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Re: not forgotten or ignored

To: "Keith Turk" <kturk@ala.net>, "Gregory W. Gillette" <gillette@aiinc.com>,
Subject: Re: not forgotten or ignored
From: John Beckett <johnbeck@blueridge.cc.nc.us>
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 1999 15:08:00 -0500
        Hey guys don't get me started on that two club. Hell in ten years I only
got 1 ballot to vote on officers, and nothing about those damn record
minimums. Politics is the name of the game. I don't know if "club" is
really the right term or not.

        JB

At 01:39 PM 3/8/99 -0600, Keith Turk wrote:
>Your mention of the two club.... brings up and interesting point.... In my
>youth I have always looked up to those guys who could dream up a car and
>set a record... and ultimately those records ended them up in the Two
>club... well it follows reason that now I am an adult and getting into Land
>speed racing and I really feel this is the last place a little guy like
>myself can set a national record... 
>
>The Two club recognizes that record as an established fact... not politics
>or personalities and or current rules... and regulations governing how the
>course is laid out.... I just wanna run my car and be part of the
>faturnatiy you guys call racers....I don't want the pressures of big
>sponsors..(though if you have the money and want to fund the effort feel
>free... Snickering a bit here) I just want to go and drive a car on that
>sacred ground and hang out... drink beer and generally have a nice time....
>
>I would love to leave the politics of this to folks who don't have anything
>better to do....... unless we are talking about the guys who make up the
>sanctioning committees who work their hearts out so guys like me can
>race....and not worry about the meet or about rain or failure to make
>expenses... and so on.. to them I take my hat off and offer a word of
>thanks...
>
>oh and to all who made effort to preserve the salt.. so maybe one day my
>sons can continue this effort... yeah that's the ticket...
>
>
>Keith Turk 
>Austin Healey 100, Bugeye, Box sprites, Bonneville Camero ( Land Speed
>Racer) 
>----------
>From: Gregory W. Gillette <gillette@aiinc.com>
>To: Keith Turk <kturk@ala.net>; land-speed@autox.team.net
>Subject: not forgoten or ignored
>Date: Monday, March 08, 1999 12:27 PM
>
>keith (et al),
>
>i haven't forgoten about your request for a story (you may have asked for
>more than you've bargained for.  once i start writing i have a hard time
>shutting it off.).  i've got about a dozen irons in the fire right now. 
>i'll send in some entertaining stories.  i'll even grab some from "the ole
>man's" archieves.  he's got some good ones from the '40s.
>
>one of the irons i'm heating is gathering pictures of "the redhead" for
>master modeler ugo fadini, of italy.  he has just finished a model of the
>hoffman/markley streamliner (i saw the master at b'ville in august).  ugo
>says it looks great.  now he is working on the master for the redhead.  i
>don't know a whole lot about the mastering process.  i do know ugo is good
>at what he does.  he took measurements and pics of the car in jim lattin's
>museum, but wasn't able to get all of the photo angles he wanted due to
>available space.  the redhead is a very complicated car, as far as the body
>goes.  many complicated lines.  ugo want's the model to be 100% accurate. 
>he works in 1/43 scale.  if you have not seen any of his models you cannot
>believe the detail for the size.  al teague's streamliner looks like it was
>put into a "shrink machine."  ugo fadini is "the man."
>
>i'm sending him all the pics that we have and so is my brother mark (who,
>by the way, is the first person to break a land speed record at bonneville
>at over 200 mph and be denied membership in the 200 mph club.  the reason
>being he is elmo gillette's son.  they say they are trying to make the club
>more exclusive.  since i got in the club in '78 there are 3 times as many
>members as then.  how exclusive does leaving mark and just a handful of
>others out make the 200 mph club here in 1999?  the 200 mph club needs a
>reality check.  they are treating it like they are a sanctioning body. 
>when the club was formed in the '50s it was to recognize the driver who has
>broken a land speed record at over 200 mph.  now, the club has to recognize
>the speed as being worthy.  mark's speed was good enough for an
>international record.  who the hell are gordon hoyt and his pals to say
>that that record isn't good enough for entry into the club.  perhaps the
>new 200 mph club administration has some balls.)
>
>now where was i?
>
>oh, yeah. . .  if there's anybody out there with pics of the redhead, ugo
>would like to look at them.  if you do, let me know and i will see that he
>gets them.  he promises to return any photos that are not scans.  i'm sure
>you won't mind if he keeps the scans.
>
>any way. . .  stories of southern california (for one week wendover's
>southern california) hot rodding will follow.
>
>have a day,
>greg
>the facts:
>http://members.tripod.com/~drofrockology/index.html
>the fiction:
>http://members.tripod.com/~montyandwilly/index.html
>   
>
>



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