You may recall:
The same day that Thomas
Payne, famous for the 1930’s Auto Shop Restoration Project,
visited with me we had an amazing bonus visit: Thomas brought his close friend,
Lou Bingham, with him!
Lou is legendary in the
Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) Circles and on the salt flats of
Bonneville. In his years of racing for land speed records Lou set or
broke no less than 11 marks. He is still active today and if you go to
Bonneville this summer you will see Lou there in the thick of it all.
Lou brought his scrap
book and gave me, Don, and Wayne the history of his life and racing
successes. Lou was born in the Washington DC area but moved to Southern
California at the age of five. He was handy with automotive mechanics and, with
a partner, purchased and operated “Bird Rock Mobil Gas” a full-service
repair shop in La Jolla California. The income from the shop and his
connections to steel fabricators gave him the perfect platform for designing
and assembling cars that could compete at Bonneville. Look at the
craftsmanship of this 1962 Bonneville-bound Roadster!
Lou and Thomas met
at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Lou was crewing on a Formula Ford race car owned by a Continental Airlines pilot. The owner introduced Lou to Thomas and now they have become fast friends. The two of
them make an annual trek to Bonneville each summer.
While listening to Lou’s
stories I realized that my neighbors, Tom and Jackie Eckles, have a connection
to Lou; Jackie’s uncle was Don Blair, of Blair’s Speed Shop in Los Angeles.
I asked Jackie and Tom to come meet Lou. When they arrived at the garage
they brought with them some of Don’s Dash plaques and one of his
trophies. Lou did, in fact, know Don so it was a great time of sharing
stories of the legends of early hot rodding.
From left to right: Cary, Linda and Wayne Cowie, Chris and Thomas Payne, Lou Bingham, Don Kingery and Jackie and Tom Eckles
The whole crew enjoyed a
great afternoon filled with the nostalgia of hotrods, racing, and meeting new
friends.
I think I need to make a trip to Bonneville!
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