On August 11, 2012, I visited the Bonneville Salt Flats during the beginning of Speed Week. Approaching the turnoff to the famous salt beds, I noticed much of the area had been under water from the previous day’s torrential rain. Some of the areas drying up had become a mud bog. Areas along the paved road had weeds sprouting up through the mud encrusted surroundings. In driving over the salt to the distant reaches of the staging areas, there were some soft spots interspersed with mud. Three of four scheduled race courses were open (one seven miles long). The salt appeared hard, and safe for such record-setting attempts as 400 mph.
Today with the intense sun from atop and reflection from below, it would be a challenge for the drivers and their racing machines. There were over 500 entries, many brightly painted, having diverse shapes and sizes. The Streamliners, Lakesters, Vintage Modified Roadsters, Coupes and Motorcycles roared like a well-orchestrated symphony. Only the crackling of an engine not so-well tuned spoiled the otherwise melodious effect. Periodically a high-powered engine would fire up nearby, shaking me out of my boots. Such sudden combustion was not for the faint hearted.
Jim Williams, curator of the Price Museum of Speed, drove me around in his 1928 Model A Ford to visit friends. Once out on the solid salt bed, I quickly forgot about the diminishing condition of the salt. I smiled broadly at the symphonic sound of the engines, the excitement of the drivers and owners, and admired their untiring round-the-clock tenacity to prepare these racing machines for their “fifteen seconds of fame”.
The Price Museum of Speed has a collection of over twenty vintage race cars from around the world, driven by such notables as Barney Oldfield, Louis Schneider, Louis Meyer, Cliff Bergere, Louis Chiron, Ab Jenkins and Al Teague, all legends in racing history. The museum recently produced the documentary “Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon of Salt”, the story of Ab Jenkins, one of the world’s most famous endurance racers. He set more records than any other human being, and has been referred to as a “man of steel”. Ab’s early records were made with factory built cars, without the benefit of aerodynamic wind tunnel tests. Ab would just go out on the Salt Flats, tweak the car as necessary with limited tools, and off he’d go. There were no conveniences out there; the support team would camp out on the windblown Salt Flats.
Ab Jenkins was born David Abbott Jenkins in 1883 in Spanish Fork, Utah. He began his racing career on a bicycle in the 1890s. With the invention of the internal combustion engine, Ab turned to racing motorcycles on dirt and wooden tracks. He was soon hooked by the challenge of speed and endurance, and the high of winning. Ab was an early pioneer in racing from Salt Lake City through the western Utah salt beds to the town of Wendover, 125 miles to the west. It wouldn’t be until almost ten years after World War I, that this stretch of uncharted salt beds would become world renowned for the records Ab Jenkins set there. Notoriety came to Ab in 1925 when he made a $250 bet that he could beat a Western Pacific train, in a borrowed Studebaker off the showroom floor of a local car dealer. He reached the finish line in Wendover a full five minutes ahead of the train.
Soon Ab Jenkins’ feats attracted sponsors such as Studebaker, Pierce-Arrow, Cord, and Firestone. The salt had become deeply ingrained in his blood. In 1935, Ab acquired a Duesenberg SJ Speedster, which he rebranded the Mormon Meteor I. Although sturdy and able to take Ab to some impressive records, the engine needed continual engineering improvements to beat the competitors. In 1936 a more powerful 750-horsepower Curtiss Conqueror V‑12 aircraft engine was installed. With this new engine, the car was renamed the Mormon Meteor II. It was competitive against the famed British drivers, averaging 164.47 mph for over 300 miles; then averaging 153.823 mph for twenty-four hours and 148.641 mph for forty-eight hours, setting new records. In 1937 Ab and co-driver Louis Meyer covered more than 3,700 miles on the oval salt track averaging 157.27 mph.
In 1938 Ab and Augie Duesenberg built a new car from scratch fitted with the Curtiss Conqueror engine. They planned to install two engines to compete against the British, who were using twin-aircraft engines for their record breaking straight-line racers. However the car was never fitted to run as a straight-line racer. The Mormon Meteor III was built in Indianapolis and tested at the “Old Brickyard”—the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ab Jenkins set out to recapture some of the distance and endurance records set the previous year by British drivers John Cobb, Malcolm Campbell, and George E. T. Eyston.
At age fifty-six Ab Jenkins set endurance records that much younger racers could only shake their heads in astonishment. Even seasoned relief drivers who admired Ab constantly complained of burnout, sore backs, leg fatigue, and blistered hands. Ab’s power of concentration and tenacity were legendary. In 1939 Ab set records at distances of 600 miles averaging 171.3 mph, and twelve-hours at 169.99 mph. Augie Duesenberg would be found on hand in the pit area, fine-tuning the race machine’s aerodynamics as needed.
Ab’s son Marvin was committed to his father’s quest for setting records; at twenty years of age he prepped the Mormon Meteor III, and tested it at speeds of 200 mph. In 1940 with relief driver Cliff Bergere, Ab covered 3,868 miles during a twenty-four-hour run averaging 161.18 mph. After this challenging record run, Bergere an experienced driver at the Indianapolis 500—a race that then took four and a half hours to complete—said, “I’ll take my hat off to Ab Jenkins. Any man who can drive that car for six hours at the speed Ab got out of the machine is a marvel. I’ve never seen anything like it. ” This remarkable endurance record was not eclipsed until 1991 when a team of five drivers, drove three specially built Corvettes.
Ab Jenkins set numerous records including, one hour at 190.68 mph, six hours at 172.38 mph, and twelve hours at 170.21 mph. In the 1950s, Ab Jenkins now in his mid-sixties wanted to set more records but his dream ended when he died of heart failure on August 9, 1956. Today Ab Jenkins still holds twelve records, yet to be broken.
In 2007, Marvin pondering what was best for Ab Jenkins’ legacy shared my vision of perpetuating and preserving the great racing machines of yesteryear, for future generations to enjoy. The Price Museum of Speed became the Mormon Meteor III’s new home. In the museum’s possession, the Curtiss Conqueror engine was totally restored to its original racing condition. The goal was to return the Meteor III to the Salt Flats one more time, with Marvin behind the wheel. Nearing ninety years of age, Marvin guided us tirelessly from memory and drawings through the tedious engine rebuilding process. Stricken with cancer and relying on a walker, he worked with us until the task was completed. We planned to run the Meteor III on September 20, 2008, having reserved salt time, and built a five-mile oval course for the event. On the Tuesday before the test run Marvin passed away. I was determined to make the run as planned to pay homage to this fine gentleman. I took the Mormon Meteor III flawlessly through its paces on the oval track in honor of Marvin, clocked at 121 mph. I was sure Ab Jenkins was somewhere not too distant from his record-setting racing machine.
The Bonneville racing tradition continues today, although times have changed with the availability of modern equipment, tools and multiple-choices of car components. However the same effort continues to gain new speed records. The Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) took over the racing program sixty-four years ago, and organizes the event each year; establishes the different racing classes, and prepares and maintains the race course areas. People from all walks of life and faraway lands share a common bond with the Bonneville Salt Flats, coming each year to seek a land-speed record for the history books. “How fast will it go” is what they wanted to know, noted “LandSpeed” Louise Ann Noeth a friend, well-known writer, photographer and Bonneville Salt Flats historian.
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is currently exhibiting Speed: The Art of the Performance Automobile, with nineteen world-class cars, a retrospective of moving metallic art. The show includes several Bonneville notables: the 1938 Mormon Meteor III, 1935 Mormon Meteor I (there until recently), 1937 Cord 812, 1927 Jim Khougaz Modified Ford Roadster, 1952 So-Cal Speed Shop Belly Tank, 1952 Beast III Streamliner, 1952 Eddie Miller Lakester, and 1975 Speedomotive Special Streamliner. Two of the Speed show car donors were at the Salt Flats, to set records with their new racers. Richard Munz had a 1932 Ford Roadster, with a 1949 Mercury 500 bhp engine, attempting to better his previous record of 200.875 mph. Bruce Meyer had a 1932 Ford Roadster, with a 2000 Chevrolet 725 bhp engine, wanting to reach 220 mph.
Although the race course areas looked in excellent condition, several “Save the Salt” members bemoaned the fact that in ten years racing at the Salt Flats may be history. They noted that the salt ranges from inches to less than two feet thick. If the salt gets any thinner, the State of Utah and the world, stands to lose one of the greatest natural race courses– a resource that cannot be duplicated– closing a significant chapter of racing history.
Over the years due to the extraction of minerals, the salt bed where the race course is located has begun to shrink. Once over 130 miles in size, it is now down to slightly over forty miles. The salt layer at one time measured over four feet thick in places. The size and depth is shrinking fast, reportedly due the mineral extraction to make fertilizer. The nearby potash plant using canals and pipes collects the brine during the rainy season. With the help of government agencies, this plant began to return the unused salt components, but has fallen short of replacement of an equal quantity, with over 50 million tons of salt reportedly taken from the Bonneville Salt Flats in the past fifty years. Geologists report that over eighteen inches of salt has been removed, and in some areas remains only one-half inch thick. If we don’t want to lose this renowned racing tradition, we must act now to “Save the Salt” for future generations of racing enthusiasts.