphy/paula14.htm. This site has a large selection of Jet car racers, including Paula Murphy.
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About the land speed record, there is a site: www.fr.wikipedia.org (record de vitesse terrestre). The first record had been realized 18 décembre 1898, à Achères by Gaston de Chasseloup Laubat, 39.24 miles/heure with an electric car. Thank you very much also for the two Email address. I will use it. Next week at Paris there is the show Rétromobile about every thing about history of cars and people around it. I am very sorry that my English is not good, because it's very interesting to speak about the history of speed record in our countries. And, maybe the first race happened when a second car has been built. With all my best wishes. Jean-Pierre Potier
Jean-Pierre: Your English is fine, even the French is understandable and I would have to say that our French is non-existent so you have nothing to be sorry about. I didn't realize that the first record was in an electric car. Jim Miller probably told me that, but I didn't pay attention. While the internal combustion engine made great headway from the 1880's on, it was the electrics and steam cars that often won road, endurance and land speed races. We hope to be able to attract more European members and learn a little something about straight-line racing and even road endurance course racing prior to Segrave and Campbell coming to Daytona Beach to start the European Era on American soil. We would like to know as much as we can about the European racing sites, the teams and the rivalry between the various Europeans. I've always wondered why the Germans and the Italians in the 1930's didn't put more governmental money and effort into setting the land and water speed records, since their state propaganda machines used these kinds of events for public relations. The English always seemed to have a great deal of government support, but as we are finding out, their leaders did it very quietly, without fanfare. Richard Noble did not hide the fact that DERA gave him a great deal of support, but reporters had to really do their research to find out how much the military was involved. As for the French, they made such great strides in all the sciences from before Napoleon to around WWI and then they seemed to fade into the background. Land speed racing began on French and Belgian soil and it is confusing to historians why it didn't remain a major interest of the French. The FIA/MIA is still located in Paris, so obviously the French are committed to auto racing and its history.
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I read the very good tribute you wrote to Chuck Daigh. He was a fantastic driver and important person in motor racing. With The Revival Group at Goodwood, English people managed to celebrate the legend of motor racing and also the victory of battle of Britain in 1940. It's possible in England, because all the generations keep their heroes in memory, and each time they enjoy to share a great tribute to them. In France it's more difficult. The memory is short, even if we have a great part in motor racing history. Maurice Trintignant told me that, never a French government gave him any help, even Général de Gaulle. At the same time in Argentina, Peron gave money to Fangio to get the best car to be able to win in Formula 1. Président Lopez Mataos did the same for the Rodriguez Brothers. They where my héroes, and in 2007, I went to visit Conchita Rodriguez, the sister for a tribute to her two brothers who were both killed in race. I am sending to you a picture of Bernd Rosemeyer who died 28 January 1938, in a tentative speed land record for Auto-Union. See: www.audipassion.com. The success of Mercedès and Auto-Union before the war was used as propaganda by the Germans. I also remember the Etoile Filante, Shooting Star of Renault who made training tests at Bonneville on September 5, 1956. www.renault.com/frrenault_etoile_filante.php. Afterwards we have some endurance records, at Montlhéry with Citroën, Matford, Yacco Oil, of world records, Simca. Before the last war, and in the years after 1950, most of the manufacturers made endurance records. If it's an interest for you, I will look for more information about it. Well, I enjoy speaking with you about this history of land records. Jean-Pierre Potier
Jean-Pierre: I struggled with the websites listed, since they were in French. Most of the world is bi-lingual, but the English speaking countries are stubbornly resistant to learning a second language. Bernd Rosemeyer is well documented on the web and I found numerous sources for him by Googling. For some reason, we Americans focus on Rosemeyer and I am not quite sure why. It could be that at that moment in time the German government seemed to be intent on pushing German science and technology to the forefront of the world. Maybe it was his name or the feeling that this was going to be the zenith of land speed record breaking feats. Then the accident happened that took Bernd's life and for all practical purposes the Germans simply abandoned land speed racing. Or perhaps they decided that their resources would be put to better use in their aircraft designing. None the less, the world has never forgotten Bernd Rosemeyer and his potential, which never materialized. I found a few references to Adolfo Lopez Mateos, President of Argentina from 1958-64, but little about his support of auto racing.
Maurice Trintignant is well documented on the internet with some good photographs, as is Juan Fangio and Juan Peron, the populist Argentine President. I couldn't find much about the Rodriguez brothers, were their first names Pedro and Ricardo? There was a tantalizing tribute to the Renault Etoile Filante turbine land speed record setting car that ran at Bonneville in 1956. I would like to know more about this car and if you have any personal recollection of seeing the car on display. According to the photograph, it was aerodynamically designed and averaged a 192.5 mph two way average. I will have to ask Jim Miller if turbine records are still being kept or if any other turbine cars are going to try and break this record. Anything that you can add to our knowledge of straight-line racing would be much appreciated. As to why the French stopped competing in land, water and air record attempts or why their government soured on helping individuals, that is a fascinating question, for at one time, more in the 18th and 19th centuries, the French and English contested every attempt of the other in the sciences and in exploration of the world. Please don't hesitate to write in and tell us more about the French attempts at straight-line racing.

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Here are some copies of advertising which Yacco did about land records. About the Women's Team for Matford in 1937: Helle Nice, Mme Descollas, Odette Siko and Simone des Forest. I knew Simone very well. I remember her fantastic tales of this event. It was a great rivalry between all the women and teams. Jean-Pierre Potier
Jean-Pierre: What success did the Ford/Mathis Matford automobile achieve in the pre-WWII Era? There were numerous references to Helle Nice, aka Helen Delangle on the web and great photographs. Odette Siko and Simone des Forest were also well documented, but I'm not sure whether Mme Descollas first name was Claire or Marguerite. Did any of them participate in land speed record attempts or were they all in endurance, road course and formula racing. It seems the French and most Europeans are more interested in pitting their machines against difficult road courses than the oval track racing preferred in America. Tell us what you know about Simone Des Forest and the Matford races of 1937

Yacco 2
Yacco 3
Yacco 4
100-anniversaire-naissance-bernd-rosemeyer-003

Captions:
Yacco poster. World record endurance racing. From Jean-Pierre Potier.

Captions:
Montlhery Autodrome poster.  From Jean-Pierre Potier.

Captions:
Yacco poster of Rosalie.  From Jean-Pierre Potier.

Captions:
I am sending to you a picture of Bernt Rosemeyer who died 28 January 1938, in a tentative speed land record for Auto-Union. The success of Mercedès and Auto-Union before the war was used as a propaganda by the Germans. Jean-Pierre Potier

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My good friend and mentor, Bud Meyer, built a screaming V-8 60 Ardun in 1952 for Sterling Edwards sports car that I was fortunate enough to ride in on its first test drive up to and around the hills of Hollywood. At 91 he was instrumental in building this Simca copy of the Ardun. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sn1uS2iCJE. Vic Enyart

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California AB 619. This is an "amnesty" bill. If you have violated the law when registering your vehicle you may apply to the DMV for amnesty against prosecution, pay all fees, fines and penalties. However, your vehicles are now subject to various inspections which may open a "Pandora's Box," especially on Specially Constructed Vehicles like fiberglass bodied cars. This bill will only be in effect for the year of 2010 only. The Attorney Generals office will then start investigating vehicles they suspect are registered incorrectly in 2011. They will go after big buck offenders, and pass on low buck offenders to local DA's. The breakpoint will probably be $1000 or more unpaid to state. When I spoke to AAG Morgester he told me they had made deals with other states to access their data bases and will be going after big buck motor-homes registered out of state to avoid California taxes and fees first and work their way on down the food chain. You can go to the state website, go to legislation, enter ab-619 and read it for self. Dyno Don

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The Rosco McGlashan/Aussie Invader Land Speed Record News Update. http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/speed-demon/1054385446, and www.aussieinvader.com. Editor's notes: The full context of the email that Rosco sent is on-line. I have trouble printing what he sends because it is in a different format that my system.

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Racing Clubs: Historians listed for each club
Eliminators................................................................none
Gear Grinders...........................................................Glen Barrett
Gold Coast Roadster and Racing Club.......................none
Gophers....................................................................Michael Brennan
Hi Desert Racers.......................................................none
Idlers........................................................................Michael Brennan
Lakers......................................................................none
LSR.........................................................................Mike Cook Jr
Milers.......................................................................none
Road Runners...........................................................Jerry Cornelison
Rod Riders...............................................................none
San Diego Roadster Club..........................................none
Sidewinders..............................................................Ron Main
Super Fours..............................................................Roy Creel
Throttlers..................................................................Michael Brennan

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Dangerous tires, sent in by Marilyn Lachman. How old are the tires on your car? The video is well worth watching. Please watch until the end, because some of the most important stuff you need to hear, and see, is past the middle of the segment. It could save your life or that of someone you love. Pass it on after you've seen it. It's something I'd never heard of before, but should have, as it's only common sense. Everything has a life expectancy. So why not tires? See: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897.
Marilyn: We've seen this video before, talked about it and then forgotten everything that we heard. This is one of those times when we really do get complacent and trust the judgment of tire professionals. If the tires look new then we just accept that, but in fact the tires age and under high speed the rubber of the old, but new looking, tires begin to separate. Often that leads to horrible crashes and fatalities. Our little children trust in us to take care of them and this is one area that we can do that, if we take the time and effort to look at the date marks. Look at your tire for 3 or more numbers and they will be the very last numbers of the serial number. If it has 3 numbers then it was made in the 1990's. Any tire that is more than 6 years old should be changed and gotten rid of. Here's how to read the code. The number 161 indicates that the tire was made in the 16th week of 1991. The number 057 states that the tire was made in the 5th week of 1997. 2402 means that the tire was made in the 24th week of 2002. Any tires that you buy should be no older than 2008 if you expect to drive your car on those tires for at least three years. So look for any number, but ending in --08, --09, or --10.

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The following video was sent to us by Betty Packard, who received it from Ed Justice Junior. It shows a segment of the old TV show, I've Got a Secret. The secret guests were AJ Foyt and Ray Harroun. AJ won the 1961 race and Harroun won the inaugural race in 1911. It has been almost 50 years since the TV show aired and it gives us a glimpse of nearly a century of auto racing. Let's keep digging and find more such clips, including those involved with LSR. Notice how Ray Harroun describes wild drivers on the highways as "hot rodders." We have never quite been able to live down the infamy of this derogatory name. See http://www.edjusticejr.com/weblog/.
As for TV shows, my brother is interested in getting a copy of any shows that our father, Wally Parks, was in. I remember him in a segment of The Life of Riley, with William Bendix and The Ozzie and Harriet Nelson Show. My brother David mentioned a third TV show, which the name escapes me at the moment. If you see these shows, please let me know.

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Re Newsletter #142 December 17, 2009; You asked, "what happened to Jeff Foulk's Cougar?" The answer is that after being sold to a guy from Utah, it eventually wound its way through the old car recycling mill, until re-surfacing in the possession of Don Sedo, of Anola, Manitoba, Canada. Although I have not heard from him in about a year the last news was that he is in the process of restoring it. From the conversations I have had with him and the pictures he has sent me, the car seems to be amazingly intact, with almost all of the original pieces still attached. The roll cage had been cut off; I suspect someone might have been dune-buggying. Everything else appears to be in original form. Don has had the roll cage replaced using my photos as the guide. Meanwhile, after he had acquired the car and tracked me down, I have provided him with a lot of history and background information about the car. In addition, I sold him the original 289/348 engine, which I had kept in my possession all these years. By original, I mean literally original! The motor has been freshened up, but the block, crank, rods and pistons are the same actual parts that I raced in that car all those years ago! I can certify that fact, as the parts have never left my possession, except for the year that I loaned it to Charlie Gilmore to use in his dragster. After he sold his car, it was stored in my brother's basement until Don bought it and arranged to pick it up. The block is one of 2 that we had.
The other block cracked a cylinder wall and after being sleeved, had a complete cylinder wall failure, during a race at Capitol Raceway in 1970. The crank, 8 rods and 6 pistons are the same ones I originally bought from Crankshaft Company and started out running in my Mustang stock-bodied FC in 1966. It was transplanted into the Cougar in '67, when we built the tube chassis flip top car. I would believe that when completed, my old car will be the most completely original car in existence. I mean, how many restorations are going to be able to have the actual original motor? Sounds hard to believe I know, but it is true. If this was a court case I could provide testimony from my machinist and other sources to prove this is true. This longevity can be attributed to attentive maintenance, necessity and luck. I ran with very little financing and never had more than one motor. It was not because I babied it either. Charlie Gilmore, my crew chief, said I floated the valves in low gear, every run. You don't run 8.35et at 156.96 mph with a small block, by going easy on the tune-up. I posted a response to Charlie Gilmore's recollections, late in '09, which I hope will be posted on the site soon. Any other questions, just ask me, or Charlie. We old guys love to talk about "the day." I am pretty proud of what we accomplished, not to mention what we were working with. Jeff Foulk
Jeff: The first thing that I should mention is that you don't have to prove anything in a court of law, but you should document and re-document every aspect of the car and the parts, because at some point there will be questions. History is always re-examining the events of the past. The second thing that I have to add is that the SLSRH does not have an index and it is all that I can do to just put out a new edition every week, so I don't remember if I received and published your response to Charlie. You would need to go to the archives at www.landspeedracing.com and search back until you came to Charlie's article. If your response is not there then I didn't get it. My computer server changed operating programs and I can't get into my computer to pull out any emails that were received under the old operating format. Everything that I receive is published in the following Wednesday's newsletter. Nothing is ever older than one week. So I either published your response or I didn't get it and my suggestion is to go back and re-read the previous newsletters, starting with issue #146 and continuing until you reach Charlie's original letter to the SLSRH. I apologize for being unable to do this job for you, but this is a voluntary hobby for me and I can barely keep up with each week's newsletter. It just overwhelms me at times. Our normal area of interest is all land speed racing, hot rodding and drag racing up through 1959, what we call the "pioneer days of drag racing." But most of us just can't impose such a classification, because your era is equally as fascinating. The reason you won't find more articles on post-1959 is that to do so would expand the newsletter ten-fold and swamp us. So we let the more modern drag racing go to other websites, such as the Standard 1320 Club, discuss these issues. But anything concerning straight-line drag racing will be run in the SLSRH if it is sent to me. I am looking for a volunteer who will compile a record of all pre-1959 drag strips through-out the northern hemisphere, that is, the United States and Canada. It is these drag strips that we want to research and save the history of and once that is done, then we need to take on the drag strips and racers post-1960 and save their records.

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Hello Gear Grinders! As we all know, the Gear Grinders Banquet is coming up on February 20, 2010. We are in need of door prizes for the raffle. As a member of the banquet committee, I am looking for anyone who is able and willing to contribute. Andrea Hoffman
   Andrea: I will spread the word and see if we can help out. The GG Banquet is always a fun event and they keep costs to a minimum and yet have a lot of fun and do a great deal of good for land speed racing.

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I haven't received any newsletters for quite awhile now, I guess you have backed off, I enjoyed the info and miss them. Thanks, Vince Burgos (SAN JOSE ROADSTERS)
Vince: The Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter is alive and well and I haven't missed a Wednesday edition since Jim Miller and I started the newsletter almost 3 years ago. What's happened is that the newsletter got so large, almost 10,000 words on average, that spam filters kicked in and stopped people from getting the newsletter as an email. You wouldn't know that unless your computer is set up with a signal that says, "You are getting spam mail from Richard Parks." I try and keep my spam filter turned off, but I think that it goes on automatically under certain conditions and it is quite irritating for my server to tell me what I can and can't receive. The website operator/owners, Jack and Mary Ann Lawford devised a system where they send out a notice saying, "Newsletter #so and so is now available at www.landspeedracing.com." What you have to do is add that email address to your "LINKS or FAVORITES," and go there once a week to check out the news. If you haven't read the newsletter for awhile then you have missed some very interesting research. Also, we haven't heard from you or got your history because you aren't going to the website. I would have liked to have continued to send out newsletters by email to everyone, but when the internet servers start putting us on their spam filter program, we don't have any choice any longer.

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1935 Chevrolet movie theater commercial. It shows how some things were done in the mid-30's and different parts of the United States. See:
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/articles/templates/video.xhtml?utm_sour ce=cruiser+email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=ecrmart3&utm_campaign=dec+c ruiser+email&articleId=46283. Ron Main

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For registration information, access: http://bonnevillenwreunion.com/. Here are several extra events planned for the B'ville NW Banquet, February 13th. On Friday night, 7:00PM at the Portland Airport Shilo Inn, Ed Shadle will present an electronic program about the building and development of the North America Eagle, their converted F-104 fighter adapted to retrieve the all time Land Speed Record from Thrust II. There is no charge to attend this event. Steve's Auto Restoration has granted us a 2 hour tour of their facility; 4440 SE 174th Avenue, Portland, Oregon, 503-665-2222, http://www.stevesautorestorations.com. Since the shop is not open on Saturday anyone attending must be there
before 10 AM. The door will open at 9:50 AM and close at 10AM. If you are not there during that time you will not get in. Rules are rules. It's well worth the effort to see this shop that produces award winning vehicles from the ground up. (Check that web site.) They did the tail section
panels for Marlo Treit's streamliner. The Evergreen Air Museum, http://sprucegoose.com/, and http://sprucegoose.com/visit/directions.html. In the past several years, the IMAX Theater has been built and also another building, the same size as the home for the Spruce Goose, has been
built. It holds their missile display. The SR 71 has been moved into that facility. Even if you have been there previously, it is worth another
trip. Use "500 NE Cumulus Avenue' for street address when using a GPS Device.
A longer trip, but just as exciting, is the Museum of Flight in Seattle; http://www.museumofflight.org/. The Museum of Flight is located South of downtown Seattle, at the south end of Boeing Field / King County Airport; Exit 158 off Interstate 5. It is 165 miles from the hotel. All of it is I-5 freeway and the drive time is 2 ½ hours. They have an A-12, the first model of the SR-71 and a Concord commercial airplane. A main section is the actual wood building in which Boeing first built airplanes. It was transported up the river on a barge to be relocated as the primary building of the Museum of Flight. The actual tables on which the wooden framed planes were built are in included with original tools in place.
Brett Kepner, the featured speaker has covered motor racing events on TV for a long time but he will never accept an assignment to cover Speed Week. If he did, he would have a job and not a vacation. I am waiting to see what he has to say and I assure you that every lady in attendance will enjoy it. Questions; contact me at fotofreud@aol.com, or call 425-337-4558. Glenn Freudenberger

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The Gear Grinders Annual Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday, February 20, 2010, in Stanton, California. Please RSVP by February 5, for catering purposes. We hope to see you there. Amanda Taylor

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The hot rod/custom and racing history of Norway is on my to-do list. Our racing heritage goes a long way back in time with ice racing and dirt track racing. There is published at least some books on this subject. Hot rodding and customizing on the other hand don't have a well documented and rich history up in our mountains. Due to little interest and few cars we have never had a rod and custom orientated magazine in Norway. I have found some "early" custom cars from the 1960's that I have started to document on Kustomrama. This is one of those: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Per_Ivar_Kolgrov%27s_1948_Mercury. As you can see, they were not all that successful; they even make many east coast customs looks elegant and stylish. The traditional hot rod and Kustom culture in Norway has been blooming in recent years, and we now have at least 3 different traditional hot rod and Kustom shows each year. There is the Coupe Devils Rod & Kustom Bonanza, the Atna Early Hot Rod and Kustom Rumble: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Atna_Early_Hot_Rod_%26_Kustom_Rumble, and the dirt track and ice race at the old Kala Speedway: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superfleye/sets/72157622489010730/.
Myself and two friends founded the Coupe Devils Car Club in 2001. Back then there were only one other visible club around that were fiddling with traditional styled hot rods and Kustom cars, this other club was called the Satelloides. Fast forward to 2010 we are 10 members, and we have a bunch of cars. We are all good friends, and in order to become a member you first have to be a part of the group, then you have to have a rod or Kustom done the "right" way. As I said the interest for traditional hot rods and Kustoms in Norway has been growing in recent years. It seems like most people are building hot rods in a 1930's and 1940's style. There is a lot of Model A's with patina, a rake, maybe fenderless, and with a hopped up flathead. Unfortunately most of these people are fiddling around in the woods with their cars, and you don't see them much around. Due to that, most of the Coupe Devils are crossing the border to Sweden almost each weekend during the summer season where the hobby and interest is much bigger. Thanks for helping me with sources, I really appreciate that. Also good luck talking to George Barris and Jim Miller, I would love to know more about Tom and his '49 Chevy! Thanks a lot. Sondre Kvipt
Sondre: Every letter and every bit of information that you tell us about hot rodding and racing in Norway fills in a blank page for us. Now go further and try and complete the following. Tell us the following facts for the record;
a) Name of the Coupe Devils members, when they joined and what kind of car they have.
b) Any land speed or drag racing in Norway and if there are drag strips in Norway.
c) Is there any additional information on the Satelloides Car club? When were they founded, who their members are and what their cars are like.
It sounds like you are pioneers in your own country. It's exciting to be the first to do something. You can create a new hot rodding culture that others will look back to someday and say that the Coupe Devils were responsible for. My view has always been to create the pyramid effect. If you notice, a pyramid has a long base but a sharp pointed top. Too many car clubs put in a lot of work (the base of the pyramid) to achieve only a small degree of enjoyment (the tip of the pyramid). I believe that clubs can find ways to get the most enjoyment out of an event with the very least amount of work and this I call turning the pyramid on its head. One way to do this is to approach a city and ask them if you can create a "cruise-in" car show with any money collected going to a local charity, then charge a very minimal fee for each car in attendance or take up a donation. You can also talk to various cities and see if they want to sponsor a local drag race for street rods. This is a great way to get young people to stop street racing. Whatever you do, you will have the satisfaction of seeing a great car hobby grow and prosper.

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Thanks for the non-closing clarification about the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Please find enclosed an attachment by yet another volunteer, Charles Homolka, to the museum. We seem to be taking the approach of keeping the heat on by periodically keeping the subject alive rather than a "carpet bombing" approach. Your editorial commentary has not gone unnoticed. Thanks again for your words. Mike Kacsala
Online Text: http://blog.cleveland.com/letters/2010/01/the_western_reserve_historical.html. Letters to The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio; The Western Reserve Historical Society's auto selloff was shameful. By Other Voices, January 20, 2010. In response to J. Bryan Feador's "Kudos to historical society." Letters, January 13, 2010. "He has got to be kidding! Hasn't Feador heard what's going on, or is he a member of the board? Why would anyone want to spend good money to see the Western Reserve Historical Society or what's left of the Crawford Auto/Aviation Museum after it has been completely gutted? Yes, the historical society paid off its debt early. But it achieved that by selling off irreplaceable artifacts, mostly from the Crawford, including some examples from the historical society in total disregard of its own mission statement. I'm sorry, but I don't think anyone deserves kudos for dismantling a treasure." Charles Homolka, Garfield Heights, Ohio.
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Mike: I've been a board member for several organizations. It is a difficult task and one that if done well, helps groups and society to function well. Being a board member is often a thankless job and it requires patience, honesty and virtue. Some boards allow cronyism to destroy their ability to function and to carry out the duties mandated by their charters. Board members have a duty to their rules and regulations and also to the public or their shareholders. I can't comment on Bryan Feador's opinion or the merits of the Historical Society's actions, but docents of the museum and the Cleveland city public can and ought to weigh in with their comments. The entire efforts of the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians have been to encourage the construction and not the destruction of automotive related collections. It is a sad commentary that artifacts are lost and destroyed because museums and libraries cannot maintain a stable environment. The destruction of collections sometimes mean that other museums are able to build up their collections. It also means that many public collections end up in private estates and the public loses the ability to see and enjoy a part of our history. It means that researchers, archivists and historians lose access to collections and artifacts that are important to telling the story of our automotive racing history and heritage. Poor decisions by board members can lead to these destructive forces. All too often board members are carried away by planners who wish to expand facilities and upgrade museums with niches, alcoves and ornate offices for the staff.
Often the boards are not as concerned as they could be with costs that are not contained and expenses that are allowed to expand, which seems reasonable in a booming market with donors willing to help and government coffers full. Yet as we have seen, hard times almost always follow good times and we find that donors fade away, government taxes dry up and the bill comes due for the wasteful expenditures that administrators have foolishly overspent. The temptation is to sell off a few artifacts or cars and pay off the red ink. The trouble with that is that board of directors took an oath and gave their word that they would "honor" the collections donated to them and now they have to go back on their word of honor. They have the task of looking into the faces of those people whose trust they have abused and tell them that their cars or memorabilia will have to be sold off to pay the debts incurred. Once word gets around, very few people will trust their collectibles to these men again. They will give their cars and donations to someone else who kept their word not to sell off what was given in trust for future generations. Yes, the Board members can sell off artifacts at their whim. They have that legal right. But a legal right is based on a moral right and when they lose the moral high ground; their legal justifications are brought into suspicion. The first thought is, "What did you do with the money?" The second thought is, "Did you pocket the money?" I've seen these comments ruin an organization before and they can ruin a group as large as your organization as well. Once trust is lost or damaged, it is very hard to get it back.

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I've been way up to my eyeballs putting together all of the events that I am producing for 2010. If you are interested in checking them out please visit http://www.moldyshows.com. Actually, the reason that I'm contacting you is that I really need to sell my 1955 Big Window Project.
For more information see; http://www.aeclassic.com/1955_chevy_gmc_pickup. the Moldy one

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Gone Racin'… Those Wild Fuel Altered, Drag Racing in the Sixties, by Don Montgomery. Book review by Richard Parks, photographic consultant Roger Rohrdanz
Don Montgomery's book Those Wild Fuel Altered, Drag Racing in the Sixties, is his sixth book in a series on hot rodding, dry lakes and drag racing. All the books have the same format and high quality in research and book layout. Don has become an assembly line for the 1930's through the 1970's on this style of history, and the reader can expect a similarity of authorship. The writing is clear and crisp, the photographs are outstanding and well documented and the books are sturdy and well made. Nothing fancy, just filled with everything that a hot rodder wants. Those Wild Fuel Altered, Drag Racing in the Sixties is a hard cover book that measures 8 ¾ inches in width, by 11 ¼ inches in height, and is 192 pages. A perfect size to put two 5x7-inch photos on one page or an 8x10 single page photo. Some would call Montgomery's work a pictorial, some a coffee table book and others a history. The author subtly melds all three styles into a work of art that combines all three. Don is a perfectionist and he knows his history due to his extensive friendships with those that raced and because Don has participated himself. He works extremely hard at his research and in making contacts with those who have collections of photographs. The one thing Don doesn't do is add indexes to his books. He says that the books are meant to be read straight through and indexes aren't that important to hot rodders. Perhaps he is right and hot rodders are satisfied with the books just as they are. Don Montgomery's books are always popular sellers.
Here's what you get for forty bucks. 345 well chosen black and white photographs, accurately captioned, five pages of fuel altereds competitors lists and text that is well written, historical and accurate. It doesn't get any better than that. There are no color photographs. The pages are of a high-quality, heavy bond, waxed paper that shows off the clarity of the photographs to a high degree. The pages are bound to the spine of the book and not simply glued in, another sign of quality. The cover is the famed red and gold preferred by the author, but it is the signature dust cover jacket that you should preserve and keep with the book that is important. Dust cover jackets or book sleeves protect books from damage over time. They are the publisher's first effort to grab your attention and entice you to pick up the book and thumb through it. If the dust cover jacket is drab, the reader may never pick up the book to begin with, much less purchase it. Montgomery picked out a winning combination on his first book and eight books later, he still uses the striking red, white and black dust covers. I purchased my copy at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, in Pomona, California. You can call the museum and they will ship you a copy for the purchase price, plus shipping and handling. Their number is 909-622-2133, or you can contact the author or any bookstore and give them the name of the book and the author. If they are in doubt, the ISBN number is 0-9626454-5-1. Montgomery is his own publisher.
The book starts out with a dedication, introduction and acknowledgments, all written by the author. There are seven chapters; How and Why, the Fuel Ban, the Lean Years, Alive and Well, the Best Years, After the Best Years and Technical Details. He follows with a list of competitors and a brief recap of his career in hot rodding and racing. Those that he contacted for photos, and help with the text, tells us a great deal about the quality of the book. They included Rich Campos, Leroy Chadderton, Leon Fitzgerald, Don Green, Bob McClurg, Steve McElroy, Al 'Mousie' Marcellus, Joe Mondello, Joe Reath, Joy Summers, Don Tuttle, Don Wilson and many others who participated in Fuel Altered racing. Joe Reath has recently retired, but I still call him frequently when I need an answer to a vexing question. He has never let me down. Steve McElroy is another one of those 'been there, done that' kind of friend who is always willing to help. Steve still travels around the country on business and he keeps his contacts fresh. Marcellus has one of the clearest and sharpest minds and his knowledge of drag racing is invaluable. Joe and Mary Mondello have moved back east, but they are still in business and they know the history of the sport. The photographers who provided Montgomery with his treasure trove of photos include; Jim Miles, Rod Hynes, Jere Alhadeff, Bob McClurg, Richard Shute and Match Race Madness photography. The total number of photographs (345) are slightly lower than normal for other books in the Montgomery series, but still more than most books provide. They represent a wide range of fuel altered race cars and more than adequately tell the story of this exciting sport.
In the back is a list of the names of the fuel altereds, the names of the teams, when they began to race and where they originated. That's the kind of pain staking research that Montgomery puts into his books. There are nine teams that started their racing careers in the fuel altered category from 1957 through 1959. A steady growth in numbers occurs in 1960 and '61. From 1962 through 1967 the growth is even larger. By the end of the decade this class is expanding rapidly. The decline of the fuel altered class begins in 1972 and by 1981 there are no new fuel altereds being built for this class. Today, only a handful of nostalgic fuel altereds tour the drag strips or race against each other. Pure Heaven, Pure Hell, Winged Express, Nanook, Rat Trap, Beaver Hunter and other wonderful sounding F/A names are in museums or wrecked. A few, like the Winged Express and Rat Trap, make tours, receive appearance money or race in nostalgic meets. The majority of fuel altereds came from Southern California, but they found popularity across the country. This was a class of racing that reinvented itself after the fuel ban of 1957. The short wheelbase and wild power of these cars as they slipped and slided across the track, excited the fans and gave an unpredictable performance for the drivers. The cars never really went away, but changing rules in the sanctioning bodies and the rise of the funny car class ended the reign of the fuel altered class. Don Montgomery has written a compelling book on a class of cars that will always remain in our hearts. Gone Racin' is at RNPARKS2@JUNO.COM.

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Gone Racin'… The Story of Thrust SSC, the World's first Supersonic Car, by Dave Morris, Ron Ayres and Glynne Bowsher. Book review by Richard Parks, photographic consultant Roger Rohrdanz
A nice little pocket paperback book is The Story of Thrust SSC, the World's first Supersonic Car. The writers aren't recorded, but Dave Morris, Ron Ayres and Glynne Bowsher are listed as thanking the Thrust Team. The booklet measures only 4 inches wide and 7 inches high and was published by Corgi Press in 1998. The ISBN# is 0-552-546410 and there is no price listed. The Story of Thrust SSC, the World's first Supersonic Car is 160 pages on inexpensive paper with 11 black and white photographs and a special interior plate with 16 color photographs. There are five charts and five drawings and diagrams to help explain the story of the fastest car in the world. There is no Table of Contents and no index. There are fifteen chapters but they run chronologically so it really doesn't matter whether the authors used chapters or not. The charts are informative and the one on the land speed records is comprehensive. There is also a nice chart on the team members from the 1983 and the 1997 land speed record runs. The Story of Thrust SSC, the World's first Supersonic Car is nowhere as good as Sir Richard Noble's book, Thrust, Through the Sound Barrier, but it wasn't meant to be. The little booklet came out right after the record runs at the Black Rock Desert in 1997 in order to give a short record of what had occurred and how the record was achieved. This booklet does a remarkable job of telling the basic story and if the reader is interested in the more technical aspects of the land speed effort, then Noble's book will provide that. The Brits are famous for their patience in explaining the technical prowess of their car, design and team.
The story of Sir Richard Noble's attempts to build a car and set the land speed automotive record is documented briefly with comments from Sally Noble, Richard's wife and Jack Noble, his son. Noble builds a drag car in England, then a land speed car with better results. In 1982 the British team was frustrated with the rain that flooded Bonneville and they discovered a dry lake in northwestern Nevada that proved to be the perfect course for them. They returned in 1983 to set the record and bring the land speed title back to Great Britain after two decades in American hands. After a fourteen-year absence, Noble and the Brits returned to Gerlach, Nevada and the Black Rock Desert. There in a pressure packed duel with Craig Breedlove in his Spirit of America, Andy Green sets a new world record and breaks the sound barrier on land. But in between the beginning and the final record is the often-overlooked toil and hard work by hundreds of volunteers. Richard Noble was knighted for his efforts by the British government and well he should be. Without Noble there would be no world record and no team. Noble has that perfect personality that is both charismatic and practical. He knows how to inspire men and women in a project that most see as impossible. Noble is a force of nature when it comes to bringing the best people together and instilling in them a willingness to achieve no matter what the problems might be. He simply cannot hear the words 'no,' or 'it can't be done.' He will not stop until the impossible has been accomplished. Surrounding Noble is a hard-working and talented crew of Brits who make the record possible. Many were on leave from the British military, including Andy Green, the man chosen by Noble to take his place in the car and set the record.
Noble isn't vain. He could have driven the car but he recognized the odds and his value to the team as its leader and soul. Without Noble there would be no team and no record. Noble also recognized and valued every volunteer and there were hundreds, including Americans who gave time and money to the cause. Even Breedlove, who was his competitor for the record, was essential to the success of the British effort. Without Breedlove the Brits would have had trouble raising the funds to stay on the desert and set the record. Breedlove and the American team rushed their car out to the desert too soon in an attempt to compete, but also to help spur on a competition that would raise money for both teams. There were hundreds of volunteers who came to the Black Rock Desert in September and October of 1997 and who gave of their time, skills and money to help the two teams battle it out. In the end it was the Brits who set the record, but for land speed racing fans it is not about who sets the record but the efforts that go into them that count. The Story of Thrust SSC, the World's first Supersonic Car is a small booklet, but it is jam-packed with a good story. Check with Autobooks/Aerobooks at 1-818-845-0707 to see if they can locate a copy for you. Gone Racin' is at RNPARKS2@JUNO.COM.

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Land Speed Racing Websites:
www.hotrodhotline.com, www.landspeedracing.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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