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SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS
NEWSLETTER 88 - December 4, 2008
Editor: Richard Parks [email protected]
President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)

Click On All Images For Larger View

Some Names To Look For In This Newsletter:
Two pictures from Sports Review Motorspeed Magazine's March 1958 issue, Email from Karen Davis requesting that we wait before DLRA intervening, “SHELBY, the Race Driver”, is available, Legends of Riverside Newsletter, newly developed dragster seat, R
eport by Jim Dunn, The Petersen Automotive Museum In December 2008/January 2009 New Exhibitions.

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President's Corner:  
   One gets so busy digging for old stuff it's hard to keep up with the present. Working a lakes meet takes all your time and doesn't leave any to keep you informed of what really goes on outside your own little world. Kudos to Jim Dunn for keeping us up to date on the happenings at El Mirage.  Let's go back now to a place called Daytona Beach for the NASCAR International Safety and Performance Trials or as they became known as, Speed Weeks. It evolved from speed runs made back in 1903. After Campbell broke the World Land Speed Record there in March 1935 it was off to Bonneville for everybody who wanted to run serious speeds, or was it? The beach folks got use to tourists coming to watch the races so they had to do something to keep them showing up. With that the civic leaders dreamed up another venue. In 1936 they used a mile and a half of the famous beach and a paved service road parallel to it to stage a 250 mile race. Indy driver Milt Marion won the race shortened to 75 laps because the turns turned to mush. As luck would have it a Daytona Beach gas station operator by the name of William Henry Getty France finished fifth and got the bug. Later he formed an organization called the National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) and carried on the beach tradition after WWII but that's another story.
   The first official Speed Week was held in 1950 and they included measured mile runs as part of the show. John Littlejohn promptly went out and set a two way record of 100.28 mph in a supposedly box-stock 1950 Olds. Things grew from there and over the next few years a who's who of drivers plied their trade on the sand. Guys like Ruttman, Paunch, Carter, Arkus-Duntov, Shelby, Daigh, Kimberly, Flock and Chrisman to name a few. There were famous cars too. Buried somewhere in the Daytona sands after a crash is the So-Cal Streamliner.  One guy we have to give special credit to was a chap from Hot Rod Magazine who was the backbone of the S.C.T.A. and the N.H.R.A. He was our editor's pop, Wally Parks. He blasted across the sands in a modified Chrysler powered Plymouth and set the Experimental Class Record at 159.893 mph beating out Bill Stroppe's factory Merc's driven by Art Chrisman, Fran Hernandez and Vern Houle.  It was quite an accomplishment. There were 15 classes for flying-mile two way runs and 12 classes for standing start mile runs. Fastest guy on the beach all week was Danny Eames in a Stroppe T-bird at 160.356 mph. Compare that to Wally's and you gotta say not to shabby. Fastest standing start was the Eames Bird again with a speed of 97.933 mph. Don't forget these guys were running on sand. 

JMC_439_Wally's-Plymouth-1957
JMC_440_Smokey's-Chevy-1957

I've included two shots that I bagged from the Sports Review Motorspeed Magazine's March 1958 issue to show you the rides of the day. Enjoy.
Photo 1 JMC439 - shows Wally Parks in the Hot Rod Magazine Plymouth. A Chrysler engine powered this car (now sporting headlight fairings) to a speed of 166.898 mph. Looks like streamlining works to the tune of seven mph. Photo taken by Sam Satterwhite.
   Photo 2 JMC440 - Take one Chevy pick 'em-up truck and toss in some masking tape and cardboard for instant streamlining. What was the speed? Why a mere 132.353 mph.  I forgot to mention the taper and driver was one Henry "Smokey" Yunick. The flagman is 16 time Indy driver Cliff Bergere. Photo by Don O'Reilly.

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Editorial:
   Sometimes it's really hard to come up with an editorial that informs the readers and is entertaining. Today's editorial was easy. It's about Jim Dunn and his articles and stories. Rarely do we have the privilege of watching a good racer who also doubles as a writer. Jim is one of those guys who not only is there to work as a volunteer, but to race with his team and to cap it all off, sits down at his computer and types out a story. There is only one reason that we created this newsletter and society and that was to preserve and save our hot rodding and land speed history and heritage. Finding guys like Jim Dunn makes that job easier, otherwise we would have to write the history of an event after the fact, from photographs, records and interviews and that is never as good a way as actually being there. I've heard Jim Dunn say that he worries that people will think that he is too lengthy when he writes. I want to tell Jim that I, for one, would like to see him take ten pages instead of one, to tell us all that he sees at the dry lakes and Bonneville meets. I enjoy his style of writing and the factual information that he puts into his articles. He mentions the conditions, the weather, the people and much more in his reports. This is valuable information to have and it is often lacking in reports from the very earliest newspaper articles, if we can even find such stories.
   Every once in a while we find other men and women who took the time to write out a story, article or report, which they probably thought no one would ever care to read. People like Eldon Snapp, Veda Orr, Wally Parks and others, who left us an account from a time that is now legendary. It's a real treasure to find something from the past that we can bring to our readers. Sometimes we find a postcard or letter, which we will type out, or a captioned photograph. We often find old magazines and books with references to hot rodding or dry lakes land speed racing. Then there are the interviews or biographies that people write up and send to us. My brother and I are finding wonderful treasures in our late father's archives and we hope to be able to add that to what we have found out. I recently spoke to a man, Norm Grant, whom many of you know. He's an old hot rodder from just after WWII. His first words to me were the usual, "you don't want to know my life story, I haven't ever done anything worth writing down." Well, you know the drill now. What do we do in situations like this? Right, we start asking questions and dig deeper. Where did you grow up, who did you know, what groups did you join. Turns out that Norm was a member of the Rumblers from the old Mojave Timing Association and he knew a lot of people whom we are trying to learn more about. Jim Dunn writes about what he sees. Will the rest of you do the same? Many people ask me, "Who do you let write for the Society's newsletter?" The answer is EVERYONE. This is your newsletter as well and we want all of you to contribute your history, the history of those you knew and all the stories that you remember. The purpose of our group is to leave behind an archive for future generations. So our weekly salute to the person who deserves a good salute is Jim Dunn. Jim, keep on writing and never stop

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I just received this email from a friend in New Zealand.  Cheers, Karen Davis
  Karen: I received your email requesting a retraction and have notified the website operator to hold off on printing any news concerning Lake Gairdner in Australia. I have printed the following letters simply to let people know that there could be a future problem there.

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This email has come from my brother in aussie who has raced on the salt Lake Gardiner in Australia (yes there is another one apart from Bonneville). The DLRA could lose racing on the lake. For those who don't know, this lake is a reserve. They are very strict as to who is allowed on the lake etc you have to have their permission - DLRA has had permission since 1990. The Aboriginals have now said that no one is allowed on the lake, therefore the March speedweek at Lake Gardiner is on hold and any future speedweeks may be lost forever! Thanks & Cheers. John Ellis, DLRA Member, NZHRA Member (Resent by Barb Sundgren)
   John: I have received a contradictory email from Karen Davis requesting that we wait before intervening. I've run your email, but edited out portions until we have a definite answer from the DLRA as to what to do.

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This is an important event on the world's racing calender and we need your help/support! PLEASE forward this to anyone you know that loves fast cars, hotrods, Drag racing, ANYthing to do with cars/bikes etc, etc. Please sign and make sure you put which A'ssn or club you are in. Thank you for your support. Bob Ellis  DLRA Steward, Member # 202, C/GCC Record holder.
   Bob: I've edited your letter, per the 2nd email that I've received from another DLRA member asking us not to write to Australian authorities until requested to do so. Please keep us informed on the status of Lake Gairdner.

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My letter is already in the mail (to the authorities in Australia). It was mentioned at our Rod Riders meeting last night too and many members took the opportunity to send a letter as well. Good luck!! Regards, Miriam Macmillan, Crew Chief, Hondata Bonneville Race Team.
   Miriam: We aren't quite sure what's happening, and a second letter was received asking us to wait for further details from the DLRA until sending letters to officials in Australia.

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SHELBY, the Race Driver”, is available for $29.95 + $5.95 s&h via Priority Mail. Contact Art Evans at 800 South Pacific Coast Highway Redondo Beach, California 90277 310-540-8068, Fax 310-373-5988, [email protected].

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Good morning Richard....I did sign up for your newsletter. I must have used my work computer to sign up and to refresh your memory, I'm very acquainted with you and the all the boys at Jack's garage. I talked with you a few weeks ago about Ralph Foster and I am working on my bio and gathering pics as we discussed. Thank you, your friend, Ron Phelps
Ron: With your permission I am going to use your email in the newsletter, because it helps to explain to our members why they receive these strange emails that I send out from time to time asking them to join the Society. When people send me group emails and fail to BCC or blind carbon copy their list of email addresses, I copy them and send back a request to join. Often, all that I have to work with is an email address, though sometimes there will be a name attached to it. In your case, I didn't recognize the email address that belonged to you and the sender didn't include a name. In the past I would laboriously retype all the email addresses that came to me this way and at one time I had over 4500 names on my car racer's address book. The car racer's newsletter was fun and I learned a great deal, but eventually it turned into an eight hour a day job and I had to give it up. I don't copy email addresses like that any more, mainly because I have Jack and Mary Ann Lawford who do that for me as owners of www.hotrodhotline.com and www.landspeedracing.com. They maintain the list of email addresses, send out the emailed version of the newsletter and keep an archive of all the newsletters on their landspeedracing website for people to go back to do their own research. So you may be getting more of those promotional PR types of emails from me in the future. I'm a great believer in redundancy, or as Roger Rohrdanz likes to tell me, BOREdundancy. Like a mother, I remind the readers over and over again to do their biographies and caption their photographs. Your email gives me a chance to come clean and fess up, yes readers, the editor is one of those despised email address grabbers. In the beginning I tried to warn and advise senders to hide their email addresses, but no one listens to me, so I re-use those email addresses to let people know about our society. It isn't good computer etiquette, but it's very effective in reaching new members.

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Legends of Riverside Newsletter is at: www.legendsofriverside.com/newsletter.htm. Dr David Scully

DragsterSeat

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Attached is an article on a newly developed dragster seat that would go a long way toward making life a lot safer for a great many land speed racers. Regardless of how many can afford it, the photo in the article gives a clear view of what is currently regarded as the state of the art in seat design and construction. Franklin Ratliff (sent in by Paula Murphy)

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October 2006, El Mirage Race Report, by Jim Dunn 
   The alarm went off at 4:30 Saturday morning and its very dark outside as I slide behind the wheel of my tow truck a little past 5 and head for El Mirage. Two hours and I'm on El Mirage Road just before the lake bed turn off as the sun eases into view at 7 AM. First order of business is some grub at the BLM center prepared by Ed Waldheim, President of Friends of El Mirage. Partner Steve Toller shows up about the same time and we get our bodies fueled up with Ed's famous breakfast in preparation for a morning of picking up trash left in the desert by those who just could not put forth the effort to "haul it out." This special day is the Annual El Mirage Clean Up and a lot of people that genuinely care about the desert come out and help clean it up. They are mostly from the different groups that use the area for recreation. The clean up is followed by a hamburger/hot dog Bar BQ for the volunteer desert custodians.
   Saturday afternoon we are headed to the West end of the lake bed to the SCTA area. After unloading and inspecting our racer we head to our SCTA property for a look at the progress on our new storage building and water well. All this fun and 5 PM rolls around pretty quick and its time for course walk. That done and we're off to town for dinner with fellow racers Ken Huff and Bob Eaton.
   Sunday at 5 AM and the alarm goes off and Steve and I are off to the lakebed interrupted by a quick stop for our usual 100 pounds of ice and 2 coffees to go. Oh yeah, I forgot about the 2 packages of "chemical" mini doughnuts. They turned out to be a life saver since our event food vendor turned up AWOL. We are at our pits at 6 AM and start prepping the truck by headlights. It felt pretty cold. Reports were between 33 and 35 degrees. At 7:15 we are pushing up to the staging area. Crew member John MacFarlane arrives and we are off to the driver's meeting.
   It is dead calm and the dust is hanging on the lake bed so it takes a while to get our turn. It is Steve's turn to drive which is good since we have a borrowed "hot rod" turbo and I seem to have a problem with them when I drive. I killed one at Speed Week and another one in September. Steve is off the line about 9:15 and headed down the 1.3 mile course. The engine sounds great and Steve really hits the shift points. The speed is 158.815, ironically about 1.3 MPH short of bumping our own 160.023 MPH record set by Steve in July in 110 degree weather.
   Back to our pit and repack the chute. Only 113 entries so a second round is a good possibility. Mother Nature had other plans as the light breeze started picking up speed blowing across the course. Then the spins started and after Jack Kelly's belly tank spun (It never spins) the meet was held up. The course was moved to get some new dirt and we waited on the wind hoping to finish the first round. We got lucky. The winds diminished and we resumed racing. By the end of the first round the wind was gone but too late for a second round. A big thanks goes to all the hard working SCTA volunteers for putting these meets on. Jim Dunn

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"Salt Toy 2007 season recap." A special report by Jim Dunn on his experience with the Salt Toy during the 2007 dry lakes and Bonneville racing season.
   Hi all, May saw the truck ready to go with a freshened up engine and a bigger Turbo. Steve took the first ride on Saturday and barely missed bumping his 160 mph record. No problem-- two day meet with lots of time. Rick Head took the second ride but slowed to 147. The new turbo with 47# of boost blew a whole panel out of our aging intercooler. Done for the May Meet. June -- we're really going to set the world on fire with a new high capacity intercooler. My turn to drive and everything looks great until the engine dropped a liner. Nothing new here however pulling off to the emergency side of the course at 133 mph I managed to do a one rotation slow spin. Later I credited the spin to briefly locked up rear tires from the blown engine. No data since I shut everything off during the spin. The engine was an easy fix for the July meet but the MT tires had worn a flat spot in each one and were unusable. The new tires that I had ordered for the SALT did not make it for July.
   SpeedWeek at the salt-- we're ready again, this time with the engine detuned with the smaller fuel DDEC program for some data gathering but still plenty of power. We qualified for the long course with this set up using a smaller turbo and intercooler in 03. More problems when the engine laid over at about 2 1/2 miles. Back at the pits the salt gremlins present a brand new problem. Despite all efforts the computer won't give up the data for the last run. A check of the engine reveals a low cylinder but picks it up at about 1500 rpm. I convinced Dennis to take it for a ride to get his next license up grade. A 160 mph pass and he gets his upgrade. More gremlins. A pretty good trans fluid leak has developed in the torque converter area. I talked Steve into going for a ride since the engine seemed to run half-way decent. Problem here is the trans fluid is blowing onto the turbo charger turbine housing which sees typically about 1600 degrees. Everyone watching the run is convinced its burning to the ground including Steve, the Tower and the Fire Crew. Steve aborted the run just before the 2 mile marker. Just smoke but it was a good bail out drill. OK. The SALT GREMLINS win this year. Back on the trailer. A BIG THANKS to all my volunteer crew and the SCTA/BNI volunteers for their untiring efforts.
   The remainder of the El Mirage season was relinquished to do a sewer line and drive way replacement at home plus few other previously deferred projects. The winter off season repair and maintenance program revealed a bad trans front seal and a valve seat loose in the cylinder head. (It never hung the valve--very lucky) The computer is supposed to be back in about a week so we are looking pretty good for our 2 day meet in May. The 4 banger will be our mainstay in 08 with the 6V71 still on the back burner. Hope to see you at the races.  Jim Dunn

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May 2008 El Mirage Race Report, by Jim Dunn
   Hi All, This will be a very brief report. May is our season opener two day meet and as usual we had a great turn out of spectators to take in all the action of our approximately 150 entrants for the 1.3 mile dry lake bed course. The course was in good condition; however the weather was in the 100 degree range. I arrived early Friday morning to set up our pit and do some car inspecting. Saturday morning Steve and I are on the lake bed early for the 7 AM drivers meeting. Our starting position was 146 which put us in staging around noon. While warming the engine a new noise seemed to be getting louder so we pushed back to the pits and inspected the valve train and pulled air box cover and took a look at pistons and ring sets. All checked out OK. I didn't feel it was worth the risk of a catastrophic engine failure to make a run so back on the trailer it went. Our LSR Bar BQ on Saturday night was a great success with plenty of good food thanks to John Jennings and his crew. Monday is check out the problem day by engine tear down. The number four crank throw has a pretty severe crack and more than likely would have scattered some parts had we made the run. A big thanks to all my crew and especially the SCTA volunteers that put on the races.   Jim

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June 2008 El Mirage Race Report, by Jim Dunn
   Hi All, This will be a very brief report and a little slow in getting out. Saturday was hot--113 in neighboring Adelanto but got thru inspection and the course walk, then off to the motel in Victorville. Thankfully, Sunday was a little cooler. The line up Sunday morning moved along at a brisk pace and since the number of entries were low we got to run around 11.30. We had a real good race course on the dirt as attested by 26 new records. We were running against our 160.023 record and ran 161.240 with a fresh engine to bump it up a little. We were going to make a second run but the wind came up and put us on the trailer. Sunday afternoon 5 of us left the dirt and headed for the salt flats at Bonneville almost 600 miles to the North. We were there for 3 days laying out two 8 mile courses and one 5 mile course and the drug all 3 of the courses. We put about 1200 miles on 4 trucks on the salt. This was done to get the courses prepared for SpeedWeek in August. Timing for course dragging is critical as the salt surface hardens after the winter rains. One more pre race trip in July should give us some great racing surfaces for August. Our next El Mirage meet is July 20. Leave your warm clothes at home and bring lots of cold drinks.   Jim

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October 2008 El Mirage Triple Header, by Jim Dunn
   Hi All, This was a major weekend for the El Mirage recreation area. Saturday was fall clean up day which started off with the famous Ed Waldheim breakfast, sign up and clean up supplies hand out and then we all scattered for a morning to pick up OP trash (other peoples) that got left behind. Believe me there is no shortage of those who don't "pack it in, pack it out."  The Big Event of the weekend was the Grand Opening of the new Visitors Center. Saturday afternoon preceded by a fabulous lunch prepared by the BLM. The new center was the end result of a decade of planning by the Friends of El Mirage and the BLM. The dedication was attended by several hundred people including all of the state and government officials. On Sunday SCTA had its October speed trials. Saturday and Sunday weather was very pleasant with day time temperatures around 80 degrees. There was NO wind which presented problems for the Sunday races. The dust would linger on the track limiting visibility and delaying runs. We ran until 4 PM and most of the way thru the second round. The dirt track was in pretty good shape with only a couple of soft spots to avoid.
   The Salt Toy diesel truck made 2 runs with Jim driving the first round turning 158 MPH, 3 MPH off our record. We had planned to make 2 runs so went back to the pits and sort of packed the drag chute. Since my borrowed masking tape failed to return which is used to organize the chords, the chute literally got stuffed into the pack. A drag chute is required for speeds over 160 MPH at El Mirage so this would be a test for chute function. Since the truck has disc brakes on all four wheels the lack of chute deployment would not present a problem for slowing the truck. Steve drove the second run at about 3:30. A decision was made to try the trans in drive for automatic upshifts that occur at 2800 rpm which is a little short of our optimum 3600 range. He went thru the lights at 156 MPH and the chute amazingly deployed. It was late and time pack it up and head for home. A big thanks to all those great SCTA volunteers who endure the very trying conditions to put these events on and to all my friends that helped us run the our truck. We had a great weekend and give thanks for the safety of our group of racers.   Jim

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November 2008 El Mirage report, by Jim Dunn
   Hi All. This will be a brief report on the season final SCTA 2 day meet at El Mirage. I arrived around 8 AM on Friday greeted by an absolutely gorgeous morning, unloaded my truck and hooked up with fellow inspector Bruce Vaughn in the inspection area. A few cars are starting to line up already so we started inspecting about 9:30. No inspection trailer yet but we had some forms and knew there would be a lot of entries because of the 2 day meet so better get started. Judy Sights is there to give us a hand with the driving gear. The wind is now starting up and would continue thru the day. This would be the weather pattern all 3 days. We inspected non stop until the course walk at 4 PM. Saturday morning Steve and I arrive for the 7:15 drivers meeting then head for our pit to prep the truck. We are number 40 in the line up. There are already some wind delays by the time we run. I took the first ride into the wind and got a time of 155+ MPH against our June record of 161. The wind holds were numerous and we shut down shortly after 2 PM, moved the course and did another course walk.
   Sunday morning is pretty chilly and required some starting fluid to fire the truck's diesel engine for warm up. We still have to wait to finish the first round of runs left over from Saturday. The wind is not cooperating at all and it is around noon before the second round begins only calling 10 vehicles at a time (normally 25). We get lucky and are finally called to staging. Steve will take the second run and attempt at the record. Things are not looking too good with a lot of runs on the course making it pretty loose plus a strong head wind. The result was an almost identical 155 run with the truck moving around quite a bit and the tach indicating 3200 RPM at the finish line. The dream wheel shows 180 which calcs to 25 MPH of wheel spin thru the lights. Because of the wind delays the second round of runs was not completed. A big thanks goes to Carole and Terry Wallace for their assistance in running the truck this weekend. A great deal of planning and effort is required to put these events on and it is all accomplished by a very dedicated group of SCTA volunteers for which we are extremely grateful. We'll be back in May next year.   Jim

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THE PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM IN DECEMBER 2008/JANUARY 2009 NEW EXHIBITIONS
AMBR WINNERS; Opens 12/01/08 to 2/1/09. Celebrate the history of the prestigious Grand National Roadster Show with a visit to the Petersen Automotive Museum! On January 25th, 2009, the "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" award (or AMBR) will be given to one talented contender at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California. Several past AMBR winners are in The Museum's permanent collection, including the first America's Most Beautiful Roadster, Bill Niekamp's 1929 Ford that won the award in 1950. These roadsters will join many other past AMBR winners in the Bruce Meyer Gallery at The Petersen for a rare display of hot rodding's history.
IMAGINING THE FUTURE: The Southern California Automotive Design Studio, Presented in Cooperation with Art Center College of Design Ongoing Exhibit Southern California has been home to more automotive design studios than anywhere else on the planet. The Petersen Automotive Museum is teaming up with world-renowned Transportation Design School, Art Center College of Design to showcase the history of the local design community and its contribution to the world. Visitors will see a comparison of a 1930's studio with a modern-day studio with various examples of the creative process in 2-D and 3-D form from different points in California's rich automotive history. Design demonstrations by Art Center students will occur in the exhibit on the second and fourth Sunday of every month beginning January 11th, 2009 from approximately 10am-3pm. Check the calendar at www.petersen.org for dates.
CARnival FAMILY FUN DAY. Saturday, December, 20th, 2008 11am-3pm. Bring the whole family for a day at the Petersen Museum! Celebrate. Southern California's rich history of travel and leisure as showcased in our feature exhibition, "From Autocamps to Airstreams: The Early Road to Vacationland." Activities include: face painting, balloon sculptures, a scavenger hunt, the chance to make personalized luggage tags and postcards to use on your next family vacation, storytelling by Ina Buckner-Barnette, "The Sunshine Storyteller", and more! Admission for children under the age of 18, on December 20th, 2008 is free. The 3rd annual CARnival is supported in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs.
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? Misfits of Motordom. Opens 2/28/09 to 9/20/09. An in-depth study of the truly bizarre, the poorly developed, and the unfeasible ideas that people have seriously attempted to sell to the general public. Learn where they went wrong! An autotorium of automobile oddities from around the globe, and certainly the only assembly of vehicles where the Edsel is the "normal" car, these vehicles are sure to amaze and amuse.
GENERAL MOTORS ART. Open until 4/26/09. General Motors is celebrating its 100th anniversary. With a history rich in style and innovation, artists have found a great deal of inspiration for their work in the lines and forms of General Motors Automobiles. The Automotive Fine Arts Society (AFAS) will be honoring GM in an exhibition of artwork commemorating General Motors' long history.
FROM AUTOCAMPS TO AIRSTREAMS: The Early Road to Vacationland. On view through February 8, 2009. Second Floor Gordon R. Howard Gallery. World renowned for recreational areas as diverse as the coast, mountains, and deserts, Southern California is equally well known for the distinctive vehicles used by vacationers on their journeys. This exhibit traces the evolution of motorized leisure travel in Southern California before World War II. Pre-1940 recreational vehicles and camping trailers are brought to life in a rustic campsite setting complete with authentic equipment and accessories. Objects in the exhibit show the evolution of the hobby from truly "roughing it", to the sleek streamlined luxury trailers of the late 1930's.
TREASURES OF THE VAULT; On view through June 7, 2009. Second Floor Gordon R. Howard Gallery. The Petersen Automotive Museum collection contains one of the most diverse samplings of important vehicles ever assembled. Thanks to the vision and generosity of founding benefactors Margie and Robert E. Petersen, we have been able to acquire a number of important vehicles that we have not yet had the pleasure to present to the public. This gathering of some of the rarest, most exquisite and most expensive automobiles in history is one not to be missed. Due to the overwhelming popularity of this extraordinary exhibit, it has been extended to June 7th of 2009. From the elegantly outrageous styling of the super-sized "Round Door" Rolls Royce, to cars from heads of state, and cars of beauty and speed -including the Bugatti Veyron, there is something for everyone in this exhibit.
MAKING AN ENTRANCE; On extended display. First Floor LA Autotude Gallery. Getting to a destination in an exotic, classic, or ultra luxury car communicates a great deal about an individual's financial means, personal flair, and attitude toward life. Manufacturers and coachbuilders have experimented with a variety of door configurations in an effort to give their vehicles added glamour and mystique. The "butterfly" doors on a 2006 Mercedes-McLaren SLR, the "scissor" doors on a 1994 Bugatti EB110, and the "gull wing" doors on a 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 deftly illustrate how departing from one's vehicle can be just as important as arriving at one's destination. This three car exhibit is an exciting part of over 150 unique vehicles on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum for an extended stay.
HOT WHEELS(r) HALL OF FAME; The Hot Wheels Hall of Fame reopens at the Petersen Automotive Museum, featuring Hot Wheels(r) full-size and die-cast cars. Visitors get a look inside the highly prolific Hot Wheels(r) design studio via original models, wooden patterns, injection molds and drawings of original vehicle designs.
HOLLYWOOD STAR CARS; This exhibition features significant cars and memorabilia of Hollywood lore including the Batman showcase featuring the1966 Batcycle and the official Batman suit worn by Michael Keaton in Batman (1989). The exhibit also features "Black Beauty" driven by Bruce Lee in The Green Hornet television series, the "Hannibal 8" driven by Jack Lemmon in The Great Race (1965), a replica of the "Mach 5" from Speed Racer (2008), "Grease Lightning" from the hit movie Grease (1978), plus cars once owned by Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, Elton John, Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, and more!
ALTERNATIVE POWER: LESSONS FROM THE PAST, INSPIRATION FOR THE FUTURE; Responding to our visitors' overwhelmingly positive reception to the first Alternative Power exhibition, the Petersen Automotive Museum has opened a long-term display of Alternative Power vehicles. This exhibition continues to explore the history of automobile power using a wide array of vehicles equipped with innovative propulsion systems. On display are vehicles powered by steam, electricity, turbines, fuel cells, and other sources. From the highly styled 1963 Chrysler Turbine to the recently recalled-and now extremely rare-General Motors EV1, automobiles are presented that illustrate the growth of alternative vehicle technology. Together, these vehicles offer an interesting contrast to those being developed today, and may even inspire modern engineers in their pursuit of the next technological breakthrough.
MAY FAMILY DISCOVERY CENTER; Open Tuesday-Friday, 10am-4pm, and Saturday & Sunday, 10am-5pm. Designed to spark a child's interest in science by way of the automobile, the May Family Discovery Center is an interactive learning center that teaches basic scientific principles using the fundamental elements of the car.
DISCOVERY DAY: Car Calendar. Saturday, December 6th, 2008, 1-4pm. Discovery Days are drop-in arts and crafts workshops offered on the first Saturday of every month, anytime between 2 pm - 4 pm in the May Family Discovery Center on the third floor. December's Discovery Day features car calendars. The program is included in Museum general admission. Call 323-964-6308 for more information.
DOCENT TOURS: TREASURES OF THE VAULT EXHIBIT; December 6th and 7th, 2008 and January 3rd and 4th 2009 11:30 am.
Come spend half an hour with our Pit Crew docents exploring the stories behind the fantastic vehicles on display in our feature presentation,
"Treasures of the Vault" in the Gordon R. Howard Gallery.
DISCOVERY DAY: Car Antenna Topper. Saturday, January 3rd, 2009, 1-4pm. Discovery Days are drop-in arts and crafts workshops offered on the first Saturday of every month, anytime between 2 pm - 4 pm in the May Family Discovery Center on the third floor. January's Discovery Day features car antenna toppers. The program is included in Museum general admission. Call 323-964-6308 for more information.
SPECIAL EVENTS AND FILMING - Please call for event and production requests - (323) 964-6348.
BIRTHDAY PARTIES - Please call for details, pricing and scheduling - (323) 964-6373.
SCHOOL TOURS; Taking a field trip to the Pete is an excellent way to teach your students about the history of Los Angeles and its intertwined relationship with the automobile. Students learn basic scientific principles and their applications as they explore hands-on activities in
the Discovery Center. School Tours focus on history/social science, visual arts, and science & technology. Call (323) 964-6358 for information and reservations.
GROUP TOURS - A docent-led tour is available to groups of ten or more. - (323) 964-6346.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES - Come and be a part of the Petersen's "Pit Crew". New Docent Training Class will be held in the fall of 2008. For an application or more information call - (323) 964-6358, email [email protected], or visit www.petersen.org.
MUSEUM STORE - Excellent souvenirs and gifts for auto enthusiasts and museum visitors (323) 964-6328. Sent in by Chris Brown

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