Meteor barely breaks a sweat on Salt Flats

BONNEVILLE SALT FLATS — It was a reunion of sort . . . Mormon Meteor III meet Pierce-Arrow I. Marv Jenkins did the introduction. He knew both cars well.

The reunion took place Thursday on the Bonneville Salt Flats where life actually began for the two historic vehicles. Both cars were built for early race driver Ab Jenkins to run on Bonneville. Marv Jenkins, Ab's son, helped build and drive both cars back in the 1930s and 1940s when world-speed racing held a strong grip on the country.

Thursday, both cars ran on the salt, the Mormon Meteor for the first time in 53 years and the Pierce-Arrow, this one, anyway, for the first time.

Actually, the 1934 Pierce-Arrow is not really Ab's car but an exact replica built by car enthusiast John Hollansworth, a retired Arkansas executive, who, it so happens, has an interest in old cars. Having heard about Ab's early runs, he did some research and found the car no longer existed . . . so he built an exact, right down to the knock-off hubs and V-12 Pierce-Arrow engine with six precisely tuned carburetors.

So perfect was the car, when Hollansworth started the engine to drive it from its trailer, a small bead of water could be seen in the corner of Marv Jenkins' eye.

"It looks exactly like the old car. It sounds exactly like the old Pierce-Arrow. Exactly. Looking at it, as it sits there now, it brings back a lot of memories. A lot of good memories," he said in a somewhat subdued tone.

Marv was 14 when his father put him on a train for a four-day ride back to Buffalo, N.Y., to the Pierce-Arrow plant to help build the car. Six weeks later, Ab climbed in the driver's seat and drove for three days back to Salt Lake City.

"We drove right out to the salt, changed the points and plugs, that's about all we did, and then Dad went out and set a 24-hour record with an average speed of 127.9 miles per hour," Marv recalled as he watched the car roll out Thursday.

"That was the last time Dad drove for Pierce-Arrow and the last time he drove the entire 24 hours by himself. The next year he was driving for Duesenberg. And, after that, he always had backup drivers."

Hollansworth built the car with hopes of matching or going over Ab's 127.9 record. He'll try to hit the speed on a single run. He has until the end of the World of Speed event, which ends Sunday. He was slow Thursday, maybe topping 100 mph.

"Tomorrow, I'll take the fan off and change the gears. And, I'll talk to Marv," he said after three test runs.