SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS
NEWSLETTER 156 - March 25, 2010
Editor: Richard Parks [email protected]
President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)
 

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 President's Corner, Editorials, I would like to thank all of you that have supported Fairmont Butte Motorsports Park with your letters and e-mails to the County of Los Angeles and those that attended the hearings especially the one held in Lancaster California, To Jim Miller: Thanks so much for providing for the opportunity for those of us who can only wish we could have been there to explore the history of hot rodding.. the cars.. the people.. those times.., You might be interested in looking at www.1320movie.com to see if you recognize anybody, Things are finely moving along in a very positive way for a new track in the Antelope Valley, Evelyn Roth submitted this website, I was reading your article on xxxx xxxxxxxxxx I would be embarrassed to have your website affiliated with him, The following video was taken just before the great Earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco California, Here is yet another voice heard from a former member of the Crawford Advisory Committee and printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer with regards to the WRHS and the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, Gone Racin'…Crazy Horses; the history of British drag racing by Brian Taylor with a foreword by Don Garlits, Gone Racin'…Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection by Thom Taylor; Steve Coonan and the staff of The Rodder's Journal, Museum Quality Prints, LEFT to RIGHT are: Bill "Kid" Buonomo; Liza Hopkins; Doctor D (aka Darrell Roberts); Miguel "the Bomb"Quiles and Don Zellers, 2010 Don Garlits Rat Rod Show poster, People will be talking about all the crazy Pin Stripers and artists they saw working, Liza and I will be at Venom Custom Choppers in New Poet Richey on Saturday March 27 and you can find us at Quaker Steak and Lube in Pinalles Park on Wednesday nights for their bike night, Give me the Illinois connection to this VERY famous car.

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President's Corner:  
I just got back from an extended weekend in Texas. Yep, cowboy country and is it a cool place. Ed Stuck, who runs the fastest 2WD hi-boy fuel roadster on the planet (269.440 mph), hosts a party once a year for his racing buddies and takes all his visitors on a tour of "shops" in his neighborhood of Dallas-Ft Worth. One thing that really hit home is if you've got a little space on your property you can have a giant workshop instead of a little 20' x 20' postage stamp of a garage. For starters how does a little shop of say 100' x 200' +/- a few feet and about 50' feet from your back door grab you. Who ever coined the phrase everything in Texas is bigger really got it right. This shop belonged to Bobby Marriott who runs a little organization with his wife called Outlaw Fuel Altereds (http://www.outlawfuelaltereds.com/). If you think this is to big what about B-ville racer Lee Sicilio's place. His shop is maybe 50' x 150' and even closer to his house. It houses his AA Daytona Charger that runs in the mid 230's along wit a couple of Studebakers, a roadster, a bunch of Caddies and even a Vette. Hey, if you got space you got to fill it, right.
Another shop we visited was Dennis Piranio's. He builds Chrysler's and Ford banger engines for a living and he's good at it (www.modelaparts.net). Some Wally's on the shelf in his office prove it too. His latest project is a little chop-top Model A Coupe that's scheduled to run at the salt this year. Talk about cool looking retro ride. A trip to old town Dallas took us to Brian Bass's Custom shop (www.basskustom.com). His place was like walking back in time with old iron everywhere. That means on the walls, hanging from the ceiling, under the benches and on the floor. There were five rad rides all in progress and you'd want them all. Another excursion took us to Harold Pace's place. He creates words and pix in magazines like Rodders Journal and is fabbing an old style mod roadster in his shop for the street and a trip down the salt. There were a couple of other stops that blew our minds but are on the private side so I'll just say does anyone like old board track cars and kick-ass bikes?
Back at Ed's shop is his ride and an old George Poteet roadster; both being revised for yet another trip to the salt. Inside his other garage (how come us normal folks only have one?) sits a '55 and '57 Chevy. Out in Ed's driveway was a trailer dragged up from Houston by Tom Teske and his bud that housed a new rear engined mod roadster being assembled for B-ville this year. A once over and a few suggestions of things that needed to pass tech were talked about. The actual party was held Saturday night at a great little Mexican restaurant and spirits flowed along with a bunch of bench racing. Talk about a great time. Al Eshenbaugh, (Steinegger & Eshenbaugh fuel roadster record holder at 234 and 239), and Ed talked and talked Chryslers constantly (wait till you see Ed's new custom made billet heads for this year). We even had snow (I said it was cool) Saturday night and I wonder how many couldn't resist getting their rig sideways after all the car talk on their way home. All I have to do now that I'm home is get the pictures to download to the computer that were shot on the trip so I can share them with you. But that's another story.

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Editorial:   
Leslie Long sent word that the Santa Ana Drags and Main Street Malt Shop Reunion will be held on April 10, 2010, from 10am to 4pm. The place is a park alongside the Santiago River creek bed, 500 feet east of North Main Street and East Memory Lane, in Orange, California. Memory Lane is also called Main Place Drive on the west side of North Main Street. As you turn off of North Main Street and head east, look for a little street or almost an alley about 500 feet from the corner of North Main and East Memory Lane. It doesn't have a name, if I recall, but you can see that the bottom of the creek bed is concreted in and used for parking and there will be hot rods and cars parked there. Ask for Leslie Long, Bill and Marie Jenks or just ask where the reunion is located. I've heard that Mel Dodd and Otto Ryssman will be coming, but I can't promise that. These reunion members were all in their late teens and early twenties when they raced at Santa Ana from 1950 to 1960. All of these original pioneers of the sport of drag racing are now approaching the early and late eighties. There won't be very many of these reunions left and so don't put it off. Come and talk to some of the first drag racers in the country and the world. These men and women literally created the sport of drag racing.
Here are some car shows and events sent in to us. Vic Edelbrock is presenting the 5th Annual Rev'ved up 4 Kidz Charity Car Show at his garage and museum in Torrance. The address is 510 Madrid Avenue, Torrance, California 90503. The date is April 25, 2010. There is an entry fee to show your car and donations are very much welcomed. Contact Debbie Baker for more information at 714-803-9216. Debbie Baker is a very nice lady, who puts on these shows to benefit car guys and charities that help children and prostate cancer, which took the life of her husband. If you haven't had a chance to see Vic Edelbrock's museum and manufacturing plant, you have missed out on a great time. Vic is often around and he is a real hot rodder from the old days. The 11th Annual Cruisin for a Cure car show will be held on September 25, 2010 at the Orange County Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, California. It goes from 7am to 4:30pm and they cut off registration at 3500 cars. You can get more information by calling Debbie Baker at 714-803-9216. This car show raises money for prostate cancer research and they also have a facility on-site where men can take a free prostate cancer test. It's a painless, easy test and Debbie figures that in the 11 years that the car show has been doing this that over a thousand men have been saved from this dreaded cancer. Sadly, she lost her husband to this disease. His cancer was the reason that Debbie created this unique car show.
April 3, 2010 is reserved for Hila Sweet's California Car Racers Reunion in Torrance, California. It's a great reunion for oval track racing car guys. It's not a closed event, but she reserves it for racers and serious fans of the sport of car racing. Email a message to me for more information if you are interested in this event. George Barris' Cruisin' Back to the '50's Car Show #7 will be held on Saturday, May 8, 2010. The time is 9am to 3pm in downtown Culver City, California. Spectators have free admission, but there is an entrance fee for participants who want to show off their car. To register go on-line at www.CulverCityCarShow.com. You can also call 310-499-4840 or go to www.barris.com. The Holley 8th NHRA Nationals Hot Rod Reunion will be at Beech Bend Raceway Park, Bowling Green, Kentucky on June 18-20. You can call 1-800-884-NHRA for more details. This reunion was started a decade ago and was cancelled because the turnout was low. Word got around slowly back east and the hot rod guys talked it up and asked the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum for another chance. At first the museum board was reluctant, but the concept was a good one and so they relented. Since that time the reunion has just exploded in popularity and has become a fixture for hot rodders and drag racers in the eastern part of the country. This year's honorees include; Larry Reyes, T.C. Lemons, J.E. Kristek, Joe Jacono and the team of Leffler & Loukas. The Grand Marshall is Chris Karamesines. The 21st Annual 2010 Belmont Shore Car Show will be held on September 12, 2010 on Second Street in Belmont Shore, California. There is a registration fee for participants, but spectators will not be charged. Call Steve at 714-894-8411 for more information. This show is produced by Bay City Rodders of Seal Beach, California.

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I would like to thank all of you that have supported Fairmont Butte Motorsports Park with your letters and e-mails to the County of Los Angeles and those that attended the hearings, especially the one held in Lancaster, California. As many of you know the next Public Hearing will be held at 9 am on March 24th at the Hall of Records at 320 West Temple Street, Los Angeles. If I could impose on you one more time to show your support by attending this crucial meeting, it will make an impact and be very much appreciated. We hope that this will be the last significant meeting. Look forward to seeing you there. Thank you again for your support. Respectfully, Thomas E. Malloy

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To Jim Miller: Thanks so much for providing for the opportunity, for those of us who can only wish we could have been there, to explore the history of hot rodding, the cars, the people, those times. I just spoke with Mr. Robert Genat, author of The Birth of Hot Rodding, and I asked about the origins of the photograph on page 85, which features Paul Schiefer's '25 T roadster. He said the AHRF has possession of the slides and suggested I contact you! What a small world. Of particular interest is that sticker/label on the said of the cowl, just forward of the Pittman arm. Is it possible for the AHRF to capture that detail so I might be able to recreate it? Please know I am willing to pay for your services and/or take whatever action necessary to help obtain a clean image of the graphic, or at least obtain a clear physical description. I've nearly completed my survey of Paul Schiefer's '25 T. There are some things, like the interior, about which we can only make educated guesses; thankfully the sharp minds of Jack Osborne, Jack Underwood, Freddie Lobello, Burke Lesage and others who were there have made the job so much easier than I anticipated. That label is one of the last details that will help put one of the legends back on wheels. Thanks for whatever help/advice you can provide. Sincerely, David Walker
David: Please keep us informed on your progress and the facts that you uncover on the roadster and on Paul Schiefer. My father was honored with the SEMA Paul Schiefer trophy, which I have in my living room. Paul was well thought of and a gentleman among the land speed racers. Please send me news and research so that I can post it to the newsletter. We should keep Paul's name alive and encourage more historians to add to what we know about him.
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I had the unusual opportunity to work on some aircraft documentation in Lincoln, NE the past couple weeks, so I made contact with Mr John MacKichan who, as I'm sure you know, owns a Bonneville racer and is operations manager at the Bill Smith Museum of American Speed. I also picked up most of a '25 T roadster body that needs re-wooding. Mr MacKichan was a very gracious host, showing me and a co-worker his land speed racer and taking us on a tour of the museum. I've been to many museums but never one as in-tune with diverse hot rod interests and so full of answers. I learned that Emory Cook raced with Cliff Bedwell in 1957 with a slingshot dragster, immediately following his partnership with Red Henslee, which was likely also the end of Schiefer's car. It depends who use ask as to when Schiefer's car met its demise: Some say the '25-'27 T roadster was destroyed when Joaquin Arnett moved the engine to the rear; others believe it was when Red Henslee likely wrecked it at Santa Ana. I contacted Carl Schiefer with the hope of obtaining a picture of his father to be amalgamated with the roadster's probable history. Hopefully I will obtain an image soon. It seems Schiefer's '25 T. Thanks for your interest. Sincerely, David Walker
David: If I met John MacKichan I can't quite place him. Send us a report on what you experienced at Bill Smith's Museum of American Speed. Bill Smith was at Pomona not too long ago. As for the Paul Schiefer car, an excellent opportunity is coming up soon. On April 10, 2010, 10am-4pm, along Santiago Creek in Orange, there will be another reunion of early drag racers that raced at Santa Ana. They call it the Santa Ana Drags and Main Street Malt Shop Reunion and they hold it once or twice a year. These are the pioneers who raced from 1950 through 1959. If anyone can help you in your quest, these men can. They're getting older so you need to come now. It's free and you bring your own picnic basket. Two guys who may be able to help you are Leslie Long, the event coordinator, and Don Montgomery who raced at Santa Ana in his Hudson. Montgomery lives in Fallbrook and so he may not make it to the reunion. I was at a Bean Bandits Reunion not long ago and some of the old guys that are still there might be able to tell you something. You need to start a phone tree, then go to where these guys hang out and ask them for information, photographs, names and additional phone numbers. We are really excited to know that you are eager to gather all the information that you can on a very important dry lakes racer.

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You might be interested in looking at www.1320movie.com to see if you recognize anybody, and if you do, I can tell you more of the story. I can arrange to get you an autographed copy. Jack Dolan
Jack: It was an interesting site and an issue that my father and our family have been fighting for 70 years (illegal street racing). The trailer of the video is so retro. The one politician who says "to hell with drag strips, lock the kids up," is so reminiscent of the 1940's and '50's. Yes, tell us more of the story.

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Things are finely moving along in a very positive way for a new track in the Antelope Valley! There will be a very important meeting and support mixer held at the Antelope Valley Credit Union on Friday April 9, 2010 at 7:00pm. AV Credit Union, 43816 15th Street West, Lancaster, California 93543. The purpose of the mixer is to garner support for AV MotorPlex, in an effort to bring Drag Racing back to Antelope Valley by building a national state-of-the-art green facility in the Lancaster area. "Our mission is to attract supporters in 3 different categories; i.e. Fundraising, Racer Support and Volunteer Services." We need as many of you as possible to show up, to include, racing clubs, organizations along with the L.A.C.R. staff and crew! We will be discussing the New Track to include a Legal Street Race that is also in the planning stages! There is also a New Web site under Construction along with a Social Network that allows members to stay in touch and get all of the breaking news as it happens! The site will be going through several changes over the next few weeks. See http://www.avmotorplex.com. You will find a flier that you can download and print for this event; http://www.avmotorplex.com/images/flyer.pdf. There is also a link on the site that will take you to the Network to sign up; http://avmotorplex.ning.com.
I will also be hosting my "Picknik In A Park" on Saturday April 10th 2010 From 10:00am - 5:00pm at Stephen Sorensen Park, 16801 East Avenue P, Lake Los Angeles, California 93591. We will also be talking about the new track at that event. Bring your Hot Rods and Race Cars and show your support only $ 15 to register. Spectators always free! Bring your Own Eats! For more information on that event please visit. See http://www.moldyshows.com/moldyshows_2010/04_10_10_sorensen.html. If anyone has any questions please let me know. tha Moldy one (661) 944-2299. http://www.avmotorplex.com and http://www.savelacr.org.

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Evelyn Roth submitted this website. It has a lot of car and bike links in it. Google; http://justacarguy.blogspot.com.

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I was reading your article on xxxx xxxxxxxxxx. I would be embarrassed to have your website affiliated with him. Most of his life he has spent scamming people and still continues to do so on a daily basis. The last line in your story talks about his children. You have no idea the hurt he puts on his daughter xxxxxxxx everyday. She is handicapped and he does not even acknowledge the fact that she is his daughter because he is embarrassed of her. He does not support, see or acknowledge the fact she is alive. She is a wonderful girl and personally she is better off with out him, but that is not my decision. The devil gave him his talents...lying, stealing, cheating, and conning people all of his life. He is bad news for your website. Anonymous
Readers: I am with-holding the letter writer's identity, but I am including the message here in the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter, because it is an excellent letter and one that merits our attention. The first thing that I have to say is that when our readers write in with topics like this we should encourage their comments and never try to silence them. The second thing is that just because it is embarrassing or hurtful to us, that doesn't mean the content isn't important or valuable. We are a society and our goal is to honestly save the history and heritage of hot rodding and straight line racing. Sometimes that job is very easy and sometimes it is very difficult. When I began recording histories and doing book reviews I quickly realized that if I took offense or was offended by racers, their actions or their beliefs, that I would have few friends and perhaps learn to dislike most of them. I have to balance out many factors. Yes, they are brave men and women who do things that attract a lot of attention from the public. They are often idolized and worshipped. They do things that the rest of us can only fantasize about. But, they are also human and in some cases they are horribly flawed as people. They often have severe dysfunctions, like alcoholism, drug abuse, severe risk taking, adultery and the inability to develop good social skills. Many are loners and recluses, while others are sociopathic.
I've come to this conclusion; that I have to be aware of their failings and accept their shortcomings and refuse to hold them up as paragons of virtue and role models. But I also have to find the good in them and to help them write their stories and caption their photographs. Maybe I can also be their friends and help them towards rehabilitation towards the loved ones they have hurt. That is the limit to what I can do as an editor and as a person. As to the biographies and stories, they are written by the individuals themselves from a series of questions that are standard. I receive the biographies and edit them for grammar and content and then re-send the bio back to the racer to add or subtract content. When the biographee is satisfied with his or her life's record then we publish on-line. We are not professional historians, in that we do not charge for our services nor make any money from what we do. We simply save and record racing history for the love of the sport and nothing else. If a racer stretches the truth or states that this is the way he wants his history to read, then it is his or her biography after all and we cannot and will not control the content thereof. But we do take other people's account and add that to the list of bios and stories in the newsletter.
What we don't do is use words that create disharmony, such as lying, stealing, cheating and conning among others. We might use words such as misappropriation, confusion and difference of opinion to explain what is happening. We also can't take sides in a dispute. What we can do is show both sides and allow each party to state their views equally and fairly. We also retract and apologize for any errors and mistakes that are brought to our attention. We aren't looking to make enemies and we aren't trying to harm or injure anyone. Our intentions are clear and the Society has proven that over and over again, that fairness and equality are our basic goals. The person that you are referring to has friends and supporters as well as detractors. I've talked to both sides and I've extended an invitation to both sides to write their bios, stories and caption their photographs, but they haven't responded. Also, I wouldn't allow any person or group to send in a history that said only, "He's a cheater, liar and con man." It may be true, but written like that it is slanderous and libelous and that's not what we do. More than one person has brought this issue up as to fairness in reporting and our stand is always the same; "We try for perfection and we accept the best that we can do."
In addition, I also review books. Our goal is history and history is a record of bad as well as good people and a whole lot of us in between. I don't know whether I answered your question, you were venting, or you have more questions to raise. We are not embarrassed because we made an attempt to record a man's history that you despise. We know our limitations. Our goal is history and the saving of it. We do the best that we can and we aren't ashamed of what we do or if we sometimes fail in the attempt, because we are willing to admit our errors and try to overcome them. I don't know this man personally and have only met him on a few occasions and I will not judge him, because I can't. A judge makes a decision after a great deal of effort and I do not have that knowledge to make that judgment. But your letter is VERY valuable to us, because it causes the 700 members of the SLSRH to be more aware that not everything that we are told is accurate and truthful. History can be very subjective and we can be fed a pack of lies and not know it. We have to be aware to check and double check our sources and always be diligent. Unfortunately, the biographies are done by the person who lived that life and not by us. We are at their mercy to give us honest and accurate facts.

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The following video was taken just before the great Earthquake of 1906, in San Francisco, California. This film was "lost" for many years. It was supposedly the first 35 mm film ever made. It was taken by camera mounted on the front of a cable car. The number of automobiles is staggering for 1906. Absolutely amazing! The clock tower at the end of Market Street at the Embarcadero wharf is still there. Google the following link; http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k. This film, originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing, to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall and shadows indicating time of year and actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered. He even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued! It was filmed only four days before the earthquake and shipped by train to NY for processing. Stan Goldstein
Readers: The link above was sent to me by a good friend. I'm sharing this with you because we don't have good film documentation of what it was like to live over a century ago and while none of you have any connection to the city or to those living there at the time, it still shows us how people coped back then. I'm amazed at the complexity of the city and the modernity of the cars. Notice that the touring cars are especially elaborate and it isn't until the 1920's that the styles change dramatically. These cars at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century represent some of the greatest coach building of the day. We would all probably love to have one of these cars, except that most of them start at half a million dollars and up. I can't seem to find a stop sign or traffic signal anywhere and the general rule seems to be that the automobile and trolleys have the right away and pedestrians should beware of where they walk. It is sad to note that four days after the film was shot, nearly the entire city of San Francisco lay in rubble with fires destroying much of what was left and the death toll was high. Many of the people in this film would be dead due to the earthquake.

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Here is yet another voice heard from a former member of the Crawford Advisory Committee and printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer with regards to the WRHS and the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. It appears this is still very passionate subject among many in Cleveland. Please take particular notice to the mention of the treatment of the Crawford volunteers. Perhaps you can include this Cleveland Plain Dealer writing in the next newsletter. Thanks again for your continued support, Mike Kacsala
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Please Go to the following link for more details; http://blog.cleveland.com/letters/2010/03/western_reserve_historical_soc_5.html. Western Reserve Historical Society's practices could doom Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. By Other Voices. March 19, 2010. I want to thank the Plain Dealer for partially exposing the travesty occurring at the Western Reserve Historical Society ("Putting history on the block," March 7). I say "partially" because there is much more to the story, which, if left untold, spells the demise of the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. As a member of the society's Crawford Advisory Committee (CAC), I, too, was misled by the society's management."" In 2007, the CAC was persuaded to agree to the sale of collection items to help retire the debt. We were assured that sale proceeds would be matched dollar for dollar by sales from the non-Crawford collections and all money raised would be used to pay the debt. The Crawford sales netted $2 million, but the debt was reduced by only $800,000 because the society took $1.2 million in Crawford sales and spent it primarily on the Library and History Center. During (current administrator's/editor's correction) three-year tenure as CEO, the society has continued to run a $1 million annual deficit, and these deficits occurred despite the Crawford generally operating at a surplus. Records show that the Crawford generally operates in the black, primarily because of its extensive use of volunteers (who have now been fired). The sales of collection items will continue under this management, the most recent casualty being the rare and irreplaceable 1918 Curtiss Flying Boat, personally acquired by Fred Crawford, which goes to auction on April 13 and is expected to bring $300,000 to $500,000. John Hlavka, Euclid, Ohio.
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I am just letting everyone know that there will be a table/booth at the Autorama (March 19-21, 2009/editor's correction) where we will be gathering signatures on a petition asking the Governor/Attorney General for the State of Ohio to separate the Crawford Auto Museum from the Western Reserve Historical Society. Unfortunately, the Autorama people refused to give free passes to volunteers coming to the show for purposes of manning the booth. If you are attending the Autorama show and would like to help gather signatures, please come to the booth which is about 200 feet northeast of the Ferris wheel. You can also call Mike Derda, Jim Rafferty or John Hlavka. John Hlavka
Mike and John: Unfortunately the wheels of relief grind slowly. The time to have taken action was several years ago. By the time anyone acts on your behalf to save the cars at the Crawford, they will have all been sold off. Your best bet is to hire an attorney and seek an injunction in order to give you more time to act.
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Here's an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I encourage you to read the comments after the article as well. This was one of the original pieces in the Fredrick Crawford collection that the Western Reserve Historical Society administration said would not be touched. I think it is no coincidence that after the widow of Fred Crawford recently passed away some of the original Crawford items are being sold off. Mike Kacsala
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Google; http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/03/rare_flying_boat_from_western.html. Rare flying boat from Western Reserve Historical Society collection goes to auction. By Joan Mazzolini, The Plain Dealer, March 21, 2010.
Tens of thousands of Clevelanders turned out to see Curtiss set a record for flying over water on Aug. 31, 1910, when he went from Euclid Beach Park to Cedar Point. For 10 days next month, visitors to a Madison Avenue sculpture garden in New York will be able to view a rare, nearly 100-year-old "flying boat" that had once been displayed at the Western Reserve Historical Society. The Curtiss MF flying boat, one of just four remaining in the world and part of the society's Crawford auto and aviation collection, is being shown off because it is for sale, set for auction on April 13. Bonham's auction house in New York estimates the plane will fetch between $300,000 and $500,000 for the society that has been selling off pieces of its collections for several years to try to pay down millions of dollars of debt.
Society officials couldn't be reached for comment but told The New York Times that the society has another type of Curtiss plane on display. They said the planes' varnished hulls and fabric-covered white wings are easily damaged and costly to maintain. The plane, one of the first to be able to take off and land on water, was designed by Glenn H. Curtiss, the chief competitor - and later business associate - of the Wright Brothers. Crawford's Thompson Auto Album and Aviation Museum seems to have acquired the flying boat plane in the 1940's, about 20 years before TRW donated his collection to the society. The auction house reports that it believes the Curtiss plane the society is selling was owned by William F. "Bill" Long, an early aviator who ran the Lorain Airport. They say he likely bought it in the early 1920's, when the government sold off surplus planes. The two-seater was used to take sightseers around Cedar Point and the islands.
While the plane was likely built by the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia in 1917 or 1918, Curtiss was not a stranger to Cleveland or its active aviation community. In 1910, nearly 150,000 lined the route from Euclid Beach Park to Cedar Point or waited at the parks to see a different "airship" flown by Curtiss, according a newspaper report at the time. He set a new world's record for "long distance flight over water" though Curtiss flew low. From about 1910 to 1915, Cleveland companies made tires for Curtiss planes being manufactured in his hometown of Hammondsport, N.Y., Trafford Doherty, executive director of the Curtiss Museum located there. That museum has one of the remaining boat planes, though the wings have been modified. Cleveland went on to become a major player in the aeronautical industry through World War II, with plane manufactures such as the Great Lakes Aircraft Company on St Clair Avenue and other companies making engines and propellers. That's one of the reasons the National Air Races moved to Cleveland in 1929.
The plane, "is a great and rare artifact," said Tony Ambrose, a local pilot, self-educated plane historian and member of the society's former aviation subcommittee. "It looks like a beautiful mahogany yacht." But Ambrose said when the society was considering its sale earlier, he was willing to sacrifice it to save two other planes at the society, which were more locally connected. One was a F2G Corsair, which was built in Akron and was flown by local war aviation hero Cook Cleland who won the 1947 Thompson Trophy Race in Cleveland in it. The other was a Cessna 182P Skylane bought by TRW executive Jim Dunlap who learned to fly as he was retiring and later took the plane around the world in 1990, leaving from the Cuyahoga County Airport. Dunlap donated the plane to the society in about 2002. The Corsair and Cessna were both sold. The Plain Dealer recently detailed the Western Reserve Historical Society's sale of artifacts including planes, cars, furniture and other collections to pay off debt that was largely incurred during an unsuccessful attempt to build a lakefront museum in the late 1990's.
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The petition project at the Cleveland, Autorama. (See attachment for the petition). It seems we "fired volunteers" are a very tenacious group and the area car enthusiasts appear to be very sympathetic to the Crawford issue too. This is about as grassroots as you can get. John Hlavka is a former member of the Crawford Advisory Commission and is the originator of this email. Mike Kacsala
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Please let the volunteers know that we had a very successful experience this weekend at the Autorama. We were overwhelmed by the thousands of angry residents that signed our petition. We have signatures from as far away as Toledo and Columbus. We actually turned away residents from Pennsylvania and Michigan, who wanted to sign but couldn't because the petition is limited to Ohio residents. I am attaching pictures. We need to thank Mike (Hollywood) Kormos for getting the Happy Days cast (Cindy Williams et al) to come to our booth to help draw attention to our cause. They were very accommodating. The Marines came to our booth at the end of the show and signed without being asked! They had heard about our cause and were very sympathetic. A Marine who signed the petition earlier in the day stated as he was leaving "Those guys have failed their mission - they ought to be relieved!"
We met many supporters who offered help including a gentleman who offered to do a website. "Big Al" offered to put all our stuff on his website. We were also invited to bring our petitions to car clubs, car shows and cruise-ins. The sign with the red lines (seen best in the Happy Days picture) is a list of the Crawford items that were part of the collection in 2006. The red strikeouts indicate the vehicles and airplanes that have been sold since (thank you Mike Derda for preparing this stunning graphic). I am also attaching the text of the Petition so you can see what our "mission" is. I assume you all saw the PD article in Sunday's PD. I am attaching the link to the article. Google this link for more information; http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/03/rare_flying_boat_from_western.html. John Hlavka

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Gone Racin'…Crazy Horses; the history of British drag racing, by Brian Taylor, with a foreword by Don Garlits. Book review by Richard Parks, photographic consultant Roger Rohrdanz.

Brian Taylor has researched and written a wonderful book on British drag racing from the very beginning until the present. The book is called Crazy Horses; the history of British drag racing, and is a hard bound book 224 pages in length and measuring 8 � by 11 inches in size. The paper is first class bond, but not as slick as some pictorial book use, still the photographs were clear and crisp. The book is not bound at the spine, but glued in, so you need to take special care so as not to have any damage occur to the pages. The dust cover jacket is well done and enhances the look of the book. I have mentioned this to you before; over time the dust jacket will be worth half the cost of the book itself. The dust cover jackets are often worn out, lost and discarded. Always take excellent care of your dust cover jackets. Crazy Horses; the history of British drag racing, contains introductions, acknowledgments, author and photographer information and a nice foreword by Don "Big Daddy" Garlits. There is a very good index covering four comprehensive pages and an addendum for British Hall of Fame drag racing inductees. There are 240 color and 49 black and white photographs. I didn't see any graphs, pie charts or other graphics other than the photographs. Some of the photos were full page, a few covering two pages and some rather small, but the overall quantity and quality fit the text very well. I would have loved to see more black and white photographs, indicating more age and history for the subject. Roger Gorringe took most of the photographs and they are extremely good. There is a substantial amount of text, and the captions are satisfactory. The book has cross-over appeal. It can be enjoyed as a coffee table book for its photographs and visual appeal, read for the interesting content, is a crisp historical reference and appeals to both an American and European audience. It's rare to hear about drag racing outside of the United States and thus Crazy Horses will peak our interest.
Pay attention to the list of acknowledgments, because that will give you a clue as to how thorough the author was in doing his research. All of the sources are excellent, but a few names jumped out, including; Gordie Bonin, Don Garlits, Tom Ivo, Paula Murphy, Carl Olson, and Steve Swaja. Taylor used magazines, books, libraries, websites and newsletters as well in researching the roots of British drag racing and you can see his enthusiasm for his subject. Don Garlits supplied the foreword and described the 1964 British Drag Festival and the participation of the American Drag Racing Team sent to England by Wally Parks and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). Garlits tells about the wonderful support the British racers and public extended to himself and the other American racers. Garlits is now as fervid and committed to saving the history and heritage of drag racing as he was a ferocious and feared competitor on the dragstrips of yesteryear. Taylor was wise to select Don Garlits to set the tone for the rest of the book. Chapter One is called Roots and of course this is the author's first effort to bring out the real history of drag racing in the British Isles. Here Taylor starts out with a history of American hot rodding and time trials, morphing into modern drag racing. That's fine and important for a European audience, but I found it unnecessary. Also, there were a few errors, very minor, but nonetheless easily picked up, such as the mention that Wally Parks was regularly winning on the dry lakes of southern California in the SCTA time trials in the 1930's. He was an official and administrator and we have few records of Parks running for time at the dry lakes. Winning is the wrong word to use anyway, for it was the attempt to break and set records against the clock that time trials are known for. Still, there weren't many of these slip-ups and the story continued, this time discussing early British drag racing history.
The author spends about a half of one page to describe British time trials, similar to timed land speed trials in the United States, covering six decades in a short space. Even though this isn't technically drag racing, I wished there had been more. But Taylor is in a hurry to tell the whole story and British drag racing is rich in history and lore, though on a smaller scale than in the U.S. Taylor states that the roots of British hot rodding and thus the beginnings of drag racing began in the 1950's around London, about two or three decades after the development in America. A decade later, on September 1, 1960 the British Hot Rod Association (BHRA) is formed, and the man who would be the icon of this new sport was Sydney Allard. Besides his promotion of drag racing, Allard was also a car dealer, sports car manufacturer, oval and hill climb racer. Early drag cars were every bit as innovative and sophisticated as American cars. The Brits were proving to be every bit as original and tenacious in automotive racing as any other group of people. A reorganization of the BHRA occurred in 1962. Two years later the British Drag Racing Association (BDRA) formed to operate a series of races featuring the American racing teams on tour. If some of the cars shown in the book seemed a bit strange, think back to the late '50's and early '60's in the United States and you can equate that with the experimentation that the Brits were also doing. Chapter Two tells of the American "Invasions" of the middle years of the 1960's. It was bound to happen. England was becoming a European center for drag racing and Americans would have to travel there and find out for themselves how the sport was expanding. Dante Van Dusen drove Dean Moon's gas dragster in England. Wally Parks urged SEMA to put up a trophy, Mickey Thompson and other American racers wanted in and the U.S. sent drag racers east to partially make up for the Brits sending the Beatles west.
The name given to the tour was the 1964 British International Drag Festival. Some good friends went on the tour and decades later they still talk about the people, races and hospitality that they received. Men like Don Garlits, Tom Ivo, Tony Nancy, George Montgomery, K.S. Pittman, Sox and Martin, Strickler and Jenkins, and bike guys like Bill Woods and Don Hyland. Years later my father, Wally Parks, told us many wonderful memories of that tour and the Brits who returned the favor and came to race in America. A rich crosscurrent of cars went back and forth across "the pond." One of my father's secretary's, Shirley Bunce hailed from England and she always introduced me to British drag racers when they came to see the NHRA races. Chapter Three tells us the story of the development of Santa Pod Raceway, at Podington Airfield in Northamptonshire. This was the first permanent dragstrip and a place of historical pride for drag racing Brits. I could never get an answer from the Brits as to why they used the name Santa Pod until I read the book and found out that they were honoring the old Santa Ana, California, drag strip the first professional drag racing facility in the world. American racers continued to come to England on scheduled tours for several more years and the Brits quickly standardized their sport by observation and their own unique hot rodding talents. A casual observer would be hard pressed to know whether he was watching a drag race in England or America, except for the accents of the people themselves. By 1967 the BDRA and the BHRA merged to form a stronger association to promote and sanction drag racing. At this point Taylor tells the story by year and the appeal of drag racing is growing.
By the end of the 1960's the Brits are touring Sweden and showing their cars to the Swedes. The growing pains of the 1960's were not always pleasant and many organizations rose up to contest for leadership. Taylor states in Chapter Four that the 1970's would be the decade of unprecedented growth with England becoming the focal point of drag racing in Europe. Other countries would also develop their own forms of drag racing, rules and safety, but all would look back on this decade as the golden age of drag racing. The Americans again sent a team to tour England in 1973 that included Paula Murphy, Don Schumacher, Tony Nancy and Danny Johnson (bike). Paula has set drag racing, land speed, jet car and other records among women. Murphy tells me stories to this very day about her tour of England. Many other drag strips opened up throughout the British Isles. The elapsed times and speeds were becoming very competitive and fast, with the first 5 second run in 1976. Chapter Five tells of the development of drag racing throughout northern Europe, especially in Scandinavia, Britain and Holland and crowds at Santa Pod reaching 50,000 fans. Don Garlits tours England in the mid-1970's and won the July 1977 Internationals. Santa Pod and British drag racing was squarely on the map. European records continued to fall. In 1979 Sammy Miller in his rocket powered funny car set a record of 4.2 ET at 307 mph. The thrill of speed was just as infectious on the other side of the "pond" as it was in America. They also have their unique brand of sex appeal as Paula Derbridge lines up Russ Carpenter's dragster clad only in a very skimpy bikini. Even our Jungle Pam Liberman never wore a bikini outfit quite that revealing. The enthusiasm for drag racing is as avid in England as it is anywhere.
The Golden age of drag racing came to a rather sudden end in the 1980's as the racing clubs and sanctioning bodies began to argue and the world-wide economic turbulence took a toll. Growth of drag racing throughout Europe grew faster than safety and sanity would suggest. Perhaps this was simply a breather, waiting for another time in which the sport would thrive as it had in the '70's. Taylor presents sidebars from well-known and influential people; including land speed and drag racer Carl Olson, announcer John Price, British racer Dennis Priddle, Alan Allard and many more. Though the book is broken down into chapters, Taylor gives us a year by year breakdown on the drag racing scene in Great Britain. As we reach the end of the 1990's the actual content starts to decline to half a page or less per year, hardly enough to whet our appetite. However, the purpose of the book is to give a historical perspective of British drag racing and in this Taylor succeeds. There is far more to drag racing in the British Isles than most of us have ever envisioned. The speeds, competitiveness, desire and effort rival any other country or region. The Brits have much to be proud of and I sense that Crazy Horses, part 2 would fill in many of the gaps in the story. No history can tell it all. Authors research and write on what they know and after the book reaches print they find other avenues that they wished that they could have explored and written about. The same is true with Crazy Horses. Taylor has penned a compelling history and he may not be finished yet. We can only hope that part 2 is in his mind to do. Crazy Horses; the history of British drag racing is a book that should be in the library of any drag racing fan who truly loves the history of the sport. Hopefully we will see another history of drag racing throughout Europe, for that story needs to be told as well. I rate this book a 7 out of 8 sparkplugs.
Gone Racin' is at [email protected].

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Gone Racin'…Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection, by Thom Taylor, Steve Coonan and the staff of The Rodder's Journal. Book review by Richard Parks, photographic consultant Roger Rohrdanz.

Most of my reviews are very simple. I explain the size, shape, construction, content and then place a value on the book so that the reader can quickly determine whether it's in their interest to look further into adding it to their library. Sometimes my review of books out of print is merely an effort to let readers know that a gem of a book exists in case they should run across a copy at a swap meet or a garage sale. On rare occasions I review a book that is a cornerstone addition; that is a book so valuable that it should be the beginning on which you build your collection. Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection is one of those cornerstone books. When Steve Coonan, Thom Taylor and Don Coonan mentioned that they were going to undertake this project and publish Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection, my expectations were very high. It took them quite some time, effort and expense, but my hopes for this book were not disappointed. Why is this book a masterpiece in my estimation? Well, it is an interesting story of a man and a magazine that has riveted the attention of anyone who ever owned or read an old issue of Throttle magazine. The story begins in the late 1930's, a time when the Great Depression changed America forever, and a world war was looming in the dark future. Young men in Southern California were developing their own brand of the car culture, which we call hot rodding today. They usually were poor, lucky if they had a job or part-time work and most people lived with extended family in small homes. Money was tight and that encouraged creativity and inventiveness. Young men would scour the junk yards for old cars and parts and build their own version of a fast and beautiful car. They raced their cars on the streets, at oval tracks, at the dry lakes in the Mojave Desert and anywhere they could find an opportunity to show them off.
It's hard to describe the activity and local racing in the 1930's to people today. The size and scope of the car culture then was huge, compared to today. During and just after the Great Depression and World War II, the freedom that cars, travel and racing gave to people was enormous. We didn't have the widespread use of television at that time. There was no internet to occupy our attentions. We had radio and it was a major part of our lives, though normally we only listened to it during the evenings, when the music and comedy shows came on. There were oval track races every night of the week in one location or another. A young man could take his roadster, coupe, jalopy, sprint car or midget to a track and race it on a constant basis and if he was a talented driver and his car was sturdy and well-built, he could win more money in a race than he could earn in a week. I remember seeing my Uncle Vance Ziebarth's check from the foundry. He earned $17 a week and in those days you worked 10 hours or more a week. A good driver might make that much or more in one night at the track, or sometimes win nothing and have to have his friends tow him home if he ran out of gas and money. Another activity for young men and their cars at that time, and still going on, is the time trials in the deserts on dry lakes, where the object is to match man and machine against time itself. It was a grueling trip out to the desert on roads that were primitive and sometimes non-existent. Once there it took organization and control in order to bring the chaos of young men racing their cars in every direction at once. George Wight and George Riley organized the Muroc Timing Association and ran it like a business, with help from young men and car clubs.
By 1937 the two men had decided to get out of the business of dry lakes racing and seven car clubs organized the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) to carry on racing on the desert playas. Once a month, from May through November, young men would make the long, slow and arduous trip out to the dry lakes of Southern California. In between they would race on the oval tracks or arrange for informal races on isolated streets and highways. Other groups would form to organize this boiling point of enthusiasm for young men and their lust to race their cars. The Western Timing Association (WTA) formed with the goal of conducting safe and controlled land speed racing on the dry lakes. The goal of the SCTA, WTA, Russetta Timing Association and oval track promoters and racing associations was to bring a measure of safety to car racing and to counter the public belief that auto racing was unsafe. Many people wanted to see car racing banned on the oval tracks, at the dry lakes and particularly on the streets, where it was virtually unsupervised. These groups would spend time and resources to counter the public perception that auto racing was dangerous, deadly and unnecessary. Individuals would also speak out on the subject; men like Wally Parks, Ed Adams, Art Tilton, Thatcher Darwin, Ak Miller and Jack Peters. Adams, Parks, Tilton, Darwin and Miller represented the SCTA and they were advocates of safe and sanctioned dry lakes racing. Walt James, J.C. Agajanian and other promoters and racing leaders oversaw the safety of oval track racing. However, there were hardly any publications devoted to promoting auto racing at the time and to be a voice for the interests of car guys and racers. Into that void stepped Jack Peters, a young man who passionately believed in promoting the interests of the racing public.
Jack Peters is actually an alias and if it hadn't been for the great detective work of the people at The Rodder's Journal, his story might never have been told. He was born Jack E. Jerrils, but went by the name of Jack Peters while he was racing. He had a striking and bubbly personality and you quickly noticed his piercing eyes, wide smile and big ears. He had a presence about him and he was well liked. For years people believed that Jack must have been a Throttler and that he went off to war and perished, for nothing was heard from him again after 1942. Jack Peters founded Throttle magazine in late 1940 and the first issue came out in January of 1941. He went everywhere with a bundle of magazines under his arm and how we came to know him was through his meetings with the SCTA Board of Director meetings. Throttle magazine was an instant success with car guys in Southern California, though Peters had to work hard to convince the advertisers that his little magazine had staying power. He produced 11 monthly issues and a special issue to honor and report on the biggest race of them all - the Indianapolis 500. Peters scoured the racing landscape for stories and Throttle magazine was one of the first publications to give space to the dry lakes and land speed racers. The quality of the magazine and its reporting accuracy was outstanding. Over the years collectors and historians made every effort to find and add Throttle magazine to their collections. The magazine grew in popularity, content and size to the point that in early December of 1941 Peters wrote in the editorial for that month that 1942 looks like his magazine will reach even greater reach and success. It was not to be, for a few days after the editorial was written and the magazines were being mailed out, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and all forms of racing would cease until after the war.

Peters closed his publication and entered the service and after that no one ever heard from him again. It was common for men to leave for the war and never return. Over the years we collected Throttle magazine, read and reread the old stories from 1941 and dreamed about what would have happened if WWII had never occurred. In 1948 Bob Lindsay and Robert "Pete" Petersen began to publish Hot Rod magazine and it was eerie how similar their publication was to Throttle magazine. They had the same cover, red stripes on the top and bottom with a gray background in the middle with a photograph of a car or driver. The headings, stories, titles and way of organizing the content were very similar and lead us to believe that Lindsay and Petersen copied the format of Throttle for their new racing magazine. Perhaps most magazines of the day had a similar format. I remember that Look, Life, Saturday Evening Post and other magazines often had similar outlines. But the similarity between Throttle magazine in 1941 and Hot Rod magazine in 1948 is nearly identical. Throttle magazine was forgotten for many years, until collectors began finding copies at swap meets, garage sales and on eBay. Hot Rod magazine became iconic and well sought after, but Throttle became a rarity and seldom mentioned by most racing fans. We knew that the magazine existed and I made a photo copy of Jack Underwood's collection of Throttle magazine, which is good that I did, since someone stole his Throttle magazines. That's all that he and I have to work with while using Throttle magazine as a researching tool for pre-WWII auto racing. The copied material is fine for that research, but no match for having the actual magazine in front of us.
Then the Coonan brothers at The Rodder's Journal talked to Thom Taylor and using Thom's original collection of Throttle magazines, great detective work and the excellent quality of The Rodder's Journal photography and printing, they brought us Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection. The result is a book that even exceeds the earlier magazines themselves. The sad part is that we only have one year, 1941, in which this magazine existed and reported on the racing scene. We are so thankful that we have this one year, but we can't help but think what a treasure was lost because Peters didn't start until that year and WWII ended his dream of starting a national car racing publication. If the war hadn't interrupted Throttle magazine's existence, it is highly probably and close to a near certainty that Lindsay and Petersen would never have created Hot Rod magazine. We don't know that for a fact and I don't recall that anyone ever asked Lindsay and Petersen this question while they were alive. Yet Throttle magazine began to thrive and grow rapidly and we can assume from the facts that if Peters had continued publishing Throttle magazine, that Hot Rod magazine would not have survived the competition. Another point is that Hot Rod magazine was started as a tool to help Petersen promote the SCTA Hot Rod Show at the Armory in Los Angeles in 1948. This show was put on for a major reason, to show the public that hot rodding was something to be appreciated and not feared. The SCTA didn't know whether it would be a commercial success or a failure. The need to promote hot rodding as an organized sport was imperative and they were desperate to get the public on their side. Pending legislation to end hot rodding was in the California Assembly and the public was clamoring for an end to street racing. The SCTA and other groups had to act and the Hot Rod Show was the tool that the group was using to educate the public.
If Throttle magazine had not closed and were still publishing, Petersen and the SCTA would certainly have used the publication for promoting the Hot Rod Show and Hot Rod magazine most likely would never have been created. As for the book, Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection, it is up to the high standards of the old Throttle magazine and The Rodder's Journal. The book measures 8 � x 10 � inches in dimension and is about � inch in thickness. It is a hard cover edition and the binding is an extra quality cloth binding and not glued. The book cover jacket is worth saving and is reminiscent of the covers on the old Throttle magazines. Strange as it may seem, the book cover jacket which is meant to protect the book, is probably worth half the price of what the book is valued at, so you need to make sure that you protect the book cover jacket. I stress this over and over again in all my reviews, for while a book cover jacket does not give any information as compared to the contents of the book itself, yet books lose a considerable amount of value when they are torn, tattered or lost. This book cover jacket really enhances the appeal of the book, making Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection valuable as a coffee table book, a racing book and an encyclopedia of racing history. The book has 185 pages, all of which are very high quality, waxed photographic paper, similar to that used by The Rodder's Journal and making the photographs stand out in high detail. It is as if they had taken 12 issues of Throttle magazine and bound them into a book. The quality of the old magazine and that of the new book are equal. This is a first class reproduction of a first class magazine of the day. There is a one page introduction by Thom Taylor and Steve Coonan, terse, passionate and to the point. Following that is a one page table of contents. There are 13 chapters; one chapter for each monthly issue of the old Throttle magazine and an extra chapter on the history of Throttle magazine and Jack Peters, aka Jack E. Jerrils. Finally there is a six page comprehensive index, which I always like to see in a book. I often go first to the index to judge a book. If an author creates a good index, that is an indication that the rest of the book will have content and detail as well. Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection has a thorough and complete index and the historian and fans of racing will appreciate that little extra attention to detail.
The photographs for the most part have come from the old Throttle magazines and thus the quality should be rated on what Jack Peters had to work with at the time. Peters did a remarkable job with his photography, considering what he had available to him. Steve Coonan did an excellent job of transferring the old photographs into the book without losing any more detail and clarity. Coonan always does an excellent job. The Rodder's Journal has competitor in journalism that is superior. At best there are a few magazines that can come close to equaling what Coonan does. That does not mean that the photographs in Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection are always of high quality as you see in The Rodder's Journal, but that is not Coonan's fault, but the type of cameras that Peters was using back in 1941. For most purposes the photographs are sufficient for the general public and auto racing historians to use and enjoy. This was the best that they had back in 1941 and Coonan has faithfully kept whatever quality there was from degrading further. Jack Peters wrote many of the columns and stories published in Throttle magazine, but he went out of his way to get others to contribute as well, so we have a well rounded view of racing in 1941. Besides Peters, there were articles and by-lines by his brother, Dick Jerrils, Pop Myers, Wally Parks, George Rowell, Lou Senter, Howard Wilson, Barney Glazer, W. Blaine Patton, Art Tilton, Sid Senter, and Howard Langley. Rowell and Lou Senter were the major columnists, but Jack Peters filled the majority of pages of Throttle magazine with his zealous reporting. The words simply pack energy and reach out after nearly seven decades with a resonance of power. Reading these old stories is like awakening from a long sleep and seeing familiar faces. They are still alive today, these events, men and their machines.
Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection is published by The Rodder's Journal, 263 Wattis Way, South San Francisco, California 94080. You can reach them at 1-650-246-8920 or 1-800-750-9550 and their website is www.roddersjournal.com. No price or ISB number was listed, and at present the book can only be purchased through The Rodder's Journal main office. As for references, well I have one and that is my father, Wally Parks. He kept and treasured The Rodder's Journal as he received it monthly. He left his copies to my brother and me and considered the magazine to be one of the finest that he has ever seen. If he had lived to see Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection, he would have told you that it was a true masterpiece. It is a masterpiece of work from Jack Peters that Steve Coonan and Thom Taylor have lovingly brought back to life so that all of us can share in owing a complete collection of the 12 issues of Throttle magazine. So it is easy for me to simply say - BUY it. I rate Throttle - 1941: The Complete Collection a complete and full 8 spark plugs out of a total of 8 possible. It is that good a book. I couldn't find anything that I even faintly found lacking. It's readable, informative, fast and fun. The book is chock full of details and history and the stories are as fresh today as when they were written. The enthusiasm and zeal of that day comes through for me in an age seven decades removed from the Great Depression era. It's a book I pick up often and scan through and enjoy, just for a moment or for an hour. It's, after all, a cornerstone book for your hot rodding and car racing library.
Gone Racin' is at [email protected].

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