SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Finally saw a Surgeon. Gives me a 95% chance of getting my problem fixed. Will bet on those odds any time. A diagnosis is Vascular Cardiac disease. It's not really a disease but a payback for careless dietary habits over 90 years. A great many old folks get it. My arteries and veins are partially closed down with a plaque built up over the years. To add to this I have a leaking heart valve. Bottom line, Heart cannot get enough blood to pump, and can't pump any blood it gets very efficiently. Blood must go through lungs first to dump carbon dioxide etc and pick up oxygen, blood carries oxygen throughout the body to energize the muscles. Little blood, little energy. I am constantly tired. Can just get round the house and that is it. Have to watch balance. Planning on surgery in mid to late Oct. Will keep everyone advised. Reading literature on operation. They use a small power saw to split the breast bone apart down its full length. Pull left side of rib cage away to reach heart. Heart valve is replaced with a valve from Pig heart. Veins and arteries are bypassed by replacement blood vessels, usually taken from the leg where they will regenerate over time. Breast bones will we wired back together to heal. Many have had it so it must work. If it doesn't work I will never know it. Eric Rickman |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You really covered it. Thanks much for the mentions and credits on me. Glad you got Lee Blaisdell in too. Have to chide you on one person you left out that was very influential in causing Pete to start a magazine. Remember Veda Orr? She was the first to publish anything about Dry Lakes racing and included some pictures. It was shortly after she quit publishing anything that Pete got the idea and sort of took over. She was never really seriously into it, but did publish some sort of a newspaper. Check with an old timer such as Xydias he would know about her. A favor, can you send me the stuff you wrote. I tried to copy it into my computer files, but must have pushed a wrong button, lost it. Want to make prints to send to relatives and to Blaisdell. Veda does have to get some credit for recording some of the early Dry Lakes stuff. You misspelled my name a couple of times, but I will correct the copy when I get it. Have a good story re: Ab Jenkins and the car at the first Show Pete put on. E. Rick (Rickman) |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I might suggest that you go to the SCTA or USFRA web sites and click on Save the Salt. Great Work is being done by the Save the Salt organization, working with the BLM and Intrepid Chemical Co. Salt is being pumped back on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Mary West, Secretary of Save the Salt/20 years. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I believe you were asking some questions regarding Karl Orr and his race cars. Page 101 of Joe Scalzo's latest book, "City of Speed" shows a photo of a very young Troy Ruttman aboard Karl's Big Car (Sprint Car in today's language). I would guess the shot was taken at Carrell Speedway when it was a paved track. Note that it was powered by a flathead Ford engine. The cowling is lettered "KO Special" and is painted black and white. At that time, Troy was doing very well in CRA Roadster Racing driving Bert Letner's car that featured a Ford V8 flathead equipped with Letner's dual spark plug cylinder heads. Bert was Danny's father. Bob Falcon |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It has been a while since I've seen you, but I have been reading your newsletters in www.HotRodHotLine.com, and enjoy them very much. You did an excellent job on the one about the beginning of HRM. About the only thing I could find that was not included was about the Art Department with Bob Green and Tom Medley (Stroker McGurk), also the pocket size book called Honk and its editor Dick Day. If you want to do a story on the beginning of NHRA, I can give you some info on that as well being a Charter Member and employee #3. I first remember meeting you when you were about 6 years old, your Brother and your Mother in the parking lot behind 5959 Hollywood Blvd. I'm not sure how much older you are than Dave, but I remember he was in your Mothers arms and probably about 6 month's old. Keep up the good writing, Chic Cannon |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Are you familiar with the name "David Gooley?" He is a photographer/writer and has a magazine by the name of "Pre War Notes." He specializes in pictures of old cars. I heard about him from my Doctor's wife today. He is her sister's boyfriend. They are good friends with the lady has the auto bookstore on Magnolia in Burbank (which is 5 minutes from my house). Regards, Patty Geiger |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With all your fine words about the passing of Marv and the references to his booklet and in another note, Louise Noeth's fine book, I'm surprised that you didn't mention Gordon White's very well researched book on the father son duo. Gordon is a lifelong car enthusiast, long time reporter for the Salt Lake City newspaper, and chief adviser to the Smithsonian on auto racing. He set a record for midgets in his Kurtis, which he actively races against sports cars in vintage events. I've purchased several copies for friends and reviewed it in my Christmas gift lists for newspapers. I hope he has copies left, and have included his email above. Gordon is at [email protected]. I'm actually surprised he is not a member of your group. Cheers, Bob Storck |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ About 50 automotive students from Antelope Valley High School, Lancaster, California, will get a lesson in Hot Rod 101 thanks to the veteran racing parts maker Joe Mondello and the California Hot Rod Reunion. Mondello will be the featured lecturer at this year's education seminar hosted by the Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, on Friday, October 10, 2008. According to Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum (produced of the Hot Rod Reunion), "the seminar was created to increase awareness of American automotive history and the many rewarding education and career opportunities within the automotive industry." The seminar is at The Doubletree Hotel in Bakersfield, Calif. and also offers the students a day at the Reunion. "The education seminar at the Reunion is part of the Parks Museum's 'living history' philosophy, which works to bring to life for younger generations the sights, sounds and people who made history in the early days of drag racing, land speed racing and the golden age of American car culture," added Thacker |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dateline: Bonneville Salt Flats, USFRA World of Speed, Wendover, Utah. September 20, 2008. Beautiful salt, super weather and great competition made the USFRA's 22nd annual World of Speed a perfect venue for the west coast segment of the National 36hp Landspeed Challenge. Competitors came from the west, east and in between to challenge the 36hp records set so many years ago by Dick Beith and Mel Ellis. Steve Ward and Joe Klokkevold came from Newman Lake, Washington, hoping to beat the new age (NA36) record of 83.921 miles per hour set by Tom Bruch in my 1969 Beetle in 2006. They pulled the big street motor from Steve's daily driven 77 Beetle sedan, installed a healthy but otherwise refreshed stock 36hp motor fitted with a homebuilt yet technically sophisticated turbo-charger system and trailered to the salt. The Washington crew raced, tuned, raced, and tuned again until they achieved their goal, beating the old record with a top speed of 83.921 miles per hour. Unfortunately, Tom was back with a more powerful 1378cc new age turbo motor and would add almost twenty miles per hour to that same record. Sandy, Utah, resident Ed Fall, proprietor of Vintagewerks, the 36hp distributor, carburetor and fuel pump restorer, drove his beautiful black 57 oval daily driver out to attack Bruce Cooks Stone Stock (SS) record of 73.005 miles per hour. With over 40,000 miles on his self built 36er, Ed did not get the overall record but did exceed Craig Wilson's record Bonneville set two years ago with a top speed of 70.670 miles per hour. Bonneville's thinner atmosphere affects top speeds and Ed hopes to visit the low altitude Maxton, North Carolina, ECTA speed trials next year for a head to head challenge of Bruce's record. Ed enjoyed a great first effort after which he loaded up his spare tire, Hazet tool kit, sleeping bag and tea pot and drove back to Salt Lake City. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Salt of the Earth" by Wendell Ashton details something that is misstated in the latest newsletter. Ab was, in fact, elected as the mayor of Salt Lake City in 1939 by 51 votes in a regular city wide election, without ever campaigning. His opponent, Herbert A. Snow, never had a chance primarily because of Ab's popularity in Salt Lake. He served as mayor during the World War II years, after which he became the State Safety Engineer for the State of Utah. There was nothing honorary about his mayoralty, he was very effective and direct in his administration. The city needed that kind of leadership because of the impact of eight major military installations within an hour's drive of downtown. Mr. Snow was the grandfather of my good friend Ashby Snow Decker. Marv Jenkins was born in Blackfoot, Idaho because that's where his dad, Ab, was building homes. My aunt and uncle's home on University Street was one of the homes he built. Blackfoot was never "home" to the Jenkins family other than the temporary situation where he could make money building "spec" homes. Ab was from Spanish Fork, Utah and proudly mentioned that fact when he addressed a student assembly at Brigham Young University High School when I was a sophomore there in 1950. After the assembly we approached him about help in getting a quarter mile drag strip built and were brusquely told he had no patience for that kind of racing. I'm sure that as the State Safety Engineer he had no option but to say that. Ever the showman though, Ab once drove a car down Broadway (300 South) in Salt Lake at speed and made the kind of U turn that depends on the emergency brake for successfully completing the "bootlegger turn," just to show how it could safely be accomplished by a "skilled" driver. Ab definitely was skilled as his driving has shown by his 1931 hill climbing exploits in a Studebaker roadster randomly selected from the assembly line by AAA officials. He entered and won the top 35 hill climbs in the US with the Studebaker that year. Wester Potter, Media Relations, Utah Salt Flats Racing Association |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Without taking up your time, have you ever heard the tale of Bob Estes, his hot rod, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow? I can tell the tale as related by Bob to me some 40 years ago. Herb Jones |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks for the kudos on the Jenkins book. The Jenkins book is still available, though the sales are a little less than the publisher had hoped. About 1,100 copies to date. I sell the book myself, as well as of course the publisher does through the usual channels. Copies I sell I autograph. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We should see some improvement in both content formatting and delivery next week as we think we have the bugs figured out with the new software. We are also going to begin putting a short description below each Newsletter listing on the Landspeed Racing menu page, at least mentioning some of the names in that newsletter so that people will know what they can find in each one. We may also try to add a "Search" feature so if someone is looking for a particular person or car or event they may be able to find it more easily. Mary Ann Lawford |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gordon White has spent a tremendous amount of time and effort establishing the facts related to Ab Jenkins who could easily be identified as the most important person toward developing the Bonneville Salts as a speed record Mecca. Gordon has a long association with a Salt Lake City newspaper and with the Smithsonian, plus his record in his Offy Kurtis Midget. He wrote perhaps some of the best books on the Offenhauser, the Kurtis cars and Lost Race Tracks. With the passing of Marv, it is especially important that the truthful details get raised from the many tales and exaggerations. Thanks for getting the word out. My ties relate to sharing the lakes with the speed junkies, and being inspired to try my own efforts. They didn't come to fruition, but I had some curious experiences. As tales start running down, rest assured I'll tell some of them. Bob Storck |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I commend your efforts. Land Speed Racing is close to my heart. I first laid eyes on Mormon Meteor III at the Linden, N.J. car show in 1951. While eastern midgets were my first love, Bonneville was second. When my high school buddy and I drove from New Jersey to California that summer, we stopped at Bonneville during that early Speed Week - it was almost as much a draw for us as seeing the hot rods on the streets in Southern California. I covered Speed Week in 1954 for the Salt Lake Tribune, and Associated Press used some of my photos. Obviously I did not get a chance to run a car of my own there until 1986 when the late Mark Dees recruited me for the then-new VOT class. It was a treat to run on the late Rex Mays' midget record, which we finally broke in 1988 and 1989. My niche with LSR of course is the open-wheel oval track group, which ran many early trials, going back to Bob Burman, Frank Lockhart, Tommy Milton, etc. Ab Jenkins, I discovered, ran on both speedways and straight-aways and would have run in the Indianapolis 500 had he gotten there at just a little younger age. I sent you the data on my Jenkins book - something I wanted to do for many years. Luckily I did it while Marvin, an old friend, was still alive. Gordon Eliot White |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What is a hot rod? What makes them hot? And how does a style and lifestyle, begun over 75 years ago, stay so popular and bring additional business to local rod shops? The answers can be found at the 17th annual California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, and set for Oct 10-12 at Auto Club Famoso (just outside Bakersfield). Hot rods and street rods are part of what makes the Reunion such a fun event for car nuts as well as families. "They are," as Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum (producers of the Reunion) said, "flat-out cool-looking cars." Scores of the rods of all kinds will be parked in the Grove at Famoso. Plus, the Street Rodder magazine tour is making a stop at the Reunion bringing even more rods. All this is good news to local rod shops such as the Kiwi Konnection in Bakersfield. "The Reunion does bring in more business," said owner Duane Jones, a New Zealand native. "I take a lot of orders during and after the event which are worth $20,000 to $30,000." Jones, who bought the Kiwi Konnection two years ago from his old boss, Squeak Bell, said the street rod business has been picking up lately. "It did drop because of the economy but is starting to gain ground again. And, of course, we export." Jones' shop specializes in 1932-'34 Ford chassis, some of the favorites for street rodders. Since taking over Kiwi Konnection, Duane has built more than 150 chassis and exported half of them. He has also exported more than 1,400 classic cars and hot rods which certainly helps the U.S. economy. Hot rodding began in the late 1930s and immediately after World War II when young men took castoff cars, stripped them down and added junkyard parts from other cars to create vehicles that could outperform some of the best in the world. With their intuitive engineering and form-follows-function sense of style, these ingenious pioneers changed the face of American motorsports and automotive culture. "The American hot rod is an interesting paradox," said Greg Sharp, curator of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and one the nation's foremost authorities on hot rodding and early motorsports. "While there are definite rules regarding what makes a hot rod, the creativity and ingenuity of builders both past and present allow for tremendous variation within those rules. And at the Reunion you can see it all; traditional, smoothies, rat rods." The broadest definition of a hot rod would be a car that has been modified in both appearance and for performance. Most enthusiasts would narrow this definition to include only cars that were originally from 1947 or earlier. Fords from the mid-1930s were and are the most desired base on which to build a hot rod, with 1932 Ford roadsters and coupes the undisputed quintessential hot rods. In fact, so desirable are these body styles that reproductions of these models are now being manufactured in both steel and fiberglass. Over the decades, hot rod fads have come and gone; the all-show-and-no-go show rods of the '60s, the resto-rods of the 1970s, the 1990s fascination with monochromatic versions using lots of billet aluminum parts, and now back to the traditional looking cars that mimic early, classic hot rods. Across the country young builders have even taken this look several steps further and created what some call "rat rods." These are cars that are almost cartoon like in their exaggerated appearance and rudimentary assembly. The builders of these cars have also built a lifestyle around their hobby that features rockabilly-style rock 'n roll, tattoos and clothing modeled on the archetypical "bad boys" of the 1950's. By Bill Groak |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The 17th annual California National Hot Rod Reunion, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, is coming, October 10-12, 2008 at Auto Club Famoso, just north of Bakersfield, on Interstate 99. The Reunion is a 3-day festival of speed, hot rods and American automotive enthusiasm. It's also the season finale of the inaugural NHRA's Hot Rod Heritage nostalgia drag racing series. Produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, and located in Pomona, the Reunion is part of the museum's "living history" philosophy, which works to bring to life the sights, sounds and people who made history in the early days of drag racing, land speed racing and the golden age of American car culture. Unique among motorsports events, the Reunion honors some of the top names in hot rodding from the past and features a fabulous array of cool drag cars, street rods and customs of the historic and present-day hot rod eras. Daily general admission tickets/pit passes will be available at Auto Club Famoso Raceway gate, (www.famosoraceway.com). Cost per person: Friday, $20; Saturday, $20; Sunday, $15. Children 15 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Auto Club discount is also available at the gate: $2 off Friday and Saturday and, $1 off Sunday. Active military personnel get in free on Sunday. The Reunion features a wide variety of activities and events, including: NHRA vintage drag racing, featuring some the sport's most famous and historic cars and drivers, racing in such classes at Nostalgia Top Fuel, Funny Car, Fuel Altereds, Supercharged Gassers, Classic Super Stock, Hot Rods and others. It's the grand finale of the NHRA's Hot Rod Heritage Series. Hundreds of gleaming pre-1972 hot rods, street rods, custom cars, rat rods, classics and muscle cars. "Memory Lane" will have a display of nostalgic race cars. The Justice Bros. Spotlight Award will fall on drag racer Gas Ronda. California Hot Rod Reunion Reception, held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bakersfield, Friday, October 10, from 7 p.m.- 10 p.m. Open to everyone at no charge, it's a tribute to the Reunion's Grand Marshal, gasser great Junior Thompson, and the other Honorees. The reception offers a chance for fans to meet some of drag racing's heroes. Cacklefest on Saturday evening, where nitro-burning historic, front-engine top-fuel dragsters and other classic race cars are push started just like in the "old days." The Swap meet and Reunion Midway filled with hot rod and automotive related vendors. Something for everyone! Information, including a full activities schedule, entry forms and tickets, is available through the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at http://museum.nhra.com or by sending a post card or note to California Hot Rod Reunion, 1101 McKinley Ave., Bldg, 3A, Pomona, Calif. 91768. Requests can be emailed to [email protected]. From Bill Groak |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The California National Hot Rod Reunion, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, returns to Auto Club Famoso (just outside Bakersfield) for the 17th time, Oct. 10-12. While the hot rodding/nostalgia drag racing spectacular offers a cornucopia of things to do, here are 10 family-fun events to consider: |
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a) Meet drag racing legends such as "TV Tommy" Ivo: Drag racing icons abound at the Reunion. "TV" Tommy Ivo, one of the most likeable and competitive drag racers of all time (he was voted No. 25 on the NHRA's greatest drivers list) will have three of his most famous rides at the Reunion. The lineup includes the four-motor Showboat from 1961 courtesy of America's Automobile Collection; Ron Johnson's Barnstormer tribute car and Tommy's last Top Fuel dragster from 1974. Restored by Bruce Larson, this car gave Tommy the "wild ride" of his life when it went through the traps at Pomona, upside down, backwards and on fire-at 200 mph. Tommy walked away with only one minor scratch. |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Links to other land speed and hotrodding websites: |
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Mike Bastian, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, Burly Burlile, George Callaway, Gary Carmichael, John Backus, John Chambard, Jerry Cornelison, G. Thatcher Darwin, Jack Dolan, Ugo Fadini, Bob Falcon, Rich Fox, Glenn Freudenberger, Don Garlits, Bruce Geisler, Stan Goldstein, Andy Granatelli, Walt James, Wendy Jeffries, Ken Kelley, Mike Kelly, Bret Kepner, Kay Kimes, Jim Lattin, Mary Ann and Jack Lawford, Fred Lobello, Eric Loe, Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre, Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy, Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth, Frank Oddo, David Parks, Richard Parks, Wally Parks (in memoriam), Eric Rickman, Willard Ritchie, Roger Rohrdanz, Evelyn Roth, Ed Safarik, Frank Salzberg, Dave Seely, Charles Shaffer, Mike Stanton, David Steele, Doug Stokes, Bob Storck, Zach Suhr, Maggie Summers, Gary Svoboda, Pat Swanson, Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy Travis, Jack Underwood and Tina Van Curen, Richard Venza. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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