Few names in racing cross over into wider recognition. Drivers like Andretti, Stewart and Petty have become synonymous with the world of racing, but there has been one notable omission. A driver who has broken more records than any other and endurance that has not been matched by any other driver. In fact, 60 years later, some of his records still stand today…his birthday.

Mormon Meteor driving on Highway 1 in the Tour d'Elegance

David Abbott “Ab” Jenkins had an unequaled combination of skill, perseverance, and ingenuity. He raced against the clock, competing with other drivers for the title of world fastest. Setting his land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, long before the world realized the racing advantages of the flat, hard, 40 square miles of salt. His 48-hour endurance and speed record still stands untouched. It was not until 1990 that his 50-year old, 24-hour record of 161 miles per hour was broken, and it took a team of eight drivers to do it. All the more amazing is the exposure to the elements of weather and salt in his open cockpit car. His only protection was a leather helmet with goggles and grease smeared on his skin to protect him from the wind, salt and sun. He drank orange juice and milk to maintain his strength during the many hours behind the wheel. Despite not having the advantages of contemporary safety gear, Ab was considered the world’s safest speedster. A unique designation in an era of racing with a high percentage of injuries and fatalities.

Mormon Meteor on the 18th Green at Pebble Beach

His car named the “Mormon Meteor” had three generations. The first was essentially a hot rod based on a production Model J. Duesenberg, modified by a team of designers and builders, including Augie Duesenberg. The Mormon Meteor proved itself as one of the fastest cars in the world on the ten mile circle track at Bonneville with an average speed of 135 mph over 24 hours.

The circle course at Bonneville was a single painted black line. The sole source of light after sunset was the cyclops headlight on the car. At night it was all you would see on the course, or the surrounding landscape, until he passed the crew. During the 1930s, Bonneville Salt Flats was a place to be avoided. Everything, food, water, shelter, fuel, tires, parts, tools had to be brought out from Salt Lake City, 115 miles away. Due to the curvature of the Earth most of the miles he raced were out of sight of the crew. Lacking any type of radio, Ab communicated by writing notes on paper and tossing it out as he sped by the crew. Ab Jenkins and the Mormon Meteor were a perfect match of power, endurance and ability that influenced racing for decades.

Winning Best in Show at the Pebble Beach 2007 Concours d'Elegance

In 2007 at the 57th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the fully restored, bright yellow Mormon Meteor with gleaming, chrome exhaust, roared onto the awards platform and received the coveted “Best of Show” award. Across the hood near the windscreen in chrome is Ab Jenkins signature. Even posthumously, the man’s vehicle is still making history.

Find more images of the Mormon Meteor in the RhizomeImages.com

Chip Foose helps unveil the BASF Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing by Foose Design.

The SEMA 2011 show held at the Las Vegas Convention Center is one of the biggest automotive venues in the world. SEMA stands for the Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association, and has something for every kind of car or truck enthusiast.  While the event is not open to the general public, the press, exhibitors and buyers from all over the world come to see and show the latest and greatest in after-market spare parts and accessories. The event is overwhelming and with so many incredible custom cars from amazing body shops, the eye candy keeps your dead-tired feet moving from booth to booth. The creativity alone is awe-inspiring. In amongst the loud displays of speakers, products being showcased, celebrity appearances and the high-pitch squeal of drifting tires on the Ford race-track outside, it’s one of the few places where smaller companies looking to get noticed can play in the big leagues with industry giants like Ford, GM, and Toyota.

Two years ago, there was a bigger play for a greener audience but attendance was relatively shy. This year, with over 500 new exhibitors showing their wares, you would never know we were in a recession. Though the place was packed, eco-friendly products were much harder to find. This seems at odds with the amount of “green” press releases and focus coming out of the 2011 LA car show soon to take place in a few weeks. It would seem as if there’s a disconnect between what after-market suppliers see as their customers now and how they will address the changing nature of their business in years to come.

With much of the focus in the show given towards restoration of classics, and muscle cars, this year there was an interesting twist around taking a reasonably-priced, high gas mileage car like the Toyota Scion and customizing it to suit a much younger audience. Though these customizations are hardly reasonably priced to be sure.

So why would two seemingly eco-friendly, sustainability-seeking people go to a gas guzzling event like this? Because it’s about new technology, new ideas, and performance-enhancing rides getting better gas mileage. It’s about one-up-manship product design on an uber level, and this is what the industry needs. It’s also about creating better environments for workers with less toxic materials in the shop. We need that competitive drive to do better from what is learned on the racetrack and in the top custom shops to our much less glamorous individual rides and fleets. Amongst all the fabulous design and body work there are some real gems making difference, you just have to be willing to look for them.

Rick Woodbury in his Tango at the X Prize showcase

Today at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association (SEMA) 2009 show in Las Vegas, in the midst of some very sweet cars, parts and accessories, it’s easy to get sucked into the shiny beauty of gorgeous machines. An unveil by color master/designer Chip Foose and builder Peter Klutt on their Super Cuda collaboration was stunning. The guys from Galpin Auto Sports (GAS) and Ford rebuilding a 69′ Mustang live for the MTV crowd had all the right glam. But what was really disappointing was the fact that SEMA’s “Making Green Cool Zone” might have referred to the Siberian-like space it occupied at the back of the South Hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center. This was a shame because this area was the most exciting in terms of design, innovative engineering, and new eco-friendly automotive products.

X PRIZE from Progressive Insurance Automotive was the key sponsor for the area and a selection of cars from competing teams adorned the area. The X PRIZE awards 10 million dollars in prizes to the teams that win a multi-stage competition for clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 miles per gallon energy equivalent (MPGe).

HP2g

The vehicles on display showcased the depth of imagination and bold design. Sleek modern looks paired with the most practical of concerns for a lower carbon footprint, safety, performance, and affordability, were all key factors in the development of these new vehicles.

Just around the corner from the X PRIZE teams were folks like Doug Pelmear of HP2g. His uniquely engineered 1987 Ford Mustang hybrid delivers about 110 MPG running on E85 (85% Ethanol). He and his team made a more fuel-efficient engine using variable displacement to transition the car from running on eight cylinders down to firing on just one. He also proudly mentioned that he drove from Ohio to Vegas, only stopping once in Oklahoma for gas.

Azhar Hussain on the new Mavizen TTX02 electric racing superbike

Also unveiled today was the world’s first electric superbike, the Mavizen TTX02. This electric racing motorcycle uses an Open Source OS and is nicknamed the “laptop on wheels.” It’s also very lightweight and tight. When speaking of the role that innovative racing technologies play in bringing products to market, Azhar Hussain, founder of TTXGP (the world’s first zero carbon, zero emission motorcycle race), said today, “…competition first it’s R&D on steroids.”

With all the great new ideas being set forth, it was unfortunate that the press conference background for some of these innovators was some leftover green cloth with an 18 x 24 inch sign with a tiny Making Green Cool logo on it. In one area all the other exhibitor cars were so closely put together, it was tough to maneuver around them. You just felt bad for these guys. Like they were put in a corner and told not to make a fuss.

Okay so maybe you don’t need big fancy graphics, but when some of the most innovative work in the automobile industry is not showcased with the enthusiasm it deserves, how are we ever going to expect people to get excited and on board with greener, smarter alternatives?

Find more SEMA 2009 pictures at www.rhizomeimages.com