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NEWSLETTER 44 - February 7, 2008
Editor: Richard Parks

President's Corner: By Jim Miller.
Hi All- It's great what a little networking will do. I did have a picture of "Pinky" along with some info. Bud Vess of the Desert Irons car club displayed his roadster in 1948 at the Hot Rod Expo held at the National Guard Armory in Exposition Park near downtown Los Angeles. Note the Willys front axle (and now I know, Buick front end sheetmetal and V8-60 motor). The Desert Irons were members of the SCTA in 1948 for a short time then disbanded. Photo from the AHRF/Mario Baffico Collection. Elmer ran as a guest at the October 1947 SCTA meet as car number 803 and ran in Class A Streamliner and turned 92.97 mph. He had to run as a streamliner because of the cars nose shape. Looking through the '48 results I found nothing on the car. Cars with a 900 series number were listed as guests but I didn't find Bud's name or the number 917 listed. To be able to go for the Class A Record a car had to run over 100 mph just to qualify for a chance to do it. The Desert Irons were only listed as a SCTA Club in the June and July '48 Programs. When Alex Xydias showed up with his bellytank in April '48 he ran 87 mph and by the next meet he was running in the 120's and basically killed any chance for a street car to run that fast. As a side note they spelled his name Almer in the SCTA program so that's where Hot Rod got the misspelling. Your panoramic shot was taken at Gardena/Carrell Speedway a couple of weeks before the First Hot Rod Expo as part of the shows promotion. Look at page 14 of the January 1948 issue of Hot Rod and you'll see the red and black rear engined 1928 and the purple 1934, 4 and 5 cars right of Pinky in the shot. Farther around the track is a yellow roadster on the grass. This is Harvey Haller's racer. Right behind it is Earl Bruce's chopped 1940 Ford. Hope this fills in some more missing info. Larry, if you're interested, please let me know if I could use your photos on the www.AHRF.com website, as I am trying to save every/anything pertaining to hot rod history.

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Eugene Von Arc's Riley Powered Rod
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In the last installment, I was talking about an overhead valve head for the faithful old flathead designed by Eddie Miller Senior back in 1943. I've included a front, side and top view of the head taken from the original drawings for you. Note how big the ports are and the solution to try and get as much water around the exhaust ports as possible. It's just too bad some of the studs got in the way. While we're talking about overheads, George Riley set the standard for the genre, so I dug out a couple of pictures of his heads. The first is an AHRF/Julian Doty shot of Eugene Von Arc's little street rod from before the war featuring a set. This was a classy ride and according to Isky (Ed Iskenderian) from a conversation two days ago the car is alive and well and undergoing a restoration. The second shot was taken at El Mirage on September 21, 1947. The car was identified originally as Al Barns' Cummings, but it's really a Riley. I checked the entries and no one ran any that day so it was probably a spectator's car. While at the Grand National Roadster Show this weekend I spotted this black deuce with a set so I had to include it.
In one of the halls at the GNRS was a little display of roadsters that made their mark at Bonneville in the 1950's, so here's a little history to go with the pix. Car #112 is the Kray's Auto Parts job that was powered by an Olds V8. The car ran 167.91 mph for fifth in class. The slick nose was the work of Jack Hagemann. Car #17 is the Ruddy-Weinstein/Chuck Porter Body Shop Special that ran 200.009 mph in '56. Last up is car #7000, the Jim Khougaz Modifed roadster that ran in 1957. A 467" Chrysler powered the Class D car to an amazing 212.76 mph, eight over the record, for first in class. While we're at it, how many of you remember Porter's 300SL that he dumped a Chevy small block into back in
the fifties? The car was featured on the cover of Sports Cars Illustrated. Hope they bring back some memories.

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Greetings Land Speed Racers! While the upcoming attempt on the World Record is strictly a professional business deal, I wanted to share this development with all of you. Perhaps there might be a potential candidate among you. Unlike the glorious amateur status enjoyed by folks who attend Speedweek and World of Speed, this venture requires the driver to contribute to the party – just like most every other professional driving gig. We are in negotiation with many of the top female names in professional motorsports. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. I have full confidence in the Steve Fossett-assembled team and project manager. I believe the car is ready. I believe the car is a contender that can easily exceed 800MPH and bring the record home to America. We are preparing a website that will be up on-line shortly. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a very fast ride. Speedy Regards, Louise Ann Noeth, Sponsor and Media Relations Director, Steve Fossett LSR, USA, EMail: [email protected], Office: 805-445-8414 PST.

Editor's notes; here's the article sent in by Land Speed Louise. Supersonic Woman Wanted For Steve Fossett LSR Team. Sparks, NV, January 16, 2008 - The Steve Fossett World Land Speed Racing Team today announced it is actively seeking female candidates to drive their jet-powered car to a new Absolute Supersonic Land Speed Record in excess of 800MPH. A woman driver would be an excellent role model to inspire young women in all corners of the earth, as well as attract sponsorship from a wider market. Despite the loss of their founder, the team remains committed to Fossett's vision and has finished assembling the car prompting the driver search. Historically, the driving chores have been handled by a man, but the Fossett LSR team believes a woman would be ideally suited for the task, especially since the cockpit was built on the small side. "We believe there are a number of women active in motorsports and aviation who are qualified to drive our jet car through the sound barrier and beyond," said Program Manager Eric Ahlstrom. "A smaller driver will have advantages in entry/exit, visibility, and control. The driver will be expected to provide detailed feedback data, run-by-run, that will build to the World Record. We're doing something that's never been done before." Mental and physical fitness, not gender, favors the driver who will be exposed to a combination of G-loads and visual distortion greater than any other person has ever experienced. To handle the job, the ideal candidate will have reactions and judgment proven in the top ranks of professional racing, aerobatic and experimental test flight. The team is also interviewing qualified male drivers who fit its physical, mental, and experience requirements. The 48-foot long racer is ready for static engine tests on the January 19th followed by low-speed rolling systems tests in February. The streamlined Fossett racer is powered by a single, 40,000 HP S&S Turbine LM-1500 jet engine and is said to have less than 1/4th the drag of the current record holder, Thrust SSC. All driver candidates are required to bring sponsorship to the table along with their other qualifications. Candidates are encouraged to contact Eric Ahlstrom via email: [email protected] or Louise Ann Noeth via email, [email protected] 805-445-8414.

Editor's notes: Several sources have told me that Martha Tilton was the sister of SCTA co-founder, Arthur C. Tilton. If any of our readers happen to know details so that we can verify this statement, please send it in. The early hotrodders and land speed racers of the 1930's had several ties to the Hollywood movie business and to music and the big bands of the era and were influenced by them. Another famous star was Shirley Temple, whose brother was a member of the Road Runners.

"I Found this on Martha Tilton. Looks like her relatives might still live in the L.A. area. Might be interesting to try and find them." Jim Miller
For some reason, vocalists of the 1940's often ended up with catch phrases attached to their names - and "Liltin' Martha Tilton" was no exceptions. She found her initial fame in Los Angeles in the 1930's, with Jack Smith, their careers seldom diverged until they both found renewed solo popularity on network radio in the post-war years. Much of Martha Tilton's early professional life was spent touring with big bands, beginning with Jimmy Dorsey in 1936 and hitting it big with Benny Goodman in August 1937. Tilton performed both solo and with a vocal group, "Three Hits and a Miss," scoring number one hits with "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart," and "And the Angels Sing" with Goodman, then spent the war years appearing in a series of B-movies, touring military bases with Jack Benny, and recording a number of popular hits with Capitol Records. She enjoyed many radio appearances, co-starring with Curt Massey on a long-running early evening series for Miles Laboratories and eventually taking the series to television in the early 1950's.
Martha Tilton, who as one of Benny Goodman’s vocalists in the 1930's was billed as the “Sweetheart of Swing” and appeared on 80 of his recordings, including the celebrated 1939 rendition of “And the Angels Sing,” died on December 8, 2006 at her home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood. She was 91. On January 16, 1938, Miss Tilton marshaled her easygoing, almost girlish voice to win excellent reviews for her singing in the first purely jazz concert ever held at Carnegie Hall. Her “Loch Lomond,” a swing version of a Scottish air that was later a hit for Maxine Sullivan, received one of the evening’s largest ovations. In her solo career, she became one of the first artists to record with Capitol Records, for which she made hits like “I’ll Walk Alone.” She appeared on her own radio show in the early 1940's, and became known as "Liltin’ Martha Tilton" or the "Liltin’ Miss Tilton."
She appeared in movies, including playing a singer based on herself in “The Benny Goodman Story” (1955). She provided singing voices for film stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Martha O’Driscoll and Anne Gwynne. Martha Ellen Tilton was born on November 14, 1915, in Corpus Christi, Texas, and her family moved to Edna, Kansas when she was 3. In 1922, they moved to Los Angeles, where her father was a banker. Her family sang and played the piano, and she began singing without pay at a small radio station while still in high school in Los Angeles. An agent heard her and found her work singing for money at larger stations. She dropped out of school in the 11th grade to join Hal Grayson’s band. She was part of a vocal group, "Three Hits and a Miss," when she was asked to audition for the Goodman band. Mr. Goodman left the room during her second song, so she left too, disappointed that he was not impressed.
She later learned that he had liked her, and was hired for $125 a week in 1937. The song “And the Angels Sing” was brought to Mr Goodman by Ziggy Elman, one of his trumpeters, who had recorded it as an instrumental. What had originated as a Hebrew folk song became “one of the most joyous-sounding records of the swing era,” George T. Simon wrote in “The Big Bands Songbook” (1975).
Miss Tilton later sang with Artie Shaw and Billy Mills, among others. She recorded on her own for Capitol from 1942 to 1949 and later for smaller labels, including Coral and Tops. During and just after World War II, she appeared with Jack Benny and others on U.S.O. tours to entertain troops in the South Pacific and Europe. Miss Tilton’s marriages to Dave Thomas and Leonard Vannerson ended in divorce. She is survived by her husband, James Brooks; her son, Jon Vannerson; her daughter, Cathy Smith; and five grandchildren. Early in her career Miss Tilton was introduced by Mr Goodman as “a pretty gal from Hollywood that’s really going places.” She missed the cue. After a moment, Mr Goodman ad-libbed, “She’s not going places, she’s already gone.”

"DEBBIE BAKER, Founder/Chair of Cruisin' For A Cure," author unknown.
Editor: Debbie Baker is not a land speed racer, but she is committed to the hot rod culture and to raising funds for research into prostate cancer, a disease that kills many hot rodders and land speed racers. Her story was written by an unknown author for the Muckenthaler Car Show.
Cars have always been central to Debbie Baker's life. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, she spent her formidable years - the late 1960's and early 1970's, when tail fins gleamed, V8's were king and heavy metal came with four tires and a steering wheel - cruising up and down Van Nuys Boulevard and hanging out at Bob's Big Boy. After graduating from Van Nuys High School, she headed south to Orange County in 1973, leaving her Valley Girl ways, but not her love of cars, behind. In need of a way to support her car habit, Debbie began her professional career in banking then switched to real estate. A licensed real estate agent noted for her colorful suits and lacquered finger nails, Debbie has served as the office manager of CT Realty, a privately held real estate investment company in Newport Beach, since 1994. Not surprisingly, her husband, Jim of 30 years, whom she met in 1973, is a car nut himself. Residents of Mission Viejo, they currently own a 1941 Ford pickup truck, a 1978 TransAm, and a current model Corvette. She and Jim had been regulars at car shows for years, but it was her husband's prostate cancer diagnosis in 1996, followed the same year by her boss's diagnosis with the disease, that spurred Debbie to turn her passion for cars into a new mission: Cruisin' For A Cure. As her husband battled the disease, which doctors told them would likely kill him within 10 years - a prediction he has proven wrong - she became his advocate, helping him navigate PSA scores, scans, treatment options, and much more. In the process, she discovered how ignorant other men were about prostate cancer and testing for the disease. "It is absolutely amazing how many men don't even know what a prostate gland's function is," notes Debbie.
Wanting to help raise awareness about prostate cancer and help save lives, she realized "hooking" guys with cars then getting the message out about prostate cancer would be the perfect vehicle (pun intended). Her boss, Bob Campbell, who was on the Board of Directors of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation, agreed and allowed her, on company time, to plan a car show that would benefit UCLA's Cancer Center. Debbie launched Cruisin' For A Cure in 2000. Held at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Laguna Hills, the first event featured over 600 cars and was, in spite of rain, a major success. Most importantly, the car crowd loved it. By the second year, the number of entries had grown more than five times to an astounding 3100 cars, which were displayed on six miles of runways at the former El Toro Marine Base, where Debbie had moved Cruisin' For a Cure. She recalls, "As a way to honor the heroes who lost their lives and those people missing as a result of the September 11th tragedy, the show opened with more than 30 fire trucks parked in formation as a ladder truck raised a 60-foot flag into the sky while country singer Casey Simpson sang the national anthem. There wasn't a dry eye anywhere." The 2001 event also marked the debut of free prostate cancer screening tests for men over 40, provided by The Drive Against Prostate Cancer and the National Coalition for Prostate Cancer. More than 600 men were tested and 79 of them received a "see your doctor" notice. Over night, Cruisin' For A Cure changed from being solely a fundraiser to what Debbie fondly calls the "save-your-life car show." The following year, needing yet more room, Debbie moved Cruisin' For A Cure to the Orange County Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, its current home. With more than 3500 cars on display in 2002, Cruisin' For A Cure officially became the largest one-day car show in the nation, a title it continues to hold.
The number of men tested for prostate cancer at the show, has also continued to grow each year. Over the past seven years, more than 5300 men have taken free PSA tests - a simple blood test - at Cruisin' For A Cure. Nearly 10% of them have been notified to "see your doctor." So Debbie has literally helped to save the lives of hundreds of men, most of them complete strangers. She has also been known to personally escort friends and sponsors of Cruisin' For A Cure to the testing van, several of whom were diagnosed with prostate cancer but are alive and well today, thanks to her. There is, perhaps, no one more persuasive than Debbie. She promotes Cruisin' For A Cure at other car shows year round. She has procured financial or in-kind support for Cruisin' For A Cure from nearly every major automotive company in the nation. She has earned glowing endorsements for her efforts to raise awareness about prostate cancer from the medical community. She has also garnered deep admiration and appreciation from the many men - and their families - whose lives she has touched. Among the honors she has received, Debbie was named by KNX 1070 Radio, "Hero of the Week," in 2007 for her dedication to helping find a cure for prostate cancer and saving men's lives. In May 2008, she will serve as Honorary Chair of the prestigious Muckenthaler Car Show in Fullerton. Debbie's impact has reached far beyond Southern California. Cruisin' For A Cure car shows are now held in New York; New Mexico; Fort Worth, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Ontario, Canada. She provides invaluable start up information to anyone who is even remotely interested in creating a prostate cancer related car show. There is a definite urgency to everything Debbie does. She won't rest until every man over 40 in the county is tested annually for prostate cancer and every man knows his PSA baseline number and what it means. Debbie is on a self-professed mission to save our men. And because of her efforts, she is well on her way to becoming as legendary in car circles and beyond as the Boulevard she once cruised in her youth.

Hello, My name is Eric Loe. I am a school teacher by profession, but hot rods are my hobby. I am interested in becoming a member of the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians. How do I do that? I have written a few articles in Hop Up Magazine, and am slowly working on a book on pre-war hot rodding in my spare time (that is why I am doing it slowly.) I would be very interested in being able to corrospond with others who are working on similar projects! Thank you for your time and effort. Eric Loe
Eric: All that you have to do to become a member is go to one of the many websites that carries our newsletter and read them. If you want to get your own emailed version of the newsletter, then go to www.landspeedracing.com and sign in and they will send the Newsletter out to you automatically. There are no dues, fees, duties or obligations. You simply belong by reading or responding to the comments, stories, articles and photographs that are sent in each week. We welcome whatever you have to share with us. Write in often and let us know what you are doing in the way of research and how your book is progressing. The various websites have a wealth of information about hot rodding and land speed racing and we are constantly digging up more history that we haven't heard before. If you have your articles from Hop Up on Word, send them to me and I'll post them in the newsletter. You can also send pictures and photographs and I'll try and get them to the websites for you. We are not a blog, but amateur and professional historians and writers who research and save the history and heritage of hot rodding and land speed racing. Write and tell us what part of the country you live in and what school that you teach at.

Been sometime since I received an LSR newsletter. Am I still on the list? Stan Goldstein
Stan: There may be a few problems with members finding their names dropped from the the list at www.landspeedracing.com . We don't know why that is happening but if you go to that website and re-enter your request to be included, then the newsletter should begin to go out to you again. While you are at landspeedracing.com, you can read the issues that you've missed and catch up on the news and articles. Please jot down some of your memories when you worked with Craig Breedlove and send those to us for the newsletter.

What a great time we had at the Grand National Roadster Show last weekend! Where else could you have your booth visited by so many of our industries legends; Ed “Isky” Iskenderian, what a great guy to talk to, and Tommy Ivo, Richard Parks, and our good friends from Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho, John and Bill New and that’s just a few. We also got to see so many of our good friends from our Southern California Cruisin days who we hadn’t seen in many years. So many www.Hotrodhotline.com visitors, it was just really great AND there were so many Fantastic Cars there too...talk about a car guy's heaven! Check out our coverage from our own Jack Lawford, Sam Flowers, Les Bateman and John Stimac, and if you took pictures at the show, we’d love to share them too. Mary Ann Lawford

A Night with Snake & Mongoose. Legendary drag racers Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen and Don "The Snake" Prudhomme will host a night of bench racing and tall tales at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California on Thursday, February 7 at 6:30 pm � right before the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals. The two will show highlights from "Once Upon A Wheel: Match Race," their new DVD. Tom and Don will also be joined by some special guests who raced alongside them over the years. All the proceeds from the event, which will include a full dinner and memorabilia auction, will go directly to support the Museum. Presented by Drag Racer magazine, the event's tickets which include dinner are $125 per person or $1100 for a table of 10. The auction will include one-of-a-kind replica helmets just like those worn by Snake and Mongoose early in their illustrious careers. To reserve a seat, call 909-622-8562 or 909-622-2575.

The semi-annual Open House at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, will be held on Friday, February 8, 2008, from 5 pm to closing, around 10pm. The Museum is located on the grounds of the Los Angeles County Fairplex, Pomona, California. All are invited to come and there is no charge for admission. Usually the parking attendants have left by that time and there shouldn't be any charge for parking.

Two of drag racing’s greatest rivals, partners and friends – Don “the Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen – have been named Grand Marshals for the upcoming March Meet (March 7-9, 2008) at Auto Club Famoso Raceway, outside of Bakersfield, California.

Just returned from a day and night in the Hospital. Everything works fine except for the most important part. Am pushing 90 years of age, and my Heart is breaking down. Had Sonic tests and Angiogram where they pass a catheter up through an artery into your heart. Things aren't good. Heavy restriction of the arteries, and a heart valve is failing. Prognosis not good. Will be having a consultation with my 3 Doctors next week as to what, if anything, can be done. They can install a valve from a Pig heart. Have a friend with the Pig heart valve, works well for him. The clogged arteries are another big problem. Odds on surgery are I might make it 65%. I might not make it 35%. If I make it I will get a few more years. If I don't make it I will never know. Will have surgery if possible, odds are in my favor. Always bet on good odds. Will keep all of you posted. At present I can not have any stress or do anything stressful (work). Love you all. E. Rick. (Eric Rickman)
Eric: Get well soon. We're pulling for you.

Subject: "Ed and the seagull." Eddie Rickenbacker also was the owner of The Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was he, who sold the facility to Tony Hulman in the late 1940's. He was also a former driver in the 500 mile race. Eddie was an Ace in WW I and started Eastern Airlines back in the 1930's. Bob Falcon
Bob: Many of the dry lakes, hot rodders and land speed racers served overseas and were given 'emergency kits.' My father had one of them and they were quite ingenious. I remember the huge hook and the line. They were instructed how to survive if they were lost at sea. The story of the seagull landing on the raft is more likely to have been something that Jimmy Doolittle had happen to him. It's a story that has been retold in many versions and has happened to more than one shipwrecked sailor. World War II changed land speed racing. Those that came back had been influenced by war, but trained by the military in the use of new machinery, metallurgy and aerodynamics. Just after the war, the speeds on the dry lakes started to rise startingly higher.

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