History The Culver City Screwdrivers

Unbelievable photos! So cool.

Reg fee: $6 License fee: $1 Ad'l fee: $1
Even back then there were "mystery" surcharges, even if it was only a buck. I knew it started somewhere.

 

More info about the Quesnel roadster. Scott Kuykendall sent us some photos from his dad's photo album showing the roadster as it sat while his dad owned it. Scott's dad, Robert, better known as Bob, was also a member of the Culver City Screwdrivers, and judging by the look and finish on the car, he owned it after Chuck.

The photo above was taken in his parents driveway in Culver City, and it shows the car as it appeared when it was featured on the cover of Hop Up September 1952:

It would have been great to sort out the timeline of this car!

 

Let's dive into the other photos in Bob Kuykendall's Album.


Here's a photo of Bob's 1931 Model A roadster. A typical 1940s hot rod. Fenderless hiboy running a 1932 Ford grille!

 

Here's a photo of Bob in his mildly restyled 1933 Ford Cabriolet. Modifications included solid hood sides, a 1941 Ford front bumper, single flipper hubcaps and white wall tires. Bob passed away in 2007, so many details are unfortunately lost, but this photo was most likely taken in the mid to late 1940s.

Bob's '33 with the top folded up!

 

Bob was also into motorcycles, and here he can be seen roaring up a hill! I would guess this photo was taken in the mid to late 1940s as well!

 

A photo of Bob from 2002. Unfortunately, Bob passed away in 2007, so much information about his cars and racing days are gone. Thanks to his son Scott, we can still enjoy some of the memories!

 

Cool story and pics,Those young ladies don't look out of place out on the lake either,They would of been keepers!!

 

Thanks for bringing this one back to the top. Great stuff!!

 

Great stuff, thanks for taking the time to post.

 

Here's another photo from the Jim Papworth Collection, showing Ed Olson in Chuck Quesnel's 1927 lakester. Janet Olson is the girl behind the car in the jacket. According to the caption on the back, this photo was taken at a 1950 Rosamond event.

 

Here's an action shot, showing Jim Papworth racing his 1927 Ford Model T roadster at a 1948 or 1949 dry lakes event. This photo comes from Jim's collection. More info on Jim's lakester can be found here: http://kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Jim_Papworth's_1927_Ford

 

Don Towel's 1934 Ford Victoria at a dry lakes event. Don was a member of the Coupes Auto Club of Inglewood. According to the caption on the back of the photo, Don's Edelbrock equipped Victoria was good for 114 mph. Photo from the Chuck and Joanna Quesnel Collection.

 

A photo of Joanna Quesnel's 1932 Ford roadster. Joanna was married to Chuck Quesnel. Chuck was a member of the Culver City Screwdrivers. Joanna was also a part of the club, but she was not considered a member as she was a girl. Joanna told her son Douglas that the girls were never allowed to race the guys. She liked to race, but her car never had any race numbers on. Photo from the Chuck and Joanna Quesnel Collection.

 

It's time to start adding some photos from the Bill Boren Collection. Here's a 1948 Screwdrivers group shot.

 

Here's Jerry Keldrauk, proudly posing next to his and Bill Boren's 1932 Ford Sedan. This is the same car we saw Jim Papworth build earlier in the thread! Photo from the Bill Boren Collection

 

Another photo of Bob Arner's Streamliner at a dry lakes event. Bob's Streamliner was known as the "69'er", and it was originally owned and raced by Ralph Schenck. The flames on this version were supposedly painted by Von Dutch. Photo from the Bill Boren Collection.

 

A photo of Bill Boren's heavily chopped 1941 Ford convertible. Bill's Ford was shaved for side trim and fender strips. The deck lid was shaved, and the license plate was moved down to the gravel shield. Custom accessory featured fender skirts and a white padded top by an unknown manufacturer. Photo from the Bill Boren Collection.

 

Another photo of the Keldrauk and Boren Sedan at a 1951 dry lakes event. Photo from the Bill Boren Collection.

 

This is probably the first photo that I have seen of Don Towle's '34 Victoria. This would be a 1948 photo at a Russetta meet. Don was running in the B Coupe Class there. Russetta did not add Sedan classes until the following year (1949). At the August meet Don set the B Coupe record up to 117.11 mph. I was cIn 1949 Don switched to a coupe body to run in the new C Coupe Class. My memory believes that the sedan body was replaced after an accident.

 

I wanted to add that I was running there then in the C Coupe Class with my sedan. Don Towle went on to a long and successful career with Edelbrock.

 

Thanks for chiming in Rockerhead! What car did you run? And what club did you belong to?

 

In 1948 I was the 196th member in the Russetta Timing Assn and a member of the Velociteers club. I was running my hopped up 1941 Hudson sedan. My youth and inexperience produced slower than hoped for results. But we all have to learn somehow. In 1949 I joined the Glendale Coupe And Roadster Club (GCRC) and began to see good progress on my Lakes efforts.
The 1948 season was the first year for the Russetta Timing Assn. and great fun arguing with the SCTA guys.

Don Towle finished the 1948 RTA season in 3rd Place in Individual Points which gave him RTA number 3 for the 1949 season. His coupe would be fast in 1949.
You have used some of Bill Boren's photos - I knew Bill, as in addition to both of us running the Lakes and drags then, we were both students at the University Of Southern California (USC). A bunch of years ago Bill loaned me some of his photos which I used in my early books - Don Montgomery's Hot Rod Books.
Nice memories
Don

 

Wow, THE Don Montgomery! It's a honor! Thanks again for the stories. As you maybe read above here I have scans of hundreds of Screwdrivers photos that I'm trying to sort out. As most of the guys that took the photos have left us, I have to rely on secon hand information.

Do you have a photo of your sedan to share here Don?

 

The photo you put on previously showing the no. 71 sedan and no. 30 coupe may have been taken at the October, 1951 Russetta meet. The Boren Keldrauk modified '32 sedan turned 145.16 mph that day to take 2nd Place in the B Sedan Class. The no. 30 coupe ('32 3wd coupe) was raced by Jim McGonigal of the Arabs club. Jim recorded a 138.99 mph time for 2nd Place in the C Coupe Class.
The attached photo is of my '41 Hudson which recorded a 129.96 mph speed to earn 3rd Place in the B Sedan Class.
I recall that after Boren and Keldrauk the modified '32 sedan was raced by Don Rackemann, who was also in the Screwdrivers club. Don

 

Wow! What a goldmine of history! Thanks for doing it justice @SuperFleye and archiving all of these images.

Thanks sharing a little bit of history with all of us @Rockerhead! Keep the stories coming!

 

Thanks again @Rockerhead, I'll look into the October 1951, date, and Don Rackermann! It seems like many of the cars in the club swapped hands internally.

That's a great photo of the Hudson! What were you thinking racing that car ?

 

...and I have barely started to scratch the surface

 

Notice not a grey hair in the photograph. What does your club look like today?
dechrome

 

My father thinks this article is a load of crap not very much of it is true he had a good laugh he's still alive in Arizona