AB JENKINS, MORMON METEORS & BONNEVILLE

Posted on June 22, 2022June 22, 2022 by MartynL

The Selvedge Yard blog celebrates AB JENKINS, MORMON METEORS & BONNEVILLE racing. By the late-1920s and early-1930s, the formerly elusive 100-mph mark was old news. Magnificent short-wheelbase ‘32 Duesenburg SJ Speedsters with supercharged 320-horsepower, DOHC engines could top 120 mph. Factory racer and devout Mormon Ab Jenkins set a number of records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, averaging over 150 mph in a streamlined and supercharged Model J Dusey. In 1935 Jenkins returned to t...

BONNEVILLE: A RACER IN NEED!

Posted on September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 by MartynL

Rob Freyvogel was seriously injured in a 400-mph crash on the Salt Flats in an attempt to set a new Piston Powered Land Speed record. Anyone who has ever participated as a competitor or even a spectator at Speed Week at Bonneville is aware that land speed record racers, regardless of class, are the most generous, sharing and friendly in the hobby. Bonneville is a place where there are no strangers; even competitors are treated as friends. I’ve been there multiple times as a journalist and...

BONNEVILLE: SAVE THE SALT!

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by MartynL

It’s not fun & games when Utah residents rip up Bonneville’s fragile salt crust, negatively impacting one of our national treasures. Thankfully, Save The Salt is on the case. Last week a photo surfaced of two Utah residents, Cameron Ramage and Skyler Pittman, who took credit for driving recklessly on the Bonneville Salt Flats in a highly modified Ford Crown Victoria. They had made multiple hard-circling maneuvers, breaking through the thin salt crust and plowing ruts into its surface. The ph...