Memories of Ex-Hot-Rodder

* Re: “Life’s a Drag” (Dec. 27):

I read the article with deep interest [as a] hot-rodder myself when I was a youngster, especially between the years of 1938 and 1941.

However, the first legal drag strip in the United States was not on what is now John Wayne Airport. In the 1930s, there were a number of well-organized hot-rod groups: the BB Barrels, the 90 Miles-Per-Hour Club, and several others that I have long forgotten. Some were state-sponsored, in such areas as the dry lakes and desert around Lancaster and even at the old Ascot Speedway near Los Angeles.

One requirement was that all glass had to be removed from a vehicle prior to any race to ensure safety. Some participants even installed roll bars so that vehicles could be turned over at high speeds.

In those days the most popular vehicles were V-8 Fords. Flat heads, ground cams, dual carburetors and hand-pumped fuel injection systems made by many talented youngsters made the hot-rods of that time.

JIM SMITH

Brea