SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS
NEWSLETTER 150 - February 11, 2010
Editor: Richard Parks [email protected]
President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)
 

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Some Names To Look For In This Newsletter:
 President's Corner, Editorials, Leslie Long called to give us some updates, 2010 Sidewinders Banquet, These are all models 1/24th scale, Mick's last name is Percy and he is located in Australia, I am restoring a car that ran at El Mirage in 1947, The following biographical event comes from a Navy man who witnessed the Chinese Civil War between Mao and the Nationalists, Racing Clubs: Historians listed for each club, Hoo Raw to Bob Falcon, Doug Stokes has returned to freelancing in PR marketing writing reputation management and consulting, You asked me at the SCTA Banquet to write up a little something about my photography business, I am doing a re-write on my Bio as well as making notes for the Gear Grinders as well, This month's newsletter was quite interesting thanks for covering Paul Schiefer's roadster so well, Mickey Thompson Tribute February 11 2010, If a little guy in a home garage can make this what are all the big car makers doing in all their giant labs, G'day 36hp Challengers, A So Cal Car Culture thing just popped into my head that you probably never heard about and was a Saturday Night mainstay during WW2, Is this the ultimate chop, Gone Racin'...Where They Raced; Auto racing venues in Los Angeles 1900-1990 by Harold L. Osmer, Gone Racin'...Drag Racing Yesterday and Today the Story of the World's Fastest Sport by Wally Parks, Falcon Jet Magazine article, Clark Cagle working on the Cagle-Sanchez Studebaker around 1954.

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President's Corner:  
   Saving our history is hard enough in document form but how many think about the cars themselves. We all know salt never sleeps when it comes to eating away metal chassis and parts and sometimes I wonder how many of the cool LSR cars will be around in fifty years. One of the most beautiful liners to grace the salt was Freddie Larsen's Mooneyes liner. Every year after Bonneville he would come home, take the car apart and wash it from top to bottom. The body panels got wrapped in blankets and went in the garage ceiling to save them from dents. After two decades of running the S.C.T.A. roll-cage rules were changed so Fred had to do a little rebuild. When everything was stripped off the chassis he just about had a cow. Seems the box tube frame rails had rotted through on the bottom. Help! In typical, "We can fix anything fashion," U sections were slipped over the bottoms of the rails and welded on and insto-fixo. He could now go play with his toy for another 20 years.
   Another good example of Mr. Salt's work was a couple years back when Alan Fogliadini was hauling butt in Doug Robinson's Yellow Deuce Coupe at about the three mile. He felt a big thunk and his eyes got real wide. A little inspection after he rolled in revealed the lower 4-bar mounting had pulled out of the chassis. Ouch! When they stripped the car down back at the shop the crew just about had a cat. They took an ice-pick and started punching the chassis with it around the broken link mount. By the time they were finished it was time to do a major section replace of the lower boxed chassis rail. Double ouch. Granted these are older cars but how do you explain the same thing happening to Prozac and the Bag Lady's car that's not that old. Yes Mr. Salt works all the time. Another icon saved after years of neglect on an open trailer was the Summers Brothers Goldenrod liner. Thanks to a zillion hours, mucho bucks, Ford and Cook it was restored for all to see. Moral of the story here is; don't leave the toys outside and uncovered.
   That leads to some tips that help solve these problems. Flash back to WWII and all the old aircraft frames. A little linseed oil was squirted in before they were welded up to kill moisture. An open chassis tube is a no-no and is mostly found on first-timer rides. If you've got an older car in this configuration, get it sonic tested to see if it's safe. After all the, "I got it sealed work," you can still mess up a ride in a second. Just think when cables, lines etc. are added, some builders just drill a hole in the rails and screw on a clamp to hold things. Yikes no! Screws let water/salt around themselves way to easy. Another thing to be careful of is those power washers. A lot of time they just drive the salt deeper into an open space. Once we did such a deed and come next race season a yank on the chute cable left the handle in the hand. Seems the unshielded cable was frozen solid. Other good tips are weld a tab on, then mount to them or weld a short bolt on the chassis so then all you can lose is the nut and washer. The debate still rages over powder coat versus paint. If you're going to do lots of changes paint is best because the coating gets into the metal's pours and is hard to get a good weld. Enough tips, it's time to get back to the garage as only about 130 days are left to race day.

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Editorial:   
The Gear Grinders annual banquet and awards presentation is set for February 20, 2010 in Stanton, starting around 10AM and going until about 4PM. The Sidewinder's annual banquet and awards presentation is scheduled for February 20, 2010 at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, from 4PM to around 10PM. Both are outstanding hot rod car clubs and if you haven't gone to one of these events then you are missing out on some great history. Leslie Long is hosting another Santa Ana Drags and Main Street Malt Shop Reunion. These pioneers of drag racing love to get together and lately they have been doing it twice a year. They hold the event, more like a picnic, in the Santiago Creek Bed Park in Orange, California. They don't charge for coming and they love to see new kids interested in the history of the sport. These are the original guys and gals who started drag racing. They aren't the second generation once removed. They actually started racing in 1950 at the first professional drag races in the world. Goleta held the first organized drag races near the airport and several of the guys that raced there also raced a year later at the airport in Santa Ana, California. Actually, drag racing in its infancy can be traced back to the streets of America and although they weren't sanctioned by a racing organization or a civic group, they were well developed. Often they were little more than gambling events where large amounts of money or pink slips were wagered and the times were not kept. For practical purposes we point to Goleta as the first "organized" drag race in 1949 and a year later it is the Santa Ana Drags that get the recognition as the first "professional" drag race, mainly because they sold tickets to the spectators. We also have to give credit to the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) drag race that they put on at the Tustin Blimp Base in 1950, and it is co-equal in being a "first." But that race only lasted once and the results, while favorable, did not cause a change nor did it lead to drag racing as we know it today. Many of the reunion attendees were at all three venue sites and can tell you more about the "first" drag races and how they changed an illegal street sport into the world's largest type of racing today.

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Leslie Long called to give us some updates. He has put together all the SCTA Programs from 1938 through 1949, with the exception of two programs from 1938 that he is still looking for. If you have any SCTA programs from 1938, please let me know so that I can tell Leslie. He is trying to get a complete set and he will photocopy and return your original. The programs contain a wealth of information for the land speed racing researcher. The second news item is that Leslie is hosting another Santa Ana Drags and Main Street Malt Shop Reunion, scheduled for April 10, 2010 at the Park bordering Santiago Creek in Orange. Directions: South on Main Street, between the 22 and 5 freeways, turn left on East Memory Lane, go 500 feet and turn right into the creek bed where there is a paved parking lot. The Park is right above the parking lot. The Santa Ana Drags and Main Street Malt Shop Reunion celebrate the first professional drag strip and the young men and women who would race there and then go to the Main Street Malt shop to hang out. There are no costs or parking fees, but bring along food and water and maybe a treat to share. This is a great place to sit and talk to the original pioneers of drag racing. They were the first and they are leaving us rapidly, so make it a point to come and tape record the histories and experiences of these men and women of early drag racing. Because of the age of the reunion attendees, please be sure to check with me to see if the reunion is still going to go on or if it will be cancelled.

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2010 Sidewinders Banquet. The Sidewinders were established in 1934 and are the oldest hot rod club in America. The event will be held at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California on February 20, 2010. Limited seating available and no tickets will be sold at the door.  Please contact Ron Main (818) 998-7848 or Nicky Wheeler (818) 363-4901. If you have any door prizes that you would like to donate, please let Ron or Nicky know as they would like to make this the best Sidewinders Banquet ever. http://mmeierle.com/sidewinders/Banquet%202010/Banquet%202010.mht

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These are all models 1/24th scale. They are awesome. I remember going to horse riding camp in a Ford Woodie like the one shown. Of course it was "vintage" then and my first car was a used Studebaker, like the one with the torpedo nose and wrap-around back windows. I think I paid $148 for it. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/sets/72157604247242338/show/with/2346008881/. All GNRS 61 Gallery links are now active. See http://www.suede37.com/images/2010/gnrs61/gnrs61.htm. Paula Murphy

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Mick's last name is Percy and he is located in Australia. Dick's last name is Beith, a long time Bonneville racer and he even fielded an Indy Car team in the mid-seventies. Have you ever seen the footage the Beith story came from? It was passed on to me by Dick in the mid-nineties and I think he said he got it from Levan Prothero (sic). It is from a one and a half hour black and white documentary called "Men, Salt and Speed" and features many salt flat luminaries like Mickey Thompson and Dean Moon. It is classically historical and because of its extremely deteriorated scratchy state (kind of like an old Keystone Kop movie) it is fascinating to view. I have never been able to identify the source but like the "Worlds Fastest Indian," its impact is great on most who watch it. If you do not have a copy I would be glad to send a VHS (that's all I have) for you to enjoy. Just send me your mailing address and I will make a copy and get it on the way. Burly Burlile
Burly: I can't accept the volume of snail mail that people want to send to me. I just don't have the tools and the time to deal with it. Jim Miller would love to have a copy and he has the tools to make more copies or possibly to get it on a disk format. Jim can process treasures like these old films and get them to the AHRF where they will be kept in a safe environment for hot rodders and historians to enjoy.

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I am restoring a car that ran at El Mirage in 1947. We are looking to buy info, articles; film clips anything that will help guide us on the path to a correct restoration. Also I am looking for some old gearheads, who looking at the pictures might suggest what some of the weird items on the motor might be. Here is a shot or two to start things going. We have quite a lot of information from 20 years collecting magazines and things about the car, but a restoration at the level we are doing on this car require minute details handled. I hope you can guide us a bit. Ciao! Matt Jones
Matt: Your letter and photographs will go into the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter at www.landspeedracing.com. Here's what you need to do. First, write up a comprehensive history of the car, the people and how you came to start this project. You might have few details, but give us all that you know or can surmise. We will publish your history and report in our newsletter. The more information you share the more memories you will jar loose from the old-timers. Many people approach us for the same problem and we have to extract the facts from them like a dentist has to pull a bad tooth. So rack your brain and give us everything that you know, because sometimes it's the smallest detail that causes one of our members to say, "Oh, yeah, now I remember." Secondly, send the same request to H.A.M.B., Rodder's Journal, The SCTA Racing News, The Bonneville Racing News and any other land speed racing historical group. Third, develop a phone tree by first calling Jim Miller, our president, and ask him for his advice and for phone numbers of people that he thinks may have seen your car. After every phone interview, and I repeat, every phone interview, ask the person if they have five or so people and their phone numbers that they think might know something about your car. This does two things; it alerts people that you are looking for information and that you are aggressively looking. You can sit back and wait until doomsday and they won't call; I've learned that much. Or you can start using a phone tree and beat the bushes for data. Fourth, flood the websites and newsletter with new details and requests. The SLSRH will print as many letters and reports as you send us. There is no limit on how many correspondences that you can send us. In fact, the more you publicize the greater your chances are that someone will respond. Finally, we want to help you because you are a historian about this car and the people who raced it. Your knowledge is vital to saving the past, so we want to assist you as you teach us what you find out. You can never find enough photographs or history. Each bit of information makes the car and the project just that more valuable and engrossing.
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What wonderful suggestions. Ken Gross suggested I write up a history as well as he has been mentoring me on this restoration. I'll do that this weekend. I have 4 or 5 vintage magazines and books with info that are all included in a booklet I put together. I'd like to send you this color booklet for people helping me that have many pictures of the car, past and present. What address can I use to do that? I'll also send the photos in a large digital format on a disc so they can be copied at your leisure if that will help. This is a wonderful old car, built by the right people. It cost $20,000 to build in 1947 and that is a whole pile of money back then. I drove it on a 1000 mile rally in Northern California in 1992. Darn thing handles like a go-kart. I'll look forward to your thoughts as this process continues. Matt Jones
Matt: I talked with Jim Miller and he's aware of your restoration project and the car, but he hasn't really had a chance to talk to you at length. You should direct all your material to Jim because he's the main researcher for the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians (SLSRH) and the American Hot Rod Foundation (AHRF). He does a ton of work and archives a great deal. He also adds to his library constantly, so call him and get his address. I don't encourage material to be sent to me, since I have no storage space and have to re-send it to Jim. My job is to be a center point for incoming material and to see that the inquiries get routed out to the proper parties. I was overly wordy, because as an editor I feel that I must repeat constantly the messages that the society stands for; the preservation of our heritage and historical research projects. So when someone writes in, even those that are as knowledgeable and proficient in research as you are, they get my "full barrage." That's the educator in me and I probably got that from my father, who hectored and badgered the hot rodding community for decades. His goal was to see hot rodding and racing thrive and prosper in a harsh environment where much of the public was apathetic or hostile to our interests.
We want to see you and all car restorers succeed in the worst way, because it is the car restorers who do the most and the best research. To put the cost of your car's original cost in perspective, twenty thousand dollars would have bought four homes. In today's market that comes to around two million dollars, not the $200,000 that was mentioned in the article. $20,000 dollars in 1948 would have been the salary for a top flight baseball or football player, and we all know that today's top athletes make in excess of several millions each year. That the original builder would spend that kind of money on your car at that time is simply mind boggling. My father's famous cherry red Ford T roadster was offered for sale to the newscaster George Putnam for $350, so dad could pay the mortgage, which was about $50 a month back then. Putnam came to the house with the cash in an envelope and told my mother that he was there to give her the agreed upon purchase price and to get the keys, pink slip and the roadster parked outside. My mother, Mary Parks, just laughed and laughed. "George, you're not going to find a pink slip for a hot rod," she laughed. Putnam reconsidered and decided not to buy the car. Hot rodders were just a smidge beyond the pale in those days. Putnam was always my favorite reporter and broadcaster. No one has ever come close to his integrity and reporting skills since. You need to really get all the facts you can on the amount needed to build the original car, for the amount is an incredible one. Get all the receipts that you can find. It makes an interesting story.

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The following biographical event comes from a Navy man who witnessed the Chinese Civil War between Mao and the Nationalists. It shows how the people were trying to cope at that time.
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Your thoughts on the prices of gold and silver caused me to bounce back to my period of time in pre-Maoist Tsingtao, China. The city was surrounded, the inflation was unbelievable. My pay as a Fireman First (G-2 in those days) with the deduction for my GI insurance was $15 and change on each twice monthly pay day. When we first arrived in Early April 1948 we were paid in local currency, Gold Yuan paper bills of which my equivalent was several million Yuan. We were issued our pay around noon and by the time I had cleaned up and put on the dress blues and arrived at downtown Tsingtao my pay check amount had shrunk to under $14! In a short while the Navy decided to pay us in greenbacks and I wonder where they found them. Most were worn out gold certificates (I wish I had hung onto a few of these) and silver coins. The amazing think to this teenage American was that the Chinese converted all the greenbacks to gold and had their dentist fit the family with gold teeth. Mao's troops were set to invade and it took place in May. When bartering with the shopkeepers $1.25 in coin bought you $2.00 in merchandise. The hand carved teak religious icon statues cost fifty cents and a pair of tailored short Wellington style boots was priced at four dollars, even for my big feet! I would reckon the American contingent in that region of China was less than 2500 folks. We just missed sailing into Mao's hands in Shanghai by a scant two hours! We were enroute to collect some American Ex-Pats who missed the Admiral's transport a few days before and as we steamed up the Yangtze and the water was getting more and more yellow at 0630 H we were radioed to stop and turn around and leave as the city had fallen to Mao at 0430 H. We could have been taken prisoner! Bob Falcon

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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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Hoo Raw to Bob Falcon. One in-depth article told of a guy that evidently knew how to drive who when the sudden acceleration took place immediately got a toe under the pedal and pulled it back, but nothing happened and he crashed even though he switched the ignition to ACC. I will turn 80 this year and am driving a stripped down '31 Ford roadster with a 'vette 327 and a five on the floor gear box. It has the original spoon throttle that Henry put in it and it works just great with double return springs on the Holley that is mandatory on most sanctioned race cars. What will happen when an accident happens to the electric steering motor on the new cars and there is no front wheel control by the driver? Hail to us who learned to drive with stick shift double clutching no synchro-mesh gear boxes, mechanical brakes, no electric turn signals (which my dad invented in 1921) and still managed to put an arm around the brave girl that was willing to ride with us with the top down (if we had one). The so-called engineers have out-tricked themselves this time. Any one interested in how difficult it is to get a drivers license in Italy should research it. Much more difficult than when I got one which was two years after I learned to drive in the parking lot of Gilmore Stadium which was at Beverly and Fairfax Boulevards. I hope to meet Bob Falcon someday.  Vic Enyart
   Vic: You've probably already met Bob several times and aren't aware that you did. It's a small group and we are often in the same crowd together. Tell us more about your father's invention, when it was patented, how he came about developing this improvement, etc. Also more about Gilmore Stadium and what went on there.

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Doug Stokes has returned to freelancing in PR, marketing, writing, reputation management and consulting. He wrote to say that he is no longer working at Gale Banks Engineering, but learned a great deal while he was with the firm. If you have need of an excellent PR guy, Doug can be reached at [email protected] or call him at 626-391-3772. Doug is a long-time friend of the Parks family and my father held him in very high esteem. His background and expertise is unparalleled, so if you need a good PR guy, give Doug a call.

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You asked me at the SCTA Banquet to write up a little something about my photography business www.LandSpeedPhotos.com, but I'm really not a writer and I don't know what to say, I could give you some facts about what I do and how I started taking photos at El Mirage and Bonneville. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a bunch of gibberish or a life story but it probably will. Fill free to rewrite this as needed.
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About 35 years ago when I was a kid a neighbor saw me playing around with Dad's old Argus Z3 camera and asked me if I wanted to lean how to process film. He told me to shoot a roll of black and white film, then when I was done to contact him and he would show me how to develop the film to make some prints, since then I have been addicted to Photography. One Christmas when I was 12 I received a complete darkroom set up and really went to town spending almost all my free time either taking photographs or spending all hours of the day and night in my makeshift darkroom. My first paying job as a photographer was photographing the local horse shows when I was 14. I started doing some local exhibits in my home town of Fullerton that really taught me more about the fine art aspect of photography with the comments from some very influential people. I started my own studio in the early eighties doing commercial and model portfolios for about ten years, then when the economy took a turn for the worse in the early nineties I found myself having to do wedding photography to make ends meet which I was not really interested in. Then one day I was out taking pictures of a beautiful an ocean view and I asked myself if I was going to be able to sell that photo which was doubtful. I started to lower my camera from my eye, that's when it hit me that photography was turning into more of a job and money influencing it, then the joy of doing it. I sold the name off "Character Photography" shortly after that and only took photos underwater for some time after that. Then I was in a bowling league with friends Skip and Pala Banks, Skip was always missing the first two games of every month, I finally asked why, in which he replied he was at his race club (Land Speed racers of So Cal) meeting, I was interested in seeing a race like that being a fan of all motor sports and racing off road for a few years myself. I made a trip up to El Mirage Dry lake in June of 2005 to watch him race and to take some pictures for him, I found myself enjoying the challenge of taking photographs of cars and bikes in action. The people at these events really made it fun and found myself being asked to take pictures of different cars and bikes.
In 2006 I took some photos of Mike Cook's car and went to give him some prints when a crowd of people gathered around him as he was looking at them, when Mike and the others said that I was not to give away any more prints and to come up with a reasonable price and try selling them. From that time on I've been taking photos at all the El Mirage events and came up with the web name of www.LandSpeedPhotos.com. My daughter Kristen started to join me at the races and helped taking and selling pictures. I guess growing up with me as a dad she took to cars and photography and we enjoy the time spent together at the races.
In 2007 Mike Cook asked if he could use some of my photos for the shirts and posters that the SCTA sells. He asked what it would cost them, and I replied, nothing since if it wasn't for SCTA/BNI I wouldn't be enjoying taking photographs again like it was when I was a kid and I've been donating them to the SCTA/BNI ever since. I find myself taking photos of cars more and more at car shows and other venues for the fun of it since cars don't blink and they don't complain about looking fat. I'm going on my 6th season taking photos at El Mirage and 2nd at Bonneville with hopes of many years to come. Seeing the look on the face of a racer or owners when they see what there car or bike looks like in action or the unique composition of what I like puts a smile on my face every time and that makes it all worthwhile to me. The selling of prints only makes it easier for me financially to be able to attend races and other automotive events to further enjoy what I have always loved, Photography. Thank you all. Zane McNary, LandSpeedPhotos.com, Dive EZ, [email protected], http://www.diveez.net, http://www.landspeedphotos.com.
Zane: Great story, now do your biography and caption your personal photographs. We look forward to posting as many of your photos as you wish to share with us and the story behind the picture.

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I am doing a re-write on my Bio as well as making notes for the Gear Grinders as well; sure a lot to cover. Glen Barrett
   Glen: I have run this before, but I make it a point to let our readers know that your bio is on the way. I am looking forward to reading it.

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This month's newsletter was quite interesting. Thanks for covering Paul Schiefer's roadster so well. Looks like more and more about Schiefer's roadster is coming out. Maybe some parts will surface. Today I gave Howard Cagle the funds to buy all the equipment for the '53 EAB flattie he's rebuilding for me. The block looks great. It'll be bored .030-.040, but otherwise rebuilt to stock. It may not be soon, but I do plan a trip to Texas to investigate those PBY struts that could be used for the roadster frame. David Walker
David: Send us periodic updates on the car and what you have discovered about the history of the car and Paul Schiefer. This is a very important and special car. Paul was a close friend of my father and the more that we know, the more the empty blanks are filled in for us.
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Is it possible the Red Henslee - Emory Cook roadster could have been the last incarnation of the car that was Paul Schiefer's 1925 T Roadster? In his book Tales from the Drag Strip with "Big Daddy" Don Garlits recalls the day Emory Cook won Top Eliminator, at Santa Ana (?), by running their roadster in high gear (low gear was out). He said Henslee was so excited he insisted on steering the car back down the return road, but accidentally started the car and crashed it, ending their racing partnership in the process. Fred Lobello is not sure if it started out as Schiefer's '25 T, but the Bean Bandits' rear-engined roadster looks a whole lot like the Cook-Henslee car. After skewing the photos to equal scale, I found that Schiefer's '25 kicks upward from the cowl to the front end, at the same or approximate angle as the '27 in various forms.
I heard there were many frames built from oval aircraft tubing just after the war, and there's a great likelihood many frames were make similar or identical to each other. But given the chronology of possession and the close-knit, even familial relationships in the San Diego Roadster Club, it's equally likely that the same frame passed from Schiefer, to Joaquin Arnett and the Bean Bandits, and then to Emory Cook and Red Henslee.
In case I haven't already provided some pics, a few are attached. Did Emory Cook teach Big Daddy all he ever needed to know about running Nitro-Methane through a Stromberg? Thanks for any postulation/facts/denials you guys can provide. I have thoroughly enjoyed communicating with everyone about Paul Schiefer, his car and all the players in this interesting story. Thanks, David Walker, Ardmore, AL/TN, 256-975-5546.
David: Don Garlits has a great deal of history at his museum in Ocala, Florida and would be glad to share it with you. Google Don Garlits and get his email address and write to him. I'm sure that he will want to tell you everything that he knows about the Schiefer/Arnett/Cook/Henslee cars and the San Diego Roadster Club which is still in operation today.

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Mickey Thompson Tribute, February 11, 2010, at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, Pomona, California. Dr David Scully

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If a little guy in a home garage can make this, what are all the big car makers doing in all their giant labs? Watch this video and you will understand. See http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/56-Electric-Drag-Racing. Bud Evans
Bud: Thank you for the link.

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G'day 36hp Challengers. The first challenge to the 36hp records in 2010 will come in just over one month from down under between March 8th through the 12th and should prove formidable. In addition, hopefully one or more big bore VW's will also compete in the Aussies equivalent of the 130 MPH Club on Lake Gairdner at the annual DLRA Speedweek. These guys may set the standard to which we all have to match or beat this year so I have included the two prominent Web-sites below where you can sign on and follow their progress:
http://melburgluft.com/viewtopic.php?p=108763#108763, forum of Ratmuller Racing's Steve Muller.
http://www.vdubber.com/groups/entry/Saltflat-Racers, Web site for Vdubber Ezine and 36hp Challenge forums and Mick Percy's 130 Club efforts. Steve Muller will be fielding two cars at Speedweek, one a 56 Aussie oval in the SS36 category and will be trying to best the Beaver Geezers 73 mph record set last September at the World of Speed. The second car will be a "1" Club and Ghia category challenger running one or more motors depending on time and results. Steve and the crew will be going after Richard Troy's Denzel Ghia record of 101 mph with a 69 Ghia convertible featuring a big bore engine made of Okrasa, Denzel and Kadron components and if time allows, hope to have a "huge" "1" Club 36hp engine put together with an Okrasa 74.5mm crank and 92 or 94mm pistons and cylinders. This engine will also have "huge" 51mm IDA carbs. Is it a little out of the box thinking, yes? We wish them well! Mick Percy is thrashing to get his 56 oval assembled for the non 36 class and if all comes together, should be running a turbo Type 4 motor pulled from his Type 3 Ghia and featuring a Porsche trans. Currently his roll cage is being installed, a requirement with the DLRA. I would also like to take a moment and thank Mick for converting the classic B&W film of Dick Beith's 1961 record run at Bonneville into a format you can view at both the Vdubber site and in Vintage Speed on the Samba. If you have not watched the Beith interview and run, please take the time to visit and enjoy the footage. Like the movie "the Worlds Fastest Indian", it is inspirational! Speaking of that, although our friends in Oz have the performance advantage of a much lower elevation at Lake Gairdner (as does Maxton, Goliad and Limestone!), the local sanctioning body requires full cages and safety equipment, adding both weight and cost to their Challenge efforts. I would imagine the additional weight will probably provide a balance for the altitude advantage. Thanks to all for their continuing interest, effort and support of the 36hp Challenge, both at home on the "puters" and the numerous VW web-sites who have made this all possible. Watch for more "newsletters" as information becomes available. Until then, may the Speed be with you. Burly Burlile
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Talk about mixed feelings, but we're officially for sale now. Google: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=919428. Cheers,
Glenn. This was re-sent to us by Burly Burlile.

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A So Cal Car Culture thing just popped into my head that you probably never heard about and was a Saturday Night mainstay during WW2, especially after the night lighting "Brownout" was terminated and threat of a Japanese invasion was no longer contemplated. Professional auto racing was banned and the dry lakes folks followed suit, but I think the move was more inspired by the car club members all being the ideal age for military service had more to do with it. I was a high school student and although my big interests were girls, autos and airplanes (in that order) and was a transplant from Pennsylvania in 1942 my interest soon swung to hot rods. There was a Drive-In Restaurant, named Piccadilly's (aka "Pics") complete with Car Hops that became a gathering for hot rods every Saturday night (that took care of two of my interests) that had cars from all over LA show up. They were located on the northeast corner of Washington Place and Sepulveda Boulevard. Pics had a huge parking lot that quickly filled up with Roadsters of all shapes and sizes, not too many hot rod coupes in those days.
   People came from all around to look at the cars and that may be where I first crossed paths with Karl Orr. He was an Icon and bigger than life and he may have patted me on my head a few times. We became better acquainted later when I had my roadster and spent many an hour at his Speed Shop looking over his used car parts table that was a standard in most speed shops. Pics car show was a really big car show and filled most of their parking lot and the surrounding streets. My parents were regular visitors at the event. My dad was in his forties at the time and as a former dirt track racer was also a car guy. Every now and then, a couple of car owners would decide to prove which car was faster and a caravan would move from Pics to Culver Boulevard (just east of the Lincoln Boulevard overpass) the starting line would be just west of Centennial and the finish was at the rail crossing, just before the overpass. Spectators would park in the roadway shoulders and view the contest along the course.
   Other times the procession would drive to Lincoln Boulevard and race on an area near the end of the runway at Hughes Aircraft and on other occasions would venture to "The Reservoir" that was located on Sepulveda in the north San Fernando Valley. The racing area was on the street that connected to the Ridge Route between the Sepulveda intersection and Roxford Drive in Sylmar. A piece of hot rod history you may never heard before since it involved unorganized street racing. Bob Falcon
   Bob: unorganized street racing is very familiar to the Parks family. My father first participated in, and then became a convert to the cause of eradicating illegal street racing. Keep the memories coming in and tell us every last detail of Karl Orr and his speed shop. He was an icon then and today his fame and influence is still strong. Every story that you remember adds to our knowledge of the times.

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Is this the ultimate chop? Google: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfY_BKyWEfo&feature=related. Larry Bohnen
Larry: This chopped VW is said to be the lowest VW race car. The track appears to be somewhere in Germany.

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Gone Racin'...Where They Raced; Auto racing venues in Los Angeles, 1900-1990, by Harold L. Osmer
Book review by Richard Parks, photographic consultant Roger Rohrdanz

Harold L. Osmer was a student and chose to do research on a subject that had been neglected, the old auto racing tracks and sites in Southern California. His paper helped him achieve his Masters Degree and it gave racing fans a historical overview of the rich history of our past. The one complaint in this marvelous book is that it is so short. Everything about the book, Where They Raced; Auto racing venues in Los Angeles, 1900-1990, is of the highest quality in research and writing. Osmer has located the original sites of these auto racing tracks and has given us a taste of what racing was like from the earliest days of automotive racing. The photos, maps and diagrams are amazing and the text is interesting. The book measures 11 inches long by 8 inches high and is in a paperback format. The paper is thick white matte bond and has an interesting front and rear cover. It is 64 pages long but has an amazing amount of information and should be read as a history and trivia book for the true racing fan. There are 4 color photos, one color drawing, two black and white drawings, 66 black and white photos, 16 maps, one Ad and 2 black and white programs of the era. There is a short preface by the author and a fine Table of Contents. In addition there is a List of Figures, which is an indices of the photos. There are five chapters and a selected bibliography in the back of the book, which is short but informative. Osmer includes an interesting series of appendices, which the reader may want to study as it gives all sorts of data that a true racing fan would enjoy. But surprisingly for such a well-written book, the author did not include an index of names and subjects. The subject index at the beginning of the book does not suffice for having an index at the rear that lists all the people and places mentioned in the book. Indexes of people/place names are often overlooked. For the short time it takes to do this clerical task the benefits and rewards to the serious reader are well worthwhile. Yet authors make this oversight far too often. The superior writer will never overlook a name/place index.
Nevertheless, this is a remarkable book and one worth adding to your library. Chapter One is titled Introduction and gives a short historical overview of early day racing in Southern California, especially in the Los Angeles area. Chapter Two is called Road Race Courses and shows us some of the fascinating early races. The first was the Pasadena/Altadena Hill Climb of 1906. Also mentioned are the Corona Road Race, the Santa Monica Road Race and the Venice Grand Prix. There were all held before and around World War I. Chapter Three is named Board Track Speedways and tells of these special types of race courses that were constructed of lumber, which was cheaper in those days to build than were graded and paved oval tracks. Sixteen board tracks were built in the East and 8 along the Pacific Rim states. Board tracks were as short as a half mile and as long as two miles and their smooth steep banked tracks gave lots of thrills and chills. The first board track was built in 1910 at Playa Del Rey in Venice, California and the last board track was built in 1928 at Woodbridge, New Jersey. They attracted huge audiences for the day but maintenance, age, development and changing tastes doomed them after two decades of marvelous excitement. The aerial photos and maps bring back an earlier day. Chapter Four is titled Small Ovals and describes the many oval race tracks built out of dirt, clay and paved surfaces in the Southern California area. Six tracks are detailed; Ascot Park, Legion Ascot, Gilmore Stadium, Carrell Speedway, Gardena Speedway and Ascot Park. Mines Field is briefly mentioned. The first track opened in 1904 and the last track closed in 1990. New racing venues have opened up since then but are not discussed in this book.
Ascot Park is the oldest, having been built in 1904 and was near USC, the boundaries being South Park, Century and Slauson Avenues. It began as a horseracing track and gradually the cars began to race there as well. The stands were covered and looked very much like the Kentucky Derby. Legion Ascot was built in 1924 and earned its name by the promoters, which was the American Legion Post 127. The Legion ran the track in an effort to bring organized and sanctioned racing to the area. The racecourse proved too fast for the cars of the day and after two dozens racing deaths on the track, the public outcry became too much and the track was closed. Some of the most famous race drivers of the 1920's and '30's raced on this grand course and the road course that was adjacent to the track. Legion Ascot was between Soto, Eastern and Valley Blvd. Mines Field was a B shaped road-racing course that was extremely popular with the public during the Great Depression. It was located just east of the Los Angeles Airport and was especially popular with track roadsters and stock car racing. Gilmore Stadium was built in 1934 at the corners of Beverly Blvd and Fairfax Avenue. The oval racecourse attracted the best Midget racers in the country. It was probably the finest racetrack ever designed and built but its last race was held in 1950 and then the valuable land became part of the CBS facility. Carrell Speedway also had a short but famous run. It was built in 1940 and closed in 1954. Carrell was located near Vermont Avenue and Artesia Blvd in the city of Gardena, California.
Gardena Speedway, which many call Western Speedway, opened the year that Carrell closed. It was located between Rosecrans and Western Avenues in the city of Gardena. Jalopies, Midgets and stock car racing used this track. Ascot Park opened in 1957 and was the last of the old tracks to close in 1990. Ascot Park is just a short walk from the older Carrell Speedway. Ascot Park was managed by J. C. Agajanian and his family. Other races courses mentioned were Saugus (Bonelli) Speedway, Los Angeles Coliseum, Culver City Speedway, Huntington Beach Legion Speedway, Ontario and Riverside. Chapter Five is named Conclusion and Osmer explains why the tracks finally were closed due to land development, the same factor that closes modern tracks. The Bibliography follows and gives ten books worth checking out at the library for some heavy reading on the subject. The Appendices gives some very valuable and interesting information on who won various races at the major tracks. Osmer also lists the tracks known to have existed in the area, the size of the facilities and the dates they opened and closed. He lists the number of oval, drag and road courses by state with California having the most oval and drag racing and road racing facilities in the nation. Where They Raced; Auto racing venues in Los Angeles, 1900-1990 is a fine little addition to your library. You can purchase this and other books by Harold Osmer at Autobooks/Aerobooks at 1-818-845-0707. Gone Racin' is at [email protected]

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Gone Racin'...Drag Racing, Yesterday and Today; the Story of the World's Fastest Sport, by Wally Parks.
Book review by Richard Parks, photographic consultant Roger Rohrdanz

Drag Racing, Yesterday and Today; the Story of the World's Fastest Sport, by Wally Parks is the first and only book by the founder of the National Hot Rod Association. Printed and published by Trident Press in New York City in 1966, this gem of a book has long been out of print and there are no book stores currently carrying it for sale. At best you can find it on eBay and on rare occasions, in a used book store. The original price was $4.95 and for years was purchased mainly by drag racing fans and family. But like all things that have true value, over time such works become classics and a signed edition would probably sell for about one hundred times its original cost. I have had three or four of the books in my library and mysteriously, they tend to disappear, hopefully into the hands of family and collectors who value them. To be fair to the readers, Wally Parks was my father and thus it must be pointed out that I may have some tendency to be partial. That being said, let's look at the mechanics of the book and then an appraisal of its literary worth. Wally Parks is the main author, but Lyle Kenyon Engel is the co-author and producer. Dan Roulston, George Engel and Marla Ray did research, preparation and review of the material. Drag Racing, Yesterday and Today is a hard-bound, red covered book with 240 pages, a dust cover jacket and a high-quality cloth binding. There is no ISBN number assigned, but the Library of Congress Catalog number is 66-16184, though as I said, the book is very rare and not in any book store. Dad told me once that 5000 copies were produced, but I can't verify that for certainty. There is a Table of Contents, a three page preface by Wally Parks, ten chapters, a five-page glossary of terms and an outstanding ten-page index. There are 170 black and white photographs, but none in color. The pages are a light bond, not the waxed paper that you find in quality pictorials, but the paper appears to be acid free and has not yellowed with age.
Drag Racing, Yesterday and Today has survived the test of time because it is a classic. The dust cover jacket is white, black and red and is often lost, torn or destroyed. Losing the dust cover jacket has not decreased the value of the book, but in the future it will. There is a demand for another reprinting and the estate is considering doing just that. The book is maroon colored with an embossed outline of a dragster. The cloth binding is superior and that's one reason that the copies of Drag Racing, Yesterday and Today have survived for four decades in such good shape. Nearly all the copies that I've seen are in very good condition, though few dust cover jackets have survived. Yes, I'm nagging the owner, take care of that dust cover jacket or the value of your copy will not rise as fast in the future as someone who has a well preserved sleeve. Parks evidently looked into the future and guessed, correctly it seems, that readers would welcome a glossary of terms. Many of the terms are still in use today and a few seem quaint and archaic. The index is first class, ten pages and precise. Whoever did the index is a master historian or secretary without equal. The photographs are all in black and white. They are as clear and crisp looking as is possible on non-waxed photographic paper. This is one part of the book that could have been improved upon. The captions are full, to the point and explanatory. The photographs could stand alone, without the text, and yet still tell the story well. Parks wrote the first few chapters and you can see an almost poetical style and zeal. The rest of the book is a collaboration with the co-author and the structure becomes more fact-filled. Perhaps the urge to fill this tiny book with all the knowledge of the new sport of drag racing made it imperative to skimp on the lyrical feelings so evident at the beginning. Regardless, the book only suffers a slight reduction in readability towards the end. By and large, the writing and construction are superior to what we have today.
Drag racing evolved out of dry lakes land speed and illegal street racing. Wally Parks had a burning desire to see order brought forth from chaos. His talent lay in inspiring others to work together for the same goal, to save lives and create a sport that allowed men and women to build and race cars capable of great speed and performance. He wasn't the only pioneer in this field. There were brilliant men and women who worked to make drag racing a sport that would become respected and loved by millions. Drag Racing, Yesterday and Today tells the story of drag racing from its roots to the acceptance that it achieved by 1966, the year that the book was released. A lot has happened since then to cement drag racing's place in the pantheon of the world's automotive sports. Yet this book needs no other additions to explain to the public what inspired drag racing and why it is so important to men and women today. The first two chapters describe the early dry lakes and land speed racing. Many of the men and women, such as Ak Miller, Stu Hilborn, Otto Crocker, Karl and Veda Orr, Lou Baney, Chuck Potvin, Vic Edelbrock, Don Blair and others became well-known and prospered in manufacturing or other types of racing. Chapter three tells about the need to find racing venues closer to the cities in an effort to get young people to give up illegal street racing and race on safe and sanctioned drag strips. Chapter four talks about the Safety Safari, a group of young men sent out by Parks and the fledgling National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) that Parks created to teach car clubs how to put on safe drag races. Bud Coons led a group composed of Eric Rickman, Chick Cannon and Bud Evans from one city to another across America to bring the NHRA's principles to local car clubs. Chapters five through ten explore the rapid growth and professionalization of drag racing, beyond the wildest dreams of the early founders. Someday a sequel will be written that will bring the public up to date on the events that happened in the four decades after the book was published. Very likely a second edition will be published. If you are fortunate enough to come across an original copy of Drag Racing, Yesterday and Today, buy it and add it to your library. Gone Racin' is at [email protected].

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