Comments on: San Francisco auto racing memoirs 1950-1956

By: gfaules44@aol.com

gfaules44@aol.com — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:32:53 +0000

Dave, any possibility of you contacting me? I sure would like to see your photos.

By: dave

dave — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:37:47 +0000

I have over 90 photo’s 1953 pebble beach road races

By: Tom Sahines

Tom Sahines — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:10:17 +0000

If interested in learning more about sports car racing at Golden Gate Park you might want to get this book
Golden Gate Remembered (Paperback)
Art Evans (Author), Gary Horstkorta (Author)
You will be amazed at the depth of coverage about this unique auto racing event from the early 1950’s

By: Gary Faules

Gary Faules — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:53:57 +0000

Bruce,

During my research I was contacted by someone who mentiond growing up near the dirt oval of the Polo Fields and it was exciting to hear about. With respect to Oakland, you memories are indeed very real. My good friend, the legendary Hershel McGriff himself, told me recently about many races he won at Oakland both on dirt and pavement. One of his best stories that I enjoy was when we spoke about how many trophies we have given or thrown away over the years but in the same breath how there always seems to be that special one. In Hershel’s case it was the time back on the early 50s when he won a race in Oakland. It was in 1954, and Hershel won the feature event in the inaugural year of the NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model series, which would later be renamed the NASCAR Winston West Series. McGriff drove Beryl Jackson’s Oldsmobile in 2 Grand National events setting the pole at Oakland. But Hershel accidently forgot the trophy in his hotel room so one of the maids kept the trophy all these years but upon learning he was still alive not to mention racing she found out how to contact him and sent it back to him some 60 years later.

By: Bruce Moore

Bruce Moore — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:13:57 +0000

I am trying to see if anyone remembers an auto race in Golden Gate Park, on the upper (dirt) oval of the Polo Fields. This would have been around 1956, 57 or 58. I remember it to be very noisy and dusty. I also remember a race held in Oakland on the newly paved runways that had not been opened yet for jet use. Perhaps these are false memories, as I was only 4 when my father started taking me to auto races (including Pebble Beach).

By: Gary Grant

Gary Grant — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:46:07 +0000

Yes, we’d love to see it Paul! I’ll send you an e-mail.

By: Paul Maher

Paul Maher — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:11:12 +0000

Hello, If any of you guys are interested in an early, 1910-ish photo of 11 cars getting ready to race in San Francisco drop me a line. It is a stunning image.

Best Regards, Paul

By: Peter McKercher

Peter McKercher — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:05:52 +0000

I assume that is Phil Hill driving 2 Junior, the 260 V8 Mg TC

By: Peter McKercher

Peter McKercher — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:54:18 +0000

I am trying to gather pictures of Singer sports cars racing in the Fifties. I have a number of them shown at Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, Santa Barbara, Pomona, Palm Springs, Madera, Chino and other circuits in California and have been fortunate enough to track down some of the drivers as well. My intention is to scrap bbok them for the North American Singer Owners Club to help preserve this fabulous bit of American history. So far I have about 50 shots which I’ve annotated according to who, what and where (including rare shots of a Singer Special driven by Dick van Laanen, friend and contemporary of Ken Miles). If you have any shots featuring Singers (or in which Singers are visible) and would like to assist me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Peter

By: Paul Chenard

Paul Chenard — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:41:07 +0000

Gary
Thanks for recounting something that can’t be picked up in a book or magazine. Stories like this only confirm how great a gentleman Mr. Hill is.

What a rush it must have been to spend some time with him, and then to be honoured by him. Your son (and you) must have had a perma-grin after that.

I have some photos of Mr. Hill signing my “Phil Hill in winning Ferraris” series limited editions; I”ll send them along to you.

Cheers!
Paul