Now that the younger of our two farm boys on the West Coast has moved up to San Francisco, there are all sorts of new opportunities for new photos of the Ford Model A pickup. We’re talking of course about Aaron Von Minden from Savage Speed Garage and his parts grabber.

From way up here in Ontario….Canada, not California, I can honestly say that you guys on out west suck!

Way too cool gallery after the break
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For years I have had a fascination and love affair with the rich history of the Vanderbilt Cup Series. I must admit, one of my biggest reasons for this interest is because of that same history as it relates to the area which I call home… San Francisco. This story has it all, intrigue, fortunes, men with power, race cars, airplanes, world travel.

To get things started it helps to understand how much more the San Francisco Vanderbilt Series Race stood out than any other race and that’s saying something considering how amazing any of the Vanderbilt Series Cup events were. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was a world’s fair held in San Francisco
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I could use some help. A while back I wrote an article on the Vanderbilt Cup history in San Francisco and as a result I was contacted in a effort to help identify the amazing car in this photo. Even more amazing is who the gentleman is sitting in the passenger seat. If anyone has any information about this car whatsoever please contact me at gfaules44@aol.com.

Ms TL Thousand is the owner of the photo and it was said to have been taken in Dubuque Iowa. TL is the grandchild of the driver in the photo. I was asked to help identify the brand or type of car as they suspected the car might have some connection to the “Maytag” Mason Hill Climber or Goat. Ms TL Thousand wrote, “My grandfather (a German immigrant and mechanical engineer) used to be a chauffeur for Fred Dusenberg circa 1916-1918. I have an absolutely fabulous photo of my grandfather and Fred seated in an unidentified racing car — a car whose lines look very much like it could be a non-stripped down version of the Maytag “Goat” 2-cylinder racer.”

Duesenberg and Maytag had a collaboration going on with the Mason Car Company so there may be a connection. Fred Duesenberg may have either had a hand in this car or simply knew the fellow that owned it and just wanted a picture of himself in it.

Gary Faules’ recent postings on the history of racing in San Francisco stirred up a good deal of interest and more than their fair share of comments. They have also introduced us to Peter McKercher, who is attempting to chronicle the history of Singer race cars in the Fifties.

The shot above shows Johnny Martin at Pomona in 1954 behind the wheel of a 1953 SM 1500 twin carb, being chased by 3 generations of MG. If anybody out there has more images of these cars or some personal memories, just let us know through the comments section below and we’ll make sure Peter gets them.

A lot of what I enjoy most about The GarageBlog is that anyone who enjoys automobiles whether it be late model, old school, muscle, antique cars or even the latest on luggage racks with lipstick holders, can find something for every need here. One minute we can ask ourselves what was the biggest news coming out of the Nascar circuit this year and the next we can be reading why we shouldn’t be buying a sports car from Germany. (Do they really make sports car in Germany?)

Recently I have noticed several share my appreciation for some of the history of racing right here in my own back yard so I thought I would attempt to share some of this.
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Having grown up in a small town along the southwestern coast of Oregon I never stopped dreaming about many of the same things as any other red blooded boy… girls, cars, girls, travel, girls, and cars. Funny as it is I was the son of a man who owned lumber mills and much of his lumber over the years was shipped to San Francisco. Later in life my travels led me to eventually make my home in San Francisco. As I could afford it and as opportunities made themselves available I became involved in the sport auto racing. When I was about 19 years old there was an old man in a wrecking yard that would tell me stories about his uncle who raced on board tracks in San Francisco but to tell the truth for many years I always believed he was tipping the bottle too much and whenever I asked anyone else about “board” tracks they all laughed at me.
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