Folks Of Interest I miss Bob K...

Remembering our friend BobK means he’s not really gone. Keep the stories and memories going.

 

did my part. I forgot about that visit to the Ranch

 

Just went throught the whole Alaska thread...again. That dude was hardcore.

 

@Jive-Bomber - Jay, thank you for posting about BobK. It sure brought back a flood of great memories with him.
As many others have already mentioned, it was always good to see him at different events around the U.S.

It's gotta be quite a long list, too... I recall visiting with him at -
Bonneville Speed Week
LSRU
KKOA Salina
HAMB Drags
Goodguys Des Moines
Hunnert Car Pileup

and more that I'm forgetting right now.

I sure do miss him.

 

And thank you for the links to Bryan's photos. The images of my car in the 2012 posting were sent to me years ago, but I never knew exactly where they came from. Now I know! Right by the image you shared of BobK -
https://prometheus.med.utah.edu/~bwjones/2012/09/bonneville-speed-week-2012/

 

There's a few simple (not always easy) lessons we can learn from the good guys like Bob.

Bob made people feel good. So good that not only do they chat about him after he's passed - but they influence others to look him up. And what do those people find? He represented himself well. It's great that strangers can read the man's words and see that - but you know what else? His family could come here and see what his HAMB life was like and be honored. We can do the same. I know, I'm not always great at it, but it's in my head that my young children may come on and read what I've written after I'm gone. That matters. I look at men like Bob (and Larry and Bruce, et al.) and I see that it's possible... though we can make it difficult.

From what I could tell, Bob was the same guy, everywhere. In this day and age, that's not common. But it doesn't have to be.

I'd never claim to know Bob all that well. But, I pay attention. There's something about me that picks up on little details from the greats.

Bob always wrote me a note on my birthday and, in turn, I did the same (but he started it) and we only met a couple of times. You know what's weird? I miss that on my birthday.

I hope that at least one person reads this and maybe pours through an hour or so of Bob's posts, picks up a little bit of his legacy, and then starts being kind - everywhere - humble everywhere - lighthearted everywhere - doesn't take themselves too damned seriously - everywhere.

 

I’m curious how much time he spent every day wishing every single one of us happy birthday?

I was digging back looking for photos of Bob and couldn't help but notice that it was only really the first time or two I had met him that I had photos. First , maybe? At back to the 50’s and later on some photos of us out to dinner. He was passing threw Lincoln Nebraska on his way somewhere and called me up, a 20 year old broke ass college student, to go get dinner at his favorite local steak house. I had to take a photo, I felt like I was with hot rodding royalty.

After that no photos.

I realize that it’s because he just became a given. Kansas, Texas, Colorado? You just assumed he’d be there even if they were a single day and several time zone apart from each other.

you know exactly where he parked and where to find him.

And that’s why each summer going to events, it just felt.... weird. He was as much a part of every road trip to an event as getting out of the car smelling like the car lol.

the best we can do is try to fill the void.

 

Pork chop on a stick at BTT50s with Bob more than once

 

I met Bob and Maggie when he stopped at my place on their HWY 2 trip. A good visit. I also ran into him at Back to the Fifties , and had some chats on the phone and the HAMB. He asked if I was going to do anything with the grill surround on a 53 Stude parts car. He said it would look good on a custom. I told him it was his, but he never got it. He and Maggie was a very personable parson. I was honored to know him. I hope Maggie is doing ok.

 

Hopefully with everyone's help we can move his thread to the top of the heap. HRP

 

I can’t recall which thread it’s on but I posted a photo of a Corvette Bob owned some time ago. The photo is from a feature that appeared in TRK magazine 3 years ago.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Great...now I have something in my eye. I miss that guy.

 

I met up with Bob twice. Once at Bonneville and again at LARS. What a great guy....

 

He was a great guy. I am already a long distance driver of my hotrod and any time I am on a road trip I think of Bob. I would see him a few times a year even though we lived 1000 miles apart (me in SC and him up north) or when I moved to WA, we crossed paths on his trips west. I think Bonneville was the last time I seen in person. I bought the custom 54 pontiac grill he had made to bolt into his convert. I have a 51 and thought about running it once it back on the road. some people do not know but that convert started as a hardtop. Bob and I had numerous discussion on the conversion as I have thought about converting mine from hardtop to droptop. He would always tell if I did dont chop it as those wing windows were a bitch to do.. RIP Bob...

 

What about Maggie ?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Imagine how she feels


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I can only imagine what it would have been like to have hung out with that man. I read the entire Alaska thread, and after a couple of minutes, I felt like I was there. And @-Brent- , you are 100% right.

 

Lloyd , he was a people person for sure . First words with him years ago at LSRU / Austin. I knew him because he was famous around here , I was and still am nobody. Over the course of couple days at Fairgrounds and Sunday @ Merc Charlie’s we talked 1/2 dozen times .
Flash forward 6-7 years later , he shows up at NSRA Burlington VT. Get talking, and he comes out and asked how’s our boy was doing . Remembered we left Sons Ft. Sill, OK boot camp graduation and then blasted down to Austin.
We walked and looked at cars together.

 

Met him at the Turkey Run in Daytona and then seen in in Detroit at the autorama the next march.

 

Speaking of "likes", when did that feature come to the Hamb? And can you "like" old posts that were made before it was introduced?

 

I Never managed to meet him even when he passed within 60 miles of my house on the epic Alaska road trip.
Right now My scroll finger hurts, I just scrolled though all 23 pages of his Alaska trip thread and while only looking at the photos and reading some of the comments I got to remember how much I enjoyed his road trip threads over the period I got to read them .
When they auctioned of his belongings I bid on and ended up with a small box full of pieces including his HAMB key chain hanger that if memory serves right he got in a HAMB auction when someone offered it up. Someday it will probably go back up on another HAMB auction but hopefully will be a while before that happens.

 

met him once,gave him a small gift from Aussie
real nice guy,made me feel welcome

 

where does one find this list you mention?

 

I got to meet him once. I bought the olds grille I have on my car from him. We met up in a parking lot and hung out and talked for a bit. He was cool man.

 

Knew Bob for quite a few years and would bump into him all over the country. Always a pleasure to spend a few hrs with him a few times a year. An boy could he eat LOL

 

I keep a photo of Bb on the wall of my garage, we chat. He helps me wrassle with whatever issues I'm grappling with on any given day. He's calmer in the face of adversity than I am.

I also have a "What would Bob K do?" sticker on the dash of my Model A for when things don't go as planned.

 

On the index page

 

Everywhere I went, there he was. I'd see his stovebolt and smile.