SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Walt James' VICTORY LAP - A Time to Remember, will be on November 21, 2009 at 11 AM at the Petersen Automotive Museum. I spoke to Vicki James and she wants everyone who wishes to pay their respects to Walt to come, BUT she needs to have a headcount and thus you must RSVP. She has sent around an Evite emailer and if you don't get it, contact me so I can get you registered. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I just needed to touch base with everyone to let them know that the November 15th Moldy Show has been Canceled for Crescenta Valley Park! Please pass this e-mail on to any of your friends and club members that might have planed on attending the event. The Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department would like to take a little more time in promoting these events to insure that we get a good show of participants, vendors and spectators alike. These events represent a huge undertaking especially when including management of the Carnival, Mid-Way, Farmers Market, Entertainment and the Car and Bike Show. So we have all agreed that taking the time to promote these events should be much more beneficial to everyone and are working on the 2010 schedule which will also include the Kustom Kulture Extravaganza in July! There is a tentative schedule for 2010 that can be viewed at http://www.MoldyShows.com. I'll be keeping everyone posted as we go. So once again the November 15th MoldyShow for Crescenta Valley Park has been canceled! Big Thanx for your continued support. Moldy |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I just shot cars that interested me without really knowing the owner or the driver (at Santa Ana Drag Strip), or even how fast they went. In those cases I won't be able to give you much information except for the place and approximate date. In other cases, since I was a close friend of Lloyd Scott, I shot a lot of pictures of his activities. And then there are others with people in them that I don't remember the names of. I'll do the best I can, but this is going to take a day or two. I'll get the slides on their way later this week, I hope. Dave Selway |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A couple of fellows that are involved with early hot rodding thought that you could help me out. I am attempting to build an exact replication of Robert Stack's pre-War (1938-41 Era) 1931 Model A Cragar-powered roadster hot rod. Your Dad knew Stack well, and might have photographs of his car, especially from the years he drove it at the dry lakes (he was a member of the "Pacemakers"). In fact in a recent Rod & Custom there was a shot of him pouring water on Bob Stack's head from a water bucket. That photo was probably taken in 1940-41. If you have a copy of that photograph, or any other showing this car, especially the interior, in addition to any information concerning technical details, please let me know. I would be willing to pay a fee for photographic copies. Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. By the way, I actually had a few conversations with Mr. Stack, before his passing, and he was very enthusiastic with the project. Call me anytime. Please feel free to publish my request for photographs in your newsletter, with both my email and phone number. Thank you sincerely for all your consideration! David E. Zivot, 702-258-6449, [email protected] |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ron Main shared this with us, the Spurgin/Giovanine Roadster video, by Justin Miller. You will have to Google the following; http://vimeo.com/7447847. If it won't come up on your screen, Google "SG Roadster video by Justin Miller." It's an excellent video on the discovery and restoration of the original roadster that won the 1948 SCTA season points championship. |
SG Roadster from Justin Miller on Vimeo. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Racing Clubs: Historians listed for each club |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I finally had my book published: Earning the American Dream. (Softbound, 8�x11, $47 including shipping, Gordon Whitby, PO Box 8327, LaVerne, CA 91750 or www.classicmgmagazine.com/books.html.) I just returned from the Bonneville Salt Flats where I drove an Austin Healey. I was a member of the team when we set records there in 1956, 1957 and 1959. Gordon Whitby, Bradbury CA. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm back from SEMA. About the Russetta timing tag you e-mailed me. Here's the info on it. Date of race: 10/20/57. Location: El Mirage. Car Type: Gas Coupe and Sedan. Owner: Jack Nelson. Car Number: 146. Speed: 102.11 mph. Club: Screwdrivers. Car Type: Unknown. Engine Specs: Engine-292" GMC with stock head, Howard intake manifold, Isky cam and Nash Ignition. In a '58 program it said the track was 1.5 miles long. The cars were timed in the last quarter mile. Jim Miller |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "KEEPER OF THE FLAME," Spurgin/Giovanine Roadster, 1948 SCTA Overall Champion. Racing swiftly in the swirling dust from the clay pans of the Dry Lakes of Southern California in the SCTA racing season of 1948…flashed the wonderful, sleek and very innovative Spurgin/ Giovanine Roadster, which was the legendary "Albata" Club Dry Lakes- Land Speed racer that established one of the most incredible records ever in Dry Lakes racing history… "It was the little Chevy 4 that thought it could… and it did." We are getting incredible global response from the short "Trailer- Loop" on the Spurgin/Giovanine Roadster and you may use it in your newsletter as Giovanine/Spurgin/Rufi are honored nicely. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Road Runners and Friends; the meeting notes from our Nov 10 meeting are now posted on our Road Runners News and Special Events page: http://www.ussarcherfish.com/roadrunners/news.htm. Hope everyone going to El Mirage this weekend has a safe and good time. If racing, have fun, be safe and go fast. Happy Thanksgiving to all! Jerry Cornelison |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ An example of a notable person in my histories would be Leo Goossen. His history bumps into many parts of American auto manufacturing and racing. Some of the connections are thin (He knew Walter Marr, Billy Durant, Charlie Nash, Walter Chrysler et al when he was with Buick) and some are rock-solid (the Offy engine). To draw the connections is, as you say, an immense task. But we press on. In my case to create a track-record for individuals to show what they did, and how what they did connected with others, embracing and acknowledging the work done by other historians and authors. Whew … makes me dizzier just thinking about it. Ken Berg |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Friends and racers; Go to Australia's Vdubber to see Cody's video of dad Bruce on his "1" Club qualifying run. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following performance took place October 18th, 2009, at the "TEXAS Mile" land speed racing event held in Goliad, Texas, at the former Goliad Air Force Base. Owner/Driver - Jeremy Freedman. City/Country - Dallas, Texas, USA. Vehicle - 1997 Volkswagen Golf GTi. Engine - VR6, 2981cc (bored). Camshaft - 288 race with stock VW valves (has hi-rev valve springs, titanium retainers). Cylinder Head - Ported and polished. Turbocharger - Borg Warner X366. ECU - MoteC. Tuner - Tony Palo @ T1 Race Development. Dyno: not stated. Road Horsepower - 719. Torque - 609. Transmission (2WD) - Stock VW Golf 5 Speed with 3:88 final drive (from diesel VW). Tires: Front - Hoosier R6 Road Race 225.55 x 15; Rear - Hoosier R6 Road Race 205.50 x 15. Fabricator - Phillip White @ Dub Squared. Safety Equipment: 5 Point Seat Belt and Harness, 5 Point Roll Cage, Fire Extinguisher Safety Certified for Drag Racing to 9.99 seconds, Air Conditioning removed. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just a quick note to give you somewhere else to watch and communicate about the 36hp Challenge during the upcoming winter months. The "NEW" Cal-Look blog just came on line today and the Melbourne Luft site joins the Vdubber and Volks Culture sites going down under in Australia. Please support them all with your input and comments. The Challenge is truly becoming an international VW experience. See http://www.cal-look.com/blogs/, the new Cal-Look and http://melburgluft.com/viewtopic.php?t=6861, Australia. Also, remember to put the Buses by the Bridge event on your early January calendar where a live 36hp Challenge forum will be held in person. See you on the salt. Burly Burlile |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I imagine Tom has put in a repeat of the Mechanics Illustrated of Bob Allinger's/Lee Chapels Tornado that I mentioned before. Is there anything new as for information wise? Here are photographs of an Australian fellow who has got in touch with me through Mariella Allinger. The pictures are from Bob and Kami of Australia. I hear hot rodding is big over there. Spencer Simon |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yes we have a historian in our club (Land Speed Racers). It is has been Mike Cook Jr. If you need his contact information let me know. Or if I can be of any assistance let me know. Donny Cummins |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G'day, the red '24 T roadster on the cover of Rodding and Restyling was owned by Hill Alcala who had bought it off Santa Ana co-owner Creighton Hunter in '53. Creighton had purchased the roadster off the Oka brothers who had built it to race on the circle tracks. The roadster still exists and is owned Julian Alvarez. There is a good write up in Hop Up Annual #8. Cheers, Jimmy Barter |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To: Justin Miller/Film producer. From: Ernie Nagamatsu. Date: October 27, 2009. Re: Final draft of Promo' video - Spurgin/Giovanine Roadster located at http://vimeo.com/7447847. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ First if you like you can add my name to the historian of record or the Idlers of Los Angeles, Throttlers of Hollywood and I suppose I'll continue to work on the Gophers. I'm kind of humbled to be given the Gophers since I feel there are so many people still alive that were members and I feel they could do better then I. I do however feel I know more then most about the Idlers and the Throttlers, which is sort of sad in a way since I have only been researching them for a year or so now and I am pretty sure few know more then I have uncovered about those two clubs. Second, I noticed you noted that you had called Bruce Geisler, regarding the first Russetta meet which he stated was on December 1, 1941. I can't find any data reflecting that date. I have read about the May 18, 1941 meet which was recorded in Throttle Magazine as being the first lakes meet of '41. There is however no mention of any other meets put on by Russetta until after the conclusion of the war. The Russetta tag in the Sandy's Muffler Shop roadster is dated May 18, 1941; it is the earliest Russetta tag I have seen thus far. I would like to speak with Bruce and discuss the December race; it may offer more insight into their beginnings. Michael Brennan |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, based at Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, Ocala, Florida has announced the induction to the Hall of Fame for the year 2010. The list of eight inductees is as follows: |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following came from Dr David Scully. "Wally Wyss asked me to include this vendor recommendation - he seems to be pretty pleased with this guy. Maybe some of you have a use for this kind of product." David |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gone Racin'… Automobile Dictionary with Lagniappe, by Ben Jordan. Book review by Richard Parks, photographic consultant Roger Rohrdanz Ben Jordan has written a dictionary especially for the car enthusiast. Driven by a love for all things automotive, Jordan has created a book that is fun to read and user friendly. The complete name of the book is Ben Jordan's Automotive Jargon for the Car Owner; from the Shade Tree Mechanic's Automobile Dictionary with Lagniappe. It is a soft cover 8 � by 11 inch book with 416 pages and is a full one-inch thick. The publisher is Windmill Jouster Books, in Denver, Colorado and it was printed by Clements Printing, copyrighted in 1995. The Library of Congress number is 95-90447. There are few photos, mostly on the covers, but there are some very fine drawings by Bill Ballas. Jordan includes a lagniappe, which is an addendum built into the book, and he encourages readers of the book to send new automotive words and descriptions, as well as corrections, to the publisher to be added to future editions. The dictionary is alphabetical, just like Webster's; with the exception that Jordan adds an iconoclastic and decidedly conservative broadside every now and then. He does not hold back from his deep-set convictions about the car culture and a government often at odds with it. The dictionary covers terms used by all segments of the automotive world. On page 279 for example are the words Quattoporte, quenching, quick change and quick charger. There are many terms that I've never heard of and the dictionary that Jordan created will serve a need among mechanics and automotive enthusiasts. The author was born in 1916, in Georgia, and placed in an orphanage at age seven. This toughened his resolve and he graduated from high school and went on to college, where he earned his degree in mechanical engineering at Clemson University. He spent one year with Bucky Fuller on the Dymaxion automobile. He began flying in 1932 and served in WWII as a pilot and spent the next 42 years in the Air Force on active and reserve status. Jordan's life has been dedicated to speed and his struggle has honed his strong opinions. As an engineer he has advocated the use of hydrogen as a fuel for cars and for our space program. He built his first hydrogen-powered engine in 1932, as a sixteen-year-old young man, the same year he learned to fly. He flew a B-57 Canberra Jet hydrogen-powered bomber in 1956. In 1981, Jordan converted a land speed car to hydrogen and is the first to drive such a car at the Bonneville Salt Flats, in Western Utah. He converted a 1924 Model T Ford Depot Hack into a hydrogen- fueled, turbocharged driven car, before donating the car to the San Diego Automotive Museum in 1995. He built his land speed streamliner, called the Bockscar, and set seven records at Bonneville. Jordan is a proponent of educational literacy in our schools and believes that technology can solve our societal ills. He also includes short histories and stories pertaining to the automobile. One story explains that Otto Benz is not the inventor of the internal combustion engine and the father of the automobile in 1885. He says that honor goes to a Swiss engineer, Isaac de Rivaz, whose patent in 1805 is duly recorded. De Rivaz's Grand Char Mechanique reached speeds of 3 miles per hour and climbed a 12-degree hill on October 18, 1813. Jordan also gives a little history on automotive engines, with the biggest engine over 6840 cubic inches and the smallest engine only one (1) cubic inch in size. That one cubic inch engine powered a streamliner to a speed of 62 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. He devotes another page to the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) and their influence on the automobile. Jordan proposes a new way to tax fuel and automobile usage, based on the type of fuel used and its environmental impact. He rails against government bureaucracy and policies that forestall the type of research needed to solve our energy crisis. He views all fossil fuels as wasteful and inefficient and shows how much of the gasoline that we use is not burned in the engine but lost through the exhaust back into the atmosphere as pollution. He is an unabashedly proud proponent of the hydrogen-powered vehicle. He forecasts that eventually the automotive and fuel industries will have to evolve, pulling a stodgy and rebelling political structure along with it into the modern age of hydrogen power. Jordan also rails against the term "accidents happen." He states there are no accidents and that government and the auto and gas industries are to blame for poor engineering of our highways and vehicles. Whatever view you hold, one has to admire Ben Jordan for fighting for his beliefs. There are no indexes or chapter headings, but that doesn't detract from the book, because it is basically a dictionary with added sidelights. The reader just has to hunt for these gems and find them. Otherwise, the definitions are all in alphabetical order. This is a fine book to add to the serious hot-rodders library. Gone Racin' is at [email protected]. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gone Racin'… Bonneville Salt Flats, speed limit 1000 mph, by George D. Lepp. Book review by Richard Parks, photographic consultant Roger Rohrdanz Sometimes the easiest books are the hardest to review. With George D. Lepp's Bonneville Salt Flats, Speed Limit 1000 mph, the task is easy. It's a pictorial book and the photographs are spectacular. The text is very light to non-existent and there are no historical footnotes to explain what the book is all about. You either know what the Bonneville Salt Flats are all about or the beautiful color photos will do that for you. Lepp does provide a Table of Contents and that lists seven chapters, but there is no index and the idea of having chapters at all is rather strange. Instead of adequate text and story, Lepp uses captions to tell his story. The author did not explain his motives for writing this book or the year that he took the photographs and researched the material. Digging through the book, there were references to the years 1986, '87 and '88, so all that we can be sure of is that Lepp was on the salt at Bonneville for at least one of those years and maybe all three. It is likely that the author went to Bonneville and was enthralled by the scene and the action and afterwards sent in his photographs and story outline to Motorbooks International, a huge publisher of automotive and speed books in the United States. Regardless of the intentions of the author, this book, while weak on dialogue and history, has some of the best photographs of Bonneville Land Speed Racing that has ever been put in a book format. Strangely, it appears on the shelves of die hard land speed racing fans, even though there is little history in it. One saving grace is that it has a great dust cover jacket. The dust cover is readily recognized by land speed fans and racers and the book has a small cult following for appearance and its color photos. Bonneville Salt Flats, Speed Limit 1000 mph is a hard-bound book that measures 9 � by 10 3/4 inches and is approximately 5/8 inch thick. There are 128 high-gloss quality pages with a superior binding. The dust cover jacket, as previously mentioned, should not be lost as it enhances the look and quality of the book. There are 82 color prints and many of them are full page and breathtaking. There are no black and white photos. There is no index. There are two pages where the rulebook is abbreviated and is the editor's attempt to look like he is covering the subject matter. There are no graphs, no maps, no charts or anything else to tell the story. The captions with the photographs are adequate and explain to the reader who owns or drives the car and perhaps a bit about the engine or car. Bonneville Salt Flats, Speed Limit 1000 mph is just a pictorial, plain and simple. Nothing fancy even when it tries to add some captions and limited text to appear to the reader that it has a story to tell. But what a beautiful pictorial it is. There is no need to go on about the deficiencies in the book, which are many. The photographs rescue this effort at literature and even though it is only a year or two out of half a century of racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats, it is worth adding this book to your library. If you are a land speed racing fanatic, then this book needs to be in your collection. It isn't anywhere as good as "Landspeed" Louise Ann Noeth's epic on Bonneville, but buy it for its color photographs, which are excellent. In fact, Bonneville Salt Flats, Speed Limit 1000 mph, has the best photographs of Bonneville yet, although the variety is limited. Bonneville Salt Flats, Speed Limit 1000 mph was published in 1988 by Motorbooks International Publishers and Wholesalers, P.O. Box 2, 729 Prospect Avenue, Osceola, Wisconsin 54020. Borders, Barnes & Noble or any other bookstore should be able to punch up the author, title or ISBN #0-87938-306-2 and tell you if there is a copy. I found my copy in a used bookstore. Motorbooks is a large publisher and so there should be a lot of books on the market. Check with Autobooks in Burbank, California if you need extra help. The full two page photos are really special and Lepp has aerial photographs of the course, which are rarely added to a book. You can read other books on the Bonneville Salt Flats for a historical background, but add Bonneville Salt Flats, Speed Limit 1000 mph to your library simply for the photos. Gone Racin' is at [email protected]. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LSR Project. The Herbert-Evernham Land Speed Record Project Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Herbert-Evernham Landspeed Record Project www.LSRProject.com LSR Project Newsletter 11/4/2009 Herbert-Evernham Land Speed Record Project Featured on The Speed Report |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please add the following to issue #137, including the photos in the attachments. The photos were sent in by Keith Ferrell, but the ownership and captions are not known as Ferrell did not mention it. If anyone can tell us the owners of the photos, please let us know. Thanks, Richard |
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Mike Bastian, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, Burly Burlile, George Callaway, Gary Carmichael, John Backus, John Chambard, Jerry Cornelison, G. Thatcher Darwin, Jack Dolan, Ugo Fadini, Bob Falcon, Rich Fox, Glenn Freudenberger, Don Garlits, Bruce Geisler, Stan Goldstein, Andy Granatelli, Walt James, Wendy Jeffries, Ken Kelley, Mike Kelly, Bret Kepner, Kay Kimes, Jim Lattin, Mary Ann and Jack Lawford, Fred Lobello, Eric Loe, Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre, Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy, Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth, Frank Oddo, David Parks, Richard Parks, Wally Parks (in memoriam), Eric Rickman, Willard Ritchie, Roger Rohrdanz, Evelyn Roth, Ed Safarik, Frank Salzberg, Dave Seely, Charles Shaffer, Mike Stanton, David Steele, Doug Stokes, Bob Storck, Zach Suhr, Maggie Summers, Gary Svoboda, Pat Swanson, Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy Travis, Jack Underwood and Tina Van Curen, Richard Venza. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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