Society of LandSpeed Historians -Oilstick.com

It's that time of year when you look under the tree and find all sorts of varied and interesting things so here is a little bit of the same for you. In the last newsletter Ugo mentioned the little Cooper streamliner that set some records. The car also made an appearance at Bonneville in '54. This little beauty on the trailer was entered by Cooper Racing Cars of England, Ltd, designed in '50 and built in 1951, and was entered in H, O and A Streamliner Classes. In class A it was powered by a Norton. In H a J.A.P. qualified the car first in class at 112.21 mph followed by a record at 110.75 mph. In class O also J.A.P. powered it ran 107.91 mph for first in class. Also of interest is car #36, a rear engined roadster entered at Bonneville in 1949 by Carillo & Betz. Yep, it's that Fred "Spade" Carillo of rods fame. It ran 139.31 mph in Class B Lakester, a full five mph faster than the record setting Starr & Alger car. You have to remember in the "Old" days you had to qualify and then make a two way run to get a record. The car is interesting in that it was one of the first to use PBY wing struts (eliptical shaped tubing that looked like an airfoil, used to support the wings of an amphibious WWII aircraft called the PBY Catalina (Patrol Bomber, Y, that was Consolidated Aircraft's ID letter) for the frame. Later, the car was run by Ak Miller and then Stecker & Fugatt etal and is alive and well in Jim Lattin's collection today. Next up is the cover of Mechanix Illustrated for May
of '51 featureing an obscure Land Speed Record Car on its cover. General Petroleum and the "Flying Red Horse" promoted a three way speed circus at Bonneville featuring Ab Jenkins Mormon Meteor, Rollie Free's Vincent Motorcycle and Jimmy Jackson's Cummins Diesel Indy car (the cover car) in late August and early September, 1950. This shot shows Jackson before he set six USA and six international speed records. His best time was 165.23 mph. If you look at the cover of the October 30-31, 1948 SCTA Racing News Program you'll find a great Gus Maanum drawing of Bob Weinberg's custom built roadster. Big Bill Edwards put it together with a GM blown Merc engine. I've included a rare color shot of the engine in its living room from that era and what the car looks like today living in Texas. When John Cobb came back to Bonneville in September '47 and became the first to go over 400 one way at 403.135 there were other cars there to set records to. One was Lou Welch's Novi fitted with a canopy. Ab Jenkins was slated to drive but didn't feel right in the car so his son Marv got to drive. And drive he did, setting five National Class D records the fastest being 179.434 mph. The photo shows AAA observer Eddie Miller Sr standing next to the car in downtown Wendover. In the background to the right are the
hangers that the Enola Gay used before going to Japan and dropping the "Big One." To show that I do live in the 21st century here are some land speeders that everyone forgets about. Do a search for Soap Box Derby and Gravity Racers, you'll be surprised at what you'll find. Last but not least some of todays LSR cars are pretty high tech. Ron Main's latest creation had it's body molds carved out of foam with a CNC machine by Nemesis, the boys who make racing aircraft out in Mojave. The aircraft boys are +- .020 so this CAD
drawing was done. Hope you enjoyed all the stuff under our tree. Merry christmas
(Photo courtesy American Hot Rod Foundation/Joe Henning, Jim Miller, Tony Nancy Collections, Aussie Steve and Ron Main.)

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Editor's notes: My computer has been up and down all weekend. That has affected my ability to answer your emails and respond in a timely manner. My apologies to all. Mary Ann and Jack Lawford of www.hotrodhotline.com are working on a new site for us called www.landspeedracing.com and when it is ready you will receive an emailed version of the newsletter from them, just as you are now receiving it from me. I will continue to be the editor of the various issues of the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians Newsletter and send the latest issues on to the Lawfords. They will add whatever photos have been received and put it in a nice package similar to the ones that Doug Stokes sends to me. You can then read the newsletter as an email and if you want to see the photographs or any of the archived information from past issues of the newsletter, you can hit the link and go directly to the website. Www.landspeedracing.com will not co-opt all the other websites out there that have taken our newsletter. Www.landspeedproductions.biz, www.oilstick.com, http://www.landracing.com, www.speedrecordclub.com, http://www.ahrf.com/video.php, www.hotrodhotline.com, will still be major and important sources for land speed fans to link to and they will most probably link themselves together to see what the other websites have unearthed in our search for the past. Once the new system is in place, then I will forward your email address and the email addresses of new members to the Lawford's site. Please support all of our sites generously. The website owners go out of their way to make their sites available to us and they need all the hits and ads that we can give them. Their ad rates are very tiny in comparison to the audio and print rates in radio, TV, magazines and newspapers. The more we support our websites, the more that they can support us. Have a safe and happy Holiday season and write in often.

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1) I think you all know that I have been the host of ROAD & TRACK SPEED radio for the past several years. I’ve had the great pleasure of sneaking in some of our great history that basically goes unreported in most mainstream media. My families close connection to this makes me very aware of the need to educate others of the rich history in auto racing and the automotive world. Well I have some news that I want to share with you that I’m very proud of. Last week the Motor Press Guild had their yearly awards banquet and a total of five awards were given out for the best in media for the year. Those awards were for, the best automotive book, the best automotive magazine article, the best automotive photography and the best audio/visual, if it seems like this particular category is crowded, it is! And the fifth and final award is the best of these four. It was with a great shock that I accepted the award for the “MPG Dean Batchelor Best of the Year in the Audio/Visual category.” To say I’m humbled is an understatement. I’ve attached a press release that was sent out which includes all of the details. To all of you that have contributed to my show, THANK YOU. While I may be the “front” guy, I’m not the only guy or gal for that matter. I’ve received a lot of support from my friends and I’m very thankful for that. Here’s to a Merry Christmas and a great New Year. Your friend in racing, Ed Justice, Jr P.S. – If you’re interested in old racing pictures, etc check out my website www.edjusticejr.com. I’m posting some of my photos that I’ve shot over the years for magazines, etc and also have written up a few stories as time permits.
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2) This cat’s been let out of the bag with the media, so I guess you folks should also know. It’s gonna be a very fast season next year. I also heard from Rosco down under and his WLSR project is close to being funded. Speedy Regards, "LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth
Louise Ann Noeth Named Steve Fossett LSR Director of Sponsor and Media Relations, Sparks, NV, December 3, 2007. Marathon Racing, the parent company of Steve Fossett's World Land Speed Racing Team, today announced the appointment of Louise Ann Noeth to Director of Sponsor and Media Relations. Despite the loss of their founder, the team is continuing in Steve Fossett's name to capture the Absolute Land Speed Record in excess of 800MPH. The streamlined Fossett racer is 48-feet long and is powered by a single, 40,000 HP S&S Turbine LM-1500 jet engine. Noeth assumed responsibility for the Fossett LSR sponsor development and media relations, including television documentary and publishing rights effective November 18, 2007. She reports to Program Manager Eric Ahlstrom. "We are very fortunate to have someone with Louise's breath of experience on the Fossett LSR team," said Program Manager Ahlstrom. "She brings a wealth of talent to our program and will help us continue Steve's vision of a small focused group of professionals like those that made all of his projects record-breakers." Noeth brings considerable experience to the team in motorsports sponsorship, journalism, photography and graphic design. She has extensively published investigative, feature and technical articles for consumer and trade publications. Her work in creating special promotions, events and collateral materials for selective client bases will be invaluable to the team. Noeth's award-winning book, "Bonneville Salt Flats, "is now in its seventh printing. This work is widely recognized as land speed racing's historical reference manual. She writes a national monthly column, "Fuel For Thought," and is a consultant to film and documentary works on land speed racing. Currently serving on the board of Directors for the Motor Press Guild, the largest automotive journalism group in the nation, she is also a member of American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters, Society of Automotive Historians and Western Automotive Journalists. A nominating and voting panel member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, she also serves as a judge for the International Automotive Media Awards. Further information from LandSpeed Productions at 805-445-8414 or media@fossettlsr.com.

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3) George Callaway sent in a photo of his land speed race car from 1954. At the present time I am experiencing continued computer problems and cannot handle photographs, but they can be sent to the various websites or to Jim Miller who will see that they get to the websites.

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4) In the Jim Miller piece, he refers to an LSR car formerly owned by Joel Thorne, which was never completed. He wondered where it is now. Recently, at a Formula SAE meeting held at The Driving Museum located near LAX, and while touring their collection, there nestled against a back wall of the room was the remnants of the Fageol LSR car. A few restorations have been attempted, but none were successfully completed. Fageol's plan was to outfit the vehicle with two engines, one in front and one in the rear as he did in some other iterations of race cars, mocking his "Twin Coach" bus concept. The Driving Museum has a nice collection of cars, most on loan, and a very good staff of Docents, ready and willing, to escort individuals through the collection. The facility, as I recall, is located on Lairport Street, west of the old North American Aircraft and Douglas El Segundo plants. Roughly South of Imperial Blvd and West of Aviation Blvd. I seem to recall that Lairport intersects with Imperial on the South side of LAX. An opinion...The issue was great and the format is excellent. It reads easy. However, I did not appreciate the 2.5 page advertisement for Art Evans books. I do not recall if Art was ever involved with Dry Lakes Racing and the topic of all his publications are centered on Sporty Car events. Thanks, Bob Falcon

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5) Doug Stokes took the latest issue of the newsletter and put it in a spiffy PDF version. The editor realizes that the look and feel of the newsletter can be upgraded. I am talking to Mary Ann Lawford about having the newsletter go on-line. Jack and Mary Ann own www.landspeedracing.com and have offered to transfer all the back issues to this site and allow your pictures to be displayed here. They will create a security device so that your photos can be viewed by the general public, but not downloaded cleanly and used without your permission. This is not to say that the other websites that accept our newsletter cannot continue to do so. They can continue to be a part of our group, but the ability to use the name www.landspeedracing.com will play towards our strengths. What will happen is that I will turn over my list of email addresses to the Lawford's, who will receive the newsletter and then resend it back out to you. Photographs will be sent directly to the websites, but content, questions and news will come to me to be added to the newsletter.

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6) I have all Land Speed newsletters stored in their entirety and exactly as you sent them if you would like me to send back to you. Please let me know. Tom McIntyre Tom: I may have sent you a response, but because my computer has been up and down so often, I can't remember what I've done. The websites listed on the newsletter have archived and displayed the issues for their readers. I have back-up copies and several others are doing the same. My problem has to do with two computers that go up and down and an address book that keeps getting lost and requires me to retype them in each time. Since I have more than 2000 email addresses, that is a time consuming chore. Right now my Verizon system keeps telling me that it can't recognize me as "someone has overridden my system." It was probably me when I tried to cross reference too many accounts. Hopefully I can get back on course soon. Thanks for the offer.

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7) Please add George Callaway to the list. George is the weather and lake bed connection to El Mirage. He lives there, on the West side of the lake bed. He is known to many as "El Mirage George." Thanks, Bob Falcon Bob: Thanks for correcting the oversight. If there is anyone who keeps the history and heritage alive, it is George and his wonderful wife, Jan Callaway.

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8) Received the following message from Roy Caruthers today. Neat article about Lakes racing from February 1947 issue of Mechanics Illustrated. Great old article about early hot rodding and lakes racing. Mentions two old Road Runners, Doug Caruthers and Randy Shinn. Great picture of Caruthers C&C Special. I know Jim Miller knows this, but Roy is building a replica of the C&C Special as it was in 1946, probably pretty much like it is in the picture in this article and before it became the #25 Chrisman Bros car. Jerry Cornelison (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=229470) Jerry: Thank you for the sources. My brother and I met Art at his annual Christmas Party at his shop and met a lot of the greats of land speed racing. Please finish your history of the Road Runners car club, one of the first 7 clubs in the founding of the SCTA.

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Members: Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, George Callaway, Gary Carmichael, 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, Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre, Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy, 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, Pat Swanson, Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy Travis, Jack Underwood and Tina Van Curen.