SGE 1st ANNIVERSARY ULTIMATE ADVENTURE GIVEAWAY CELEBRATION!!!


Based on general conjecture and wild guesses, this marks the first anniversary of the SGE blog. We’ve visited several exotic locales and met many colorful characters together. It’s been a fun run. Thank you all for nervously checking in each week to see how I’ve chosen to blow off steam (these reports are typically my passive-aggressive ‘acting out’ reactions to a week spent writing by the rule book). How to properly celebrate such a milestone? Ice cream social? Silent meditation? Trash the local drag strip with fire, broken parts, and beer bottles? I think not. We can do better.

Let's begin by formally acknowledging the Top 5 feature stories of 2011 (according to web traffic). Please hold your applause until the final Scotty Award has been presented:

#5: Banned! Steve Curry’s Mopars

#4: Cole Coonce Interview

#3: Chad Reynolds Interview

#2: America’s Coolest Station Wagons in 3-D

And the number one SGE feature story of 2011: Faith Granger Interview

Congratulations to our first five recipients! Your checks and trophies should be on your front porch with our camera crew right about now!


Enough chit chat. Let's get down to it. Have you been to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England? Me neither. If you’re not familiar with this global celebration of everything fast, loud and on the razor’s edge, go to: www.goodwood.co.uk/festivalofspeed/welcome.aspx
I’ll wait here while you check it out...

  Hey Lord March! I stole your photos! Got your attention now?

Ah, welcome back. So, what do you think? Look like your cup of tea? Do you have your bail bondsman on speed dial? If so, here’s your shot at long distance high velocity glory:
Cars compete at Goodwood by invitation only. I hereby vow to begin campaigning event promoter Lord March immediately for an invite to run my old Morris hot rod at the hill climb (I think I can borrow it back from the new caretaker). I’m prepared to play the media card, if necessary. Once in the door, the sky’s the limit for offending stuffy old world money with stereotypical ugly American behavior. Place your bets now on how long it takes to get kicked out of this joint. But I’m not going down alone. I want to take YOU with me!

                               Shotgun rider wanted. Must have own life insurance.

Together, I believe we can scam our way to Goodwood. Some of you probably have connections with evil corporate empires that are desperate to polish their tarnished images with sponsorship of just such an adventure. I know some of these soul mongers, myself. It’s not like I’ve never whored myself out to vicious pimps before. Hell, I wrote the book on it. Well, most of a chapter, anyway:

 Coming soon from Gosson Bros. Racing Library. Copyright 2012

 And I shake hands with these devils every day, in exchange for a flimsy token paycheck. Proof:

                              Buy these books! It’s the only way to save America!

And I’m currently finishing up a book on overseas racers who come here to compete in hot rodding’s birthplace. So I feel that making the Goodwood pilgrimage is the least I can do in return. Like the immigrants before me, I’ll ship my steed over the ocean to compete with the best on their home turf (plus it will provide appropriate transport around the UK - just the ticket for speedy getaways).

It’s a long way to Goodwood. I prefer not to go it alone. I’d rather bring YOU along as the official shotgun rider on this adventure of a lifetime. How should I choose which lucky reader will join me in this insanity? Post your suggestion in the COMMENT box. As of today, I’m thinking the reader who comes up with the best plan to finance the trip is the one who’ll join me in learning to drive on the wrong side of the road. Meanwhile, I’ll be scheming, too. If inspiration hits and I figure it out on my own, I’ll probably just take my girlfriend with me and forget about you guys. Let that be your motivation. In 2013, we ride! Who’s with me? Let’s jangle!
　
　
　
　
　

Jon Lundberg Interview

Once you've dominated your field, you're known by your nickname. This guy's nickname is Thunderlungs. His title is The Voice of Drag Racing. From unpaved Michigan strips(!) to the world's most prestigious motorsports events, Lundberg's been there and done it. He's now living large in Arizona. (Photo courtesy of Jon Lundberg)


Jon and I trudged up the stairs to the tower at Champion Raceway and kicked back behind the microphones to let the Q & A echo throughout the empty facility, while watching track manager Jim Taylor cruise around on his new tractor.

 Most everyone knows who you are, but where’d you come from?  How did you get involved with racing and announcing in particular?

 I grew up in East Lansing, MI (home to Michigan State University), third generation son of a Swedish immigrant family brought to Lansing by Ransom E. Olds to make threaded and ground parts for Oldsmobile and REO motor vehicles. That matured into a family business, the Lundberg Screw Products Company.

Walking home from sixth grade one May afternoon in 1949, a chopped and channeled deuce three-window drove by me. Something clicked and I haven’t been the same since. One year later my pal John Hicks and I rode our motorbikes out gravel section roads to Lansing’s Capitol City Airport and watched an early drag race that pitted our Lansing Pan Draggers against one of the nation’s pioneer hot rod clubs, the Genessee Gear Grinders from nearby Flint. Top Eliminator that day was a GMC-powered sprint car on alcohol.

Over the next three years, my dad took us to events held by the Michigan Hot Rod Association on Ecorse Road, a four lane (boulevard-separated) highway that ran from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor. 

They’d race West-to-East for awhile and use the East-to-West lanes as a return road. Less than legal, but it worked.

In 1954, the NHRA Safety Safari held the quintessential drag race in my state: the NHRA Regional in Livonia (a Detroit suburb) on the ¾-mile, four lane concrete entrance road to a yet-to-be-completed GM plant. I attended that event working with a Public TV station’s kinescope team who came to film the action. It was there I first smelled Nitromethane and again, I haven’t been the same since.

Between 1953 and 1955 I built three cars of my own, a '29 A roadster pickup, a '34 Ford Victoria, and my college car – a 1950 Olds standard 2-door. In 1955, I chose college instead of building a dragster and was then encouraged by mentor Roger Huntington to accompany him to an unpaved new drag strip in the state’s middle area. Roger asked me to simply get on the PA system and talk about cars. I did that, liked it and the rest, as they say, is history. That flying farmer landing strip became known as Central Michigan Dragway and continues vital to this day as the Mid Michigan Motorplex.

With NHRA’s high profile, it’s surprising that “The Voice of Drag Racing” worked for every sanctioning body but NHRA. Is that accurate, and – if so – why?

 Their choice in the beginning, mine in the end. In 1962, while working at Onondaga Dragway, the track was visited by the midwest NHRA Regional Director. I asked him, quite politely, if I might be able to assist announcing the Nationals at Indy. His answer was much less than cordial. I then wrote Jim Tice, President of the American Hot Rod Association, the same question. An endorsement from Walter Arfons sealed the deal and I was off to the 1963 AHRA Winter National in Phoenix as a ride along with AA/FMR racers Noah Canfield and Charlie Johnson of “Glass Chariot” fame. They were also headed for Bakersfield, home of the U.S. Fuel & Gas Championships (aka The March Meet), produced by the Smokers car club. I’d been reading about the event for two years in Drag News and was excited to go along, just to hear that event’s announcer, Bernie Mather, and see the sport’s premier fuel drag race.

I hung on every word both he and Al Caldwell spoke on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday night, it was a tradition that the Smokers held a party at the “Wool Growers” restaurant. It was run by a Basque family who brewed their own wine in the basement. It came to the table with screw-on caps, no label, and met no federal standard – but it was great stuff! Apparently, both Bernie and Al over-consumed, because neither was doing too well on Sunday morning. Finally, about 10:00 AM, Bernie leaned out of the tent-on-sticks tower of that day and moaned, “Lundberg, we’re hurtin’ – get up here and take over for awhile”. They stumbled out and were gone for six hours. Now, here I am, little Jonny Lundberg from East Lansing, Michigan, local drag race announcer, all alone with the greatest collection of fuel and gas drag racers ever assembled, with overflow grandstands there to see, hear and be informed. It was very similar to being the last talent standing on American Idol. And I soared!  I SOARED! And at the after party, also at the Wool Growers, they took up a collection from among the members and gave me 100 bucks of their own pocket money in tribute. If there had been any doubt, there was none now.  I was off and running.

                         Hangin' at the tower. 1964 AHRA Winternationals at Beeline Dragway. (Photo by Bill Turney)

Then, of course, there was the crowd control incident at the 1965 Super Stock Nationals that got blown way out of proportion and convinced the West Coast establishment that I was a loose cannon. And so I just did every other meet of significance the sport offered – and at that time there were many.

Thanks to Bernie Partridge, I did finally join NHRA's major event announcing team for four events during 1987. Previous to that, when they expanded to 12 events in 1972, I announced 42 separate drag race events! ‘Nuff said.

      Interviewing Don Garlits in 1965 for the first ever Pay-per-view drag race TV coverage. (John Durand photo)

Don Garlits had some legendary pissing matches with NHRA. Did you and he follow the same path to the other sanctioning bodies? Are you and Don friends?

Yes, Don and I are friends. That we trod similar paths was simply a product of our shared highly independent nature. Our movements were not concurrent, but we were both drawn to where the money was good and the action strong.

                             With hero Bernie Mather at the 1966 March Meet. (Photo courtesy of Jon Lundberg)

Some of drag racing’s most colorful characters weren’t even racers. People like yourself, Porky the Pirate, Bob Beezer (the Canadian Indian), Linda Vaughn and Jungle Pam Hardy. Have you had any dealings with these people, or others we might not know of?

Over the period from 1955 through 2001, I had the pleasure to know and become friends with all those and many more unique beings that floated into and out of drag racing. For instance, I was at the first-ever meeting between George Hurst and Linda Vaughn. When she walked into that Daytona meeting room, you could feel the earth move and all of us knew we had witnessed history in the making. Jungle Pam and I have remained friends over the years. And Beezer? Well, Bob Beezer is just amazing and I’m glad to call him “friend”. 

I have seen:  First pass ever down a drag strip by E.J. Potter on his “Bloody Mary” SBC-powered motorcycle; first wheels-up ever by the Hurst “Hemi Under Glass”; first-ever run by Bill “Maverick’ Golden in the Little Red Wagon. I announced the first-ever over-200 pass by a ProMod and the first “under-seven” 6.99 pass by such a car.  And, in 1988, voiced the first-ever Top Fuel 4.99 by Eddie Hill at the Texas Motorplex.  It’s been a full life and a great ride!

Have you spent any time in the “industry” that was partially birthed by drag racing? Pardon my crusty memory, but you were involved with SEMA, weren't you?

Yes, I entered the “industry” in 1973 at Eelco, then a division of the Lee Eliminators. In 1975, three others and I executed what today is called a “leveraged buyout” of Cyclone Headers from Lee. We grew Cyclone to number one status among header and exhaust system makers of that era and sold the enterprise into the remerging Mr. Gasket companies in 1981. 


During that period, I was elected by my manufacturer peers to three terms on the SEMA Board of Directors – a period of volatile growth for the association. Also – first alone and then in partnership with Dave McClelland – I was emcee of the SEMA Banquet from 1976-81. My company is a proud SEMA member. I'm an industry person.

NHRA’s been in the news lately with ugly corporate financial blunders. Do you think this is symptomatic of an obese bureaucracy? Many disgruntled sportsman racers seem to believe this is only the tip of the iceberg that will bring the giant to its knees. Would that be a good or bad thing?  Or can you even comment on this without making trouble for yourself?

I knew and respected Wally Parks and all his original crew. Lacking his influence, drag racing would not exist today as we know it. Wally is dead, God bless him. And most of the people who made NHRA what it was are either dead or retired. The National Hot Rod Association of today is a for-profit business run by professional executives. Their fans, racers, clients and the marketplace will decide the wisdom of their decisions. As with any creative enterprise that involves cars and significant effort, I wish them much success in their endeavors.

You retired from the microphone in 2001. Do you spend all of your time alphabetizing your medications now? What are you up to today and what’s tomorrow look like?

I have attempted retirement on three separate occasions and must admit complete failure. I did some consulting work from 2001 through 2004. At the behest of old drag racing friend Don McReynolds, I worked out a sweat-equity purchase of his business Southwest Valuations, a personal property appraisal firm specializing in unique, exotic, historic and racing vehicle projects. Over a five-year period, I completed Masters Degree-level schooling and – with Don as my mentor – learned “the trade”. 


On December 1, 2009, I achieved top-level operations accreditation by earning “Accredited Senior Appraiser” status as conferred by the American Society of Appraisers, the largest and most prestigious society of professional valuers. Southwest Valuations is my sole focus other than for the odd drag racing reunion appearance or vocal engagement.  My website is: southwest-valuations.com.  Interested parties may view a sample of my work by: going to www.cacklefest.com, then clicking-on “How Safe?” in their headline, then choosing to click-on the URL’s at the page bottom. I believe this is the most fulfilling “car guy” job ever!

By the way, I also serve on the Board of Directors for “Project 1320” – the drag racing history anthology series now underway.  We need to preserve our legacy and this is the best way to insure that happens. We currently have more than 100 pioneer interviews “in the can” with more coming.  The work product will be a 25-part TV series similar to Ken Burns’ ground-breaking “Jazz” series on PBS.

And by the way again, alphabetizing my medications is a task very much enjoyed by my wife Sandra, who is expert at such things as keeping “loose cannons” organized.

Bonus Question:  What’s the future of hot rodding / racing / transportation?

As long as there are two of something and one trophy, there will be racing. Hot rodding will never die, it just keeps on morphing as technology, fueled by the creative juices of dedicated fabricators and home builders, keeps flowing. I see no end to its potential. Transportation will increasingly become controlled by big government. But you either build good-performing, great looking, well made cars, or people just either seek alternatives or stop buying all together. That lesson has been painfully learned and will not soon be forgotten.

Double bonus points question: If you were a car, what kind would you be?

I think an Art Chrisman-built deuce highboy roadster would be my four-wheel manifestation. I currently drive a 2006 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi and absolutely love it.

Now that you're "retired", just what kind of laurels are you resting on?

Not many exist for motor sports participants who do not race. I'm an International Drag Racing Hall of Fame inductee (2008) and am honored by induction to the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame as well. Darwin Doll, through the National Nostalgia Drag Racing Association, has made me a member of their Legion of Honor and – when active – Frank Spittle welcomed me as a member of the Super/Stock and Drag Racing Illustrated Hall of Fame.

What’s next?

Well, I'm 74 and in great health. I'm blessed with a beautiful, adoring wife, plus an extended family of 7 children, 13 grandchildren, and 3 great grandsons. That group of amazing individuals, appended by Southwest Valuations, keeps me pretty well occupied. Whatever comes, comes. And I’m ready for whatever that is.

I don't doubt that! You don't even have an OFF switch, do you? Hey, thanks for sharing all of this stuff with us, Jon. It's really been a kick and quite an honor. We'll be cheering you on at Southwest and whatever else you get yourself into. Just be careful going down these stairs, man...

                                                                 (Iconic image by Don Hale)

[Voice on walkie talkie: Scotty, are you about done? I gotta lock this place up and get home.]

No sweat, Jim. We were just leaving...

More on the Costa & Stewart Willys

                                                 (Photo courtesy of Joe Hickenbottom)

As most of you know, my day job is writing hot rod genre books for CarTech/SA Designs. It’s actually more of a 24/7 gig for me, but you’ll never hear me complain about that. I’m hopelessly in love with the creative process and thanks to this work, my jones gets fixed hundreds of times every day. Aaahhh…

In March of 2002, I met (then) Rod & Custom scribe Tim Bernsau in the pits at Famoso Raceway, who encouraged me to try my hand at magazine freelancing. I’ve been sneaking the magazine features into my schedule ever since. This month, my first ever cover story hit the shelves. Bonus: It’s for Hot Rod Deluxe magazine – my favorite. In fact, I’ve been doing a lot of work for Dave Wallace at HRD over the last few months and it appears our arrangement will continue into the foreseeable future.

The cover car for this (January 2012) issue is the Costa & Stewart A/GS Willys, which came with a colorful pedigree and many riddles. Eventually, my research led to grizzled Gasser veteran Ronnie Nunes, who told me that the late Pat Stewart’s partner Carl Costa (who vanished mysteriously in 1969) bankrolled the car with his earnings as a concert pianist. Well, that defined the storyline, and provided the title ("Classical Gas") as well. I ran with it. Since being published a few weeks ago, I’ve received conflicting reports regarding the validity of Nunes’ statement. The mystery deepens. If you have any history with Costa and/or Stewart and any insight into this controversy, please post a note on this blog’s COMMENTS and enlighten us all, okay? Meanwhile, here’s some out-takes from the feature to inspire your memory…
　
　
　

The Willys hibernated in this shed behind Pat Stewart’s house from 1969 to 2004. (Mark Andermahr photo)　

While researching, I crossed paths with Mark Andermahr, who knew Pat Stewart and attended the auction of Pat’s possessions. He was beyond disappointed to have missed out on the Willys, but did bring home this period Deuce roadster, which was Pat’s street car. (Mark Andermahr photo)


 

Some out-takes of Wes Allison’s beautiful HRD cover shoot. Editor Dave (AKA Mr. Ed) constantly reminds me that these cover shoots are, "A big deal." That’s understated code for a logistical nightmare that requires perfection of every detail (of which there are thousands), lest weeks of planning go swirling down a very expensive drain. (Wes Allison photos – duh!)


 Action shots are usually the best memory joggers, so here ya go. Were you in the pits or ‘stands at any of these races? Do tell…

We begin with Costa & Stewart up against Mike Mitchell ("World’s Fastest Hippie"), around ‘68ish? Not sure where this is, either. (Photo courtesy of Joe Hickenbottom)

 

Stewart, getting the jump on the competition at Fremont Drag Strip in late 60s. Note 9.80 on driver’s window – was Stewart bracket racing here?! (Photo courtesy of Joe Hickenbottom)


 

By now, the Costa & Stewart lettering is gone and Fremont has changed its name to Baylands, which puts this around ’69 or ’70. (Kiwi Kev photo)

Rare shot of Stewart in the staging lanes at the Fremont Reunion/Gasser Gathering in 1987. He hastily installed a carbureted smallblock Chevy for this one event, then immediately put the car back into retirement. I believe that's the 'Old Gold' '39 Chevy in the other lane - a car that has kicked my own ass down the track. (Photo courtesy of Joe Hickenbottom)


 

Cool shot of the Willys at speed, sans door lettering. Joe later had "Deacon" recreate the ‘Costa & Stewart’ logo. (Kiwi Kev photo)


　
　

The Costa & Stewart Willys is now in Joe Hickenbottom’s care and sharing the company of its stable mates at Hickenbottom’s race car retirement community in Aromas, California. The ’40 Dodge is a street/strip special. Joe drove it to the coffee shop one morning and discovered the Costa & Stewart car in the process. (Joe Hickenbottom photo)


 

Every fleet needs a ’57 Chevy C/Gasser. This is at Eagle Field, where I believe Joe blew the rearend out of it. Don’t know the history on this one – just that Joe tortures it regularly and he nailed the look, according to my skewered tastes. (Photo courtesy of Joe Hickenbottom)


 

HRD regular Tim Sutton caught Joe warming up the shop with his restored Gameuda Bros. Anglia. (Tim Sutton photo)


 

You can’t collect racers without acquiring at least one dragster. Joe and his daughters show off some killer chassis work here (love that front spring)! Great background eye candy, too…
(Tim Sutton photos)

UPDATE 2-15-2012 : Ronnie Nunes recently reminded me that his comment to me while researching the magazine story was only that Costa was a concert pianist - he did NOT say that the race car was financed by those performances. In fact, he told me he didn't know where the money came from. I double checked my research notes and could only find this scribble: "Concert pianist - financed build?" My mistake was likely a result of late night thrashing to make a deadline - exactly the kind of slop I despise and swore I wouldn't ever commit. Now I've done it and toes were stepped on in the process. My apologies to Mr. Nunes and anyone else effected by my blunder. It's an important lesson learned, but I regret that other people paid for my education.

NORTHWEST HOT RODS MAGAZINE

Shortly after deciding that freelancing was the life for me (luckily, I love peanutbutter and jelly), fate threw me a spitball in the form of an opportunity to ply my craft locally. Kevin Shahalami had captained a fleet of high end fashion magazines before being drafted to transform the fledgling Goodguys Gazzette from a desktop newsletter into a slick large-format monthly. After savoring a couple years of that success, he moved the family to southern Oregon to live the simple life. But Kevin apparently missed the excitement of deadline pressure, dealing with millionaire sized egos, and the associated migraines and ulcers. Kevin also missed the hot rod life. He had a great car magazine concept in his head that craved freedom, but Kevin and wife Fawnda were now parents and home owners. They had also established a thriving graphic arts business that gobbled up all of their time and energy.

That’s when I came in. I believe it was 2005. When I met Kevin and he explained his magazine idea to me, I wanted in desperately. So did a few others, so we all teamed up for a series of brainstorming sessions and found a way to bring Kevin’s vision into focus. Today, I still believe the concept to be brilliant.

It would actually be two magazines in one: Half would be Northwest Hot Rods. Then, if you turned it upside-down and flipped it over, the other half was Northwest Bikes, capitalizing on the popularity of the custom Harley scene. Each title had dedicated editorial and advertising staffs – the latter being key to ad sales, covering the cost of printing. The jumbo sized glossy would be distributed by a regional parts wholesaler to its network of retail clients for free, in exchange for ad space.

Within three months of the first meeting, the distribution deal was locked in, ads were selling, and both editorial departments were piling up feature material. Kevin was the Publisher, and Graphic Artist Roberta Great (well known in the biz as "Bert") handled layout and design. I was appointed Editor of the Hot Rods side, with a staff of part time photographers and copy writers. We hit the road right at Christmas time, mapping out an initial coverage area from Mt. Shasta to Mt. Rainier. We spread the word as we went, selling ads and gathering feature stories all the way. Below are some samples of what we came up with for our first issue.

An out take from the cover shoot, with local crazies Mark Daley and Ronnie Mankins, both strutting their latest stuff in gloss black - a ballsy move that showcased our willingness to experiment, combined with daredevil photography. Black is hard to shoot, as my rookie snapshot illustrates. The final cover image was spectacular, hastening ad sales admirably.

A closer look at Ronnie’s sinister street/strip ’55 Chevy – an absolute sadist, armed with a 406 inch assassin’s bullet. It ran nines at the track.

You can’t put these two on the same stretch of asphalt without this happening. It’s a given. They may have been encouraged somewhat by bystanders…

Most of us on the staff were already regular customers at Spec Rite Torque Converters in Redding, so this was a natural.

While in Redding, we swung by Dave Tuttle’s top secret chassis shop on the outskirts of town. Dave was very patient as he educated us doorslammer types on the finer points of dragster design. The blue car is Kin Bates’ Nostalgia Top Fueler, just before shipping out.

This was too easy – right here in town. When we heard of the hot rod and motorcycle art exhibition at Ignition Gallery, we covered the Grand Opening, stuffing our pockets with as many free snacks as possible. Best day ever!

Art Morrison Enterprises (in Tacoma) hosted us like long-lost relatives, but offered no food whatsoever. This northern trip was made during an ice storm that tailed us like toilet paper until we returned home. Slow going.

In Portland, we snooped around at my old employers, Steve’s Auto Restorations. Our northern correspondent Tim Holt worked there then, getting us the hot skinny poop on all things fast and loud in the Rose City. And Tim took us to lunch! That name again: Tim Holt, hot rod God. Enjoy this retro peek at some famous cars, before they were famous.

Just outside of Portland is Marty Strode’s vintage tin skunkworks. Unfortunately, the Marty images have inexplicably vanished into a digital black hole. I offer the following shot of Marty in his element as penance.

Next stop: B&B Speed Shop in Albany, Oregon. The Brenneman family alerted the local gearhead populace of our visit and they welcomed us like royalty on a bone chilling December Monday evening. The ice storm followed us into town, but nobody left! HARDCORE. They ate all the food while waiting for us though. That’s patriarch Mike Brenneman, modeling the coveralls.

We committed to covering every behind-the-scenes detail of the buildup and a full season of competition for a series called, "What it Takes", following Ron Austin’s grassroots crew from initial design sketch to Championship trophy presentation. Another bold concept that I was particularly proud of. Austin followed the script and took the crown. Amazing.



Alas, Kevin was soon forced to choose between the magazine and his business, as there wasn’t time enough for both. The magazine drew the short straw. The staff scrambled to keep the momentum going, but without a publisher, it quickly dwindled to nothing. I learned some valuable skills that year that still serve me well. The magazine wasn’t meant to be, for reasons that are none of my business. Perhaps some motivated reader will take the idea and run with it. I can only hope so, for the sake of grassroots level hot rod photo journalism – when allowed to flourish, it takes hotrodding along for the ride. I’ve seen it happen before and it’s beautiful.