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I understand that you are an avid racing car fan and thought you might be interested in some news about it that you would not ordinarily hear about. I assume then that you are familiar with the name Jack Roush, of drag racing fame plus road racing, and now an industrialist concerning race cars, NASCAR and the whole thing. He's also an expert pilot. That's where I come in. I've always been an aviation fan as long as I can remember. I subscribe to FLYING magazine that has a superb story about Jack Roush in the July issue, in case you were not aware. Everett Stone
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ROAD RUNNERS News/Special Events: Last Updated: Thursday, June 11, 2009 04:16 PM
Road Runner Meeting Notes - Tuesday, June 9th, 7pm at Ed Martin Garage - It was an unusually cool June evening when the Road Runners gathered at the Ed Martin Garage for our regular monthly Club meeting. Too bad the "May gray" & "June gloom" has not produced some rain to help repair the lakebed at El Mirage! Tuesday evening, we welcomed three guests: Charles Shimko, Candace Salas and Eddie Jones. Charles, attending his fifth meeting, submitted his application for membership. He plans to race a Suzuki GT250K and is considering a build on his 1970 Opel GT. He also will be training as a Motorcycle Tech Inspector. Charles was voted into the Road Runners and we welcome him. President Mike Ferguson gave a report out on our annual Road Runners Banquet/BBQ held on June 6th. We had a good crowd and lots of really good food. Following dinner, awards were presented to Mark Cavernder (#1011B 1350cc/P-P, Hayabusa) for 2008 Road Runners High Points and the Ferguson & Adams Team (#85 B/GC, Camaro) for Top Speed at El Mirage (182.584mph). The Harvey Haller Memorial Trophy was not presented this year. At our meeting on Tuesday, Vice President Jack Masson proposed that we present the 2008 Harvey Haller Memorial Trophy (for outstanding Club service) to Buddy Fitzgerel in memory of his long 49 year membership and his service to and accomplishments with the Road Runners during that time. The membership approved the idea. Buddy's record in his '50 Ford, XF/PRO - Alvaney & Fitzgerel "Thrifty Fifty," set at El Mirage in June 1984, at 130.813mph still stands. We lost Buddy to a heart attack last November. He is truly missed.
Willie Martin announced that the 75th Anniversary Celebration for the Ed Martin Garage (aka "Road Runners Club House") will be held at the Garage on July 25th from 4 to 8pm. Food and libations will be provided. Road Runners, friends and customers are invited. Bring your Hot Rods for a parking lot display. The Ed Martin Garage is a third generation business started by Willie's grandfather in 1934. The business was later run by Willie's father. Willie has been proprietor for the past 18 years. If you would like a report on all the Club business conducted at the meeting, please contact Secretary Jerry Cornelison for an e-mail copy of the complete meeting minutes. Next regular business meeting of the Road Runners is Tuesday, July 14th at 7pm, at Ed Martin Garage. Also, if in the area, don't forget "Burrito Thursdays" at Ed Martin Garage!
May El Mirage Results - Now posted on our Results/Points/Standings webpage. June Start Positions now posted. Pat McSwain's, McRat Racing B/DT got a real nice tech write up in the May 2009 issue of Diesel Power Magazine. Congratulations Pat! Jerry Cornelison
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The SoCal Chapter of the Society of Automotive Historians presents: 27th Literature Faire and Exchange, Sunday June 28, 2009 8AM - 3PM, at the NHRA Wally Parks Motorsports Museum, Los Angeles County Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave, Gate #1, Pomona. There is free admission and parking for spectators and buyers. Vendors and sellers pay a small fee for their space rental. This is Southern California's largest venue for automotive paper: owner's manuals, books, advertising, posters, automotive art, magazine back issues, photographs, current magazines, pins, badges, event programs, sales brochures, models, small collectibles and memorabilia. If it is paper, you may find it here! No car or car parts allowed, this is not a car swap meet. Plan on visiting the NHRA Museum while you are there. Bob Falcon
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I work for The Rodder's Journal Magazine published by my brother Steve Coonan. You probably have heard The Rodder's Journal is going to publish all 12 issues of Throttle Magazine in Book form. I'm trying to figure out what happened to Throttle's publisher Jack Peters. The conventional wisdom Steve and others have heard over the years was Peters died in World War II. He asked me to verify this, so that we could somehow honor him in the book. I searched and Peters does not show up on any of the casualty lists of World War II. The casualty lists available online include Army, Air Corp, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines. The last record of him is on the Voter registration roll of 1942. He doesn't show up on the Army and Army reserve enlistment records. Similar records for the other services are not available online yet. His address is according to the voter registration was 4704 1/2 South Cimarron Street. The same address as Throttle Magazine.
Peters had a son and put him on the cover of his last issue. Unfortunately, Peters does not give his child's first name. Do you have any recommendations for who might know what happened to Peters either during or after the war? Do you know if Peters published a WTA newsletter before starting Throttle? Thank you for any help or advice you can provide. Respectfully yours, Don Coonan
Don: We have been looking for Jack Peters whereabouts as well and I've posted what we know about him in our newsletter, The Society of Land Speed Racing Historians. The minutes of the SCTA, which my father was trying to create a book from, gives several references to Jack Peters. I made some calls to the following people; Julian Doty, Walt James, Bill Burke, Thatcher Darwin, Lou Klinou, Bud Meyer, Harold Johansen, Jim Lattin, and Bruce Geisler. I will also run this in the SLSRH Newsletter and perhaps someone who has records, old photographs or other memorabilia of the Throttlers car club (we know Peters was a member of the Road Rebels and we only assume he had some contact with the Throttlers), Western Timing Association or Jack Peters can offer some help. In talking to Klinow, James and the others, I found that my knowledge of that time was sometimes faulty. We are talking about a date that happened 68 years ago and many contradictions arise in our memories. The Cannon Brothers have passed on, but their children are actively saving their history and they might also have some records. Jack Peters moved on to the Western Timing Association, some said that he was their co-founder or their President, but he came to SCTA functions to get information for his Throttle Magazine. No one that I have talked to remembers Peters from around 1941 and after. We assumed he died in the service, since he was so important in land speed racing and we felt that he would have returned to his friends and local racing in Southern California. He loved his magazine and it was very popular in the racing circles. By his own editorials he wanted to turn Throttle Magazine into a first class racing publication. A secondary, but by no less important reason, was his desire to promote safety in racing and on the streets. If he wasn't the first, he definitely was with the first men in local racing to promote safety and to argue for an organized effort to protect the racing community from onerous laws aimed at destroying the hot rodding and racing culture. I have calls out to people and some are looking for their photos and records. I will keep you in touch with what I find out.
Taken from the internet:
"The ... Western Timing Association, a short-lived rival to the SCTA ... at El Mirage ."
And...
"The old Western Timing Association (WTA) would take anything. And then there was Russetta. We were equal to the SCTA in many ways, especially after the SCTA guys saw the light." Bob Pierson
Addendum:
Don: I checked all the minutes of the SCTA from 1938 through 1945 and here are the only comments that I found regarding Jack Peters and the Western Timing Association. I haven't checked out the Throttle magazine or the SCTA programs yet. What stands out is that Jack Peters took an active role from December 1940 through October 1941. He was not only at the SCTA Board meetings, but he participated as if he were a club rep. I've been to board meetings and they rarely let a non-rep talk on issues. This is supposition though. Peters might have been accorded more status because of his position in the Western Timing Association and as editor of Throttle magazine. But you will notice that the mood of the SCTA was that the WTA was not that important since they could not control accidents, had no ambulances and caused an uproar in the community that even affected the SCTA. One thing that did impress the SCTA members was the Throttle magazine itself. But after 1942, nothing is heard from Peters and Thatcher Darwin, who was the SCTA Secretary after the war and a Throttler club member, does not remember Jack Peters or seeing him. Peters was very active. It seems odd that he would simply vanish and not reappear after the war, at least to say hello or to get in touch with those that he knew. My father told me that he didn't see Peters after 1942. No one had a larger or more extensive address book than my father. We can't be certain that Jack Peters was even a member of the Throttlers, for we have no club lists of the time. We do know that he represented the WTA and was a member of the Road Rebels.
December 2, 1940: "Jack Peters of Western Timing was introduced to speak about a magazine he was publishing to further automobile racing in So. Cal. Following a group picture take by Jack for his publication..." Arthur C. Tilton
January 6, 1941: "The meeting was then turned over to Jack Peters to enable him to pass out issues of Throttle, his new publication, dedicated to amateur racing in So. California." Arthur C. Tilton
February 3, 1941: "...the floor was turned over to Jack Peters to say a little about the second issue of Throttle." Arthur C. Tilton
April 7, 1941: "Vic (Edelbrock) asked Jack Peters to express the plans of the W.L.A. (Is this a typo and is it really W.T.A?) for their coming year and how they intended to promote the safety angle. The meeting was then turned over to Jack Peters to distribute the latest issue of Throttle Magazine..." Arthur C. Tilton
April 22, 1941: "Jack Peters offered to print up copies of this letter (Chauncey Crist's letter to the CHP) and donate them to the S.C.T.A. as a gift from him." Arthur C. Tilton
May 5, 1941: "The next few minutes were turned over to Jack Peters to collect money for the next issue of Throttle magazine, which was not yet off the press." Arthur C. Tilton
July 7, 1941: "Jack Peters announced that the next issue of Throttle would be delayed for a few days due to the holiday of last weekend." Arthur C. Tilton
July 14, 1941: "An account of the accident which occurred at the Wester Timing Association meeting at Mirage Lake on the 13rth and in which five occupants of two cars were injured, was given by Vic Edelbrock. He made special emphasis of the fact that no ambulance was available near the lake and that the victims had to be taken into town in private cars." Wally Parks, acting secretary
August 4, 1941: "Ed (Adams) remarked about the seriousness of other organizations holding lake meets without having ambulances or medical aid on hand. He stated that much unfavorable comment had arisen in San Bernardino County as a result of the 2 car crack-up at a recent meet of the Western Timing Association." Wally Parks, Secretary
October 6, 1941: "Jack Peters spoke of a man whom he had contacted regarding property near San Diego, which might be available (to build a track to race on)." AND... "Jack Peters suggested that we might write to the Assemblymen for a clearer definition of the safety ruling (fenderless cars)." Wally Parks, Secretary
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George Barris will be at Autobooks/Aerobooks on July 11, 2009 and not in June as previously announced. Tina Van Curen, Autobooks-Aerobooks, 3524 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505. 818 845-0707
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Here are some short films we made for fun! Google the following films; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1s7Oh1UKdM, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQmHLFJSfQA&feature=related Enjoy. We have really been trying to get things up and running. Cars are running, but not enough people know about us yet. The cars that are showing up are cool, and we have all kinds of stuff running; bangers, flatties, hemi's, early bikes, etc. Soon it will be in full swing. Hopefully you might catch me on ESPN this weekend. Not sure what is happening yet, but we hear they wanna check us out. There is a great buzz over Motor Speedway. People are really interested in seeing these old hop ups run. I'll keep you posted! I'll also be out on the West Coast for the L.A. Roadster show next weekend. I plan to meet up with living legend Jim "Jazzy" Nelson of the famed Dragmaster duo, Oilers car club, part founder of the S.D.TA., and regular at Bonneville. We will have a passing of the guards as he has bestowed us with the honor of running the Oilers name. We plan to do our part and make records under that name, count on it. It's more then an honor for us. Right now we are preparing a Flattie for a gas coupe class. My 1934 three window will donate itself for our good times out at Bonneville and my drag strip Motor Speedway. Mel Stultz
Mel: Very well done. Keep us informed on your racing agenda and schedules for your nostalgic East Coast drag strip
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June El Mirage Race Report from Jim Dunn. Hi All, Saturday morning in Thousand Oaks is June gloom and I am looking forward to some real honest to goodness sunshine and being able to shed my sweat shirt after what seems an eternity of bleak weather. I met son Dennis with JP (grandson) on the freeway and we're off to the high desert with toys in tow. A quick stop at the new El Mirage Visitors Center was in order since Dennis had not seen it before. We got a look at the lakester that was on display which was restored by Cook Motorsports. This is the one Steve Toller drove for the SCTA high points championship two years in a row. If you haven't seen our new visitor's center it is a must. Time to head to the west end of the lake bed and get our pit set up and unload the truck. The wind is blowing at a pretty good clip straight out of the west and since we run west to east this may be a good thing. We meet Steve at the pits and get the truck and driving gear inspected, get the registration over with and get our wrist bands. Since we are number fifteen to start we do most of the prep work on the truck on Saturday. After a few car inspections its time for the course walk. That's over and we're off to town for dinner and a good night's sleep. Push up to the starting line is right after the 7:15am drivers meeting. That's a 5 AM Sunday morning wake-up at the motel in Victorville. A stop at McDonald's for whatever it was led me to make the statement that humans must be diesel powered since they'll run on this stuff. A couple of Rolaids later and the grumbling ceases.
There is a light wind as we arrive on the lake bed, still mostly from the west with enough south influence to keep the course relatively clear. This is good. Steve attends the drivers meeting while I finish the truck prep and warm up the engine. Last month #3 cylinder leaked down at 55% which was cured by a fresh valve job. With a good tail wind and a strong power plant we are optimistic for a record setting run even though the course is far from perfect. We get Steve suited up and he is in the truck waiting our turn to run. We're lined up next to the BMR fuel roadster and they are up to run. This thing is really wicked, ran 249 last November, and it sounds great. They push it off and it powers 100 yards and dies. Steve is up. He eases into the throttle to keep from blowing the tires away and down the course he goes. A fuel Chrysler is about the best sound under power there is but I got to tell you that little four banger Detroit sounded real good. It did its job and we bumped the record to 161.900. We were one of 121 car and bike entries with 26 records set in different classes. Had some spins and a couple of motor cycle crashes with injuries. We wish for a speedy recovery for those riders. I appreciate all the long hours the SCTA volunteers donate to our sport to keep it going. It would not happen without you. Thanks, Jim Dunn
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Editor's notes: The following history is based on an email from one of our members who asked what was the background of the Pete Dean Award. The following is a partial history of the origins of the Pete Dean Award.
There are only a few sources that we have at the present time to understand the background history of the Pete Dean Award. I rely on the research of Jim Miller, and the early minutes of the SCTA that my father was working on. The award for first named after Arthur C. Tilton, the first secretary of the SCTA and a man who helped to set the standards and procedures for how the SCTA is run today. That's about all that we have on the history of Art. My mother remembered Tilton as someone that we all looked up to, especially as he became a pilot in the Army Air Corp. My mother told me that Art died in the South Pacific while on air fighter patrol, but others told me that wasn't true and that he died sometime around the end of the war, maybe in 1946, in a training accident that occurred in Arizona or Pensacola, Florida. According to these sources Art was training a new pilot and the plane crashed, killing both of them. I think someone said it was an error on the part of the new flyer, but that isn't a certainty. A trophy was authorized, created and named in Art's honor and the original idea was probably proposed by John Cannon and other members of the Throttlers car club. It was to be a memorial trophy, presented every year, to the person who did something or went beyond the call of good sportsmanship. 1946 was the year when Tony Capanna and Randy Shinn were locked in an epic battle for the season's Points Championship. Tony couldn't overtake Randy, and they battled meet after meet. Just before the last meet of the year, Randy was involved in a crash, and I believe the accident happened away from the lakes. In the pictures after this accident, there is this scar running down Randy's face and over his eye that is gruesome to see. Shinn is incapacitated and misses the last race of the year. All that Tony had to do is get in his car and make a run for points and the Championship is his. He could have done that, he only needed a few points, and he was that close. Tony and Randy might have been friends, but Tony and Randy both were driven men. Capanna puts another driver in his car for his club's points, but he doesn't get any points for himself and he lets Randy have the championship, because, "I'm not going to win unless it's a fair competition," or words to that effect. This is something he also told me shortly before he died, when I interviewed Capanna up in Santa Barbara County. The Art Tilton Memorial Trophy honoree was a no-brainer as far as the SCTA was concerned; Tony Capanna won that award hands down.
Art Tilton was the first secretary of the SCTA and remained so until he resigned on July 7, 1941, then a number of men took over. My father took over "on a probationary test," only to resign later. It wasn't an easy job. Nick DeFabrity and Thatcher Darwin took turns as secretary. Art was a member of the Throttlers and was the "temporary" secretary at the first November 1937 meeting, which became a permanent job. His clear handwriting is evident in much of those early meetings and he recorded everything, but he hardly ever mentioned himself in the records. He was also the one to be given the job of following through on the letters, proposals and business that the board and reps brought forward. He was the one they called and worked with on a constant basis. Much of the organizational systems implemented, and that was to become standard in the SCTA, can be attributed to Art. He was a steadying influence on a board that had some characters on it. After 1942 the records don't shed much light on Art, except for the minutes of February 14, 1947:
"A report was given on the new trophies by the secretary who stated that they would all be ready for the big presentation deal. The plan for an Art Tilton Memorial trophy was discussed and John Cannon (Throttlers) gave a short resume of the past activities of our first secretary, Art Tilton. It was decided that such an award should be perpetual and given for outstanding sportsmanship. A motion was seconded and passed authorizing the purchase of this trophy."
This quote from the minutes of the SCTA contradicts a statement that I made in a previous newsletter article that it was Art's mother who funded the trophy and my recollection is that Ak Miller told me that. It could have been that the SCTA commissioned and paid for the trophy, but we have photographs of Mrs Tilton presenting the trophy at the Awards banquet. At a later date in the early 1980's, an accident took the life of Pete Dean and the SCTA Board of Directors changed the name of the Art Tilton Sportsmanship Trophy to the Pete Dean Award. I don't have a great deal of knowledge about who Pete Dean was, but those that did know Pete felt that an award honoring Pete's memory was needed. In my opinion, both of these men deserve recognition and I hope a second award will be authorized, made and purchased and named in honor of Pete. The award was given out in Tilton's name from 1946 until the early '80's and from then until today in the name of Pete Dean. If a second trophy is created, which sounds simple, what do we do with the interim from the 1980's to 2008? Does the SCTA go back retroactively and name another 25 or so awardees? Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea as there are lots of people who have been overlooked or forgotten and this would be a way to right an oversight, but it certainly wouldn't be easy or quick. It would take a lot of research to do it right. Also, the early SCTA Board authorized an award to be given out in the name of Danny Sakai, a very popular early member, who was killed in a crash, but I don't believe it was on the dry lakes. Does anyone know of or about a Danny Sakai trophy?
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You say your group receives my NEWSLETTER. I don't send out a newsletter, so I guess I'd like you to explain just what that is. We do post your ongoing newsletters on www.landracing.com. I hope that we're keeping them fresh as they come off the presses. And as for the "service" I do -- hey, I'm having fun with the website. I get to write -- and people read my stuff. That's what makes a writer happy. Add the fact that I get enough money from them, mostly as donations, to pay all of the bills -- and wow, it's a gas. Then comes the icing on the already great cake -- the fact that Nancy and I get to attend all of the land speed events and "report" on them. We're popular for going to the events - that we'd like to attend anyway. The best of all was the Top Speed Shootout last fall, when I had hundreds of people online at any one time for the best part of four days. They were posting little comments like, "I've jammed the "refresh" button on my keyboard -- with a toothpick so it keeps on getting the latest," or "My boss is praying for rain at Bonneville so I'll quit spending so much time checking out the latest every few minutes." What can I do to help you with your newsletter? Best regards for now, Jon Wennerberg
Jon: I meant to say that those who put the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians (SLSRH) Newsletter on their home computer list of "Favorites," probably also have www.landracing.com on their list of Favorites as well. There are a number of great websites that have land speed racing as their subject matter. We estimate that the number of land speed racing fans in America and Canada number 5000, another 10,000 fans are in Europe and perhaps 2500 more in Australia, New Zealand and around the world. Perhaps that guestimate is low, or high, but the point of the matter is that there are some very fine publications, both print and on-line that cater to this audience. And your publication is one of the very best and I go to it often. The SLSRH is a hybrid of sorts. We don't take ads and we try and stay with historical land speed racing subjects, but that is hard because what happens today is history tomorrow. Our goal is to save and research the history and heritage of land speed racing and what we uncover is available to scholars, writers and others to use. Your website is very much like ours, except that you have a commercial aspect to it that we don't have. We want you to be successful, because land speed racing needs multiple outlets for news and historical research. If you want to know how to help us, the answer is the same as how we can help you. Register and join the SLSRH newsletter and send in questions, answers and your research. Often it is only Jim Miller and myself who are writing the articles or columns and this gets tiring. The SLSRH newsletter is an open forum, of a scholarly nature, intended to enlighten us all on the history of land speed racing, early drag racing (up through 1959) and hot rodding in general. And while you are writing to us, mention all the topics that www.landracing.com is pursuing, because we want our readers to go over to your website and read it as well. Which by all accounts, they are already doing.
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Can you help a friend who's looking for Bob Kashler. Thanks, Joe Timney
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"A friend of mine, Dick Keller (constructor and owner of a rocket car called The Blue Flame), is trying to reach Bob Kashler. I am not well connected to the Salt community, but thought you may be able to spread the word that Dick is looking for Bob. Recently, Dick has been contacted by a number of historians regarding The Blue Flame and he is rounding up everybody who was connected to the project. He is also looking for photos of the car, where it raced and those who participated in its success. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated." John Goodman
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"Do you or your salt buddies know Bob Kashler? He was a southern CA friend of Gary Gabelich who I am interested in contacting."
Dick Keller, [email protected]
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John, Dick and Joe: We have about 500 members and this should get the word out for you.
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The Champion Speed Shop is fine-tuning the Chevrolet-powered Special in preparation to motor far further south than South San Francisco for the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green Kentucky, June 19-21, 2009. Putting together an all-new race car and getting the fresh clutch and tire combination to mesh with almost three thousand horsepower can be a little tricky - especially when races last a mere 5.96 seconds each. Even with two test sessions and two races in the past, the Special has had less than five minutes of actual on-track measured run time. Bowling Green, Kentucky will be the next stop on the road towards quicker and faster quarter mile assaults. The entire crew is geared up for the drag race, and will once again bring a Chevrolet and nitromethane to the lush grounds of Beech Bend Raceway Park. "It's like going to Churchill Downs to drag race. Bowling Green is truly beautiful, and unlike any other drag strip. It's one of my favorite races of the year," said driver Adam Sorokin. See http://championspeedshop.com . Mike Bumbeck
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I have the 1956 Hot Rod magazine issue it's (1948 Spurgin & Giovanine land speed car) featured in, as the Carl Borgh Mothersills Special. I've posted about it, http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/06/von-dutch-on-mothersills-special-of.html and would appreciate it if you'd let Ernie Nagamatsu know that I'll copy the feature story for him and email it, or postal mail it to him. Thanks for the informative website, and the time it must take you to keep it up, Jesse at http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/
Jesse: I've sent a copy of your email to Ernie and thank you for the link. It will help those who do not have that issue of Hot Rod Magazine. The month was listed, so if you know that, let us know. There are a lot of vendors selling old Hot Rod Magazines and knowing the date is important.
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Tony Colombini is the publisher for a retro hot rod on-line e-Zine at http://www.blacktopmagazine.com
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Thanks for the "heads up" on the Borgh configuration and the 1956 Hot Rod Magazine as we have the issue. It is also great that the next owner, Robert Cano (who did not change the configuration, but raced the car with Bonneville decals with date along with sponsor decals... and Mothersills lettering at the Lion's Drags) had the Cano "Snoot" featured in the Hot Rod Magazine once again. It is interesting as the Spurgin/Giovanine Roadster, when found in Apple Valley, it had big slicks on the rear and that confused David Lawrence for a moment. Lawrence confirmed it was the original car with the Mothersills lettering (small air scoop- numbers on the sides) and Borgh nose without the grille- cut out for the driver at the front and a small roll hoop. The body and chassis was all very original with front belly pan still intact. Check out the website (http://www.venturamotorsportsgathering.com/) for the July 12th-Sunday Ventura Motorsports Gathering. Curt Giovanine, from Bishop, California is bringing the Tribute Bonneville racer. Check out "Who's Coming to see his fine car," that he built with his legendary father and we will have it side by side with the Spurgin Giovanine Roadster at the Concours Show in the park. Thanks Ernie Nagamatsu
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I just wanted to give you a heads up that a feature story about the 36hp Challenge will be in the August issue of Hot VW's magazine. The issue should go out to subscribers in late June and be on newsstands early July. Also, the 36hp Challenge at this Septembers (16th-19th) World of Speed event looks like it will have a minimum of three 36hp powered racers, probably five and possibly seven plus a good contingent of Challenge supporters. I hope you can arrange to be there to join us. If you cannot bring a 36hp powered car, bring any other VW you have and enjoy the Bonneville Salt Flats experience. Burly Burlile
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The Golden Hawk team is lead by Randall Pierce, better known as Randy. Randy served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as public relations photographer. He studied photogrammetric engineering and remote sensing and military law. As a veteran of the heydays of drag racing in the sixties and seventy he crewed, owned and drove everything from stock bodied Mazda's to a 1941 Willys gasser, to front and rear engine fuel dragsters up and down the west coast. Racing off road in desert races on dirt bikes he even managed, in his first year to make the top ten in CMA Motocross at the tender age of 34 years. He also sponsored and assisted off road 4x4 racers to championship performances in the seventies. Always moving in two or more directions at once, he owned and managed four or five business at the same time. Randy was a pioneer in the manufacture and promotion of Nitrous Oxide Injection systems under the name of Instant Horsepower Incorporated with partner
and off road champion Bob Green. In 1979 while testing a twin turbocharger fuel dragster he decided it was time for a change. He parked
all the racing equipment. Sold his businesses and bought two sail vessels. One he sailed around the Hawaiian Islands in the winter of 79/80
and the other, a classic 37 foot wooden sailing yacht which he completely restored with his beautiful wife and soul mate Wendy. They cruised the
northwest showing it in wooden boat festivals. "My life went from 200mph racers to six knot sail boats offering hours of total boring relaxation between moments of shear and absolute terror." In 2001 the need for speed could not be suppressed and he convinced Wendy to drive to Bonneville Speedweek to check it out, and a plan to build a streamliner took shape. A return fact finding trip in 2002 has convinced him to proceed with the construction of a twin engine diesel powered, air-conditioned Pierce/Arrow Streamliner capable of speeds of 350kmh on an existing record of (149mph) 240kp. Following heart surgery in December 2003, the project has now evolved to a new car a single 4 liter engine, front wheel drive turbo diesel capable of 500kms (300+ mph).
Designed by Randy, built by the sponsors and the team. Engine Development by Piers Harry, is developing 3.9litre diesel with
turbocharger and Nitrous oxide injection producing 750hp. TV exposure, it is proposed that a documentary style video will be shot to document the chronological events from the start of the build to the setting of the record. This will include short stories featuring each of the sponsors. This will be produced in part by CTV and The Discovery Channel. Agnew Bailiffs and Financial Adjusters Ltd. donated the custom built transporter, a 48 Foot semi Trailer with lift and lounge and theatre, by Carpe.ca. Murphy Aircraft Manufacturing, Design and build special parts. Icemaker machinery donated by Love's Auctioneers and Appraisers Ltd. Special Landspeed wheels custom made by Green's Automotive. Steel Tubing and metal supplies by Aggressive Tube Bending. Global Inkstorm to wrap the car and transport with vinyl imagery, Decals, Posters and Banners. Werner Sprenger, transmission and differential modifications design and build. OTT Industries construct front axles and steering, build Front wheel drive unit, steering and special custom built overdrive. Aggressive Tube Bending to cut and weld chassis to Bonneville National
Inc.'s 2006 Rulebook specifications. Plastec to supply special composite body panels and Lexan cockpit canopy. Printing and poster distribution by Global Inkstorm. Air-conditioning for streamliner and lounge supplied by Cool-it Hiway Services and their affiliate companies.
Kool Coat to supply ceramic shield coating on turbocharger, headers and exhausts. Tires supplied by Goodyear. Tire life products donated by Fuller Brothers. Design consultant Ken Walkey, owner and driver of 316 mph "Grandpa's Toy." Web designs by Judy Vaughan and Brian Beesley. Artist-poster ad wear designs - Claudia "ladybug" Shuttleworth. Photographer for project and computer guy, Brian Beesley.
Illustrations by Daryl Sorenson - art director. Engineering drawings by Daniel Ciechonski. Chief mechanic W. Sprenger of W.C.S. Holdings Ltd. Transport driver - James Walker. High performance lubricants by Nitrolube. Battery equipment by Federal Battery. Powder coating by Apex Finishing Ltd. Burnaby, BC. Fire system by Acme Fire, Burnaby. Cam shaft design and production by Geoff Bardal of Colt Cams. Turbo charged engine by Cummins Western Canada. Internal sheetmetal fabricated by Lone Star Industries Ltd. Onboard computer by TD Micronic. Theme music by Trooper
Goldenhawk Team Members; Werner Sprenger, Brian Beesley, Wendy Pierce, Goeff & Ilona Bardal, Dave Coombes, Chris Olson, Ben Olson, Yuri Tofini, Judy Vaughan, Peter Diesing, Jason Rite, Craig Robarts, Bob Green, Kevin Knox, Dan Nayoski, Seper Saebnia, Daryle Sorenson, George Espejo, Steve Troyan, Nick Boos, Piers Harry, Cody Gillis, Andrey Andreev, Daniel Ciechonski, Shaun George, Sean Scott, Pat Carlson, Patrick Colgan, Adrian Liciu, Ken Rouble, Roland Anderson, Dr. Glenn Dyck, Barklee, Gofer/driver in training - Cody Gillis (age 15 and learning). Donators; Princess Auto, Walker Trucking. See www.goldenhawk.ca, (or click) http://goldenhawkproject.blogspot.com/. Randy Pierce
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I don't know Bob Kashler, but the thought came to me that you might help me by putting out a letter that would say I am looking for the following items for my Hall of Fame Museum, which will open late this year in Auburn, Indiana. I need information on anything speed equipment or cars built by Grancor Automotive Specialists (Granatelli Corporation) like Ford Flathead motors, heads, manifolds, etc. Also, looking for any racecars I owned or built, including Indy cars, street rods, Bonneville cars or a Fordillac. I would like to have any information on the whereabouts of any of the above. I will consider a loan, a donation or I will purchase the items. No matter what, I would like to know what's out there.
Contact Andy at [email protected]. Thank you. Andy Granatelli
Andy: I will get this into the next newsletter as soon as possible and hope that you get a good response for your museum. I wish you had a museum out here on the West Coast as well for all the hot rodders who can't make it back to Auburn.
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October has become a favorite month for people of many Celtic persuasions to "gather beside the seaside" at Seaside Park in Ventura. The Seaside Highland Games will return for a seventh year to the Ventura County Fairgrounds this October 10th and 11th 2009 for another rousing Festival of all things Scottish. There will be a British car show exhibiting all types and models of cars produced in the British Isles. For further information see http://seaside-games.com/main.html. John & Nellie Lowry
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The hot rodders are rolling back to Bowling Green for the 7th annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Raceway on Father's Day weekend, June 19-21, 2009. "We're rolling back to Bowling Green with more hot rods, more speed, and more family thrills than ever before," said Tony Thacker, executive director of the Parks Museum. "Bowling Green's warm southern hospitality keeps Reunion-goers coming back for more, and we couldn't have done it without all y'all!" Last year marked the start of the Museum and Beech Bend's 5-year partnership to bring long-term stability to the event. Dallas Jones, owner of Beech Bend Raceway Park said, "We're getting the Beech Bend drag strip ready for the racers, and looking forward to hosting a bigger and better Hot Rod Reunion in 2009." "From our new baseball team, the Bowling Green Hot Rods, to the annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion, this is the year of the hot rod. We want all our neighbors to come out for some good fun-the Kentucky way," said Vicki Fitch, executive director of the Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Our motto says it all, Get Rolling to Bowling Green!" Darrell Gwynn, one of the NHRA's all-time Top 50 Drivers, has been selected as the event's Grand Marshal. He's won 28 national events and made the quickest run in drag racing, at the time 4.90. In 1990, Darrell's racing career was tragically cut short when he crashed at England's Santa Pod Raceway and was paralyzed from the chest down. Today, Darrell's love for racing and living is stronger than ever. He is dedicated to finding a cure of paralysis and enjoys life with his wife and daughter. Honorees for the event include Jerry Baltes, Amy Faulk, Chuck Nelson, Bob Creitz, and Vance Hunt. The Justice Brothers Reunion Spotlight falls on the team of Stone, Woods & Cook and their '41 Willys gasser, voted Favorite Race Car Ever. Tickets are available online at http://store.nhra.com, click on the link, "NHRR Holley Spectator Admission" or call for tickets to 1-800/884-NHRA (6472). Visit the Museum's web site at http://museum.nhra.com. Tony Thacker
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California Car Design; local style and global influence, opens June 27th at The Petersen Automotive Museum. At a time when the world's automakers are frantically trying to survive an economic downturn while simultaneously inventing new technologies to make the world a cleaner, safer place to live, good design becomes extremely critical. Because automobiles are often as much of an emotional purchase as they are a practical one, the success of the product can be directly related to its curb appeal. From the Packard Darrin to the Mazda Miata, cars designed in Southern California have ranked among the most highly regarded throughout automotive history. California Car Design: Local Style, Global Influence will tell the story of these and other locally designed automobiles and explains how progressive local designers like Harley Earl and Dutch Darrin brought a fresh approach to a conservative profession. Even after virtually all Los Angeles based vehicle manufacturers and coachbuilders closed shop following World War II, Southern California continued to shape automotive design on a large scale because of local customizers like Coachcraft and the Barris brothers whose work could be seen in dozens of enthusiast publications, on television, and in motion pictures. Today the Southland remains at the forefront of innovation thanks to the area's large number of corporate design studios, influential educational institutions, and ongoing willingness of southland motorists to embrace new ideas. Vehicles on display will include a 1919 Pierce Arrow with a Don Lee body designed by renowned GM designer Harley Earl, America's first post -WWII sports car: the 1947 Kurtis Omohundro, the 1950 Oldsmobile Polynesian built by Valley Custom, production vehicles designed in California, a never before seen full scale clay model from Chrysler, the 2009 Honda FC Sport concept car that debuted at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, and many more.
California Car Design: Local Style, Global Influence runs through February 7, 2010. See www.petersen.org. Chris Brown
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I have enjoyed reading through some of the archived Hot Rod Hotline articles you have written over the years and your insight and great stories on the West Coast Rodding scene. I have been involved in drag racing for a long time and met your father on several occasions. As a NHRA National Event track operator at the time, it was a moment I'll never forget at the NHRA 50th Anniversary celebrations and having your father be a part of that. I also knew your father also had sons in yourself and David and always wondered if either of you were involved in the NHRA or a successor after your father? Truthfully, I've wondered that many times over the years and hope you don't mind my asking. Thanks for the great stories Richard and hope to hear back from you! Scott Quick, Minnesota
Scott: Thank you for the compliments. The purpose for founding the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians (SLSRH) is to preserve, protect and find our hot rodding and racing heritage before it is lost. We are lucky in that auto racing is relatively young. Historians who try and find the facts of the Civil War, Roman Empire or much older eras have a very difficult time. We are attempting to save motorsports history and so our time frame goes back to roughly the 1890's. One of our goals is to get every hot rodder and racer to write their biographies and caption their photographs, so that their children, family, heirs and friends will understand what they saw and experienced in life. One of the sad things in my life is that my father kept putting off his book that he was going to write. My stepmother, Barbara Livingston Parks, asked him repeatedly to do that and he told her repeatedly that he would, but there was just one more project that he had to do. My brother, David Parks, and I also asked him to write his biography. Toward the end we agreed to help him finish his book on the Minutes of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), 1937-1948. Both my brother and I wanted him to do his memoirs first, but he was obstinate and he was still healthy at 94. What my father didn't know, was that he would contract an infectious disease while in the hospital that would take his life. That is what all of us will never know, when we put off things of vital importance, only to suffer an accident or other serious health problem.
The SLSRH is a group of people committed to conserving racing and hot rodding history, and our goal is to see that each and every one of us does at least the minimum; write our bios and caption our photographs. Where we can, we encourage people to extend the bios into a history. It can be a history of a racetrack, a club, a family enterprise, a period in time, a team or anything else of interest. Roger Harrell wrote about his family's history in engine building and racing. Kay Kimes turned his bio into a real life history. John Lucero told us all about the 12 year history of the famous Legion Ascot Raceway in East Los Angeles. What we need is a history of every oval track and drag strip that has ever existed. Bob Frey, the famous announcer, is on a quest to find every single result of every race at every drag strip that ever happened from day one to the present. Leslie Long is working on the results at the early Santa Ana Drags and the Dry Lakes at El Mirage. If you have results, get them to Bob or Leslie. Each of us can do just a little, but when added together the history that we leave to the next generation will be so comprehensive that motorsports racing and hot rodding will be the most extensively studied of all subjects in this world. My father's story is very compelling, but the only way that we will ever read about it is if each and every person who met or knew my father writes down their bio and adds a bit about what they know of Wally Parks.
But I'm not finished there, because my father was only one among many and we need the history of everyone. I have a guideline which I send out, then the person answers the questions and sends it back to me to edit. This process goes back and forth about 4 or 5 times, then the bio is finished and ready for publication. As to my history, why I have nagged others and yet failed to write mine. I'll try and work on it soon. A short history is this; My father married my mother, Mary Parks, at the height of the Great Depression in 1935. He left for the war in 1943 and I was born shortly thereafter. He served in the Pacific Campaign and was in the fighting in the Solomons, the New Hebrides, Linguyen Gulf and the Battle of Manila. He was one of the first to rescue the prisoner of war camps. Dad returned from the war and was elected the President of the SCTA in 1946. He went to work for Hot Rod Magazine in 1949 and founded NHRA in 1951. My brother David was born in 1952. In the late 1950's he founded National Dragster. My father and mother divorced and he remarried in 1960 to Barbara Livingston, but they had no children. Barbara has one niece, Leila Livingston, who was a ballerina and is now a chef. My father has five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. My brother and I have some material and are planning on doing a biography of his life, but to do that we will have to have the help and support of those who knew him. It will have to be written as an anthology, with each of his friends and family members writing a few pages each and then combined into a book format.
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Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame Members as of September 27, 2008. See http://www.oilstick.com/halloffamemembers/index.htm. The following comes from www.oilstick.com website, owned and operated by Evelyn Roth. (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
Chuck Abbot, Multy Aldrich, Don Alderson, Keith Allen, Art Arfons, Joaquin Arnett, Nick Arias Jr.
Bill Baldwin, Gale Banks, Glenn Barrett, Gray Baskerville, Dean Batchelor, Steve Batchelor, Tom Beatty, Ron Benham, Ernie Bennett, George Bentley, Keith Black, Noel Black, Don Blair, Craig Breedlove, Vance Breese, Bob Brissette, Ray Brock, Racer Brown, Tom Bryant, Warren Bullis, Larry Burford, Bill Burke.
Clark Cagle, Gary Cagle, George Callaway, Dave Campos, Tony Capanna, Fred Carrillo, Don Carr, Lee Chapel, Mel Chastain, Art Chrisman, Don Clark, Ron Cohn, Doug Cook, Mike Cook, Penny Cook, Frank Coons, Wes Cooper, Jack Costella, Roy Creel, J. Otto Crocker, Bruce Crower, Jim Culbert, Don Cummins.
Dennis Dalton, Fred Dannenfelzer, Pete Dean, Glen Deeds, Mark Dees, Jim Deist, Ed Donovan, Julian Doty, Jim Dunn.
Vic Edelbrock Jr, Vic Edelbrock Sr, Bill Edwards, Chauvin Emmons, Kent Enderley, Quin Epperly, Earl Evans, Tom Evans, Russ Eyres.
Don Ferguson Sr, Don Ferguson Jr, Don Ferguson III, Jim Feuling, George Fields, Don Francisco, Glenn Freudenberger, Phil Freudiger, Ted Frye.
Gary Gabelich, Bruce Geisler, Elmo Gillette, Rick Gold, Andy Granatelli, Bud Greenleaf, Emil Grissotti.
Duke Hallock, Seth Hammond, Kenny Harman, Ernie Hashim, Carl Heap, Bob Hedman, Chet Herbert, Bob Herda, Bob Higbee, Stu Hilborn, Wes Hutchens.
Ermie Immerso, Ed Iskenderian.
Kong Jackson, Wendy Jeffries, Ab Jenkins, Jim Jensen, Bob Joehnck, Harold Johansen, Howard Johansen, Bruce Johnston.
Barry Kaplan, Bob Kehoe, Bill Kenz, Jerry Kugel.
Fred Larsen, Joe Law, Les Leggitt, Burke LeSage, Roy Leslie, Jim Lindsley, Larry Lindsley, Phyllis Lindsley, Fred Lobello, Jack Lufkin.
Ed Mabry, Dave MacDonald, Ron Main, Mike Manghelli, Denis Manning, Bob Markley, Charlie Markley, Verlin Marshall, Ernie McAfee, Allen McAlister, Moose McCaulley, Cec McCray, Bob McGrath, Duane McKinney, Tom Medley, Bobby Meeks, Bruce Meyer, Jack Mendenhall, Eddie "Bud" Meyer, Ak Miller, Eddie Miller, Jim Miller, Moe Mills, Dean Moon, Gene Mooneyham, Johnny Moore, Joe Mondello, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Burt Munro, Paula Murphy.
Barney Navarro, Leroy Neumayer, Terry Nish, Louise Ann Noeth, Bob Noice.
Gene Ohly, Karl Orr, Veda Orr.
Romeo Palamides, Wally Parks, Bert Peterson (IS THIS ROBERT PETERSEN?), Bob Pierson, Dick Pierson, Joe Pisano, Lionel Pitts, Chuck Potvin, Levan Prothero.
Cal Rayborn II, Roy Richter, Eric Rickman, Doug Robinson, Tim Rochlitzer, Bob Rufi, Otto Ryssman, Ken Ruble.
Chuck Salmen, Paul Schiefer, Charles Scott, Gene Scott, Louis Senter, Tom Senter, Greg Sharp, Cris Shearer, Ed Shearer, Clay Smith, Tex Smith, Gus Sommerfeld, Tom Spalding, Chuck Spurgin, Mike Stewart, Clyde Sturdy, Bob Summers.
Al Teague, Clem Tebow, Bill Temple, John Thawley, Al Thayer, Richard Thomason, Mickey Thompson, Neil Thompson, Steve Toller, J. D. Tone, Ed Tradup, Jim Travis, Marlo Treit, Roscoe Turner.
Jack Underwood.
Paul Vanderley, Dennis Varni, Eric Vaughn, Don Vesco, John Vesco, Rick Vesco.
Ken Walkey, Dan Warner, Mike Waters, Robert Webb, Phil Weiand, Mary West, Sam Wheeler, Rick White, Nolan White, Dick Williams, Matt Williams, Dana Wilson, Bozzy Willis, Ed Winfield, Monte Wolfe, Earl Wooden, Ted Worobieff.
Alex Xydias.
Don Zig.
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Distinguished Vehicles; Tom Beatty's Belly Tank, Larry Burford's Roadster, Carr & Kaplan Lakester, Art Chrisman's Lakester, Mike Cook's Thunderbird, Roy Creel 1934 Ford Coupe, Danny Boy Streamliner Sportster, Glenn Deed's 4WD Roadster, Easy Rider Motorcycle Streamliner, Tom Evan's Motorcycle, George Fields Comp Coupe, Phil Freudiger Roadster, Bruce Geisler's Studebaker, Bud Greenleaf's Harley Davidson, Seth Hammond's #77 Lakester, Carl Heap's Phoenix Diesel Truck, Kenz & Leslie Streamliner, Larsen-Cummins Streamliner, Larry Lindsley Coupe, Fred Lobello's Ladybug Lakester, Ed Mabry's Big "D" Motorcycle, Ron Main's Flatfire Streamliner, Denis Manning's "Seven" Streamliner, Markley Brothers' Tanks, Verlin Marshall's Crosley Coupe, McKinney & Kehoe Sundowner Corvette,
Mendenhall/Vanderley Roadster, Burt Monroe's Indian Motorcycle, Pierson Brothers' Coup, Redhead Streamliner, Doug Robinson BMR Coupe Eric, Sadd-Teague-Bentley Roadster, Chuck Salmen's Sum Fun Roadster, So-Cal Special Lakester, Vaughn's Indian Motorcycle, Vesco Family Streamliner, Don Vesco's Motorcycle Streamliner, Sam Wheeler's Motorcycle Streamliner, Nolan & Rick White's Streamliner, Earl Wooden's Crosley.
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With car companies going in into bankruptcy and shedding famous names left and right, it's important to remember that today's automotive titans started out as tiny startups, not unlike Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Names like Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota and Porsche call to mind the huge corporate successes of the past and the great automotive families that survive today. But behind every brand name, there is a flesh-and-blood inventor, entrepreneur or industrialist. Most of the time, they gave their name to the companies. And that fame was often about all they ended up with. David Buick, who invented the overhead valve engine, founded the Buick Motor Car Co. in 1903. William C. Durant, the industrialist who would eventually found GM, took over the company in 1904, when it ran into financial trouble. Buick stayed on as a director, but left in 1908, never making much money from the enterprise. He reportedly died in 1929, unable to afford one of his cars. Durant kept the name for one of his company divisions and for the car, even though he worried that people might pronounce it "Boo-ick," according to one author. Strangely enough, the man who practically created General Motors single-handedly never really liked the idea of a 'Durant' car. In another example, Robert Hupp invented the Hupmobile, a two-seat runabout, in 1908. But he sold his stock in his Hupp Motor Car Company in 1911. He turned around and founded the Hupp Corporation that same year. Investors in his first firm took him to court to make him drop the "Hupp" from his new company's name and they won. His own automotive glory quickly faded, although the Hupmobile survived until the 1940's.
Swiss-born Louis Chevrolet's experience was similar. Durant brought him into a new car-building venture in 1911, hoping to trade on his fame as an absolutely fearless race car driver. Chevrolet left the company in 1913, apparently unable to make the adjustment from racing to building production vehicles. But its name stuck to the new Chevrolet vehicles; Durant reportedly liked its musical lilt. It could also work the other way around. In 1925, Walter P. Chrysler got the naming rights to the Maxwell Motor Company after he and another industrialist steadily bought up shares in the firm over a two-year period. Things turned out a little differently for Henry Ford. He suffered the ignominy of being booted from an early auto company that bore his own name. But his revenge was sweet. The Henry Ford Company, which traded freely on Ford's early fame as an inventor, fired him in 1902, "because he was spending all his time developing a race car, not a passenger car," according to the Encyclopedia of American Business and Biography. After Ford was gone, the company was renamed Cadillac, after Antoine Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac, the French nobleman who founded Detroit in 1703; his heraldry became the model's badge and the company became a part of General Motors in 1909.
After his firing, Ford quickly found investors to help him found his own firm, the Ford Motor Company, in 1903. He introduced the company's first new vehicle, the Model and followed it up with other low-cost vehicles, including his greatest achievement, the Model T, in 1908. Its price tag started at $850 and fell steadily as Ford introduced more production innovations. The young firm became phenomenally successful.
In the 1920's, he got the chance to buy the five-year-old Lincoln Motor Company out of bankruptcy. It was then owned by one of the very people, Henry Leland, who fired him in 1902. Then he used the former aircraft company to launch his own line of luxury cars bearing the Lincoln name. For its part, General Motors almost didn't get the name it bears today. Durant actually incorporated his company under the name "International Motors Company," in New Jersey in 1908. But his attorney advised him that it would be easier to raise capital under a new name. "We might use 'United Motors Company' were it not for the fact that there is already a United Motor Car Company in that state," the attorney wrote. "We suggest the name General Motors Company, as we have ascertained it can be used." A newly coined French word, auto-mobile, inspired many vehicle names of the early years. Inventor Ransom E. Olds filed a patent for an "auto-mobile" during the mid-1890s. Names like Bugmobile, Locomobile, Hupmobile, and of course, the Oldsmobile, could not have come along without it. The origins of some names can be tricky to trace. The first use of Jeep, for instance, is shrouded in mist. Jim Allen, the author of a book called "Jeep," concludes that it's based on early World War II slang for "a new, unproven recruit or a new unproven vehicle." It wasn't until 1950 that Toledo-based Willys-Overland, Incorporated, one of the producers of the early four-wheel-drive vehicle, trademarked the term 'Jeep.'
Many of the names were not originally associated with the auto industry. The Toyota name came from the Toyoda loom works in Kariya, Japan; When it turned to car production, the Toyoda family changed the 'd' to a 't' to make it simpler and more elegant in Japanese script. There's little doubt about other brand names. Pontiac was an offshoot of the Pontiac Buggy Company, a horseless carriage manufacturer named after a renowned Indian chief. Mechanic Soichiro Honda started producing motorized bicycles after the devastation of World War II and eventually graduated to cars. Volkswagen, a response to Adolf Hitler's call for a car for the common folk, means 'people's car' in German, evidently beating out the prototype's name, 'Strength through Joy,' for the honors. In 1917, the Rapp Engine Works became known as the Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, or Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) as the four-year-old airplane engine firm diversified into motorcycle engines, with a stylized white propeller against a blue sky as its logo, according to some authorities. The first BMW cars were produced 11 years later. The legendary Jaguar name is considered one of the best sports car names of all time. It beat out a long list of lackluster animal names compiled by a British ad agency in 1935. In 1939, Ford struck gold with Mercury, the fleet-footed messenger of the gods. It tapped into Greek and Roman mythology for the name, just as it did for the similarly styled Lincoln Zephyr, the god of the wind, three years earlier.
Some other storied automotive brands are based on acronyms. Fiat stands for Fabbrica Italiani Automobili Torino, or Italian Automotive Works Turin. Similarly, Saab stands for Svenska Aeroplanaktiebolaget, or Swedish Aeroplane Limited, hearkening back to the automaker's origins as an aircraft company. Ford might have done better with an acronym in 1958. The Edsel was conceived as a new, distinct Ford Motor Company brand, with its own models, badge and division. The mission was to take on GM's Oldsmobile. After considering thousands of suggestions, Ford named the new brand after Edsel Ford, Henry Ford's only child. He had been a major styling influence within the company and was its president at his father's death in 1943. The name Edsel was an immediate letdown. Ford stock fell 10 points on the day it was announced. One disenchanted executive predicted that the name alone would cost the new vehicle 200,000 units in sales. Its name wasn't the sole reason for its failure. It didn't help that the country was in recession or that the new car seemed based on Ford and Mercury models. But all that didn't stop Edsel from entering the vocabulary as an idea or project fated to failure. Sent in by Evelyn Roth
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