December 2012 Jewels From The Archive

52 Years Ago

From the December, 2012 issue of Rod & Custom

By Rob Fortier

Photography by Petersen Archive

Fred Lobello waits in line with his Navy F4U Corsair tank, the “Ladybug”, which is now in the collection of Jim Lattin. Photo by Lynn Wineland/Petersen Archive.

1960 National Speed Trials • Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

This month’s images prove that the 1960 National Speed Trials were plagued with bad weather. They were shot for a feature titled “Go No. 12” that ran in the Jan. ’61 issue of Rod & Custom. It’s hard to believe that the famous speed trails were only 12 years old at that time. Although Ab Jenkins, the father of Bonneville, had been breaking speed records since the ’30s, we like to think of the late ’40s and early ’50s as the “magic time” of Bonneville. But even though a lot of racers changed their focus to drag racing in the early ’60s, the Bonneville meets still had a dedicated bunch of hard-core speed freaks.

The question, “What does Bonneville really prove?” was asked on the cover blurb of our Jan. ’61 issue. The story’s main conclusion was, “The new records that are established each year prove that rodders who attend the Nationals become sharper as time goes on.” Well guess what, they are still getting sharper every year as our very own Kev Elliott is at Bonneville as this issue is going to press! As many of you have been following in R&C, he put a little roadster pickup together for this year’s Speedweek. We’re anxiously waiting to hear how his 2012 adventure to the sacred salt went!