Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth - Bonneville Salt Flats

IMAGES
of America

BONNEVILLE
SALT FLATS

Welcome to the end of the rainbow, to the end of the speed run, but to the beginning of an armchair adventure with the fastest people on earth. Most all are overwhelmingly ordinary folk who accomplish extraordinary deeds of speed. Just one visit to this Utah wonder when the speed machines are present is a thrilling experience of the all-inclusive American amateur motorsport spirit that has been so vibrant for more than 100 years. It has been said that even without the speed machines, just being there has made atheists think about God. (Courtesy of LandSpeed Louise.)

ON THE COVER: It is the 1952 Maremont trophy presentation taking place on the starting line at the Bonneville Nationals. Just behind the City of Burbank streamliner No. 63 are, from left to right, winners George Hill; Howard E. Wolfson, president of Maremont Automotive Products, Chicago, Illinois; and Willie Davis. At the nose of the No. 6 Belond Special belly tank are owners Frankie and Tom Beatty with sons Mark, in the silver pith helmet, and Jim. In front is the completely hand-built, Pontiac-powered lakester pictured with owner and builder Eddie Miller Jr. and Ray Brown (arms folded). (Courtesy of Rick Hill/Ed Elliot photograph.)

IMAGES
of America

BONNEVILLE
SALT FLATS

Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth
Foreword by Alex Xydias

Copyright 2020 by Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth
ISBN 978-1-4671-0595-8
Ebook ISBN 978-1-4396-7157-3

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020941011

For all general information, please contact Arcadia Publishing:
Telephone 843-853-2070
Fax 843-853-0044
E-mail
For customer service and orders:
Toll-Free 1-888-313-2665

Visit us on the Internet at www.arcadiapublishing.com

Without my loving husband, Mick Lanigan, his enormous patience, fabulous feasts, and decades-long support, this, or any other book I have written, would be only a dream.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

What had been a long, impossible dream had suddenly become a reality! The Southern California Timing Association had been granted a one-time week of competition at the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

This was a great opportunity! The SoCal Speed Shop Racing Team gathered together to decide what we should do. Our goal became worlds fastest hot rod.

But first, we had to build it. We chose a smooth, streamlined design, but could we form aluminum like that? What size? We only had a few months. Night and day, day and night we worked on it. Finally, it was finished, and it was beautiful! White with gold-leaf lettering on the side read So-Cal Speed Shop Special.

Bonneville was 700 miles away, and we were pulling trailers over narrow, two-lane roads through some of the most remote areas in the country. We drove for hours, too tired to count, finally cresting a hill and unexpectedly, still 30 miles away, there it was, a huge, gleaming, white area in the middle of a desert brown landscape.

Now we were hell-bent for our destination and getting answers to so many of our questions. We were standing on saltyes saltas far as the eye could see. So bright you have to shield your eyes, so big, it was impossible to grasp. It was hard to say anything.

Where were we? Shangri-La? Mars? In the distance, at the end of the black line, a mountain was floating in the air. Was it a mirage? Do they have mirages on Mars?

We came to race against the clock, against time, and to prove a concept new to hot rodding but famous in Europewheels enclosed inside the body that eliminate problem-causing air turbulence. But would our version work? Would it create lift and suddenly fly?

There were 60 entries, and everyone was curious about our streamliner. We made a few practice runs on the 10-mile course to slowly find out what we really had.

The hot rod record was 160 miles per hour. We went 193 miles per hour! And then the front treads flew off the tires, but driver Dean Batchelor brought it to a safe stop. We had built the worlds fastest hot rod, and it appeared on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine three times!

It was an odyssey I will never forget. When we returned in 1950, we upped our record to 210 miles per hour!

Alex Xydias

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

No one sets a land speed record by herself or himself. It is the same for books. I need the help and support of many land speed racers to bring into being a personal and resonating glimpse into the ever-challenging world of time trials and record setting. The heavy historical lifting goes to the archivists at the Utah State Historical Society and the University of Utahs Marriott Library Special Collections that kept so many precious pictures safe until I needed them.

I will forget someone, but for now know these incredibly helpful names: Josh Ackerman, the Art Arfons family, John Baechtel, Dean Batchelor, Glynne Bowsher, Lee (Breedlove) Frank, Craig Breedlove, Beatty Burkland, Bill Burke, Burly Burlilie, Betty Burkland, Gigi Carlson, Eric Dahlquist, Wilford Day, Jim and Marian Deist, Tammy and Sean Donohoe, Ed Elliot, Bruce Geisler, Pete Farnsworth, the Ferguson family, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Norm Gernhardt, Zeldine Graham, Scooter Grubb, Just Hallen, Cody Hanson, Gary Hartsock, Bob Higbee, Rick Hill, the Ab and Marvin Jenkins family, Ed Justice Jr., Kay Kimes, Tim Kraushaar, Delvene Manning, Milton McCard, Paula Murphy, Zane McNary, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Wally Parks, Robert Pete Petersen, Dave Petrali, Gail Phillips, Robert Rampton, Jim Richards, Robin Richardson, Tim Rochlitzer, Doug Rose, Bud Schmitt, John Sprenger, Dwianna and Bill Taylor, Al and Jane Teague, Danny and Judy Thompson, Gregory Thompson, Will Scott, John Veenstra, the Vesco family, Tony and Darrell Waters, Lee Wendelboe, Alex Xydias, and Lynn Yakel.

Please note LandSpeed Productions Research Library (LPRL) is an archive of prints, negatives, transparencies, and physical mementos assembled by donations from the original work and property of land speed racers, professional photographers, and enthusiasts who asked me to keep their collections safe and useful to promote the sport. When you see LPRL/, it means the original material is on file with me, but it was created by or came from the person noted after the forward slash. If only LPRL is listed, it means the creator of the material is still unidentified and the search continues.

INTRODUCTION

First-timers at the Bonneville Salt Flats are affectionately called salt virgins, because walking out onto the panoramic, sodium-soaked pancake always has a startling effect. Awash with the pure joy of being immersed there, it does not matter what anyone might have read, heard, been told, or watched, the real deal is a gargantuan knockout.

Forget the speed machines for a moment and simply consider the location. So vast, astronauts use the salts splendid, shimmering whiteness as a landmark as they orbit the earth.

Smart people get out of bed before the sun to watch the fiery orb awakening from the salt. It is they who are treated to unexpected grandeur, a brain-stretching vista that invokes a dose of humility wrapped up in a personal outpouring of thankfulness.

There is something inviting about being reduced, put in your place, and made to understand how stinking small and insignificant a person can be in relationship to the planet. It is a honor just to be standing there.