Folks Of Interest Washington State Hot Rodding Legends

Bill Crow, Pappy Hartman, Bill Hartman. Olympia

 

I am sitting in a chair that Pappy Hartman gave me in the 60's.

 

Marshal is on pot??

 

No longer an Oldtimer, but one of their runs was on his show a billion years ago and, in typical OT fashion, was hilarious!

 

Did a search for the TV show.
Nothing on You Tube.
Anyone got an idea.
It sure would be cool to see the show.
I musta missed it when it was on -

 

Who remembers this one?

 

Leslies was a restuarant in Lakewood. Was a boring cruise night deal back in the day. I never went. Drove by a few times. Never entered.

 

Boy howdy a lot of those names bring out memories of going to Car shows in the 60's with my dad or going to the races at SIR, Puyallup drag strip or the old Sea-Tac raceway on Sunday night before he stuck me back on the ferry to ride back to my mom's on Bainbridge Island.
We ( dad and I) used to have breakfast at Inie's (sp?) Cafe on the road out through the valley between Renton and Kent on Saturday & Sunday mornings and it was the place where a lot of racers stopped for breakfast on their way to the drags. It was also the place I had breakfast on the first morning after I got back from Viet Nam in Dec 68.

 

I think it was spelled Inez's (cafe). It was on the main drag through the valley (E.valley hiway). This is before 167. I went to high school (K-M) with her daughter (Sharon). She became Gary Parmenter's wife. Rue- Parmenter and Krohn. Early drag race stars in the (Kent) area.

 

Cool people in Olympia???? Strange

 

Continuing with the Olympia area we can add the names of Terrell and Earl Poage The Cope brothers arriving in the NW early 60's and over the mountains towards Tri-City Dale Greer

 

Jerry Ruth was a 1957 Kent- Meridian grad.

 

Anybody ever see Larry Curry from Tacoma lay down pin-stripes? He was an interesting old coot - had a wood frame / fabric covered airplane in his shop in Tacoma along with all manner of other odd stuff. He striped a car for me in 1981 when I was just out of HS (another KM grad )

And Dick Ewing built engines in Auburn - helped me get my 49 pickup down the 1/4 mile at SIR in the low 13's.

 

Sandy Lovelace?.....Bought my first (and only!) dragster from him. Chassis originally built by Strode Brothers in Redmond. Sold that chopped Merc in my avatar to Paul Harper about 1978. Took him all day and a case of Rainier to get it....night shot in front of Brass Bucket Tavern in Cle Elum.

 

Are you talking about Bob and Loyd Cope? They raced a fueler in the 60's. Loyd passed several years ago one hell of nice guy, Bob is still around and living in Longview.

 

Larry Curry had a 3/4 scale Nazi Stuka dive bomber in his garage that he had built. He told me a story about a customer finding out about this after the fact (they were Jewish). He was ordered off their property. GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!! Understandable, but still funny.

 

Larry Curry had a 3/4 scale Nazi Stuka dive bomber that he had made in his shop. He had a customer find out about this after the fact. He came out to do some business with them and they ordered him off their property (they were Jewish). GET OUT!!! Understandable but still funny.

 

The Longview Cope's helped with Ron Gorans

Tacoma Cope's Don and Jerry

Another name forgotten would be Jerry Harris Chassis "Rapidville Speed Center"

 

Anyone remember Ronnie Gomms? Gotcha?

 

Some big names I forgot to mention previously.
Jack Conner (Jack Conner Speed Shop)
Al Cooper (Al Cooper Speed Shop)
Frank Cooper (Frank Cooper Speed shop) No relation to Al Cooper.

Someone mentioned Mel Anthony, (who is 87 years old and still racing vintage midgets)...He has written a book called "Smoke Sand And Rubber".
Anyone interested can PM me for the info.

 

Lincoln Johnson.... Anyone?

 

Or what ever happened to Denny Olson Hot-Rods by Denny up around enumclaw I think. He was the first one to ever put a crusty A body on a new chassis. Made the cover of street rod back in 82 or something.

 

Can't leave out Magoo.

 

Still building in Enumclaw. He was at Mild to Wild. Just finished a crazy gofast racecar.

 

What about Gary Ebert? Pin striper, sign painter, graphic artist extraordinaire.

 

Nice good to hear that.

 

Try www.diversstreetrods.com for what he's doing now

 

How about "Extreme Metal and Paint", Chris Odom up in B-ham?
He's done some very nice work.
Kinda new guy compared to a lot of guys mentioned here -
Speaking of the old guys; Someone once said "When you speak their names, you keep their spirits alive". Something like that -
http://www.extrememetalpaint.com/

 

I'd agree with all those.

Mel mentions in his book a trip to Glen Shaw's machine shop where Mel, just a lad, asked to have two feet chopped off a crankshaft. Glen said they were a precision shop and they worked to the thousandth of an inch. So Mel asked to have the crank shaft chopped at two feet and two thousandths.

Glen Shaw went back to the early 1930s. I have him winning a boat race up here in Canada in 1930. He had big cars that were driven by Swede Smith and Swede Lindskog, amongst others. Also involved in the WMRA as flagman. Built aluminum heads for Continental engines.

And has anyone mentioned Dave Tatom yet? Flatheads. But he got involved way back with the Tom Carstens' Kurtis midget that Allen Heath drove. Then he raced sports cars.

 

Another good guy, Doug Rice with his Ford coupe. Not only Bonneville and the drags but a daily driver! Talented man.