The James Bowden Story

But by being a part of those formative years you became as much a part of the hot rod story as the record holders of that era. Jim Bowden of Hesperia, California, is one of those pioneering hot rodders worthy of these pages.

Jim Bowden's Story
His father gave Jim (born 1921) his first car, a '26 Willys Overland. Jim's dad got it for hanging a screen door for a neighbor for free and passed it onto Jim. Before he did that, he rebuilt the engine and painted the car. "It was a two-door with a wide window that made it nice for a paper route after school," Jim laughs. "It was an afternoon paper."

Later, Jim returned the Willys to his dad. "Once I got the paper route, I had my own money." Jim acquired a '36 Ford sedan while going to Franklin High School in Highland Park, California. My dad was one of those guys who didn't believe in hot rods," Jim says.

"Roger's dad had a wrecking yard in South Pasadena and Roger built himself a Model A roadster that had a four-port McDowell head" (used primarily for circle track racing).

Jim and Roger concentrated on what Jim called "hill climb" street racing up Monterey Road to Montecito Heights in L.A. off the Pasadena freeway on weekends. Jim won't say if Ward's hot A got the better of him. But we kind of know the answer.

Sycamore Drive In was a favorite hangout: "I saw my first A-V8 at the drive in," Jim says, "that belonged to a guy who went to Franklin. He and his dad built it; in fact I think that was the first A-V8 (Flathead Ford V-8 stuffed in a Model A) ever built.

Jim went to Muroc before the war to spectate. Like most, he was amazed at the size of the place and the thrill of such a phenomenon. His '36 wasn't racing material but he vowed that he'd return and race at the lakes one day.

"They treated us alright because we were ground troops, but the guys who flew ... they weren't treated very nice at all. (Augsburg was heavily bombed during the war). We ate a lot of potato stew, but I still like potatoes," Jim says.

"The guards at the camp were old and they knew the war was lost, so we all marched out of the camp together. We were trying to get to Switzerland (a neutral country during the war). We were on the road when four P-51 fighter planes flew overhead. Our lead American officer told us not to run. The pilots tipped their wings when they realized who we were. I was liberated on my mother's birthday, April 27, 1945."

Jim hitched a ride home after being released from Camp Beale in California. "He asked the driver to let him off a couple of blocks from where his parents lived," began Jim's wife Florence. "Jim's mother was coming out of a grocery store when she saw Jim and she was in shock." (Is this the makings for a movie or what?!)

Get A Rod
First, Jim had to get a job, then a rod. Besides his paper route, Jim took his first and only job working for someone else when he was hired on as a mechanic for Dick Jones. It also happened that Jones was a member of a racing club.

In the meantime, Jim's younger brother, Earl, had a friend, Bud Moon, who owned a '31 Ford roadster. Earl told Jim about it and Jim bought what would become his first and only hot rod race car as well.

Jim had his friend, Jack McGrath (dry lake competitor, future Indy 500 competitor, and crack machinist) stroke the Model B crank. "Jack had a shop right next to the fire department in Highland Park on Figueroa and he was taking these cranks and stroking them and drilling them for full oil pressure."

With Bell Auto Parts only 12 miles from Highland Park, Jim was a frequent patron. "I got the Cragar head from Ronnie Ward. I only paid Ronnie $5 for it. I bought a lot of parts for my Cragar at Bell." Jim never registered his roadster. This was a hot rod, not a street rod, even though it had a license plate when Jim purchased it.

Blow-By's
Jim joined the Blow-By's Racing Club that was aptly named because they blew by a lot of the competition at the lakes and later in life (later changed their name to the Rev's). Russetta Timing Association was formed so its members could run coupes at their sanctioned events since SCTA only recognized roadsters early on, yet the members of the Blow-By's ran roadsters. Go figure.

Jim's employer Dick Jones was no ordinary garage owner. Jones later became the performance supervisor and head of R&D for Champion Spark Plugs in Long Beach.

Ronnie Ward worked for Frank Kurtis (Kurtis Kraft) and later for A.J. Watson, both winning Champ Car builders. According to Bowden, Ronnie also built his own Sprint Cars called Ron's Racers. (Sadly, they have all died.)

In 1947 Jim opened Occidental Garage (close to Occidental College) in L.A., doing what he loved, working on cars and the roadster. He specialized in tune-ups, brakes, and engine balancing.

Jim was in good company. Other mechanically gifted hot rod racers opened general auto repair garages in the L.A. area as well. Dick Burley, Jerry Kugel, Ak Miller, and Don Zabel concluded, there was no better way to make a living and still work on the race cars than in their own general repair garages.

"Jim said he was going to take the roadster out one more time to sell it. He came back with a club trophy instead," Florence laughs. Jim's trophy was from the Rev's for 7/24/49. Best Four-Cylinder "R" 106.49 mph.

While that tragedy rattled Florence enough to put her foot down, Jim put his foot down a few more times, too-on the go-pedal. After getting the trophy, Jim took the For Sale sign off the car and paid one last visit to El Mirage. "The car went 106.88," Jim recalls.

Hardhead
Jim's hardheaded refusal to sell his roadster paid off at Famoso Drag Strip. "I took the radiator out of the roadster to try and lighten the thing up; I had just the top of the hood on it, and took the sides off. I had quick-release springs on the hood to hold it down. I went down the strip and the hood came up, I got off it and the hood went down. I got on it and it came up again. Got out of it and I thought I'd better get going. It finally blew off, and I tried to catch it, but the hood hit me in the head," Jim laughs. "It went 83 mph."

Jim ran nine times at the drags and collected six trophies. We can only speculate, had Jim decided to continue drag racing with his early successes, he might have been known as "B-Block Bowden."

Jim got out of the business but kept the property, which is leased out. Jim and Florence retired to Hesperia in 1994.

Jim was not a frequent racer, or a well-known one, but when Jim did compete he left his mark as his trophies attest. Jim raced when he and hot rodding were young. Both can be proud of their heritage. To call Mr. Bowden an unsung hero would be an understatement. Jim, you're a great American and I'm proud to have written your story.

Jim has never returned to the dry lake since the last time he ran in 1949. I will see to it that Jim and I are at the El Mirage meet May 2011.