A Bed Time Story: Clyde Sturdy

[Ryan]

I was laying in bed, half asleep at about 3am this morning. The Military Channel was on wispering a bed time story when I heard the commentator mention a tank driver. The...

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[SUHRsc]

good post!
i found this


from Gone Racin' Newsletter # 75 June 15, 2005

The May issue of Hot Rod mag had a short article about the passing of Don Francisco and
how he was inducted into the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame. My stepfather and his best friend
both ran cars under SoCal during the late 40's thru early 50's at the dry lakes in California.
My step dad, Loren (Lory) Miller became a Ford mechanic after serving in the Pacific dur-
ing WWII for the next 40+ years. He passed away in Carson City, Nevada several years
back. His best friend and fellow racer was Clyde Sturdy. Clyde owned his own industrial
and automotive gear business in L.A. for years. He was an avid boater and water-skier. I'm
not sure what became of Mr. Sturdy. At the local So Cal shop in Las Vegas there is a poster
from a magazine that has Lory Miller and his car along with three other cars at a Dry Lake
all painted with the So Cal colors. If you have any other information about Lory or if you
have anyone who knew of him, let us know, please. Sincerely, Steve Brooks Las Vegas,
NV Stephen.Brooks@oomc.com

[Ryan]

Yeah, I saw that too... It's weird. He was hugely successful on the flats, but just kind of vanished. You just don't hear as much as you should about him.

[Hans]

According to the B-ville 200 MPH Club, Clyde did 218.167 in 1974. It also states that he is in fact deceased.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Hans

According to the B-ville 200 MPH Club, Clyde did 218.167 in 1974. It also states that he is in fact deceased.

I just found that too... That's the first post 1952 mention I have found of him anywhere.

[Foul]

I kinda ran across the same thing regarding Willie Young, the land-speed racer who died earlier this month. Could only find the briefest of information about him, but nothing further.

Probably nothing at the AHRF about Clyde, correct?

dan

[Ryan]

AHRF doesn't have much... Just a few image captions taken from hot rod...

[Bruce Lancaster]

"He was an avid boater and water-skier..."

That might well cover his disappearance...he would have been flogging engines in a venue not much covered in our magazines.
Try some digging in HRM from about 1959-64--they covered boats a lot in that time period, car engine powered ski boats and similar.

[VAPHEAD]

Clyde Sturdy was pals with a friends father and uncle.
He hung out with Clyde alot as a kid.
He even has stories about the roadster.
I'll call him and pick is brain about Clyde....

[kyhotrod]

There's a photo of Ray Brown with Wally Parks in the NHRA Museum at Pomona. I'll try to add it here. Surely Ray must be kin to Peter Brown, the actor who co-starred in the 60s TV Western show "Lawman" with Johnny Russell, and later was in a TV Soap.

If he is kin, I wonder if he's a gearhead and has any of Ray Brown's stuff?

BTW, the article here on the HAMB about Lee's streamliner has a photo that must be Ray Brown (see my 2nd attached photo (cropped) from that article/comment).

Just my 2 cents. Great articles and commentary here.

[4 port Riley]

Clyde Sturdy was a friend of mine, in the 70's he ran a '32 highboy with Al Teague and George Bentley. the car had lightning holes in the side rails of the '32 frame and was sponsed by Clyde's company which manufactured gears and gear drives. He built a set of transfer case gears for a friend of mine and refused payment. Sadly, those people are disappearing from our society.

[bq874]

Clyde Sturdy was my uncle (actually my father's cousin, but the only relatives I had on my father's side, so I always called him "uncle"). There were three Sturdy brothers who opened the shop in (I think) 1946. It was located in downtown LA, and called Associated Gear and Machine Co. I remember visiting there a few times in the late '60's and early '70's when I was just getting into cars. I knew of his Bonneville records and was enthused by all the interesting parts scattered around the back shop (the gear cutting business made money and was in the front, while the race/hot rod shop was set off in its own corner in the back).

I distinctly remember seeing what I now know was a streamliner pushed off to one side and covered by a tarp. I think it had 4 engines, but don't remember what kind.

I don't remember too much else about the shop (except going to Phillipe's saw-dust-on-the-floor Cafe for the best French Dip sandwiches in the world. Phillipe's is still there today for any of you local So Cal HAMBers.)

When I read Ryan's story about Clyde, I almost fell off my computer stool! I never knew he was involved with the So Cal Speed shop, or was that involved in the early days of the Hot Rod world.

Sadly, Clyde died a few years ago (I was overseas at the time, so only got the info by email). One brother is still with us and I'll try to find out if there are any more stories to be told!

[Ryan]

Amazing... small world.

[Tman]

Wow.