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Look Back At Speed Age by Norm Bogan |
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Recently, a friend of mine from Florida sent me three issues of Speed Age Magazine from the year 1952. For an auto racing aficionado like myself, the stories and pictures jogged my memory, with tales about drivers now in racing heaven and events that became classics, such as the Pan American Road Race. Thumbing through the April issue, I found a report on the Daytona Speed Weeks, when they still ran on the old beach course. At that time, the events consisted of Straightaway Speed Runs for new world records, then a 100 mile Modified-Sportsman Race followed by a Speedway Division race and finally the Grand National finale. Tom Mc Cahill set a new record in a Mark VII Jaguar, with a two way average on the measured mile of 100.94 mph. Tim Flock won the Modified race in a ’39 Ford, while Buck Baker brought his Cadillac powered Champ car home first in the Speedway race and Marshall Teague won the Grand National race in one of the fabulous Hudson Hornets. A feature article on Ab Jenkins, tells of his adventures on the Bonneville Salt Flats during the mid-30s. First piloting a Pierce Arrow in 1934 and then coming back with the famous Dusenberg “Mormon Meteors” from 35 to 38. Other stories covered Speed Boat races on the Salton Sea, a review of the 1952 Pan American Road Race won by Tony Bettenhausen, a story on Juan Fangio, 1951 World Driving Champion. There was a centerfold photo of Duane Carter in the Mobilgas Special Indy Car and a test drive report on the 1952 Nash. There was also an extensive article on Bob Barkheimer and Redwood Racing. Noted in the report was that auto racing was the number one spectator sport in northern California in 1951. The August issue gave us two stories by famous drivers, Duane Carter with “Racing is my Business” and Pete de Paolo with “I Raced the Boards”. There was a review of the Indy 500 and coverage of recent races on the AAA Championship Trail and Late Model Stock Car Circuit, plus NASCAR Grand National and Speedway Divisions. In the Sports Car section, two famous venues were covered. First was the Mille Miglia, followed by the Pebble Beach Road Race. Additional coverage included the Twelve Hours of Sebring and German NSU Cycling Sidecars. Cannonball Baker chronicled his cross-country runs and this month’s test drive was the 1952 Chevy. Moving to the October issue, we found a feature article on “Those Ramblin’ Rathmanns”, Jim and Dick. Bill Schindler came home ahead of Jack McGrath and Sam Hanks at Springfield on the AAA Champ Trail. Meantime, the AAA Sprints were on an eastern swing with many top competitors, including Tommy Hinnershitz, Jimmy Bryan, Duane Carter, Troy Ruttman, Joe James, Gene Force, Jim Rigsby, Mike Nazaruk, Allen Heath and Paul Russo. Jack McGrath, driving a Hudson Hornet, copped a AAA Stock Car feature. There was an article on Mexico’s first automobile, La Nacional. Briggs Cunningham was the subject of a feature story and there were race reports on the sports cars at Torrey Pines and Speedboats in Wisconsin. Test drive for the month was the 1952 Oldsmobile. There was a salute to AAA on their fiftieth anniversary. As I perused these issues, it refreshed my memory of many names and places of days gone by. So many of the drivers have now taken the checkered flag and venues, which are now just notes in history books. Another side of this magazine was the staff that put together the articles to fill the pages. It is like an Auto Racing Journalist’s Hall of Fame. Don O’Reilly was the Publisher and Editor, Roger Huntington was the Technical Editor and there were feature writers like Russ Catlin and Ted Koopman. Another interesting sidelight was looking through the various advertisements for the High Performance parts manufacturers. Some of the names are still familiar, while others have faded away, but for us old timers, we remember those names and may have done business with some of them. There are fans throughout the country, who still have copies of this once proud magazine. If you ever chance to come across an issue, take time to stroll down memory lane. What a pleasure to have a friend entrust me with some copies for my own enjoyment and to be able to share with you. |
