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NEWSLETTER 53 - April 8, 2008
Editor: Richard Parks

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President's Corner: By Jim Miller. 
  After laying in bed a week it's time to get back to work. With that all I have to do is now catch up with the hundred or so e-mails. In one of my many lives, besides inspecting cars at Bonneville and El Mirage, I am also the chairman of the GT / Modified Sports Committee and get lots of inquiries from potential new competitors. Here's one that you might find interesting. A gentleman who works for Ford back in Michigan found an old British sports car called a Ginetta G4. The car came to life in the early '60's and is still being made today in a somewhat altered form. It consisted of a multi-tube chassis with Ford mechanicals, typical of British cars at that time. With a 79.4" wheelbase, the car weighed 1122 pounds and could go 125 mph with its 1498cc engine. After a little research, the swoopy rig meets S.C.T.A. production requirements and can run as a GT or Modified Sports. Our rules have different specs for each class so this is when the hair pulling starts when trying to decide what class to run in. Consider this. The windshield unbolts in British fashion so do you run it without one in the Mod Sports class, do a small windshield, cage and headrest fairing and run in a class with no established record? Or do you run it in GT with the windshield in place, add a top and go for the 121.779 mph record set in '92? This is the hardest part. Deciding what to do. I've enclosed a shot of each. Check them out and decide what you would do in his place. As I mentioned earlier, I did a little research to get some info on the car so we could talk about what he needed to do to the car to meet our rules. Grabbing the book Automobile Year from '67, I found some specs on it. As usual you just can't help but thumbing through the rest of it and when I got to page 22, I stopped. 

The heading on the page said 'Speed Records Homoligated' in 1967. If you look at the FIA web site you will notice that only current records are listed, so finding the old ones means we historians have a little digging to do to fill out our past. This list had eleven vehicles that set 52 records at three locations in 22 days by 23 different driver/rider combinations. In my opinion, the most embarrassing record in the bunch was Sidney Allard's beautiful Chrysler powered dragster going only 96.1 mph at Elvington Airfield. (If I remember correctly, Car & Driver Magazine did an article on the car with a C. O. Latourette cutaway drawing.) Anybody remember the Toyota 2000 GT that was in the James Bond Movie? In October of '66 the little coupe with a 1989cc 6-banger set 15 Class E records in Japan with five drivers. Just imagine running 48 hours at 126 plus mph inside a tin can. Since I'm too lazy to find the dragster cutaway how about a C.O. drawing of an engine that started life as a flattie, and was morphed into a DOHC fire breather by C-T Automotive. It powered the City of Burbank liner to two International and four National Records at Bonneville in '52, the fastest being 229.774 mph in the flying mile. Enjoy.

Editor's notes: Due to a heavy intake of news, two newsletters will be sent to the websites to post this week. I have to start sending out more newsletters as the spam filters kick in whenever the newsletters get too long. This is not a blog, but an emailed newsletter and I retain the right as editor to answer some emails outside of the newsletter should the content not pertain to all of our members.

Editorial: Recently a question came up about ownership of stories and documents. We use several websites so ownership is a crucial question and this is just an opinion. There may be other members of the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians who have another perspective and I will run their views as well. It is very hard to know who is the owner of a document, photograph or piece of memorabilia, unless there are markings on the object or photo or there is a deed, document or bill of sale. Parts get sold and resold and even sometimes they develop feet and walk away into someone else's possession. The rule of thumb for us is that the person who has the artifact in their possession is the owner. That's only one version, because often a photo is copied and given to a lot of people and over time the true owner of the original negative is forgotten or has passed on. Often the photographs and documents are passed around, lost, rediscovered, purchased or given to others. The important thing to keep in mind is that even though we are non-profit and giving a service, that the true owner deserves all the respect of ownership at all times. In practice that is a lot harder to do than it looks. The SLSRH is a non-profit, non-acquiring, non-owner and non-possessor of objects. We have personal collections, but as a group we do not own any rights to memorabilia. What then does happen when someone shares their stories, documents or photographs with us? Our position is that they are still the owner of all the materials and they are giving us a limited right to post them and to be shared. The website operators are then re-given a limited right to post the newsletters containing the stories, documents and photographs in a copied format and not in an original format. As long as the editor of the newsletter, the officers of the SLSRH and the website owners do not make, sell or profit from these artifacts without the approval of the owners, then that is the extent of the ownership issue. Members of the websites, who have the right to go onto the websites may copy the newsletters and photographs for their own personal use. The reason that we ask for this right of limited usage is because our goals are to save all the information that we can and the more people who have stored this material, the safer it is. When I write my stories for magazines and Roger Rohrdanz takes pictures to cover the story, we give a limited right to our work, usually as an exclusive for 30 days. Sometimes the time span is less or more. But we always retain primary ownership of all that we do. The magazine can use that material and reuse it in future issues, but they do not take ownership away from us. There are other contractual issues at play here as well. The artist can sell the painting, but retain the rights to make prints of the painting. The photographer can sell prints, but still retain ownership of the negatives. To waive all rights to something, you should have a deed of sale drawn up. You don't have to pay money to a lawyer, if you cover all the bases of a legal transfer of title, you can write it up yourself. I've even heard of people using cocktail napkins to write up a bill of sale. The most likely way that we get photographs is when we inherit them or someone gives us a shoebox full of photographs. Usually they say, "Here, take them, I was just going to throw them into the trash anyway." Is this sufficient transfer of ownership? In most cases it is, but the law says that for a legal transfer to take effect, something must be given of somewhat equal value. The law says that it doesn't have to be monetary. A gift is slightly different, then no money, labor or other value has to be given in return, but it assumes that something is given to the giver, such as friendship. When you get these new treasures, write on a piece of paper the date and circumstances of the transfer. Then mark or remark, near the edge on the back of the photograph, the date and the name of the new owner. A rubber stamp is best. This way, whenever someone uses your photographs or memorabilia, the ownership will be obvious. What do you do if someone is marketing your originals and profitting. If it's a lot of money and they are doing it illegally, then you have to go to court and press your case for damages and/or the return of your artifacts. If the photographs were taken by fraud or theft, you should report it to the police in the area where the photos were taken and in the area where the photographs are being sold. In most cases there won't be any profits and the person will most likely agree to return them to you. There just isn't enough profits in land speed racing and hot rodding to justify paying a lawyer to prosecute your case for you. But every once-in-a-million there is such a document. The man who took the photographs of Andy Green breaking the sound barrier at Black Rock Desert in 1997 has just such a collection of photographs. As a society we are here to advance knowledge, but we will also rally together to protect your property rights. If anyone has anything that they would like to add on this subject, please send it in to me.

Roberta Jean Pollack passed away in her sleep at home on the morning of March 24, 2008. She is survived by her adoring husband of 61, years, William M. Pollack, daughters Mellette Hawksley-Smith and Leslie Crabtree, son-in-law Jacob Crabtree and two grandchildren, Eva Fay Anderson and Dashiell Anderson. Her brother Vincent Yoder and his family, also share in her loss. Bobbi was born August 25, 1926 in Glendale, California. She attended the University of Southern California where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Bobbi was a lifelong Trojan fan. She served in a number of charitable organizations throughout her life, including Las Patroncitas, Mannequins and the Pacific Boy’s Lodge. She loved to travel, garden and was an adventurous gourmet cook, who loved to entertain. She will be missed by her friends and family. A private family memorial is planned. Art Evans
Art: Our condolences to Bill and his family and friends.

What is happening with John Fitch? Joe had me send this yesterday: Dear Governor Rell, May I suggest you find the resources and manpower to help Mr. Fitch in his final years as an American instead of waging war on him and his property? Have you looked into his (and his family's) history or do you just torture all the elderly? It seems to me at the age of 90 he has done an appropriate job at cleaning up and reporting what he fournd to be in error. See: http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/westcott/, www.hotrodhotline.com, http://www.speedstylemagazine.com, www.fastlinesinternational.com.Joe and Mary Mondello
Dear Joe and Mary: I'm following up with the following three sources in the Connecticut state government. 1) [email protected]. Melissa Perez. 2) Dept of Environmental Protection Commissioner’s office at 860-424-3001. 3) Governor M. Jodi Rell, Executive Office of the Governor, State Capitol, 210 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut 06106. Greater Hartford Area: 860-566-4840. Toll Free: 800-406-1527. E-Mail- [email protected]. I feel strongly that if the racing community does not stand up for one of its own, then none of us has any right to any support from the encroachments of government in our lives in the future.

I need to write something about the beginning of USFRA years and the World of Speed. I'll do that later. But you can see I have been involved in car and boat racing since 1951, so lots of history and wonderful friends so dear to my heart. Mary West
Mary: Please send us all the stories and memories that you can think of. This history is something that is so special and we would love to know more about the beginnings of the USFRA and Bonneville racing.

I was wondering if anyone can remember if their was ever any cars that ran at either the dry lakes or Bonneville that was powered by 2 or more flathead Ford V8 engines other than the 777 streamliner. I am in the process of building one and have often wondered if their were any others. You can add my email address [email protected], to the newsletter. Regards Mike Davidson
Readers: Can anyone help answer this question?

Editor's notes: Recently, one of our members mentioned that he sells programs on e-Bay. What do you, the members, feel about having a section where you can list what you have that you would like to sell, or buy, on the website? We would have to do it through the newsletter and see if Jack and Mary Ann Lawford will let us, but this way we can keep our artifacts and collections within our own group. It's a way to know what's available and who knows, we might find out something we never knew before.

I really enjoyed what you've written. My husband Don and I became friends with Bud Meyer back in the 1970's. What a neat guy. We raced at Parker, Arizona in a Crackerbox and Bud was involved with the hydros. My very best wishes to him and fond memories of the boat racing days. Mary West
Dear Mary: We haven't really thought about this issue, but boats and the waterspeed record are very close to cars and the land speed scene. Maybe we ought to have a subsection and include waterspeed racing records. I just saw Bob Garner, John Fell and the Cream Puff Hot Rod Special at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum's Twilight Cruise Night last Wednesday. Ed Olson driving the Cream Puff while smoking his cigar was a real sight. He was honored by the Boat Racers Reunion, which Don Edwards and I founded in 2000. Bob Garner is an NDBA veteran and record setting drag boat racer. His latest claim to fame is that he engineered the coup that ousted me from the Boat Racers Reunion Board and for that I thank him. These volunteer groups just absorb our lives. John Fell restored the Cream Puff and was a sponsor and supporter of the Boat Racers Reunion and a good friend. Bud Meyer was both a boat racer and car mechanic. If there were two guys that I would want on my pit crew working on the engines and car it would be Bud and Danny Oakes. Well, maybe Louie Unser, Ed Winfield, Dave Zeuschel and Clay Smith wouldn't be bad to have on the team either. Tell us more about your experiences in boat and car racing and those you have raced for and against.

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Hello Fellow SCTA members. Pretty soon all SCTA clubs will be voting for cars and people to enter the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame. I would like you to consider the Temple Roadster for the Historical Vehicle. Reason? According to Greg Temple it was the first car to get both Father and Son into the El Mirage Dirty Two Club, and also got both Bill and Greg into the Bonneville 200MPH Club. I purchased the car a couple of years ago and have not changed anything on it, so I was thinking before I change anything now would be a good time to suggest it for Historical Vehicle for the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame. Here is an email I received from Greg after I bought the car:
Original message from Greg Temple - "Tom, the car was first run in 1974. Dad entered both 2 clubs in 1976 with records in AA/BGR.Elmirage 201.79 and Bonneville at 220. In 1977 I started driving. I entered El mirage 2 club in 1979 @ 201.97. We were the first father son in elmirage 2 club. We broke D/BFR at Bonneville in 1981 @ 241 with top speed of 249.IN 1991 set the A/BFR @ 261 which was broke last year by Duane Mckinney. Greg"
Thanks, Greg. Back in the 80's was the car white and blue? If so when did you change to red? Also has the number 208 always been the number on the car? Thanks for your help. Tom
The car was originally white with a purple frame the first time we ran it it was #200 but found out someone else had the number and we had to change, it was 208 ever since. We went to black frame early '80's for ease of maintenance. I painted the car red in 1995 as they were complaining they couldn’t see white cars coming down the track. Greg Temple

This car still holds the D/BFR record at Bonneville set back in 1981 with Greg driving. The car last ran Bonneville in 2000 and the motor blew up. Attached are some pictures of the car on the Salt. Thanks for your consideration. PS. This is not for me, this is to honor Greg and Bill's accomplishments over the years they ran the car. If you like this idea please forward this email to other members of the SCTA and Members of the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame. Tom Gerardi
Tom: Thanks for the history and we'll post this in the newsletter.

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I will be attending the National Association of Automobile Museum and Society of Automotive Historians Annual Conference. I will be back in the office Monday, April 7th.

For museum events during April 2-6, 2008, please contact Jose Delgadillo (museum support) at 310-308-5503. For events after April 7th, you may send me an e-mail at [email protected], and I will respond upon my return on April 7th. Susan Sanborn
Readers: Ms Sanborn is the director of the Toyota Automotive Museum and I've had the pleasure of seeing this impressive collection of Toyota cars during a Society of Automotive Historians outing.

My racing history has to include Don West, my ex-husband. We began drag racing in 1950 at the old Salt Lake City airport. We had a '32 Ford with a flathead and boy were we surprised when we were beaten by a straight 8 Buick out of Idaho. In those days there was a flagman and off we went, no clocks of course and then you'd come back to the starting line and go at it again. We met Wally Parks when he came to SLC with the Safari and Wally and I became dear friends. I was invited to his 80th Birthday party and I have a poster from the first Muroc Reunion that he gave me which is signed "With Much Affection." Oh, I miss him so along with others that we met along the way. Our first trip was to Bonneville in 1951 and Wally and his group had traveled on to that race. We were sure that we could run 125 mph and worked all week long and finally turned 107.78 mph and was beat out by a 6 cyl Chevy engine in a car belonging to the Pisano boys. Lots and lots of years since those days of innocence. We continued with drag racing and Don built a lakester and ran in the class with Tim Rochlitzer, it had a flathead with a crank driven blower then came a Chrysler in the '32 and then the Chrysler in a '53 Studebaker that had a chopped top. He qualified for a record and could not make the return run. SCTA changed the rules and after that didn't allow chopped tops in that new a vehicle. So, then he built a Monza and finally the Firebird that took him into the 200 mph Club at 247 mph. It was the Petersen/Sprenger car. Very, very fast and very wild ride. John Sprenger said that your grandmother can drive the car up to 240, after that watch out. Don crashed the car and he rebuilt it after setting the record at 247. Gary Cagle was the timer and said he could read the numbers on both sides of the car on his return run. It was put away until the Classic Class was initiated, and at that time Don put the car back together for Marty our son who drove it to a new record bettering his Dad's record at Speed Week 2002 and then 260.299 mph at World Finals. Marty passed away in 2006 from lung disease but he surely made us proud. It took a great deal of courage to drive the car that fast. And many many thanks to Mike Cook who helped Don with getting parts to update the car. Boat racing began for us in 1959. Don went on to set the competition record in the Crackerbox class at San Diego in 1974. That record held at 75.758 mph for many years. We were running the Salt Flats and Boat Racing at the same time. Those were the glory days of Bud Meyer, Mike Waters, Ed Olsen, Bob Patterson and LeRoy Penhall. Dick Jones was our Champion Spark Plug man and then along came Red Wilson, what a character. We raced at Seattle where we became great friends with Don Toll and Skip Volk. Won the Cracker Nationals in Hayne, British Columbia. I had my own E Boat in the early '70's. General Motors gave me an engine and I ended up 3rd in the United States in points. Ran a 103 on the river at Parker, Arizona. Bud Murphy was a really tough competitor, came to Provo, Utah to run the Nationals. The water was terribly rough and at the end of the heat he asked why I didn't give up. We were being beaten badly by the rough water. I asked why he didn't give up, I got 2nd place but probably the greatest competitive race I ever ran. And the greatest compliment was when Bob Patterson came down to where we were putting my boat on the trailer after a run to see if it truly was me driving and not my husband Don. I must mention my good friend Gordon Jennings who was killed at one of the Provo races. I was the Chairman of that event where the first Rotary engines were run by OMC. Oh, well, enough rambling. This brought back so many neat memories. When I go to the salt there is always talk of the boat racing days with Mike Waters, Bobby Sykes and others. There is a cross over. People love going fast but boat racing was a real challenge with the ever changing course. Water could be smooth going up the straightaway and very rough coming back down course after making the turn. And, those hydro guys were nuts, I always tell Mike Waters. Flat bottoms were a dream to drive in comparison to hydros. Mary West
Mary and the Readers: You aren't rambling. This is history and we love it. Jot down some more stories of people that you knew and raced against and send it in to us. I had the honor of running the Boat Racers Reunion and honoring some of those that you mentioned, including Bud Meyer, Ed Olsen, Bob Patterson, Bobby Sykes and others. Do you have any Water Speed memories that you would like to share?

I went to the landspeedracing site. Great info site! I have looked at this before, and was wondering how one becomes a member of the group. Tom Bryant
Tom: Go to www.landspeedracing.com and sign in. Once you do that you will be on their list and receive a weekly emailed version of the latest newsletter. Or you can just go to the website and read the archived newsletter if you don't want to sign up to get the emails. Mary Ann Lawford set it up this way so that readers could do it both ways, that is treat the newsletter as a website or get emails of the newsletters. However, if you want to read the back issues, one must go to the website to do that. This is a working site, so we hope you will write your story of your experiences and submit them to the newsletter. All content comes to me as the editor and then I send it on to the website to distribute. You can also send photographs to Jim Miller. Glad you like the site and welcome aboard.

I can't believe the detail your newsletters contain. Do you have any information on an individual whom I can't recall his name. This was in 1949-52 era. He was a body man, Welder/Painter, out of work at the time. He worked out of his house, located in a small area just east of Cherry Blvd and close to Alondra in the east Compton/north Paramount area. He was a friend of Clark or Don Cagle, I can't remember exactly his first name, but Clark had a chopped '32 coupe with an Ardun-equipped flathead that he and the bodyman were running at El Mirage, this was in 1950-51. I am trying to update my Profile sheet for the Gear Grinders and I would like to be accurate, at this time the body man was doing some work on my bashed-in 1936 ford, two door sedan. I lived in North Long Beach at the time and I was 16-17 years old. The Long Beach, Compton, Paramount and Linwood areas were rich in the Hot Rod involvement. Max Kranz
Max: I don't know the man, but maybe one of our readers might. Have you written your biography? If not, start now and we'll post it in the newsletter. Also, sign in at www.landspeedracing.com so that you can get your weekly newsletter.

I signed up for your newsletter a while back. The reason for my e-mail is, I would like to know if you offer any dvd's of salt flat cars. I love old type racecars of any kind. Thanks a million. Please respond to Thomas K. Nix, [email protected] Thanks again.
Thomas: Try calling the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at 909-622-2133 and ask them for a catalog or if they have any disks. Also, google the Petersen Automotive Museum, the American Hot Rod Foundation and other groups. At the present time there are many people who are trying to get tapes transcribed. I have 20 odd tapes, no video, but recordings of those in early salt and dry lakes racing. Jim Miller is trying to get them transcribed so that we can post them on the www.AHRF.com or the Newsletter. There are many other sources out there, but some are public and some are private. Keep reading the past, present and future Society of Land Speed Racing Historians newsletters to see what we dig up. Readers, do you know of any sources for dvds that you can share so that we can all update our personal libraries?

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The other day I was rummaging around in search of some long bolts for a push - pull device to move a non-running vehicle in and out of the shop. Behold, I found an old treasure in a box of parts -- a pressure pump from a Cadillac built before my life time started.
I used this pump on the car with a J model Duesenberg engine on '32 ford rails. The pump supplied pressure to a 22 gallon fuel tank (formerly an aircraft de-icer fluid tank) mounted behind modified style body. Later that tank was replaced with a 15 gallon tank mounted between the rails under a very small pickup bed. I remember one Saturday night we were racing Doc Boycesmith’s track roadster at Bonnili (sic) Stadium and the Duesenberg was parked outside in the lot. Upon returning to the car, I found that someone needed the plunger assembly more than I did and had unscrewed it and took it. Fortunately, I had an electric fuel pump also. Since this was a pretty rare item, what were we to do? I found a piece of bronze bar stock in the corner and with my father's help, built a replacement on the trusty South Bend lathe. Over the last 60 years this pump has served as a pressure source for basket balls and bicycle tires among other things...Life goes on. John Chambard
John: I'm about ready to send the review of your booklet, A Teenage Experience into www.hotrodhotline.com. I'll add this to the newsletter and the photographs that you sent. I want to thank you for your history. You may get some orders and I hope you won't mind. You wrote a very good history of a very important time and it fills in some blanks that we had on a number of people.

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The Toyota USA Automobile Museum would be interested in historical information/exhibit materials. The museum is available for meetings and events. The museum is located in Torrance, CA just a short mile from Toyota Headquarters. Susan Sanborn (310-468-4728)

Susan: Thank you for your offer and I will speak to Jim Miller and maybe we can set up a date to have our members tour your great museum. I enjoyed the time I spent there with the Society of Automotive Historians.

RAMBLINGS OF AN OLD HOT RODDER, by Bob McMillian
Back in 1949, I was on vacation with my father and a couple of guys that worked for him. We were enroute from Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon and by chance passed by the Bonneville Salt Flats and I saw some hot rods going onto the salt. I remembered seeing an article in Hot Rod Magazine about the event and realized that this was it. After much cajoling, I talked my dad into stopping for a while to check out the event. That first mini-moment was later to return as a full-blown obsession. In high school there were a few lucky guys who had cars. One in particular I still remember, a '34 five window coupe that had been chopped 1 �". That doesn't sound like much, but '32 and later Fords were tall in the top because everyone in those days wore hats. The tall tops enabled you to drive without taking off your hat. My high school buddy's '34 looked like the way Henry should have built it, without having the "chopped top" look. My early high school days ('48-'49) were spent in Coronado, CA High School. During the summer of 1950, my father, a career Naval Officer, was transferred to Long Beach. I spent the first half of my junior year at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach. I have vague recollections of going to the Clock Drive-In in Long Beach in those days.
Half way through my Junior year, my dad got transferred again to San Francisco. We settled in Berkeley, and I spent the second half of my Junior year and my Senior year at Berkeley High School, where I graduated in 1951. During my Senior year, I started hanging around with some guys from Elmwood Auto Club in Berkeley, and got the car bug big time. I helped one of my buddies prep his '32 roadster for the then new Oakland Roadster Show. The gold that year went to a guy from San Francisco named Rico Squaglia and his "T" roadster. I also was part of the pit crew on a drag race car that we ran at the old Lodi drag strip. The car was a '34 coupe with a long sloping nose that tapered down from the firewall to the front axle. It might have been one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen. However, for the day, it was blazingly fast. We held the track record, which incidentally was a shared record for top speed anywhere at, are you ready, 120 mph. The car was powered by a rear mounted nitro burning flathead. The motor was coupled directly to the rear end with an in and out box from a sprint car. The rear end was a Pat Warren two speed, and the car was shifted by the use of a kill button. Primitive, but effective.
My senior year was also significant in that it was that year I built my first hotrod. My dad decided it was time for me to have a car. I had one in mind, which I took him to see. It was a gorgeous (especially for the time) '32 Ford five window. It had a full-race flathead with all the goodies, chrome wheels, shiny paint, etc. My dad wasn't impressed. We went home and a few days later he presented me with my first car, a '40 Packard Convertible. God, how I wish I had that car today. Unfortunately, I told my dad that I didn't want an "old man's car" and had him take it back. I ended up with a Model "A" coupe. Well, one morning on the way to school, I became distracted for a moment coming down the hill from our house, drove up a bank and promptly rolled the car. I ended up sitting on the passenger side running board when the car came to a stop (seat belts had yet to be invented). Other than bumps and bruises, I was OK. The car was slightly worse. There was a fairly large dent in the left rear corner of the top and all four fenders were slightly scuffed and bent. Having no particular bodywork skills at that time, I promptly removed all the fenders and put the car back on the road.
I had a friend with a Deuce roadster and he allowed as how he wanted to channel his car. I thought that it was a good idea and decided to channel the coupe as well. I had talked to another friend who told me about a way to channel a car without cutting up the floor. The problem with cutting out the floor, especially with a roadster body, is that you lose all the structural integrity of the body when you do that. The alternative method is to take the body off the frame. You then take the bare frame. punch out all the rivets in the middle and rear crossmembers except one on each side. You then drill out all the holes to 5/16", put in a couple of bolts in each end of both of the crossmembers, and then drill out the remaining holes. That done, you remove the crossmembers and tie a rope across the back end of the frame. Using a short piece of wood or pipe, wind the rope until the rear of the frame is narrow enough to slip through the hole in the firewall. Note: you need to notch the firewall to accept the frame before you start., except for '32s which have a removable firewall. Once the frame in inside, you unwind the rope and reinstall the crossmembers, using 5/16" bolts, lock washers and nuts. You now drill holes in the bottom lip of the frame, using the original bolt holes in the body. I used some old fire hose, obtained from the local fire station, for insulation between the frame and body. The frame was now inside the body, and the body was intact and maintained its' original structural integrity. The fire hose provided a squeak free insulation. Obviously, portions of the floor had to be removed to provide clearance for the transmission, rear end, etc., but overall, the body was tight and rigid.
My little coupe still had the banger, which I enhanced with a downdraft manifold and a Winfield head. I found that it ran faster than it stopped, so I upgraded to a set of juice brakes I scrounged from the local wrecking yard.
When I graduated from high school in 1951, I entered UC Berkeley, which I attended for one year. In the summer of 1952 I was off to the US Naval Academy, so I gave the coupe to one of my Berkeley buddies, along with a '32 five window body I had picked up for my next project. Damn, I wish I had that body back. Even more, I wish I had it back and it was a three window body. Fast forward to about 1958. I am now married and a San Diego Police Officer assigned to the Northern Division. I live in Pacific Beach and my across the street neighbor is a guy by the name of Russ Eyres. Russ is now the SCTA secretary, and his son Eric is the San Diego Roadster Club President. At the time I had a '46 Merc convertible. I had nosed, decked and dechromed that car and when it finally gave up the ghost, I bought a '53 Olds convertible. I promptly nosed and decked that car. I later acquired a '29 Ford Roadster Pickup with a flathead for power. I still own that car, although it is in many pieces in my garage. On my daily drive to work I noticed a '27 Ford Roadster Pickup parked in a Mobil Station on La Jolla Boulevard. One afternoon I stopped in and inquired and found out that the owner was a fellow by the name of Lou Bingham. Later I helped Lou with a '32 Ford five window he was building. He wanted to chop the car and the best guy around was a bodyman by the name of Bill Barber. Trouble was, Bill did his best work when he was about half toasted. One night, we invited him over, bought him a case of beer, and at about 2AM he chopped the coupe. He did a masterful job, and in fact, that car recently appeared in Street Rodder magazine. It ended up with a guy back east who restored it to its' original glory. Lou campaigned the car at El Mirage for several years before he finally sold it. I even took the coupe to El Mirage and ran it a couple of times when Lou couldn't make the meet, in order to rack up club points. Along about the same time, Lou decided to build a Bonneville car. He acquired a '29 Ford roadster body (steel, of course) and built a full on race car. The entire body was cut into pieces and was fastened to the frame with dzus fasteners. After Bonneville, the whole body was removable so we could clean the salt off the car. That car is running today at El Mirage and Bonneville, and is currently owned by another San Diego Roadster Club member, Doug Eyres, Russ Eyres' brother.
The first year I went to Bonneville with Lou was 1961. Lou was a San Diego Roadster Club member and I remember asking to join the club. At that time I was still a San Diego cop. The club told me that they didn't want a cop as a member of the club. Oh well! In 1963, I left the police department and was promptly accepted as a member of SDRC. I continued as a crew member on Lou's car until he broke the engine on a record run in 196X and retired the car.
In the mid '60's, I acquired a '50 Chevrolet pickup. I promptly pulled the six and installed a '53 Olds 324 engine that I had bored .030 over to 355 cu. in. I originally had a four barrel manifold on the engine but when smog rules came along, I installed a dual quad manifold because there was no provision to smog engines with multiple carburetors. A year or so later, they upgraded the smog rules to allow them to test engines with more than one carburetor. I then came upon a guy with an Olds 4-71 blower setup he had purchased to put on his boat. That project sank or got sold and I acquired the blower and manifold and put it on the truck. The truck managed to run 135 mph at El Mirage, which I thought was pretty good for a vehicle about as streamlined as a single car garage door. I also ran the truck at a lakes meet SCTA ran down on a dry lake bed in Mexico called Laguna Salada. As I recall, the truck ran about l32 mph down there and the Mexican spectators went ballistic because the truck was stock Chevrolet Dark Green/gray primer, and looked like most of the local pickups. We only ran one meet down there, so I guess I have the only world's fastest Mexican Pickup Truck.
In 1967 I hooked up with Jerry Tucker, later to become SCTA President, as a driver for his '27 T modified roadster. In mid '68 I went 181 mph at El Mirage in E Modified Roadster, on a 182 mph record. The car, at that time, had a 258 cu. in. small block Chevrolet on alcohol. Unfortunately, on the second run I spun the car and wounded the motor. We later acquired one of Mickey Thompson's 4-71 blown Tempest motors. That was in the car for the '68 Bonneville meet. The normal '68 Bonneville was rained out and didn't run until later in the year. At the time the meet actually was held, I was in Law School and couldn't return. In '69 we ran the car and had an incident where the motor leaned out and blew the blower off. We pulled the blower manifold, installed a set of my Hilborn injectors and set a record, (so puny on an open record class that I am ashamed to claim it). The car was later sold and wrecked at El Mirage when the driver hit a boonie bump on an after hours tach run. I kind of got caught up with being a lawyer after that and although I continued going to Bonneville, quit driving for a while. In '69 and '70 I was a SCTA Board Of Directors member. I was a Bonneville tech inspector for several years and then got tapped to work in the tower with Otto Crocker, who was the Chief Timer. Otto was getting along in years and the SCTA was concerned that he had gotten to the point where he couldn't find his way to Bonneville unassisted, so I became his driver/co-pilot. I did this for a couple of years before Otto retired, and it was during this time that I was responsible for taking Otto to his first house of ill repute.
We were on our way to Bonneville and stopped in Las Vegas for gas. Apparently, while checking the various fluids (we used to do that regularly in the old days), I inadvertently neglected to properly tighten the radiator cap. Well, we took off and a ways down the road the car started to overheat. Fortunately, we were going by the area where a lot of bawdy houses were located. I pulled in to one of the facilities (these were a number of trailers pulled together to make one interconnected building) to get some water. After refilling the radiator, I asked Otto if he wanted a cold drink. Upon receiving a positive response, I took Otto inside. They had a room with a large couch occupied by several voluptuous young ladies that we bypassed and went into the bar. Otto ordered a soda and I had a beer. He said, "This is a nice place, is it some kind of a dude ranch?" The bartender, a comely Asian girl looked at me as I answered, "Well, a lot of dudes end up here." The Asian girl busted up and Otto didn't have a clue why.
Well, when we got back in the car, I looked at Otto and said, "Well, Otto, you have just been to your first House of Ill Repute." Otto looked at me and said, "You mean that was a whorehouse?" "Yes indeed," I replied. Otto got an embarrassed look on his face and didn't reply.
When I got to Bonneville later that day, I proudly announced to all present that I had taken Otto to his first ever whorehouse. Everyone cracked up and that was one of the most memorable moments of my Bonneville experience. As an aside, I believe I hold the record for the slowest trip to Bonneville originating in the continental United States. I believe it was in '73 or '74, when I volunteered to drive the Rod Riders truck to Bonneville. The Rod Riders had an early 50's Chevrolet one ton stake bed truck, powered by a similar vintage Olds engine, which had been converted to a support vehicle. It had a canvas cover, kind of like the old Conestoga wagons. There was a steel frame over the flatbed with an I-beam that ran the length of the back, plus about three feet overhang. There was a chain hoist on rollers that would pick up one of the spare engines and could then drop it into a car pulled up behind the truck. The truck was also loaded with several members' tool boxes.
Well, I left Bruce Geisler's shop at midnight on the Wednesday before Bonneville, accompanied by a teenager by the name of Mike Cook. Yes, that Mike Cook, son of Doug Cook of Stone Woods and Cook fame, later to become SCTA President. Well, it went pretty well until we got to the bottom of Cajon Pass. On the way up the hill, the engine started to overheat. I checked the back and found that we had several cans of race fuel, but no water. Well, it was drive a couple of hundred yards, stop and wait for the engine to cool off, drive another couple of hundred yards, etc. It took us 8 hours to get to the top of Cajon Pass, where I filled up the radiator and got some spare water. Once we were on flat ground, the truck seemed to run OK, but just a few miles later, the truck started missing and got hot again. I realized at this point that the Olds had blown a head gasket. I pulled into the back of a gas Station in Victorville and Mike and I sacked out in the back of the truck for the night. Early the next morning I got up and started checking the back for tools. I discovered that there was a probably a zillion dollars worth of tools in the truck, but they were all in tool boxes, and all the tool boxes were locked. I got on the phone and finally reached one of the Rod Riders who hadn't left yet. He went over to the shop, got some tools, including a rattle wrench, two head gaskets, and two spare heads. In due course, he arrived in Victorville, and Mike and I replaced both heads and head gaskets on the truck.
It is now Friday evening and we struck out with renewed vigor. Our good fortune only lasted as far as the Agricultural Inspection Station in Yermo. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Yermo is not that far from Victorville, only about 43 miles. I am zinging along a pretty good clip, trying to make up for lost time, when one of the pistons decides to go on strike and develops a large hole in its' top. Well, I hoof it back to the Ag station and use their phone to call a tow truck. The tow truck drags us a couple of miles away to a Motel, and I use that word loosely, where we spend the night. At least it was better than sleeping in the truck. Early in the AM, I get on the phone and call the State Line Hotel in Wendover. Well, everyone who is there is out on the Salt or getting inspected. I leave a call back number and Mike and I wait. About 5PM, I finally get a call from all people, Alex Tremulis. I tell Alex our problem and he says he will find someone from the Rod Riders and give them our number. Later in the evening, I get a call from someone, I tell them the problem and they tell me to stand by, someone will come back and get us and the equipment. In due course, two pickups and a Ranchero show up. We offload the spare engines, tools, etc. and head out back to Wendover. We finally roll into Wendover at 10AM on Tuesday morning., a mere 130 hours to travel about 665 miles, an average speed of approximately 5.1 mph.
When Otto retired and stopped timing Bonneville, the timing duties were taken over by another San Diegan, Daryl Smith. Daryl started supplying the timing equipment in 1973. I hooked up with Daryl in '75 and until Daryl was replaced in '91, we teamed up to provide the timing equipment and help to time the event. The "Chief Timer" during that period was Gary Cagle. After helping Daryl set up all the timing equipment, I assisted Gary in the tower during the event. I was the unofficial Assistant Timer during that period. Gary and I developed a friendship that lasted until Gary passed away. In '92 I returned to "civilian" life, so to speak. I continued going to Bonneville as a "crew member at large" for anyone who needed a warm body to help out.
In '06 I teamed up with Mark Lintner to help out on his '68 Corvette. He let me drive the car that year and since I hadn't driven since about 1969, my B license had expired. During my licensing run, I made my all time screw up run. I managed to run out the back door on the short course at somewhere in excess of 180 mph when I should have shut off at the 3 mile running no more than 150 mph. Needless to say I got my a$$ royally chewed by more than one SCTA-BNI official. Everyone was so upset with me that they refused (rightly so) to count my license run. Undaunted, I came back this year ('07) made my license run at 150 mph, and later took a ride down the long course at 182.182 mph, an all time personal best, and 2 mph faster than Mark, the owner of the car. Not bad for a 73 year old. Let me tell you, 180+ on the salt is a better alternative to Viagra any day of the week. Next year we are looking to go 200+. See you there!
In 2005, while attending the Streak, a local San Diego car show put on by the Over The Hill Gang, I noticed a '29 Roadster Pickup with a for sale sign lying on the floor. The car was a gennie Ford steel body car with a custom bed, a Chevrolet 350/350 drive train, a Hallibrand quick change rear end and Hallibrand wheels. I finally caught the owner and asked him if the car was really for sale. He replied that it was, although he had a friend who had expressed an interest in the car. The owner stated that his friend would have first refusal right to the car. After some negotiation and a phone call to the friend, I ended up buying the car. I determined that my original '29 RP couldn't be put on the road for what I could buy the new one for, and in fact, I couldn't duplicate the new car for what the owner was asking for it. Happiness is a street rod you can drive, rather that a pile of parts in the garage which will someday become a driver, if I live long enough.
I am now in that phase of my life where I am trying to have some fun. I still work, so I can have money to play. My play is going around to car shows, racing events, etc., and taking pictures that I put up on my friend's website, www.graybeardracing.com. He and I take hundreds of pictures every month covering mostly nostalgia drag racing events, although we shot the Red Bull Air Race in San Diego earlier this year, photos I took at Bonneville, the Unlimited Hydroplane and Top Fuel Drag Boat races in San Diego, the American Le Mans Series races at Long Beach and Laguna Seca, the Winternationals and Finals at Pomona. We also shoot dozens of cars shows all over Southern California that are posted on www.suede37.com. My new "spare time" mission is to get with people who have knowledge of the early days of our sport and encourage them to sit down and do what I just did. Write your memories down while you can still remember them. Find all of those old pictures from the early days, put captions on them so others will know who the people in the pictures are and get them to someone who will preserve them. Don't procrastinate and find yourself lying in a satin lined box one day with your memoirs still on your "to do list."

Editor's notes: The newsletter is sent out once a week, on Wednesday's, unless no news or relevant information is received. If I receive a large amount of issues, events or news, I may send the newsletter out more than once a week. If an important event comes up, such as a death or funeral and word needs to be sent immediately, a special edition of the newsletter will be sent.

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