Im sure there are a lot of you guys that haven't seen this movie, you almost had to buy it (I did) to see it I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and I see its available to watch instantly if you have an account. Heck sign up for the free week or whatever it is they offer just so you can catch this show. You wont regret it.
Heck,We have been signed up with Net Flix for a couple of years now to keep my 4 year old granddaughter amused when she is at the shop and all I ever heard was Sponge Bob,,I wasn't aware there was something I might enjoy. I'm looking forward to being at work on Monday now! HRP
I bumped into it on Netflix a few weeks ago... neat pciture. I really enjoyed the story of the car after its primary racing days were over. Never donate anything to the state... they don't take care of it!
If you type Hot Rod or Bonneville, stuff like that in the search they actually have a bunch of good car type movies. They even have a bunch of the old black and white movies with old hot rods and customs. Just get creative in the search you will get some interesting stuff...I even found the movie Senna on watch instantly. Im not a big formula one fan but Ryan mentioned in a thread it was a good flick, so Im going to check it out.
Great documentary filled with some amazing stories and tons of history. Watched it recently and I will watch it again it was that good. Thumbs up!
Finally had a chance to see the documentary,,I was Familiar with Ab's accomplishments but a lot of blanks were filled in. HRP
I just signed in to my account, its a Watch Instantly account ... typed Bonneville in the search (upper right corner) and its the first movie that came up. Maybe they have different selections for different countries?
http://www.boysofbonneville.com/ Had to bump this topic back to the top. I bought the video for myself and a gift for my nephews. Watched it on Christmas morning and again later that evening when things died down. Burt Monro had a great story, but this is in the mind that there had to be someone that did it first. I highly reccomend this to anyone who really likes history, the history of autos, the history of land speed, and real people who moved the bar of history. Wonder what other gems are out there that we dont know about. Face it, history is damn cool.
Thanks for the heads-up on Boys of Bonneville, I loaded it up and previewed it, I am definitely going to watch it. I will also do a little more digging around on Netflix. In the "new economy" I ditched my Dish 2 years ago to save $$ and I use a ROKU and Netflix now. Not only saves $$, but time, as I really don't need to watch any more stupid TV in this lifetime. Already did too much of that as a kid with The Three Stooges.
Fantastic! I didn't know old footage like that was still around. I liked the shot of Ab on his excelsior running down the railroad track to get to the salt because there were no roads yet. Netflix has it and Amazon too.
OMG. Thank you for bringing this up. I've been pouring through archive photos trying to piece together some history as it relates to the Diamond T I recently found. I didn't know abot the film and can't wait to see the whole thing.
The Diamond T dealer in Salt Lake City (Wilkinson Motors) was connected to the Republican party, as was Jenkins. Wilkinson was also the Aurbun Cord Duesenberg dealer. The original Mormon Meteor was Duesenberg powered. Ab also ran Auburns and Cords on the salt. So there were multiple ties that put Diamond T trucks on the salt in supporting roles. I've been posting bits of evidence as I find them in a photo essay at http://imageevent.com/shaggy/lsrdiamondt
Ab described it as like riding a frightened buffalo. No doubt, they had to put some high gears in it to break 60 mph. You'd think they would have put smooth tires on it-at least on the front.
I finally got to watch the movie last night. It was great! Most of it followed almost exactly waht Ab wrote in this book I found from 1939. Jenkins' goal it seemed was not to promote himself, but to promote Bonneville as the place to go fast. He recruited the Brits to come to Utah and break his records. Sometimes they did. Even when their cars went faster, it seemd that no single driver's endurance matched Ab Jenkins. Jenkins attributed his physical achievements to clean living and an example to avoid alcohol and tobacco. Today, while cleaning out the Salt Lake Diamond T, I found a ball point pen advertising insurance for "Non-Drinkers". I suppose that would be common in Utah? Wish I could believe that the pen came from a famous non-drinker.
A photo matching this one was included in the film. It was a close-up of the crew in front of the rig. You couldn't see the Diamond T 201 on film that is visible just behind the Mormon Meteor in this pic. So, no cinematic fame for my truck. There were a few Aubruns and Cords from the Wilkinson dealership scattered through the movie background. Many of the digital images I've been collecting at http://imageevent.com/shaggy/lsrdiamondt came from some of the same archives used by the film creators.
Just bought two copies on E-bay, $15 each, (one for me, one for a friend) there were eight more available.
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