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Some Names To Look For In This Newsletter:
President's Corner, Editorials, My Dad died last Sunday, below is a notice about the service and a little remembrance of his life, A very special Hot Rod class is being assembled for the 2011 Concours at the Trump International Golf Course in Palos Verdes California on September 17-18 2011, We were pleased to learn last week that our friend Nate Shelton was elected as SEMA Chair Elect, Movie Wheels of Fire You may have already seen this If not you need to, We really didn’t get introduced at the ADM (Automotive Driving Museum), British LSR Bloodhound SSC video, I am sending out a note to inform you of the results of my survey of the vendor participants at the Auto & Aviation Expo 2011 event sponsored by the Automobile Driving Museum (ADM) in El Segundo California on January 26 2011, I am not too familiar with your publication, I could prepare a lengthy response but I will just give you a simple “AMEN!”, I went to the Head Hunters club; had an interesting time and met several people there that I knew, You may know me from working on the movie Deuce of Spades where I was the Production Assistant and about a hundred other positions, I left California in early April to tour the USA until the end of the year in support of my film, Size Doesn't Always Matter, PaintingS by Alan Ameel, Cruziin For Life, Bentley Drivers Club Concours D'Elegance
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President's Corner:
“It's 3:19 and I'm falling asleep. Have all the pictures and captions done for the story so must get some shut-eye. Hopefully I'll get more than 5 hours of sleep like last night and then finish up things for you. Jim”
Editor’s comments: I tend to badger Jim Miller for more stories and photographs. I called him at 12 Midnight to get his President’s Corner, which is always filled with interesting research. You will notice that he worked far into the night in order to get it out to me. Often, the best time to reach Jim is in the early hours of the morning. We work long hours to bring you the SLSRH and that includes Roger and Spencer as well. Thank you to all the contributors to the newsletter. Now for his column.
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The last month or so all I've done is run around and haven't had a chance to jot anything down for you. It all started with a trip to England to look at a new car being built to run at Bonneville. The name of the vehicle is Skoda, a car manufactured in Czechoslovakia and owned by the VW Group. The construction is top notch as one would expect and as I pen this the car is on a boat that will take six weeks to get to the port in Long Beach. In between we have lost more of our land speed community with the passing of Fritz Kott, Dave Kennamer, Bill Summers and Richard Tregilus. All have been around forever and we will miss them. I can only find pictures of Bill and Treg's cars so they will be the first of our shots for today. There is something special about running at the lakes and the only real way to understand is to have done it yourself. Here are a few shots and words to convey that feeling. (Click for Image JMC_2955) shows William Boelcke's Class C Gas Rear Engined Modified Roadster that was captured about 6:30 AM on Sunday June 12, 2011 at El Mirage. The smell of Coffee, dead silence and the sun popping over the mountain top are things that must be experienced. William's car is called Low Sodium and was originally built by Fabian Valdez. Running as a member of the Gear Grinders, Mr. B wasn't a happy camper later on in the day as he turned out on a run and was only awarded 25 points for his effort.
Fantastic looking cars show up at El Mirage all the time and at this meet Bobby Green of the Old Crow Speed Shop showed up with his new, in construction, VOT Class car for everyone to get a look at (Click for Image JMC_2956). It's looking good and he hopes to have it finished by B-Ville so only time will tell if his prediction holds water. The rear body section is ages old and was shaped at Cal Metal Shaping. The nose is made of steel and is off an old champ car that was run before a lot of us were even born. The fairings over the springs hark back to the late '30's and look great. What was almost as cool is the flatbed it was towed up on and the roadster that was flat-towed behind it. Monte Osborn showed up with this old '37 Ford (Click for Image JMC_2957). Run as the Ferguson & Osborn entry, Monte's son Tyler was the designated driver for this meet. The nose of the car has been made fun of for looking like Jimmy Durante's snozola but no one was laughing at the end of the day when Tyler upped the 160 mph record to 161.169 mph. I remember the first time I saw the car back in the late '90's. It had just been chopped and was still wearing primer and sported full fenders. It looks like the ugly duckling has turned into a swan.
Jim Lattin has been running interesting cars at the lakes for years and his newly built American-Austin Bantam is no exception (Click for Image JMC_2958). Jim's son Bill, on the right in his red B-ville 2-Club hat, is waiting for his son Billy to climb in for a lap. He did his job perfectly and bumped the Class V4F Vintage Gas Altered record to 99.737 mph. Dick Russell put together the Model-B banger together for Jim. At the last meet Billy had bumped his previous record in the car by over 6 mph thanks to an almost 30 mph tailwind so to come back in good weather and run that fast is pretty amazing. Ok, I'll admit that I don't know much about bikes but this one looks really cool (Click for Image JMC_2959). Ralph Hudson of the Milers Car Club brought his 1000 cc Class APS-G scoot to El Mirage hoping to set a new record. At the end of the day he had only managed a lap at 204.765 mph on the 207.161 mph record. Bummer! I guess that's why there's always a "next time I'll get it."
Another long time lakes player is engine Guru Mike LeFevers who owns this slick looking Class C Gas Modified Roadster that was entered under the name of LeFevers-Jesel (Click for Image JMC_2960). This year his son Kevin is doing the driving and was after the 213.609 mph record. Poor Kevin ran a 212.490 so I guess we could say close, but no Cigar. For the un-initiated and looking in from the outside, most lakes racers appear to be just back yard builder types. If you dig a little deeper you'll find that they're probably the smartest car guys on the planet. Where else will you find a zillion solutions to the same problem, guys with 60 years of racing experience, master fabricators, chemists or guys that have wrenched on everything from a bicycle, boat, airplane, sprint car, dragster, Indy or Formula One car within walking distance willing to help you with a problem. Our list wouldn't be complete without adding three more ingredients to the mix, bailing wire, beer and BS. With these, land speed racers can fix anything.
Captions:
Click for Image LSS_085 If you don't know about the rear engined Modified Roadster, Polliwog or Goldenrod, this one says it all, Bill Summers.
Click for Image JUC_069 Richard Tregilus ran this trick roadster in '39 and '40. God Speed. |
Click for Image JMC_2955 William Boelcke's classic looking Rear Engined Modified Roadster.
Click for Image JMC_2956 Indy style comes to El Mirage thanks to Bobby Green.
Click for Image JMC_2957 Monte's Ford and Jimmy Durante's nose would be perfect for Autoweek's Body Double section.
Click for Image JMC_2958 Historians will remember when Bantam's were big in LSR’ing. They’re back thanks to Jim Lattin.
Click for Image JMC_2959 Faired bikes like Ralph Hudson’s look fast standing still. Cool!
Click for Image JMC_2960 LeFevers Modified Roadster reeks Class.
Photos courtesy of the AHRF/Louie Senter, Jack Underwood and Jim Miller Collections.
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Editorial:
Sometimes I go to our sister website, www.hotrodhotline.com, and take a few biographies and stories and publish them in the SLSRH newsletter at this website (www.landspeedracing.com). Both sites are owned by Jack and Mary Ann Lawford and they give me permission to do that. If all of our members would mark these two websites and go to them, they would find some very fine articles and history by a number of writers. But I didn’t keep a record of the articles, bios and stories that I have already run in the SLSRH newsletter, so I have been re-reading all the past issues of the newsletter. It is taking me literally forever to go through the 209 issues of the stored newsletters and I am finding out that our members and readers have been very generous in sharing their history with us. I also find some mistakes. Sometimes the errors are made by others and sometimes I make them. The biggest mistakes are those where we don’t know the full story and are trying to fill in the gaps. But sometimes the mistakes are caused by rushing too fast to reach a deadline. The nice thing about the electronic media is that I can go back, correct the offending statement and re-send it to Anita who puts the new and corrected version in that issue and removes the old error from the record. That hasn’t happened a lot, maybe four or five times so far. Our readers and members write in and tell me where the errors are and that helps me out a great deal. Jim Miller and I want ZERO mistakes. That isn’t going to happen in the real world, but that’s our goal. One mistake gets spread out far and wide. It’s strange, but no one spreads correct facts. They always pick up the mistake and keep repeating it, until the error becomes the official version. If you find an error, report it to me immediately.
You will notice that sometimes another writer is involved in writing the biographies and stories that are on www.hotrodhotline.com and www.landspeedracing.com, even though they are listed under Roger Rohrdanz and my by-line; Gone Racin.’ We aren’t stealing or plagiarizing the work of others. The reason that these stories appear under the Gone Racin’ by-line is that it is easier for Roger and I to store and archive these works that way. I always give full credit to the writers, editors and photographers for every story that goes into the two websites. Special credit goes to Spencer Simon, Roger Rohrdanz and Jim Miller. Others, like Ernie Nagamatsu are credited as they send in bios and stories. In some cases I write and edit the bios and stories. In other cases the biographies and stories are written by someone else and I merely edit them. Roger then checks over my work as a double check and then he sends the story and the photographs (with captions) to Anita at Hot Rod Hot Line and she posts them on the internet. Anita is a very capable and astute young lady and sometimes she catches mistakes that Roger and I make. In addition to these wonderful people, I send the newsletters to another ten people who are supposed to read the content and get back to me if they spot any errors. I want to make it clear that whoever works on a bio or story will get proper credit. While the stories and bios that go into the Gone Racin’ by-line are technically shared property, we willingly share what we have written, photographed or edited with the general public.
There is one catch though; www.hotrodhotline.com is given an exclusive to publish the material and it is the responsibility of the public to contact Mary Ann and get permission to republish the photos, stories and bios in other publications. Anyone who creates, writes, photographs or edits material can also use that material elsewhere, as it belongs to those that created it. But we have a fair and flexible policy; we always ask Mary Ann Lawford for permission to send material first published on her two websites to other sources. Mary Ann has been so very generous to us in providing websites for us to store and archive our writings and photos. She provides us with staff to do the downloading. She pays the bills to keep the websites up and running. She even lets all of us advertise our products on www.landspeedracing.com as long as it doesn’t look like an ad or interfere with the normal policies of www.hotrodhotline.com. Even when there is a small conflict, she tends to let us do what we want, most of the time. Mary Ann is always there to help us out of a jam and to help us with computer problems. We couldn’t operate the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter without her help. The Society would simply wither away without her and her staff. The business that Mary Ann is in is the selling of ad space for cars, trucks and bikes. Her son, Jack Lawford Jr publishes a website for motorcycles; www.BikerHotline.com. I am not normally a motorcycle enthusiast, but this is such an outstanding site that I never miss reading it. I am especially fanatical about checking out any article or photographs by Bart Mitchell. He and Roger Rohrdanz are simply outstanding photographic reporters.
I can use more reporters. I challenged Spencer Simon one time, “Spencer, write for me and cover that great Northern California racing and hot rodding area,” and he did. He took it upon himself to become the ‘reporter for the north’ as he calls it. He’s learning as he goes along and he’s finding out some fabulous stuff. Without him we would simply go without the stories and bios from that area. I need volunteers from all over the world. Garry Baker, in Australia, that means you. Who is there that can report and cover the history of racing in New Zealand, England, Europe and the rest of the world? I need reporters and researchers in every corner and region of the United States and Canada. Bob Painton, would you cover British Columbia for us? How about Michael Kacsala in Ohio, will you cover that part of the country for us? Don Garlits, will you report on the Southeast? The SLSRH Newsletter is only regional and predominately in the Southwest because that’s where Roger, Jim and I are based. The SLSRH is not a regional enterprise. We want to cover all aspects of LSR, hot rodding and the first decade of drag racing, everywhere in the world. To do that task we need reporters and researchers. We are a volunteer organization with no revenue and limited expenses and we rely on everyone sharing their skills and talents. We exist as long as our members send us information and we cease to be an organization when there is no more contact. We compile and leave behind this history and heritage for future generations; there is no other motive than that.
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My Dad died last Sunday, below is a notice about the service and a little remembrance of his life. Please feel free to circulate among any old timers who may have known my Dad. You may post the following on your website www.landspeedracing.com, if you wish. Thanks, Bob Tregilus
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Please join us for a graveside memorial service--honoring the life Richard Dudley Tregilus--at 1:00pm on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA.
A long life well lived: In memoriam Richard Dudley Tregilus December 19, 1916 - June 26, 2011. Born in 1916 to William Tregilus, a mechanic and pipefitter, and his homemaker wife, Gladys Cheney Tregilus, in the small south-central California town of Porterville, Richard Dudley Tregilus was destined to live a fascinating life on the cutting edge of technology. By the latter part of the second decade of the 20th century, mass production assembly lines were making it possible for a rising middle-class to own an automobile. And the exponential growth in automobile production as well as the first mechanized war, World War I (1914-18), led to rapid advancements in the internal combustion engine. More powerful engines meant commercial air transport was imminent. For a little more context, in 1916 Woodrow Wilson was president and the first human flight had occurred only 13 years earlier.
Just 8 years earlier, Henry Ford's first mass-produced vehicle, the Model T, began rolling off the first assembly line in Detroit; Albert Einstein had just published his general theory of relativity in 1915; commercial radio broadcasting would not be heard for another 4 years; Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress; alcohol prohibition was still 3 years away; and internal combustion engine vehicles (gas powered cars and trucks) had just begun to out sell electric vehicles which had dominated the automobile market during the previous two decades. Richard, known to many as Dick or Trig, was introduced to mechanics at a very early age as both his father and grandfather, Dudley Cheney, called ‘Bump’ by Richard due to his inability to pronounce the word "grandpa" (a nickname that stuck and ever afterward Dudley was called Bump by everyone), were both mechanics, machinists, and pipefitters. Richard moved with his family to Hollywood in the late 1920’s where he attended Fairfax High School. During these early years, the area that surrounded the La Brea Tar Pits (now the location of the Page Museum of Natural History) was open fields, where Richard sometimes hunted rabbits with a .22 caliber rifle.
Also, during Richard's early years in the Los Angeles Basin, he once helped erect the famous Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Big Top Tent. It took two days, dozens of roughnecks, several elephants, and several local kids to erect the gigantic tent. All of the kids were given free tickets to the circus in lieu of payment for their work. During his tenure at Fairfax High, Richard was kicked out of electric shop after an electromagnet he'd constructed shot a metal disc into the air at great velocity and which ricocheted around the room several times. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident. The auto shop instructor wouldn't even let Richard register for his class as Richard's reputation as an auto hot rodder had already preceded him and the teacher feared he'd teach the other kids "bad" tricks. He did, however, manage to spend a semester in wood shop where he built, among other projects, a three legged table. It had only three legs because he could not afford the lumber for a forth leg.
During the 1930’s, Richard was one of the pioneering Southern California hot rodders. He belonged to several car clubs including the Throttlers and the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA). These early hot rodders modified Model Ts, Model As, and a variety of other vehicles, and made many of them exceed 100 miles per hour in time trails held on Southern California dry lakes, such as Harper, El Mirage, and Muroc (now Edwards Air Force Base), and sometimes they even raced on the streets of Los Angeles. After high school Richard attended the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in the city of Glendale after which he landed a job at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica in 1937. During his employment at Douglas, Richard worked on a variety of airplanes leading up to WWII. These planes, of course, included the famous DC-3, many of which were later converted into cargo ships during WWII, and known as the C-47 or "Bucket of Bolts." Richard often told a story about the war years and how the various "Rosie the Riveters" would bring their rivet guns to him complaining that the needle had broke. The domestic women, who were suddenly thrust into the workforce during the war, often used common household terminology to describe the tools they encountered at the aircraft factory.
After WWII, Richard was part of the civilian workforce, on contract from Douglas to the U.S. Army; that worked with the captured V-2 rockets and German scientists, such as Werner von Braun, who were part of Operation Paperclip. These rocket tests took place at White Sands Proving Ground in the state of New Mexico. The first rockets were flown with wires attached as telemetry was still being developed, but as the technology evolved multistage rockets were finally tested. The Bumper missile was a WAC Corporal rocket mounted atop a V-2 booster. The first tests (1948-9) were conducted at White Sands. Bumper test 8 took place on July 24, 1950 at Cape Canaveral. Richard was there for Bumper 8 which was the first rocket launched from what later became the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He was also on the team that installed the first missile defense system in Washington D.C. Never losing interest in cars, and in his spare time between traveling back and forth from L.A to White Sands.
Richard decided to completely rebuild a used 1937 Ford Club Coupe. He literally took every nut and bolt out of the car, which proved to be a fascination to all of his male neighbors. Likely they came over to watch, doubting Richard would be able to reassemble the car. He did, replacing weather stripping, repainting it with multiple "double coats" of Cadillac blue lacquer paint, all carefully burnished out. And, of course, the engine received special treatment to greatly enhance its performance. After completing his project in 1949, it was christened "Marmaduke," Richard noticed a neighbor's daughter, Dorothy Jean McGinnis, and asked if she'd like a ride. On July 7, 1951 Dorothy and Richard were married. Richard continued to travel back and forth between White Sands and Los Angeles. But finally, Dorothy and Richard rented a little apartment in Las Cruces, New Mexico so they could be together more often. By the late 1950s, Richard had transferred out of the Douglas missile program and back into the aircraft division so that he could return to Los Angeles and start a family.
In 1956 Dorothy and Richard purchased a little house in the then remote suburbs of Reseda in the San Fernando Valley. On February 25, 1958, Dorothy and Richard had their only son, Robert Scott Tregilus. Richard provided for his family and raised his son while continuing to work for Douglas Aircraft, finally retiring from McDonnell Douglas after 45 years of service in 1982. In 1989 Dorothy and Richard sold their first home in the now densely crowded San Fernando Valley and moved to Reno, Nevada to be near their son Bob. There they built a new home that was completed in 1990. In retirement, Richard continued to build airplanes--radio controlled models, and he enjoyed traveling, reading about science and technology, working around the house, surfing the Internet, and watching football and motor sports on television. Richard did fairly well health wise throughout his life, surviving bladder cancer (due to exposure from aniline based rocket-fuels) and a heart attack.
In 2008 he came down with pneumonia, necessitating his son to move in with his aging parents to provide care. In late 2009, Richard suffered a broken hip and in February of 2011 he had a debilitating stroke. Richard had been doing well in post stroke therapy up until about three weeks ago when he started slipping backwards in his progress. Unknown to his caregiver son, an underlying infection had been brewing. When he first started slowing down it appeared as though it was edema in his lungs due to congestive heart failure, for which he was treated. That may have contributed to his eventual death, but he also had a sinus and a bladder infection, and possibly a developing pneumonia. All were treatable or curable, but it was just all too much for him since the stroke in February. He was completely unable to do the things he loved, except for watching TV. So he gave up and started shutting down. Fortunately, he already had a referral to hospice and had gone through the interview process about two weeks ago.
Ever the fighter though, at the time Richard had declined to enter into hospice. But fortunately, the hospice option was already in place for his caregiver son to initiate when Richard was no longer able to decide for himself. By Friday afternoon, after a two day stay in hospital, Richard returned home to his family for the last time. He woke up on Saturday morning requesting some water and was able to drink about a half an ounce. He was pretty aware throughout the end of life process, able to vaguely respond "yes" and "I love you" when ask if he was comfortable and when his wife or son told him that they loved him. Richard died peacefully under hospice care with his wife at his bedside at 9:00am on Sunday, June 26, 2011--after a very long life that was very well lived. Richard D. Tregilus was the perfect husband, father, and provider.
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A very special Hot Rod class is being assembled for the 2011 Concours at the Trump International Golf Course in Palos Verdes, California, on September 17-18, 2011. You probably have seen the footage of this event on Barry Meguiars' Car Crazy television show. Although this event is relatively new; being at the Trump has made this a must attend event for the who's who of auto restoration competition. As you'd expect there are Bugatti, Ferrari, Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg etc, and this year marks the first invitation to honor our beloved hot rods! The class coordinator is Jerry Mull and he is diligently working to assemble a group of 8-10 prominent dry lakes roadsters from the 30's-to the early post war years. Vic Edelbrock Sr. and Sandy Belond's roadsters will be reunited for the first time in nearly 8 decades; the Spurgin roadster and Tommy Lee's, Kurtis built speedster have also been invited and the possibility of including a tribute or two has been thrown around. The replica of Stan Hartwick’s roadster is a likely candidate as would be the tributes, built by Jim Lattin, of the Hilborn and Sakai modifieds.
This event has all the potential of bringing together the few surviving examples of the hot rods that formed our industry. Jerry could use some help though in making it a success. He needs a few more cars; he'd love for them to be pre-wars but he realizes there just may not be many more then the cars mentioned still in existence. If you are aware of a pre-war lakes racer please contact Jerry Mull [email protected] or Michael Brennan [email protected] so they can get in touch with the owner. If it becomes impossible to assemble a complete class of pre-wars Jerry is entertaining the idea of rounding out the class with a select few prominent early post war hot rods so don't hesitate to offer up those ideas to the guys also. Michael Brennan and Jerry Mull
Michael and Jerry: Be sure to contact our Society's President, Jim Miller at 818-846-5139 as he knows where you can find some of these cars. The Karl Orr KO Special is also in the area.
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We were pleased to learn last week that our friend Nate Shelton was elected as SEMA Chair Elect. Nate has proven to be a great leader in many different aspects of our industry over the years so he was the perfect choice to lead us as we climb our way out of what has been a hard couple of years for some in our industry. Mary Ann Lawford
Mary Ann: Our congratulations go to Nate as well. He will make a fine leader of SEMA.
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We really didn’t get introduced at the ADM (Automotive Driving Museum). I will be sending you a number of photos, two per e-mail so it doesn’t crash the system. Sorry I didn’t get more, I came there strictly to enjoy and look for items for my library, so I wasn’t “assignment” orientated in my head. Hope some of these photographs of the ADM Auto & Aviation Expo 2011 work for you. All I ask for is photo credit “Courtesy Phil Skinner, Kelley Blue Book.”
Phil: The photos are great and the captions are clear. Of course we will give you photo credit. It is always our policy to give credit and to encourage people to contribute to our newsletter. You can always do that. We are a straight-line, hot rod newsletter and welcome all contributors.
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I am sending out a note to inform you of the results of my survey of the vendor participants at the Auto & Aviation Expo 2011 event sponsored by the Automobile Driving Museum (ADM), in El Segundo, California on January 26, 2011. During my swing around the grounds to thank the vendors for their support, and to request that they let me know if they can think of anything we should consider that would improve the event the attitude was exceptionally positive. The highest number of comments; that there should be more advertising but when told of the progress we have made when compared to previous "Faires" they seemed to understand we are working toward a proper solution. Most say they plan on returning. I want to thank all of you for your support and sincerely we can all team for the 2012 event beginning around January. We need to "brain storm" a method to reach more writers who are clearing out their research files.
Another classification that is warranted is the niche groups of car people and how we can reach them. The SoCal auto population is made-up of more umbrella groups than the rest of US and cracking that code is at the top of my list. Another aid will be to better analyze the product category's each distinctive group is searching for. Which groups lean towards die cast models? Which search for their group historical items? Which lust for hard cover books? Which specific groups are not included in most automotive functions in The Southland? Well, we have about six months to sort that out and start to make the 2012 event bigger than this year. The past two have been much better than the preceding three "Faires!” Thanks again. Bob Falcon
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I am not too familiar with your publication. Any leads to find out more about would be welcomed. My main interest, both in market values here at Kelley Blue Book and in my own pursuits, are geared towards “originality” and the historical aspects of the automotive industry. However, hot rods, genuine hot rods from the immediate post-war era, are historically significant and I do appreciate that end of the business. In the hobby of vintages cars, one who “restores” a car back to its original looks, engine, etc., is a dedicated person. More and more historic hot rods are being discovered and “restored” to their original configurations, which I appreciate. This past March, the Amelia Island Concours had a class dedicated to the Cover Cars of Hot Rod Magazine, and it was impressive. (I had two friends show cars in that class). I have always thought that a person who “restores” a car is dedicated to history, a person who builds a street (rod) is often time dedicated only to the “Look at me” factor. But then I drive an Edsel. Phil Skinner
Phil: Thank you for taking photos of the ADM Auto & Aviation Expo. You bring up a very good topic and I will address this in the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter, which can be found at www.landspeedracing.com. The first point is that people specialize in what sort of automotive and motorized racing that they want to follow. I went "through the wars" when I was volunteering at Automotive Calendar of Events; Miss Information. A type of car club or organization starts out simply and over time the club becomes rigid and then the group breaks apart. The original group is glad to see the rebels leave; "Good Riddance" is their thought. The SLSRH is formed somewhat on a similar basis as is the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH). Each person in our group forms their own particular interest and pursues it, sending in their research to be archived with all the other news and history that we find. We cannot say that any one group is wrong. Vintage car collectors have serious headaches to overcome; Is the car stock, customized or hot rodded. Those three groups are further divided into traditional and modern types.
In fact, there are so many categories today that we can only laugh when more sub-categories are suggested. My pet peeve is when someone sets themselves up above all others and declares a category to be "authorized" or if not, then "without merit." People can set standards, as long as though standards represent an association. But we cannot set standards for the entire car industry. A custom car is intended to be an improvement on the stock marque of an automobile manufacturer. A hot rod is often an amalgam of car parts from many manufacturers and therefore an improved version, "In the eyes of the maker." Just as soon as we make such statements, exceptions begin to appear. I truly believe that the only reason that we categorize automobiles, styles and models is so that we can have an excuse to argue. Restoration is full of landmines. In restoring a car the question is asked, "To which owner and to which usage." I'm glad that there are judges that know exactly how a car looked as it came off the Ford assembly line, but that is a modern usage.
Henry Ford did not care at all. Ford was only interested in a good car at a cheap price that afforded a good profit. They said that you could buy a Ford "in any color that you wanted as long as it was black." But that was because the black paint dried faster and faster meant more Fords could be made and more profits at the end of the day. What the SLSRH is interested in is the "why" this is the case. We also pursue the what, where and when as well. Judgments on whether this car is in this class or is considered vintage, custom, hot rodded or stock is left for the various associations that set the rules for their associations. However, there is a sad aspect to car restoration. Race cars, stock cars, and other cars are often changed. How does the restorer change the car back to the original when there may have been multiple owners and each owner had variations of the car, changing parts continually to enhance performance.
There is only one car and "multiple personalities." Eventually the restorer picks a variation and returns the car to that form, which is as original as all the other variations of the car. Car collectors, restorers, racers and show exhibitors will always have these problems to work through. As one car enthusiast said, "Restorers overdo the restoration process." In the museum today there are beautifully restored cars and the amount of chrome is extraordinary, except my memory tells me that we didn't worry about chroming a car when we only had a few bucks to spend on these cars. Henry Ford would be so amused at how we have taken his simple cars and turned them into an enigma.
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I could prepare a lengthy response, but I will just give you a simple “AMEN!” If I can be of help, let me know, have lots of photos from lots of events, and though I aim mostly at original cars, the occasional “rod” gets in the way of my shutter. Phil
Phil: We emphasize land speed and very early drag racing, plus hot rodding. I would be honored to publish any photos of those topics that you would like to submit. There is no protocol. You simply send them with captions and if they come close at all to our subject matter we run them. We also run similar reports if the historical person also did LSR. For example, we run things on Indy and oval track racers who also ran at the dry lakes or Bonneville. We have a wide criteria for the type of articles that we run in the newsletter.
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I went to the Head Hunters club; had an interesting time and met several people there that I knew. It was at Doug King's place and there was a great display of cylinder heads of many makes for the Flathead engines which includes model A's, T's, V8's and in-lines. I took some nice photos. There were some great people there; one of them was Denny Foresberg. He was pretty much the one talking to everyone. Denny also gave me a guideline on the guys and helped me gather the original group of headhunters as well as everyone else. It looks like I have to get another computer; Geek Squad has taken my computer to level three repair. All of my valuable pictures are gone. It was hard to lose my family pictures, which was a big hit to me. As for Bob Sweikert; Jimmy Correia is going to see one of Don Garlits' old friend that has a great photo of Sweikert in an Indy Car. Correia is going to get a copy for me. When I get it I'll send it over from Kinko's. I made some progress on another interview with Ed Archer about Vick Sala. Hopefully he can produce that photo of him with the Winfield Special. Spencer Simon
Spencer: Please tell me when emails are private or if I can post them, because your emails have important details in them that should go into the newsletters. Sorry about your computer. We should all have external hard-drives to back up our computers, or periodically run a back-up disk to protect against computer malfunction.
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You may know me from working on the movie Deuce of Spades where I was the Production Assistant and about a hundred other positions. I'm the Class Manager of the new HOT RODS LEGENDS Class at the Palos Verdes Concours d'Elegance being held Sunday, September 18, 2011 at the Trump National Golf Course on the cliffs of Palos Verdes. It is a fantastic venue. With Michael Brennan's expert help, I am try to gather some of the most well known 1937-1960 open wheeled Hot Rods that may have run on the dry lakes, or were otherwise well known. We are interested in Tribute cars too, such as the Wally Parks' car. Cars may be judged or ‘Display Only,’ if the owner wishes. The condition of the car should be well preserved or restored, we are open to either. We will need 1-3 photos and contact info. If you have any leads, we certainly would appreciate them. I don't know if you are familiar with Concours, but we are not like a normal Car Show. We actually invite people ahead of time, and they must formally respond. Our invites are scheduled to go out in July so time is short. Entry is FREE to accepted cars, with each car getting two FREE tickets. I hope that you will be able to attend this year. Should be a fun Concours as it is dedicated to "California Design & Style." Please feel free to forward this email to your contacts. Thanking you in advance for your help! Jerry Mull, 1-310-367-0542, [email protected], www.pvconcours.org.
Readers: If you are interested, please contact Jerry Mull.
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I left California in early April to tour the USA until the end of the year in support of my film. I hope to visit with you upon mu return. I wanted to express once again my gratitude for all your wonderful support and help along the years. It meant a lot to me. Have a wonderful summer and hope to see you when I return! Blessings, FAITH GRANGER
Filmmaker
Faith: We hope you are doing well and send us updates of your travels or PR releases so that we can continue to update our readers as to the progress of Deuce of Spades.
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Scooters: Size Doesn't Always Matter.
Over 90 scooters and related vehicles will be on exhibition in this colorful and quirky exhibit of miniscule motoring. The scooters are displayed in unexpected ways using innovative design and construction techniques. Guests will be greeted at the entrance of the gallery by a grouping of scooters arranged on platforms that zig-zag their way towards the ceiling. Three "scooter trees" offer a unique perspective on the subject. Also included is a floor-to-ceiling wall of scooters that visitors can walk around! In addition to scooters from around the globe, other related vehicles such as three-wheelers like the Vespa Ape and Zoe Zipper, as well as micro-cars like the Vespa 400 and Honda City will be present. The exhibit is rich with non-motorized artifacts as well. From pop-culture items such as movie posters and cartoon animation cells, to advertising, toys, models, and scootering accessories, there has never been a more comprehensive exhibition than this one! Curator Leslie Kendall will be available to answer questions throughout the preview. The exhibit opens to the public on Saturday June 18, 2011, and runs through May 28, 2012.
SCOOTERS AND SUPERCARS DAY
In conjunction with its summer feature exhibitions “Supercars: When Too Much Is Almost Enough” (3/5/11-10/16/11) and “Scooters” (6/18/11-2/5/12), the Petersen Automotive Museum is hosting Scooters and Supercars Day. The highlight of Scooters and Supercars Day will be the public super car and scooter show. Only at the Petersen will you see vehicles by Ferrari, Lamborghini, Vespa, and Honda all proudly parked next to one another! Guest of Honor Steve Saleen will speak about his racing and manufacturing endeavors and technical how-to sessions with Griot’s Garage, The Official Car Care Product Provider of the Petersen Automotive Museum throughout the day will have you polishing your vehicle of choice like never before.
PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM
The Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity. The Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard (at Fairfax) in Los Angeles. Admission prices are $10 for general admission adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for active military and students with ID, and $3 for children ages 5 to 12. Museum members and children under five are admitted free. Covered parking is available for $2 per half hour with an $8 maximum for Museum visitors. Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 6pm. For general Museum information, call 323/930-CARS or visit the Museum’s Web site at: www.petersen.org.
Where: Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd. (at Fairfax), Los Angeles, CA 90036. Chris Brown, Information and Marketing Manager (323) 964-6320, [email protected].
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The 1954 Miss Cadillac (CLICK FOR IMAGE) driven by Frank "Bud" Saile. Painting by Alan Ameel
And the second boat was the favorite ride of Walt Kade, the beautiful burgundy and white 1966 Savair's Mist (CLICK FOR IMAGE) . Painting by Alan Ameel
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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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![2011_flyer_full_page_final_640px[1]](./assets/images/2011_flyer_full_page_final_640px_1_.jpg "2011_flyer_full_page_final_640px[1]")
![1 - Irish Grand Prix POST[2]](./assets/images/1_-_Irish_Grand_Prix_POST_2_.jpg "1 - Irish Grand Prix POST[2]")
![2 - BDC Concours D'Elegance 012[1]](./assets/images/2_-_BDC_Concours_D_Elegance_012_1_.jpg "2 - BDC Concours D'Elegance 012[1]")
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![9 - BDC Concours D'Elegance 014[1]](./assets/images/9_-_BDC_Concours_D_Elegance_014_1_.jpg "9 - BDC Concours D'Elegance 014[1]")
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![11 - BDC Concours D'Elegance 009[1]](./assets/images/11_-_BDC_Concours_D_Elegance_009_1_.jpg "11 - BDC Concours D'Elegance 009[1]")
