Welcome back, Ugo.
Your knowledge of LSR history is tremendously valuable to the rest of us.
Russ, #1226B
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-land-speed@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-land-speed@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Ugo Fadini
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2003 3:02 AM
To: autox
Cc: WILKINSON
Subject: Re: Fw: Slick Gardner
Ellen,
Slick Gardner never set a land speed record, but in 1978 he announced
that he would attempt it driving Art Arfons' J-79 powered Green
Monster, soon to be renamed the "Andersen's Pea Soup Monster". With
Arfons' assistance Gardner was actually on the salt in 1979, but no
record, or even recorded speeds, came, although he claimes that he
did go faster than the current Blue Flame record during tests, then
lack of money and loss of interest had him quit the attempt. Other
sources suggested that maybe he lacked something else...
By the way, the car we are talking about, which Gardner bought and
ran (and still owns) is not the famous Green Monster that set the
record several times in 1964 and 1965 and was destroyed in 1966, but
a similar, more refined car Arfons had built immediately afterwards,
tested extensively, and even set a FIA standing start quarter-mile
record with, at Fort Stockton, Texas in 1969.
Arfons always regretted selling that car, which he did only because
he was desperate for money: he also says that he was not very
comfortable with the responsibility of somebody else without his
sxperience driving it and that he was relived that the project had
eventually been shelved.
He is still convinced that the car was a far better car than the
earlier one and was well up to the goal of getting the record back,
if driven by the right driver (himself, I guess...)
Gardner still owns the car, or at least he did about four or five
years ago when I visited him in Buellton, CA (where he raises
horses). At the time I took all the measurements for eventually
making a model (which I didn't so far...)
I don't know much of Gardner's racing career, he was an amateur
racer, but I think I read his son eventually had a pro racing career.
By the by, hi everyone!, I was off the list for a while (must have
done something wrong with my account, or maybe did NOT do something
right...), but as you see, I am back.
Ugo Fadini
Padova, Italy
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