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SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS
NEWSLETTER 96 - January 29, 2009
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:
Eric "Rick" Rickman passed January 24, 2009 after a lengthy illness, Wild In The Streets; The Adventures Of Dick Kraft By Dick Martin, Faith Granger - Let met introduce myself and my film, Mari Palash is still at Crystal Cove, The March Meet is coming up, Gordon Eliot White Archives, What the other Goldenhawk tribute is up to, Ron Main's Barn of Racing Memorabilia, The deadline is for Route 66 Rendezvous Cruisin' Hall of Fame Nominations is January 31, 2009, Bucky's Place is a drag racing museum in an old car dealership, Check out the book - The Speediest Land Traveller; a History of Alberta Auto Racing.

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President's Corner:  
   In the past I've talked a bit about early speed cars on the sands of Daytona, namely the bitchin' looking streamlined steam cars. Well, I was going through a box the other night and found a page clipped from a 1990 issue of the English magazine called Classic and Sportscar and at the bottom of the page was the picture attached showing the coolest little land speed car you've ever seen that looked like a duplicate of the beachers. Its caption read; Myles Rothwell's JAP Class I record breaker driven by Victor Stafford at Brooklands in 1935. It was wrecked while testing. Cool cars deserve more than just a picture especially if they're speed machines so it was off to do a little search on our friend the web to see what I could come up with. The results, one picture with a big © on top of it. No info on it at all. Another 45 minutes of searching and still zip. As usual some esoteric book comes to the rescue and this one was Bill Boddy's The History of Brooklands Motor Course written way back in 1950.
   A look at the index lead me to page 282 of the tome. The last paragraph read; "During the season ('35) Stafford and Myles Rothwell had evolved an odd little car intended for record-breaking, having a closed body in which the driver was originally intended to lie down flat, but in the end was accommodated normally, and a motorcycle engine in the tail. Unfortunately, a bad practice crash wrecked the car and no more was heard of it." Checks in another few books came up with nothing. Looks like the oddball cars get forgotten so enjoy the pix. The same thing happens here too. Another mystery car is a vehicle built to run Mojave Timing events in 1950. Louie Senter had Ansen painted on the side of it and the DOHC Davies powerplant was the same kind seen in his Hot Rod Show booth. Bob Morton says Marvin Faw built the bolt-together aluminum chassis and the car was supposed to be a clone of the Frank Lockhart car. Nothing is known about it ever running so now's your chance to step up and tell us everything you know about it. If you have any pictures of mystery cars send them in so maybe somebody might be able to shed some light on them.

English Mystery Car
Mojave-Mystery-car

   Captions:
English mystery car.jpg......This English speed racer was run at the famous Brooklands track in 1935 but crashed during testing. It looked like the early Stanley Steamers.  Jim Miller Photo.


Click Images For Larger View


Mojave mystery car.jpg......There is nothing known about this Marvin Faw built racer from 1950 other than the Mojave Timing affiliation.
                     AHRF/Bob Morton Photo

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Editorial: 
   Here's a grab-bag editorial. Our website operators haven't asked us for a cent in operating costs, but they graciously assign staff to process emails and calls and to reformat our newsletter to their system. For two years they have done this and we have yet to pay a cent. Of course, neither Jim nor I receive a salary either. None of us do what we do for money. We do it because we love the sports we follow. The question for all of us is do we want to see ads in the newsletter to help offset the costs the owners have to pay out? As editor, my policy has been to run announcements and events that are like ads, only we pretty them up a bit and make them PR announcements or personal interest statements. I talk to a lot of people who make a little money from their efforts in land speed racing, just enough to allow them to go to events. They are artists, vendors, model makers, used car parts sellers and other sorts of small businesses. There profit margins are slim to none and they appreciate a plug, but they aren't in a position to pay for space or give away merchandise in order to promote their small endeavors. As long as I'm the editor I will always extend a plug and space to promote what our readers are doing. It's good for the vendor and it's good for the readers and it's good for the newsletter.
   But sometimes there are larger businesses out there who have a budget and they can't prosper unless they advertise. For them, there is no profit margin if they don't keep beating the bushes for new business or to keep their name out in the public. Some of our best racing products companies, like Isky Cams, were famous for their ad wars and got quite inventive. In fact, advertising is a very interesting historical sidelight and many books have been written on the subject and more ought to be. Paul Smith, from Canada, interviewed Ed Iskenderian, Louie Senter and others to get material for his book on Racing Equipment Manufacturers. Does anyone know the status of this work and if it is now available for purchase or review? There are some companies that want to advertise and we ought to let them do so. Give them space in the newsletter and hope that it proves beneficial to the website owners, the businessmen and the readers. Jim and I are hopeless volunteers, but we can't let the website owners suffer too. And we need to continue to let the little guy send in his announcements without costs. We don't do enough of that, but it isn't Jim and I who are at fault there. It's you, the readers, because you must feel that we don't care about you, so you don't mention what you are doing. That goes for the artists, writers, model makers, decalers, pinstripers, mechanics, shops, builders, and small manufacturers. If you send it, we will publish it. We need to know what you are doing and you need to tell us what you are doing.
   Ernie Nagamatsu is working on the history of the Spurgin/Giovanine/Borgh car and that will take up an entire issue of the newsletter when it is done and I can find time to review, edit and get it formatted into the newsletter. We can't say enough for Ernie's effort to restore this car, to put out the resources and to spend the time on research. He has a team behind him, men and women who are dedicated to retrieving this part of our history and heritage. I have learned so much that my head is swimming with data and each bit of knowledge opens up a new window on early land speed and dry lakes racing. Because of the amount of research and the need to carefully check all the facts, the story has been delayed for two weeks running, but the time is coming when we will bring it to you. We owe a special debt of gratitude to the car restorers, who in their need to verify the cars as original, do tremendous research. Ernie has already restored the Max Balchowsky Ol' Yeller II and he races it at nostalgic road racing events. He told me that he isn't planning on running the Spurgin/Giovanine/Borgh car, but perhaps he will display it in a few Cacklefest shows.

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Editor's notes: The following are tributes to Eric "Rick" Rickman.
"You all may have already heard...Just came across my screen." Don Rudy
"He was one of my hero's in this sport. He never put down his camera, even into the later years. U will be missed my friend." Tim Marshall
"Here's to a dear old friend, the guy who got me started." Steve Swaja

Just Eric

Just Eric

Michael and Eric

Michael and Eric

Eric Rickman

Eric Rickman

Photos of Eric courtesy of Glenn Freudenberger


For Larger Images Click On Pictures

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Eric "Rick" Rickman passed away around 5am, Saturday, January 24, 2009 after a lengthy illness. He was 90. Rickman was a well-known photographer for many magazines and was one of the original Safety Safari members sent out by my father in the early 1950's to help organize the new sport of drag racing. Rickman, Bud Coons, Chic Cannon and Bud Evans would travel from city to city, meeting with town leaders and car clubs in an effort to gain support for organized, sanctioned and safe racing sites. They would work with the car clubs and show them how to put on a drag race, how to do inspections and crowd control. Rickman also covered just about every form of motorized racing that was ever ran. He was easy to talk to, supportive of other people's efforts and helped to publicize these racing leagues and make them more popular among the community. Rickman was inducted into many Hall of Fames and received many honors in his life. He leaves behind his wife, Virginia, a son, Micheal Rickman, a daughter, Lynda Morgan, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Mail can be sent to Micheal Rickman at 4100 Camino Real, Los Angeles, CA 90065, and he will see that the family receives your cards and letters. Rick mentioned before his passing that in lieu of flowers, a donation to the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum would be appreciated. Rick was an ardent supporter of the museum.

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To honor the late Dick Kraft, we approached one of our SLSRH members, Dick Martin, who graciously let us publish a copy of his article on Kraft. Below is his story. Photographs and more caption history can be found at Martin's website at http://www.dickkraft.com/. -editor.
Wild In The Streets; The Adventures Of Dick Kraft. By Dick Martin.
What better place to meet Krafty Dick Kraft than at John Force's incredible drag racing headquarters in Yorba Linda, California? Recently, I was fortunate enough to tour John Force's high-tech facility as part of a small group that included, among others, Ed Iskenderian and Dick Kraft. When John arrived to show us around, he spotted Dick and Isky; the roles were reversed and John became the fan for a change. It makes sense that he should feel this way when John Force was in diapers, Dick Kraft was ringing out his new state-of-the-art rail job at the Santa Ana Dragstrip. Dick was born in the sleepy California farming community of Anaheim in 1921, where the smell of citrus groves not exhaust fumes permeated the air. Some dang fool gave me a roadster when I was 14 and ruined my whole cotton-pickin' life, begins Dick Kraft on his entry into the world of hot rods. Then, I had a '29 Model A with Kelseys and a Winfield head that I paid for by working on the family ranches. I wasn't getting anywhere [with the four-banger] so I bought a '32 roadster with side mounts and 18-inch wheels for $200. In high school, we had a car club called the Plutocrats. Every Saturday night, we would street race to hold [onto] our number-one status. All the guys in the club would later go on to hold records. I ran the '32 only one time at the lakes and turned 98 mph.
Street racing, while we don't condone it, is a part of hot rod history. The legends of the sport didn't become heroes by collecting stamps as kids they were racers. Dick recalls: Before you were 18 [in Orange County], if you got tickets, you had to go to traffic school on Saturday in Santa Ana. I went to traffic school from the time I was 16 'til I was 18 without a Saturday morning off. Rod & Custom ran a photo in the Jan. '02 issue showing Dick at speed in The Bug. Some readers may have noticed the size of Dick's arms. Dick could bench-press 300-plus pounds in those days, and what better place to hang out with a body like that than at the beach? Naturally, he went for the girls, but the real draw to places like Newport Road (between neighboring Santa Ana and Costa Mesa) was street racing. I really went to the beach to street race, says Dick. When there wasn't anyone to race, we'd get kind of bored and go out into the parking lot and street fight. The beach and sailors went together, and after a few brews, the boys in white sometimes had a differing of opinions with guys like Dick. You can probably guess who got the upper hand. Dick credits his high school shop teacher with encouraging him to attend night school to learn a trade and calm down. Young Dick learned to work with machine tools and equipment, building manifolds and headers, later going on to Fullerton Junior College.
When the war broke out, Dick decided to join the Merchant Marines. Dick was rather enterprising when it came to picking up an extra buck while serving his country. I had never smoked a cigarette in my life, but they allotted me three cartons a week and I had a locker full. I'd sell them or trade for guns. He was thinking ahead to when the war would end and the money he made by selling to guys with a nicotine habit would fund his racing habit. Meanwhile, Dick's friend and future Indy great Jack McGrath was building Dick a hot engine. When I got home, Dick says, I wanted to go racing; I didn't want to be putting an engine together. Dick had two things on his mind during the war: staying alive and racing. Once, with a few hours off from his ship, Dick wasted no time getting to Anaheim where Jack McGrath was waiting for him with his '32 and a rope to tow the bare-bones roadster to a midnight street race. There was no starter, no teeth on the flywheel, no generator, and it had one motorcycle light, recalls Dick. It was a pushmobile we had to give it a shove to start it. We towed it on a rope all the way to the Piccadilly Drive-In in West L.A. I beat every guy there that night. I beat Jack and Manuel Ayulo they both had '32 Ford roadsters and my car was much lighter. My one light was getting dim so we towed it home and put it away. That was on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, here come 4,000 marines on Pier 91. We loaded them and headed for Pearl Harbor.
Dick decided to stay in the Merchant Marines after the war ended, but the urge to feel the dust of the dry lakes in his face was stronger than the spray of salt water. It was heaven to set foot, briefly, on the lakes in 1946 when he ran his prewar T at Harper. He recalled how, with a few days leave, he, McGrath, and some friends built what looked like a cross between a kayak and a Soap Box Derby racer. I bailed off the ship on Friday and went home. I had the engine that McGrath built and I wanted to get going on a car I only had two or three days before I had to be back on the ship. I built the frame out of 2x2 box tubing. All I had was a gas welder, so we welded the tubing together with that. We didn't have any springs, so we welded the front end and the rear end [with the gas welder] to the axles. We sent somebody to steal a Coca-Cola sign to make the body out of. We didn't have any rivets, so we screwed the halves together with stove bolts. By Saturday, we finished the thing and I took it to El Mirage on Sunday and ran 35 mph. After seeing the guys at the lakes and having my new motor, I decided I'd had enough [of Marine life] and signed off that bucket of bolts for good. Dick stayed in the Merchant Marines until 1947. When he left, he wasted no time becoming a challenger.
Dick was an avid street racer, but as soon as C.J. Pappy Hart and Creighton Hunter started holding legal drag races at a seldom-used taxi strip, Dick became a regular competitor. For the first time, guys like Dick could race legally on a paved track with cops watching the action rather than chasing it. With this fledging sport came a different kind of race car. Running for top speed at the lakes was one thing you had miles to do it. But drag racing consisted of just a quarter-mile. Top speed mattered, but acceleration mattered more. As a result, vehicle weight became a big factor. Dick showed up at Santa Ana in 1950 with a contraption that consisted of four wheels, a motor, and a seat. The only piece of sheet metal on the car was the cowl. Dick gave his rail job a name: The Bug. His single-seater was registered as a roadster, though we now know that it became the world's first dragster. Before its drag racing debut, The Bug had to earn its keep on Dick's parents' orange grove as a weed-sprayer. Dick commandeered what was left of the '27 T frame and made a race car out of it. The weed-sprayer ran a number of times at Santa Ana with both a roadster body and a coupe body before it was stripped to the bone. Running at the drags became part of Dick's routine, sharing time with his other hobby: surfing. It was not uncommon for him to appear on the start line at Santa Ana with his typical racing gear: goggles and damp swim trunks. We'd body surf at Newport, jump in the thing, and go drag racing. Running nitro with my swim trunks on and burning the hair off my chest boy, those were the days, laughs Dick.
Dick worked for his brother on his orange grove maintaining the farm's equipment. At the same time, he worked for George Barris to pay off the debt incurred for the Kraft Special's chrome. My specialty was chassis work and engines. I never built a car that spun out on me, he says.
Krafty had a knack for spinning out the competition, though, as well as getting the most out of his hot rods. He appeared to have an unlimited amount of cars, when in reality he was switching the bodies. There was another reason competitors called him Krafty, and it was the paradox that is Dick Kraft: mixing the crude with the graceful. Just when fellow racers thought they had him figured out, Dick pulled a 180. It's hard to believe that the same man who built The Bug also constructed two of the most beautiful track roadsters to appear at a race course or car show. His blue car graced the Oakland Roadster Show in 1950 after being exposed to the all-encroaching dust and dirt of El Mirage, running 122 mph. The Kraft Special (the red car) was displayed at the '51 Oakland show. Dick's Kraft Special was lettered professionally, dripping with that expensive shiny chrome and constructed like a Swiss watch.
The sports-car races started to attract hot rodders, and Dick's friend and part-time employer George Barris was one of them. Barris' shop was drawing an increasing share of the sports-car set, and he became interested in what was going on 100 miles east of his business. Palm Springs in the early '50s was a quiet little desert community that had a sparsely used airport. It was easy to shut the runways down and hold amateur sports-car races on the weekends. Barris threw out a challenge to Dick: Let's get you out of that T shirt and Levis and into a white shirt and tie, and join the Sports Car Club of America. The wire-wheel car (Rudge wire wheels cut down to 15 inches for more strength), as Dick referred to his hot rod sports car, appeared on the cover of the Oct. '54 issue of Hot Rod magazine. I did the frame, the front end, the rear end, the transmission, and the motor, and my friend Art Ingles did the body, remembers Dick. When Dick mentioned doing the frame, he was referring to a sophisticated truss-tubular chrome-moly chassis that only someone with engineering savvy could design and build. It rivaled anything that came out of Italy and showcased the kind of talent Dick possessed.
Dick Kraft's life reads like folklore. He's done it all his way. He's still doing it all, too, even down to resurrecting The Bug twice. Like so many old hot rods, The Bug might have been scattered into oblivion had it not been for an inquiry by Don Garlits. When Don Garlits got his museum going, says Dick, he wrote to me and said, I understand you have parts of The Bug lying around at your brother's ranch. Would you put it together for me?' It wasn't too long before the word got out: Dick Kraft is putting The Bug back together. Then Steve Gibbs, vice president/director of the NHRA Motorsports Museum, asked Dick, Why don't you put one together for the museum? Dick has the original frame and some other parts, so we put one together for the museum in Pomona. Each rail job is made up from parts from the original, he says. During this time, Dick had retired to Mexico for a number of years and still maintains a home there. His wife of 30 years, Margarita, has been by his side helping Dick build a new version of his rail: The Bug II. While Dick doesn't have those 16-inch arms anymore, they haven't given way to buggy whips, either. He still skips rope every day, gets up at the crack of dawn to join his buddies for breakfast, and generally tries to stay in trouble. Once Dick gets The Bug II on the street, it's inevitable that he'll get pulled over. Let's just hope it's for curiosity this time.
Editor's notes: The first Bug is in the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Florida and much of the restoration can be attributed to Don. By the letter of sale, it is considered the ORIGINAL restored Bug. The second Bug was built by Ron Roseberry with parts from the original Bug and parts from other cars, but which are the same type as would have gone onto the original Bug as it raced in the early 1950's. The second Bug is considered the recreated, but not original Bug, with some original parts, and is located at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. By a contract between Dick Kraft and Don Garlits, the title of ORIGINAL Bug belongs to Don Garlits. Marvin Webb was the crew chief and main builder on the original Bug of the 1950's.

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I noticed the poster for "Hot Rod" starring Jimmy Lydon. I used to know Jimmy and never knew that he made a car based movie. Bob Falcon
Bob: Can you tell us more about Jimmy Lydon who starred in the B-movie Hot Rod?

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I assume you're referring to the picture of the lakester I sent you for the last issue. Marvin Faw was a body man and built race cars. He built the car. The engine in it was a V8-85 with aftermarket DOHC heads and is not an Offy. Leonard Faas was a roundy-round guy and raced midgets and sprinters. He had nothing to do with the pix I sent you. Jim Miller

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The following website was sent in by Glen Barrett. See http://www.dickkraft.com/. It's a site dedicated to Dick Kraft, who recently passed away. Readers, if you find more of these sites dedicated to land speed racers, hot rodders and early drag racers, please send them in.

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Web site with info for newsletter, www.taylorengine.com, Hope this helps. Glen Barrett
Glen: It has been sixty years since my dad used to take me to the Taylor Engine shop and next door to the Miller Brothers. I didn't know that Jay Steel was the owner and has just passed away. I called and left a message for his widow, Barbara Steel. Below is part of the Taylor website.
“Remember Taylor and Ryan from the Fifties (1950's)? Our Car Won the First ever N.H.R.A. Nationals in 1955. Calvin Rice was the driver and the dragster was powered by a 324 cu in. Ford Flathead V8 on 50% Nitro! Welcome to Taylor Engine online, please look over our shop service price sheet(s). We do 95% of the work in house, so you have only us to deal with for all your rebuilding and custom needs. Align boring, connecting rod work, block preparation and balancing is our specialty. However, here at Taylor, we can do just about any kind of machine work in the Engine Rebuilding Industry. We also specialize in overhead valve conversions i.e. Riley, Miller etc. We 'make it happen' and 'fast.' Taylor Engine, 8145 Byron Road "D", Whittier, California, 90606-2615 USA. Phone: 562-698-7231, email; [email protected].”

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Is this Jay Steel of Taylor Engine Rebuilding? Man I hope not. I know he hasn't been well but it just can't be. Jay used to build my Ford Pinto engines for me when he was just a guy in the shop at Taylors uptown on Greenleaf and I was just a fledgling mechanic at Ak Millers. I haven't been in constant contact with him, but a couple of times a year I would stop by in the morning and just talk with him for a while. Steve Thomsen
Steve: I looked up the website, www.Taylorengine.com, got a phone number and spoke to an employee who said that Barbara Steel was out of the office and would call me back. So far, no word has been received. Glen Barrett reported that Jay has passed away and that there will be no services per his request. Perhaps we could get you to write a story about the Taylor and Ryan Engine shop and the Miller Brothers' garage.

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It's sad to say that we lost Dick Kraft. One of the early racers and car builders, Dick was known for a lot of accomplishments, including the first rail job to drag race (The Bug), Roadster Royal, a very ahead of its time roadster, and an AMBR winner, 2 cover cars on Hot Rod magazine from the 1950's and most recently, the rebuilding (clone) of the Bug with help from my brother, Ron Roseberry, that is now displayed in the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. He lived and played very, very hard. Dick Roseberry
Dick: I've written a story on Kraft, Ron Roseberry, Don Garlits and the Bug at www.hotrodhotline.com, under the title Ron Roseberry. In a few articles it mentions the Bug and how Kraft restored the car. The pile of parts Dick Kraft sent to Don Garlits is considered the original restored Bug. The parts that your brother got from Kraft, including parts resembling the parts on the original Bug made up a second car that is in the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and is considered by Steve Gibbs and others to be a recreated car, with some original parts. The car in the Motorsports museum was built almost entirely by Ron Roseberry. There is reportedly a project to construct a third Bug. The Bug is the prototype of all rails in drag racing today. Not only did the car create a stir when Kraft ran it at the Santa Ana drag strip, but it did well against all competition and the lessening of the weight and streamlining was pure genius. Kraft and Marvin Webb changed parts on the car continuously and there are enough parts to make a third car. The letter and terms of sale given by Dick Kraft to Don Garlits indicates that Kraft considered the car in Don's museum to be the ORIGINAL restored Bug. I received the original gas tank from Dennis Webb and sent it off to Garlits in Florida to be exhibited with the car. The Bug is the transitionary car from the dry lakes to early drag racing, as such it is probably one of the most famous early drag racing car in existence and two of them exist, one in Florida and the other in Southern California.

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It was Phil Remington's birthday yesterday, he is 88. Gran Torino (the Clint Eastwood movie) was excellent, and fit Rem (Phil Remington) to a T. Kathy Weida
Dear Kathy: Phil Remington seems too quiet and nice to be a tough guy like Clint Eastwood. We love to run biographies in the newsletter, so maybe you could do a story on Phil and send it in to us. Remington raced at the dry lakes in the early days, then made a reputation in other forms of auto racing. He can sometimes be found down at Art Chrisman's shop on Art's weekly open house.

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Preston Lerner did a great story on Phil Remington, I can send it to you, but the Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino is Rem, what you see is what you get, heart of gold, but as far from politically correct as one can get and he doesn't care to change after all these years. Kathy Weida
Las Vegas, NV
Kathy: Yes, I would like to have the bio on Remington, and Preston's permission to publish it on the website. Also, see if you can get Dan Gurney and the other guys to write their bios and caption their photos. We are a group of historians and our only goal is to preserve the history and heritage of motor racing. While you are at it, write your bio too and include all the stories that you have seen and witnessed in your job and while with Gurney. If you go to the websites, you will see some of the bios and they are very fascinating. Remington is special, because he raced the lakes and we are focused on land speed racing.

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Over the past two years, most of you have seen me filming at the SCTA time trials. After all, I am hard to miss, a petite, long haired brunette running around hauling a camera bigger then her, or driving her black 1932 roadster sporting no windshield and the 32c numbers. Yop, that's me. And you might have wondered: "What is she filming? And why?" Many of you already know the answer but for those of you who may not, Richard thought it'd be a good idea for me to introduce myself and my film here.
I'll try to keep it short. Two years ago, I set out to make a no budget, Do It Yourself HOT ROD period film of epic proportions. "DEUCE OF SPADES" is a feature film (drama/fiction) clocking at a little over two hours, and comprising of over one hour of flashbacks to the early and mid fifties. You might wonder why I decided to make this film, when I am not a movie producer, but rather, just a simple hotrod girl with a burning passion for the old cars and the era. I did it for a few reasons: I thought it would be an incredible challenge and a wonderful adventure. I also wanted to bring the past back to life and honor our old timers, as well as bring the jalopies back into the spotlight and public awareness. And since I had the motivation, passion, the cinematographic skills and already owned the car... Well... The rest was just a matter of taking a Leap of FAITH. A very, very BIG, Leap of Faith.
Counting on divine intervention and a little help from all my hotrod friends, I was able, all by myself, to pull it off. Over 70 minutes of footage has already been shot and edited. I did everything myself from A to Z and the results are astonishing. A few "teaser" clips can be seen on the internet, in High Definition, by visiting the film website at www.deuceofspadesmovie.com. You will notice that the production value is very high despite the fact that I had absolutely no financial backing and no funds to film with. Everything was donated for the film (cars, location, many of the props), the actors all volunteered their time and talent, and so did the skeleton crew. As for me, I worked 24/7 for the past two years, sacrificing everything for the film. You can read the accounts of my shoots and tales from behind the scenes on my blog at: http://deuceofspades.bravejournal.com/. In my next update, I will tell you a little more about the film plot, and the scene involving El Mirage!
Talk to you all next week! FAITH GRANGER (Filmmaker and hotrod girl) www.deuceofspadesmovie.com, www.theparkbenchmovie.com.

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Mari Palash is still at Crystal Cove. Her cell phone should be back to work, so that is an option for contacting her. She's hearing much better, but is having pain in her lower jaw, which she thinks is related to a bad tooth. More on that as things develop. Tomorrow is Mom's 73rd birthday, so I'm sure she'd appreciate a shout out. Andrea Palash
Andrea: Please give your mother our best wishes on her 73rd birthday. She was a close friend of my step-mother, Barbara Livingston Parks, and we appreciate her friendship over the years.

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Thank you for all the work you are doing for the racing community, past, present and future. Here is my bio, I hope it is worth of your interest. Thanks and God Bless.  Gil Gillis, Xtreme Freedom Special
   Gil: I got it and you did a great job. However, it's only 1600 words and I know I can get another 1400 words out of you, so I'm sending it back with questions for you to answer. When it's done, the land speed racing community will learn a lot about you and your team.

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I enjoy writing and have actually written a WW2 action novel, but I haven't been able to get it published. I will put together the few photos that I have and send them along to the Juno address with captions included. We weren't into picture taking back then because we were too busy racing and having fun. I also suffered through a house fire that destroyed all of my photos, newsletters and records from my ESTA days. I had a ton of pics and I published an 8 page Newspaper every month for 10 years but it all went up in smoke in 2002. Charlie Gilmore
Charlie: Keep writing, you have talent. Check out my article on self-publishing at www.hotrodhotline.com, guest columnist, Richard Parks. There are lots of ways to get something published, including publishing companies that will print "on demand," for a very reasonable price. Check the internet for their addresses. Sorry about the fire. That is a terrifying thing for all racers to be concerned about. Your two articles will be published soon at www.hotrodhotline.com. Please be sure to caption your photographs and send about ten photos each for each story to Roger Rohrdanz.

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The March Meet is coming up. Tickets are now available online. Photo attached is of Art Chrisman, taken at last year's event. Chrisman won the very first March Meet in 1959. Photo credit: Gary Brown Photography. If you need event logos or other graphics/information, let me know.  Thanks, Bill Groak

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Gordon Eliot White Archives.
   I have been a researcher and collector of records for nearly 60 years, but my serious collecting of American auto racing records began in 1978 when I bought an antique KURTIS-KRAFT Offenhauser midget and wanted to document its racing record over the previous 30 years. In the process I found that neither of the national race papers, National Speed Sport News nor Illustrated Speedway News, had files of their back issues. So I began to collect them. (It was that midget I ran for records at Bonneville in the 1980's.) One thing led to another, and I eventually obtained every issue of Illustrated Speedway News from 1938 through 1984, when its publisher, Jack Schwartz, folded it. At the end, Jack tried to sell me the business, but I was smart enough not to take that plunge. I found almost every issue of National Speed Sport News and its predecessors, National Auto Racing News and the Bergen, N.J., Herald, back to 1933. I arranged for the Library of Congress to place microfilm copies of both papers in its collections, and I maintain an archive of the film myself, from which I have copies made for historians and researchers. In looking for records of my car's racing, I found that a portion of the papers of the Contest Board of the American Automobile Association still existed and I filmed those. With Allan Brown's help I found and filmed the surviving records of the International Motor Contest Association, and later of the Northeastern Midget Association.
   In my research I learned that while there were auto magazines that covered early racing up until the time of World War I, from about 1918 until the 1930's there were no race publications as such. I have continued to look for racing records and now have on film all of Speed Age Magazine and various other racing publications from 1933 to about 1965, of all of which I can offer copies. I still look for racing records to film, though since information from about 1965 is readily available, I have generally cut off my collecting at that date. In 1996 I was offered the race engine and chassis drawing (blueprint) collection of the late Mark L. Dees, encompassing some 5,000 drawings of Miller, Offenhauser, Meyer & Drake, Reventlow and Novi cars and engines. I have since augmented that collection with Kurtis and Watson and other drawings. The Harry A. Miller Club helped me acquire commercial-grade copiers that will reproduce the large drawings, and I also offer copies of those to researchers. I charge enough for copies to supply and maintain the copiers. Otherwise my archive is non-profit. I call it the Leo Goossen Archive, in honor of the draftsman and engineer who designed many of those cars and engines, 1919-1976.
   In 1991 I retired from the newspaper game and went to the Smithsonian Institution as that museum's Auto Racing Advisor. There, after shepherding to publication a book by Griff Borgeson on the front-drive Miller racing cars of the 1920's, I was asked by its publisher to write a book on the Offenhauser engine, which was published in 1996. It was quite successful, selling 18,000 copies before it went out of print in 2006. I subsequently wrote "KURTIS-KRAFT," a history of Frank Kurtis and his racing cars, then a photo-essay on Kurtis' Championship cars, "Indianapolis Racing Cars of Frank Kurtis, 1941-1963," and "Lost Race Tracks," covering many of the important tracks that have existed since 1895, with photos, maps and descriptions. I followed those books with, "The Marvelous Mechanical Designs of Harry A. Miller," the race car and engine designer of the 1920's, with photos and information on some of Harry's best and also most bizarre designs, from Indianapolis cars and engines to an autogiro engine and a rear-engine road car to be driven by an air-cooled radial engine.  In 2006 I published a biography of Ab Jenkins, the father of racing at Bonneville, and his son, Marvin Jenkins. All of my books, except Offenhauser, are available at better bookstores, or directly from me, at PO Box 129, Hardyville, VA 23070. This past year I completed a history of the Leader Card Racing Team, which was born in dirt track racing in the Midwest in the 1920's and won Indianapolis three times in the late 1950's and 1960's. It is scheduled for publication later this year. I continue to look for and collect important records of all kinds of American auto racing, 1895- 1965. - Gordon Eliot White

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I will get with my daughter and see what we can put together for you; she being the granddaughter can probably add some things of interest. What kind of a time line do you have? Anyway give me a time line and we shall see what we can do. Stan Adams
   Stan: There is no time limit, but the sooner the better, because our average age is probably 70 and I'm not too sure that we can wait very long to write our bios and caption our photographs.

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What the other GOLDENHAWK tribute is up to. Our team sponsor is to paint on Saturday, 31 January, and then Nick Boos can add the graphics. Hawk One arrives in Gatineau. See http://www.vintagewings.ca/page?a=529&lang=en-CA. Randy Pierce

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I have had standing water down at my end for weeks, as the wind has been blowing out of the east. This last storm, which missed us, now the wind is coming out of the north/west & the standing water, is out in the center/middle down by the "wind sock." It has turned really COLD, need to cut more fire wood as soon as it warms up. Calvin is thrashing on my new car & Monte is thrashing on the little red Honda 600 coupe, formally Wes.' Dave Cox found us a 750cc M/C engine for it. Now we have to find a NOT TOO SMART person to drive it. George Callaway
George: Thanks for the weather report at El Mirage. The condition of the lake bed is of vital concern and we appreciate everything that you do to inform us about it.

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Howdy boys. I'm guessing that guy next to the tank isn't Wally Parks, wrong physical build. Perhaps a youthful AK miller (look at those hands, paws they are and AK had some big brutes) or because of the that fancy watch it might be Willie Young who drove the Kenz & Leslie Odd Job twin-engine truck. Speedy Regards, "LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth
  LandSpeed: I agree with you, it doesn't look like Wally Parks.

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Ron Main's Barn of Racing Memorabilia, just starting to put things in 1-26-09.  Ron Main
   Ron: Thank you for the photographs and perhaps you will invite Jim Miller, Roger Rohrdanz and myself to visit your place and do a story on your new museum and collections.
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Just wanted to check in with you to see if you had everything you need from me. Stay after Chuck Sawyer to get his to you, he also has some ol' racing buddies that should share their experiences with the world. Get him to hook you up with them as well. Thanks, Gil Gillis Xtreme Freedom Special
Gil: Your bio is done and the photos and text are with Roger Rohrdanz. He will check it over, then send to www.hotrodhotline.com, guest columnist, Richard Parks, where it will be published. All readers of www.landspeedracing.com should cross link with hotrodhotline for bios and other stories. These are our two archival sources. We do have material listed elsewhere upon request of those who have worked with us in the past. Once a bio is done we go on to other bios and we have a long list of them to finish, but that doesn't mean that you are done. In the case of Charlie Gilmore, he continues to send in 3000 word stories and we publish these separately. A bio is a scan of one's life, a shortened version. It is larger than an obituary and shorter than a complete history. Stories are event driven. So you are never really done. Keep on remembering and writing about your life and those that you came into contact with.

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I was just thinking this morning I haven't seen anything from you guys in a while....thanks for the newsletter. Kent Riches
Kent: I work on each week's newsletter until about Tuesday or Wednesday. My cutoff day is Tuesday and I send it to the website on Wednesday, or if there's a lot, on Monday's or Tuesday's. Then I take 15 minutes off before beginning the next newsletter that I begin to assemble. So the schedule is Wednesday night to Tuesday night constitutes that week's newsletter. After I send the newsletter, it is up to the staffing ability of the website owners, Jack and Mary Ann Lawford to take the formatting that I send to them and put it into their system. Once they are done, then they put it on a regular email and mail it out to the 400 to 500 subscribing members of the Society. For example; I sent out issue #94 on January 14, a Wednesday, and issue #95 on January 20, a Tuesday and #96 will go out on the 28th of January. Sometimes www.hotrodhotline.com and their sister website www.landspeedracing.com will be under a lot of time constraints and won't be able to process what I've sent them as quickly as they would like to. At other times they get on the newsletter immediately. Most of the newsletter is concerned with the past and the timing of delivery is not that important. But sometimes there is a death and funeral and the news is perishable. It either gets out quickly and on schedule, or its information that's useless. That's why one of my rules for the readers is that if they wish to get news of an event into the newsletter, it MUST be sent in 3 weeks prior. One week for me, one week for the publisher, and one week for the public to get the news and make plans to attend. Actually, we are pretty prompt if you think about magazines on the newsstands. Since we don't generate revenue, we have to be conscious and considerate of our website owners and operators who have to make a living from their primary source, www.hotrodhotline.com and when they can spare staff, they work on the landspeedracing website. We are truly blest to have them do this free service for us, because if Jim and I had to pay for all this help, the newsletter would go out of business real quick.

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 I did read your column on Land Speed Historians. Computer has been down for a few days. I need a new Modem. Truck is in the paint shop and it is extremely cold here.  Wayne Hoffman
   Wayne: That's probably why Roger Gustason is on the road with the Super Chevy's Shows. He lives not far from Cincinnati.

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Being somewhat computer handicapped I am never able to get to the photos when I get the news letter. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
Regards, Mike Bastian
Mike: I've referred this email to Roger Rohrdanz and Mary Ann Lawford to see if they have an explanation. I'm sorry, but I deal only with text, any photographs are referred with captions to www.landspeedracing.com and to other websites that carry the newsletter. The number of subscribers is too large for me to send out either text or photos, so I send them to the website and they combine them into a finished product and send out a group email with the newsletter to all members. But the website operator cannot send out photos with the text, because the size would be stifling and most of the readers have email inboxes that are too small to receive them. For example, ALL of the text and written words that I have ever done in my entire life probably totals 10 Megs. 20 of Roger's photos will total 10 Megs. Roger Rohrdanz is the photographic part of the Gone Racin' Team. He probably has a film library of 50,000 negatives or more. He talks in terms of 'Gigs' and 'Teras,' which I'm supposing is size, while I'm still trying to comprehend 'Kilos' and 'Megs.' So when you get your emailed newsletter, there shouldn't be any photos. You have to go on-line to www.landspeedracing.com or any other website carrying the newsletter in order to see the photographs. I went to the website just now, clicked on issue #95, the latest one, and there were glorious photos, better than what I thought I received. Simple, fast and easy and if you know me, about all I can do is send and receive emails. It could be your computer system that is causing the problem, or you might not have the right link, but if you get the emailed version, you should have the ability to link right back to the on-line site and view the photographs. If Mary Ann Lawford doesn't mind me giving out her email address, I will do that in the newsletter so that readers can trouble shoot with an expert. The connecting link that I used was http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/heroes/landspeedracing/.

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Got your email on bio. I'll get back to you in a couple of days.  Jim Dunn
   Jim: I'll be waiting for your finished report. So far, what you have done is very interesting and I want to see more on your life.

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I am always collecting additions to the Archive. I don't collect Indy pit badges, or models, but paper. Good copies are as good as originals. My mantra is that these records are priceless, though no one will pay anything for them. When I can no longer be their archivist, I am 75; they are going to the Henry Ford Museum at Greenfield Village, which has both the will and the ability to make copies. What you are doing on-line is what I do on paper. I see things in the National Archives that I am sure at one time were not thought to matter. I have done research on WW II ships, on WW II aircraft, etc. and it mattered to me. Gordon Eliot White
   Gordon: Sometimes the hardest thing to do, when one can't see the outcome, is a task that no one has any faith in. It's the drive that makes a hot rodder, racer or land speeder successful, to take an idea or a dream and turn it into reality when no one can see what the results will be at the time.

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The deadline is for Route 66 Rendezvous Cruisin' Hall of Fame Nominations is January 31, 2009. I've attached a couple of photos for your convenience. If you have any additional questions, please call me. Thanks, Karen Blanco
Director of Communications, San Bernardino Convention & Visitors Bureau, Stater Bros. Route 66 Rendezvous, California Welcome Center, San Bernardino, CA. Phone: 909-891-1151x28, Toll Free: 800-867-8366x28. See www.san-bernardino.org, www.route-66.org.

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I am a "car guy" also, since I was a kid. I have worked at European car dealers and at an automotive book store where I am the know it all. See www.books4cars.com, in Seattle. I looked at some of your Hot rod articles. That is cool stuff. Surprised to find out I am related to Wally Parks. Greg Park
Greg: I checked your site and you have some great new and old automotive manuals. Our readers will check out your website.

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I am having a problem with my computer and lost a few files. So my problem is I have to start over on the bio. Keep up the good work on the SLSRH. Glen Barrett  
   Glen: We look forward to seeing your bio. I will help you edit it before publication. I have emails and phone calls out to Johnny Ryan's son's and hopefully we will get his biography done soon.

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Thanks to your good offices, we were able to meet and tour Tom McIntyre's collection while we were in LA for the Big Show. Seeing the 990 Golden Rod after a 21 year gap was more than cool. I'm looking forward to helping Tom with photos to help him put the liner back to it's early 50's configuration. I was told you were at the Grand National Roadster show by Jack Stewart, but couldn't locate you by his directions. We will get together on one of my trips to the left coast. Best Regards, Rich Venza
   Rich: We need someone to do some research on the Summer brother's Goldenrod, one of the most historic land speed cars to ever race on the salt.

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I thought you might like to see what's 'up North' in Tacoma, Washington. See http://wediditforlove.com/buckysplace.html. Sherm
Readers: Bucky's Place is a drag racing museum in an old car dealership. It has some wonderful pictures of old cars, a fabulous garage and some very nice tooling and equipment.

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Gordie Bonin has passed on to me your request for biographical information on NHRA racers. Attached is Gordie's chapter from my book The Speediest Land Traveller; a History of Alberta Auto Racing. Please feel free to include it your archives, provided author credit is given.
Regards, Richard D. (Dick) McDonell
   Readers: I couldn't copy this as it was in an incompatible program, but the book is titled The Speediest Land Traveller; a History of Alberta Auto Racing. Check it out at your local library or book store, especially if you have racing roots in Western Canada.

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Editor's notes: The following was received from Kathy Weida and concerns a friend, Peg Gilman, who has lots of racing memorabilia that she needs to sell. "She says there are 10 to 12 big boxes full of racing T-shirts, jackets, sweat shirts, racing ball caps from all sorts of events and teams. Do you have any suggestions on how to sell these things? Any ideas would greatly be appreciated! I looked on Ebay & racing clothing doesn't seem to sell real well there. Terri Fluker ([email protected])
Kathy and Terri: We are very concerned about the preservation of racing memorabilia, no matter what the type of racing that it might be. It isn't easy finding a home for artifacts like you have mentioned and I personally have tried to use eBay with horrible results. The easiest way, though not always the most profitable way, is to find collectors who will come in and make you a blanket deal for all of the materials, though they may only want some, but not all of your collection. At least you will find out what is valuable and what isn't. Most collectors are reputable and will give you a fair price, but to be sure, you should ask around for at least three collectors. It might only be a few hundred, or if you have some very well know artifacts from famous people, it could be much more. You can sell it as is without a description, or you can itemize the objects and let collectors know what you think. Collectors are always looking for a bargain, so don't put a high price on your collectibles or no one will be interested. You should itemize some of the artifacts in order for collectors to show any interest. Another thing that you can do is take out an ad in www.hotrodhotline.com or another website that specializes in the kind of collectibles that you have. On-line ads cost around $130 and last for 6 months. (Note from Hotrodhotline.com: Richard has given the pricing for car ads here... for parts and memorabilia Hotrodhotline will allow a private party up to 5 FREE ads.) If you will specify what kind of collectibles you have, what era, etc, then I can put a free spot in the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter for you. Also, if I know what you basically have, then I can try and find a few people who collect that specific kind of collectibles that you own. We don't take ads in our newsletter, but we do run letters sent to us pertaining to land speed, hot rodding and early drag racing at no charge.

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Random Pictures - Click Images For Larger View

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Art Chrisman.jpg...Art Chrisman is in the Hustler I. The 2009 March Meet is the first race of the Hot Rod Heritage Series, the NHRA�€™s 8-race nostalgia racing series. The Kern County Racing Association (KCRA) operates historic Auto Club Famoso Raceway, just north of Bakersfield, California and promotes a full schedule of races year round, including the world famous March Meet, March 6-8, 2009, is the recognized Mecca of nostalgia drag racing. For more details, visit www.autoclubfamosoraceway.com. Photo credit: Gary Brown Photography.

BBW7.jpg....Jack Underwood, almost 15 years old on the left, behind the Kenz/Leslie streamliner in 1954 at Bonneville. Hausdorf photos.

BBW8.jpg...Another angle of Jack Underwood, behind the Kenz/Leslie streamliner in 1954 at Bonneville. Hausdorf photos.

Saturday Nights SCTA Banquet. Tim Rochlitzer. He has no idea that he is getting an award.
Courtesy of Glenn Freudenberger

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Land Speed Racing Websites:
www.hotrodhotline.com, www.landspeedracing.com

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Members:

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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