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By Ol Ford Guy - 12 Years Ago
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I just went through a thread on H.A.M.B. on Norm Thatchers 57 Chrysler 300C he ran at Bonneville. The car had been sitting in a building since 1959. The new owner and many H.A.M.B. members did 20 pages of correspondence on the car, history and photos. There are Bonneville results sheets that include Karol Millers results, and pictuers of the 300C one with Karol's 56 included. I will attach the picture. I think Karol would really enjoy going through the pictures and comments on H.A.M.B. The post on H.A.M.B. was started by Hyfire if you want to look at it or search Norm Thatcher.
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By Ol Ford Guy - 12 Years Ago
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Addition and correction. The Thatcher car is a 1958 300D and to find the thread, search Barnfind Bonneville Help.
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By mctim64 - 12 Years Ago
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Very cool picture! Thanks for sharing.
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By John Mummert - 12 Years Ago
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Great picture Paul. Thank you. It made me think how cool it would have been to be there, but then I realized I was only 8 years old at the time.
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By Doug T - 12 Years Ago
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Interesting how absolutely stock the exterior of that car is.Even the height is the same as the '56 push car behind it. The headlight doors are still there and must have cost significant speed but maybe the yellow color made up for it. Carol Miller was such an inspiration and also a confirmation that we were not nuts.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 12 Years Ago
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Doug:
Actually the color in the photo is off. The car was Mandarin Orange and white. Maybe Orange is faster than Yellow. The four ehaust pipes exiting straight out the fender is not stock. I have seen photos of the car with streamling tape on the headlights and the chrome trim above the windshield. Probably photos of the next year's attempt.
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By The Master Cylinder - 12 Years Ago
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Hoosier Hurricane (4/4/2013)
Doug:
The four ehaust pipes exiting straight out the fender is not stock.
thanks for clarifying that. I was wondering what that dark thing on the fender was...
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By bird55 - 12 Years Ago
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Also looks to me like the rear is raised as in the shackles reversed or maybe the front dropped a little.
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By DryLakesRacer - 12 Years Ago
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If you get a chance to or have read it and want to refresh your memory of Karol's accomplisments. Google "Karol Miller and Ray Brock". Ray did an excellant write up on Karol's skills with a y-block and that it took to compete as engines got bigger and it was written in 1962.
Back in the 50'-60's like NASCAR Bonneville coupes and sedans were basically stock especially on the outside let alone the very sparce safety requirments.
Actually today in the Production classes there is not much room to fudge original body parts unless they have factory #'s. There were no production classes at Bonneville back then. Funny thing if Karol would have left the rear shackles alone and heated the front coils to drop the nose 3-4" who knows what he would have run.................Anyway great reading
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By DryLakesRacer - 12 Years Ago
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Forgot to thank Tim M. for this original post of the article.........My bad..JD
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By wlj1943 - 12 Years Ago
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Great post Paul. Thanks. Keep looking; they are still out there. I was there but did not see his run ( but I heard it!). BTW, One of the S.D. Vesco Bro's set some records that year.Wj
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By Ted - 12 Years Ago
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And here is another picture.
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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He's trying real hard to keep his focus on the race!  Nice picture. Notice the extensive tool kit from his support vehicle. Compared to today with spares for almost everything in their trailer including engines and body parts. This is grass roots racing! Chuck
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By yblock32deuce - 12 Years Ago
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thanks ted, what a great photo ...have read everything available (?) about karol's trip into yblock history and am amazed each time at what this man accomplished.
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By landspeedy - 12 Years Ago
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The pipes "peeking" out of the fender looks mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Has anyone ever cloned this car?
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By aussiebill - 12 Years Ago
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Ted (4/7/2013)
And here is another picture.
Just cant get enough of that car, the man and the day!!! A bit of all of us in that picture.
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By bird55 - 12 Years Ago
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I've been trying to identify wha those items might be on the ground? The stuff right below her feet? Looks like one onf those axial Judson superchargers, but probably not. just a wild guess.
Sure is a great pic. Thanks again for posting it.
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By DryLakesRacer - 12 Years Ago
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I believe it's a Latham. He used it with his 259 inch engine. The SCTA allowed blown and unblown to run in the same class with a blower set down engine sizes. 260, 305 were 2 of the inch sizes at that time. I'll need to look up in my old rule books the others if anyone wants to know.
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By bird55 - 12 Years Ago
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bird55 (4/10/2013)
I've been trying to identify wha those items might be on the ground? The stuff right below her feet? Looks like one onf those axial Judson superchargers, but probably not. just a wild guess.
Sure is a great pic. Thanks again for posting it.
thanks for the reply DryLakesRacer. You're right I meant to say Latham!
I went back and read the story on the HAMB article again and it does mention Karol did run that setup on that car at one time, later on. So this photo is probably from later in the racing career of that Vicky. Also the exhaust thru the fender wasn't added till later. good to know my old eyes and brain haven't quite given up yet. 
Sure is great to look over this old history.
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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Dry lakes, what does the C/G stand for in "Bonneville talk" ? Or is that c gas from drag racing?
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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I thought that was for cee/girl. Chuck
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By speedpro56 - 12 Years Ago
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I bet it worked too..
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By speedpro56 - 12 Years Ago
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I'll have to say I really admire Karol Miller for his achievements. He stepped up and showed everyone what a great engine the Y was with some extraordinary tuning from his own experiences in his tech dept.( small garage behind the house ). He expelled the myths of it being a shallow breathing engine there by winding it to 7000 grand during shifts sure cleared that up at Bonneville.
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By DryLakesRacer - 12 Years Ago
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Besides Cee/Girl it stood for C/ Gas Coupe and Sedan. Back then (no-production) this was more of a production class style which allowed blowers/superchargers with a 2 engine class bump. I surmise that this was the 259 CI which would have been in "E" but with the Latham went up to "C". "E" was under 260. "D" was 261 to 305 and "C" was 306 and above; not sure where it ended but I believe it followed today of 375. "B" was to 440 and above was "A" There was no "AA" .
Crazy, but I believe there was a time where 305 or "D" was the biggest allowable blown engine. and that ran as an "A". Another thing was the Fuel classes only allowed 1 jump in class instead of 2 like the gasoline classes.
Also Streamliners, Lakesters, (open wheel) Modified Roadsters. and Competition Coupes were Fuel (anything you wanted to run) because they were considered race cars and real race cars didn't use gasoline in the eyes of the SCTA.
In the late 60's or early 70's a superchared gas class was made for only coupes and sedans; so they did not need to have unblown and blown classes running together. Weird; It was that way when I started in 1974...............Lots of history there............JD
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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Take a couple years and several trips to the flats to understand all of it.
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By Ol Ford Guy - 12 Years Ago
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I think that Bonneville should be on everyones bucket list.
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By Y block Billy - 12 Years Ago
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Yes Bonneville and Loring! As I have made Lorting, Bonneville is on my list!
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