Wally Parks died today. What can I say? What can anyone say? Wally was one of the most important people in my professional life. From the very early stages of The Jalo...<P><P>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
This marks the one one single greatest loss to hot rodding in its entire history. This man affected so many people in so many ways it cannot be grasped in a month of concentrated thinking. Truly sad, and must be remembered by all who ever enjoyed a hot rod magazine or a day at a drag race- just as a start. RIP Wally, hero of the rodding world
Sad to hear, Wally, my dad, and a number of others were the founding members of the local Dust Devils car club.....a plaque I still run in my truck today. Wally did so much for this passion we have. Godspeed Wally.
Wally Parks lived a long life and did many, many exceptional things for hot rodding and drag racing. He will be missed, but we should all be so lucky to have accomplished as much as he did by the time we punch out. Rest in peace.
next time your out in the shop/garage, raise your wrench up in his honor. This man and many others who passed this year set the standard that we follow today. He will be missed. RIP and God Speed. [wipes tears away]
Icons will never die in the hearts of those that follow them.......talk about your hot rod heaven...THE MAN has finally arrived!!! Thanks for the ride here, Wally...my condolences to his family.
God Bless your soul Wally Parks ! So many thank you's for so much you have done . God (Wally) speed Brother . R.I.P.
a void has just opened in the hot rod world that no one will ever be able to fill. we were lucky to have him for so long. R.I.P.
I can see it now; the Heavens Gate newspaper reports that Wally Parks and Pete Petersen are planning to open a new drag strip. Wild Willy Borsch, Big John Mazmaniam, Tony Nancy, Jungle Jim, among others are reportedly already building cars to compete. Gray Baskerville will be covering the event for the newly formed Heavenly Hot Rod assn
Can honestly say I have been waiting to hear this, as sad as it is he was here for a long time, and as everyone else has said his acheivements will outlive him and probably grow his legend into a bigger man than he physically was. sad, sad day.
RIP Wally, I got to meet him for the first time at Hotrod Reunion last year, He left an everlasting effect on me, Quite a guy.
I just got in from work, I'm very sad.... But, Wally did lead a very long & productive life. PIP Mr Parks.
wow, what can you say! Unfortunately I never got the chance to meet Wally, but I think like most of us. I felt like I knew him. He seemed like the kind of guy who could accomplish anything while still taking the time to talk to anyone. This picture always seemed to really bring it to light for me....here's Wally Parks....the guy who started it all...but still just a person sitting on a running board like the rest of us. rest in peace Wally Zach
Heres a photo of my old man ( on the left) when he visited in '66 Wally was welcoming to 3 Australians visiting, so much so he gave them season passes to all NHRA events which they used as they traversed the US for 6 months. I guess he was just that kind of a guy.