Monday, October 26, 2009

Racing at 220MPH Across Utah's Salt Flats

Can you imagine racing a car on the salt flats out west? Can you imagine going so fast that you need a parachute to stop? Can you imagine building a small block engine capable of reaching speeds of over 200 miles per hour? I can't imagine it, but my brother has done it! He didn't do it for fame though, he did it because he loves cars and a challenge.

My oldest brother, Tom, left home after he graduated from high school to attend GMI, General Motors Institute, in Flint, Michigan. The co-op program he enrolled in required applicants to find a GM division to be their sponsor. Work and school were mixed in six-week rotations with a thesis requirement in the fifth year.

Tom graduated from GMI in 1967, the same year I graduated from high school. He was employed by GM until he retired.

Cars were Tom's hobby as well. I've presented articles from Street Rodder and Hot Rod magazines that featured two of his cars.

(I'm sorry that some of the photos of the magazine pages are turned sideways. I'm not as clever as I'd like to be when it comes to posting my photos. Also, you can click on the photos to enlarge them).































3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shaddy this is so neat! My 14 year old son has chosen this field as his profession. He’s in the middle school honors program and working with guidance to ensure he is accepted into the program. He will really enjoy this post and I hope you don’t mind that I printed it down to show him.

Anonymous said...

Auntie and Uncle were very impressed with your blog on Tom, you did a super job and I am sure he still holds the speed record. Tom will be pleased with your latest BLog.

Cheryl Peters said...

darksculptures: That's awesome. Tell your son I wish him well. I certainly don't mind that you printed my post for him to check out. What are the chances of me posting this and having it be so relevant to your son's future plans??

I think my brother, Tom, read about GMI in a Popular Mechanics magazine that he got from his cousin.

It's great that your son has already made decisions regarding his future profession. I still don't know what I want to be!!

Auntie Babe and Uncle Allen: I knew you'd be interested in seeing photos and reading about these cars of Tom's. It's exciting to see it all written up in great detail.

Maybe I can talk Tom into e-mailing me pictures of all of the other show cars he's owned and worked so hard on. It'd be fun to put them all on my blog.

His very first car was a '55 Chevy. If I remember correctly, he bought it just a few days before he left home to start school at GMI.