following the lets lighten up theme who is your LSR or racing hero ? and who or what drew you to try LSR Myself ,I was drawn to LSR way back in my youth after reading a story on Burt Munro from one of the motorcycle mags of the time circa 70-72,I always harboured the dream of one day following in Burts footsteps ,after discovering a LSR venue in Australia (99) Im now attempting to live that dream
whats your story ???
Gary
I have no one in particular I worship , although my 1st visit to Lake Gairdner in '95 was more an excuse to a boozy mini bus trip to support Phil Cvirn,,,,until viewing the lake @ 1st light with a hangover,,,,,,A sight that will forever linger in my head,,
A few more trips later,,the salt bug had gotten right under my skin, 'specially after Lynchy blew my mind in '05 ( I use his 300 mph run to warn salt virgins the danger of becoming a part of this extremely addictive sport, while trying to sound like a resonating set of headers on the boil)
Tiny
Tiny DLRA# 484
Postiebike Racing , created & funded by TwoBob Engineering
No 1 is ,for me,Craig Breedlove.By the time I was born (Nov '60) Breedlove already owned the world record,in SOA 1.When i started school,Breedlove & Art Arfons(Equal No 1 Hero),were both at B'ville duelling for the record.Craig won(in SOA 2),and Arfons survived the 'fastest crash' anyone had been in,600+mph.He never drove the Green Monster again.
It was a sad loss when he passed away earlier this year,a true pioneer!
So since i was a kid (still am),Craig Breedlove has been "The Man",and that's why there is a quote from him on our #66 car.
Many other heros,including,M Tompson,Summers Bros,Al Teague,Garlits,Prudhomme,Ivo,Petty,Earnhart,and Kermit!
The true Aussie hero's.John Lynch,Roscoe Mc Glashen,Ken Warby,Robin Kirby,Gary Phillips,Vic Bray &Troy Critchley,etc.
Cheers , Bob.
That's a bloody good question!
From a very young age I was reading about hot rods, drawing hot rods, dreaming about hot rods. But as a kid growing up the closest I got to any sort of performance vehicle was my best mates uncle had a '63 Thunderbird (I never did get to go for a ride in it) and another uncle had a 308 Ferrari (which I did get to go for a ride in, but that's another story). Both of these cars had a fascination and an influence on me not for what they were but for the fact they could go fast. Oh yes there was another car in my formative years, the same mates sisters boyfriend had an FB Holden, lowered, painted in grey primer (Australian Racing Grey) and with 7" white painted steel rims. This would have been around 1973, so it was a bit of a weapon for it's day. But it was always the hot rods that I would stare at for hour after hour in Australian Street Rodding Review.
I didn't get to see my first hot rod in the flesh until I went to the Victorian Hot Rod Show a year later and that was it, I was hooked. It was sometime after this that I realised that some of these rods in the rapidly growing pile of magazines I was pouring over had numbers and funny letters on the side.
I was aware of Land Speed Racing at this time through the exploits of Donald Campbell but it was in 1964 (I was only 8 at the time) when he ran at Lake Eyre and 400MPH seemed incredible (and I'd conveniently sort of forgotten that he died only 3 years after that). But I never put the two together.
The numbers I eventually understood, but it wouldn't be until many years later that I finally worked out what those funny letters meant.
As time went on I would come to realise that for many years Bonneville was the place where these cars raced, but it was only after reading about the exploits of some blokes from Castlemaine getting bogged on a salt lake somewhere in the outback that I finally had the realisation that I could become involved in this stuff.
It was 2001 when I finally got to go to the lake for the first time, and when I finally got to set foot on the salt all those dreams of the Bluebird and 400MPH came flooding back, and I felt like a little kid again.
Keep the shiney side up........
DLRA WebMaster / Editor
I walked to school every day to save the sixpence a day to buy a copy of HOT ROD that featured the 1961 Bonneville Speedweek. I have been an avid LSR follower since. I was going to Speedway every Saturday night, but there was something about LSR that really grabed me. Perhaps it was the build whatever your twisted mind can come up with challange.
My hero, well all those previously mentioned, but in our generation, I think there really is only one real LSR Champion and that has to be Richard Noble. He has been at the leading edge for almost 30 years now, and is pushing the envelope yet again.
I had a Bluebird when I was little, he set the record the year before I was born but for some reason I always knew what that car was.hundreds of tiny little disorganized pieces fell into place when I saw Norm Hardinge's Cruzin article about Speedweek 2003 it all made sense, The Reverend asked me if I'd seen"those bellytank things" to which I replied " yeah ' they're the coolest things with wheels"....we started building.
Seeing the lake in 2004 just did me over...Benny and I sat in the car and laughed , in awe....being on it is just heaven.When we get a record, whatever it is, I'm gonna bawl my eyes out.
...to answer the question, some of my real heroes are around us now, but in a historical sense I'd name Alex Xydias, Mal Hooper , Ray Brown, Dean Bachelor and of course Burt Munroe.
...few understand what I'm trying to do , but they vastly outnumber those who understand why..
Speed has fascinated me for a long time . I too remember Donald Cambell being at Lake Eyre , i was in high school then . Righteo will save you the calculation , Im getting close to 58 . Remember when my brother got his licence and he had mum and dads FE Holden up to 80 mph flatout , now that was fast . And when i got my licence , i just had to find out in the shortest possible time , how fast any car i bought would go . Well that lasted until i was 20 and found out I wasnt faster than a highway patrol car , so they took my licence off me for a couple of months . So that slowed me down and i,ve only had one speeding fine in the last 37 yrs .
But the interest in speed was still there .
Went to
national motor museum in Uk and saw Donald Cambells Bluebird .
national railway museum in UK and saw worlds fastest steam engine
Bonneville in 96 +97 and Muroc in 97 .
Black Rock desert in 97 and saw Mr Green and Mr Noble attempts on LSR. Saw Andy Green go 719 mph , so bought a Tshirt and had him sign it .
also i lived in same city as Ken Warby , world water speed record holder
Still hadnt got over speed so went as a spectator to Lake Gairdner in 2001 . So figured i had to do something about this speed thing .
The next yr i drove my old work station wagon the 4500km return trip and did 125 mph on the salt .
Heroes , just about anybody that goes fast .
NOW LIVE IN NEW ZEALAND
RED NISSAN WAGON 1986 # 281
2002 F/PRO 125.4 MPH RECORD
2003 F/PRO 140.2 MPH RECORD
2005 F/GC 137.9 MPH RECORD
2006 F/GC 141.1 MPH RECORD
1/4 mile ( drags ) @ Willowbank 14.15 @ 97.61 mph August 2006
Like Dr Goggles, I had a model of the Bluebird when I was about 6 yrs old. I had the inestimable privilege of growing up in the '60s when the American space project was in full swing. When I was 10 I was given a model of a drag car for watering a neighbour's lawn, and then I found out about Breedlove and Arfons and the Green Monster.
In high school, my mate's dad was rebuilding an old MG in his garage. I had never seen or even conceived of someone building a car. But about 35 years later, I did so with my son. We built a Westfield, a Seven kit and have had enormous satisfaction from doing that.
As for LSR, all this came to head with the movie World's Fastest Indian. I found this site and have been thinking about racing on the salt at least every day since then. I can give it up any time. Really
It seems Donald Campbell has a lot to answer for. In 1964 my dad took me (6 years old) to see Bluebird paraded down Rundle Street Adelaide, then on display in John Martins Dept store. Dad bought me a model from the local BP servo ( which I still have, minus the tail fin, which disappeared somewhere along the way). In 1989 i heard on the hot rodding grape vine of a group of guys who were heading for Lake Gairdner to investigate a site for LSR in Aust. In April 1990 we sat around a table at Mt. Ive Station , (I was 6th in line & therefore am DLRA #6). On that night the DLRA was born, & the rest is history ! Pete.
First Motorsport venue I ever attended was at Catalina Park, Katoomba, NSW. I fell in love with Norm Beecheys Mustang. He was my favourite driver for years. I later saw Bob Jane in flight (lol) there. He survived, somehow, but the car was dead. I went to various venues, including Brickies, Shell and Beaumont St. in Auckland NZ, drags, off road buggies, speedway, motorbike scrambles and flat tracking. Loved them all. 2004 was my first trip to Lake Gairdner, and I loved it. The trip down was no fun, but the lake was worth it. I love the place, the cars, the people, the night sky and the noise level at night. Sydney cannot compare with our lake. See you all in March.
My mum. She is 80 and still uses the old excuse for her speeding tickets, "It's the car's fault, not mine they just go so fast these days..."
I am sure she said that when she got her Mazda 1300 in '72...
Even though I had a sibling killed on the roads, she supported my billycarting to Bellytanking builds, heck she even went guarentor for me buying my motorhome to live in for three years on the streets of Melbourne...!
Here's to you ma, should be in the LSR hall of fame.
