History Adventures of Bad Bob #8....Tom Sparks Open House!!!

On to one the trophy rooms...

 

Sorry for the fuzzy ones! Sometimes it's hard to stay steady...

 

CW,this is that diorama I said i've been looking for you...

 

cool looking tether car...

 

great collection.
rich

 

All his bicycle trophys...






Trophy from when he won at Pebble Beach

 

Here's my favorite.....1947 El Mirage,127mph...


The last one....
The little plaque is from the Pasadena Reliability Run. Couldn't read the rest without my glasses,hahaha!!!!!
The sculpture is called "Running at the lakes"

 

100% BadAss. Thanks BOB. Slim

 

Well,that's it guys. It was an experience I won't forget!!!!! He told me to make sure to come back next year! I'm gonna be there for sure!!!!!

 

I know guys who collect trophys,which is really cool. But i've never seen such a collection that were all EARNED by the owner! Pretty neat!

 

Tom is my idol and one of the nicest people you could ever meet ! A couple more interesting things about him : he worked for Eddie Meyer in the 40's , he was in charge of the cars for the movie "Tucker" . That was his yellow 47 Ford convertible in the "The Karate Kid" and like mentioned earlier his cars have been used in 100's of movies and TV shows . He took me to one of the Wed. night cruises at the museum in Pomona in that burgundy roadster a few years back and noticed me admiring a dry lakes photo dated 1947 on the wall . Tom said you like that picture ? I said sure do , he said that's me on the right !

 

I didn't get to talk to him too much,cause there were so many people there. At least I got to say thank you for letting me experience his stuff.

 

Bad Bob - Well worth the wait! ... Thanks again for sharing these pics with us!

 

Awesome collection.....thanks Bob

 

That is one fine collection!!

 

Very cool. Thanks for sharing, Bob.

 

Wow... pretty amazing to experience that.
Thanks for the pics!

 

I wanted to bring this thread back up,since Tom Sparks recently passed away. There's a great article about him, in the latest Hot Rod Deluxe. Enjoy...

 

bump!

 

Thanks fer tha' Shots..........Had To Be A "GREAT DAY.................



Smokey

 

What a collection!

RIP Mr. Sparks

 

news of Tom Sparks and Don Blair both passing.

I worked in the same complex with Tom for over 10 years. all these legends of speed from Pasadena were just regular people in the day. what made America great were people that needed parts for there rides, just built them. when friends needed those same parts it turned into a business. Tom made pistons. turned into a pretty good business that he was hands on in his shop. didn't have to outsource to make a decent living. the CEO's also swept floors
RIP Tom

 

Awesome pictures. Just think, only 45000 miles on the Lincoln Zephyr.

 

Just an FYI ...

Back in February, Jive-Bomber Jay posted a nice TJJ Blog about Mr. Sparks' passing:

* Rest in Peace Tommy Sparks Blog
* Rest in Peace Tommy Sparks thread

 

... and here's a "Car Crazy" episode about Tommy:

<object width="640" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c57X31h-F_s?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c57X31h-F_s?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>​

NOTE: This is the same YouTube video that METSHAPER provided a the link for back in post #35.