The Imperfect Storm
SoCal Diaries T
Former Custom Car editor Tony Thacker lives in California these days, and this month he’s been enjoying the weather out there…
he concept of lakes racing is not supposed to be taken literally. It’s supposed to be fast and fun, if a little dusty or salty depending on the venue. This year, however, despite global warming, nature put the kybosh on Bonneville Speed Week with a flood of biblical proportions. I woke up to the sound of rain, rain in my room as water poured out of the light fittings. Brit Geoff Stilwell’s record-holding 7707 team gathered in the hotel lobby only to be told nobody on the lake today – it’s a lake. And it was. When we finally drove out, it was axle deep for a couple miles and the pits were ankle deep despite being on higher ground. All we could do, along with ex-CC editor Kev Elliott, who was there with his roadster pickup now owned by Bruce Wanta, was clear up the salty mess and beat a retreat. More than 350 teams from all over the world were left kicking their heels by the unexpected but not unprecedented storm. The not-for-profit Southern California Timing Association, which organises Speed Week, was equally devastated by the conditions that they were tasked with cleaning up. It was a mess but, as Geoff Stilwell said, ‘I’ll be back.’
I’m not sure I’d be taking my bare metal Deuce Roadster to the salt but hey, hot rods are for driving, right? Note the laid back Stanley Wanlass windshield and the exhaust exiting through the side rail
There was a time when the US was littered with beaten up farm trucks but today the pickin’s are slim. Nevertheless, this pair of slammed Chebbys, a ’59 small window and a ’53-55 3100 from LTS Customs, Carbondale, Colorado had the look This shot taken on the flooded lake bed gives a whole new meaning to the words belly tank and lakes racing. Sadly, this is about as far as anybody got
Shades of days gone by and a flashback to the Pete Chapouris’ SO-CAL inspired ‘New Traditional’ look complete with laid back Stanley Wanlass windshield, ET mags and black n’ flame paint ‘UnLucky’ Burton has been dragging this beautiful Stromberg-sponsored coupe to Bonneville since 2019 but because of the weather and Covid has yet to make a decent pass despite tons of exposure on YouTube
Chris Garcia of Los Angeles’s Bedlam car club drove the 700 miles from LA in his banger-powered ’31 coupe. That’s a long way on four cylinders
Oilers car club member Jeremy Baye drives and races this radical back-motored, flat-powered ‘con-T-raption.’ Check out the driving position jammed up against the cowl. Al Clarke of Go Devil Garage built the engine
There’s no real disrespect in trailering a car to Bonneville as it is in the back of beyond, and who could diss this impressive rig comprising a ’50 Chevy pickup towing a flathead-powered, A-framed, deuce-grilled, ’23 T turtle deck?
It was rough alright but this heavily hammered and nosed ’33 is a survivor as it raced on the salt back in the fifties as the South Omaha Coupe. Discovered and resurrected by Tom Secora who searched for the car for 30 years
54 CUSTOM CAR NOVEMBER 2022
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16/09/2022 14:03
