Hi Everybody, I'm Washington Bob and new to this forum. I am looking for information about the automotive author Roger Huntington. He wrote loads of articles in most of the car magazines in the 1960's and 70's. Mostly high performance articles but other technical stuff as well. I have heard that he is deceased but can find no record of it. If he is still with us I would like to email him concerning a project car that I have that he was supposedly involved with during the 60's. Any help you folks can provide will be most appreciated. Thanks so much, Washington Bob
Bob, welcome to the H.A.M.B. I have some references in magazines to "the late Roger Huntington", (as well as many articles authored by him), and took it that he p***ed away sometime in the early '90s. I believe I even had an obituary in PHR- from around that timeframe....but I got rid of many old magazines and no longer have it. It possibly could have been in the mid or late '80s, for that matter...doesn't seem like that far back.
I believe that he was the one that wrote an article about the maximum speed possible in the 1/4 mile was 160 Miles per hr.
Hmmm...neat article. Had no luck Googling it. ?? What's the project car?? I'd bet money that someone here has info about it.
Dead..wrote in every magazine there was, lots! He predicted 1 G accel would be max in the quarter mile (something in the 9's, 140's), bravely ate crow in Rod&Custom when the Chrisman flathead blew throught the barrier in 1954. Hundreds of tech articles and road tests, designed a flyweight Pontiac T v8 roadster in HRM. He was totally crippled, don't remember just how, and worked from m***ive research and riding shotgun for the road tests. Several neat books, including one of the best on flatheads. Member SAE. I purchased two of his working s****books a couple of years ago--big books stuffed with cut out articles from British and US auto mags arranged for his research on technical development of the auto. You probably would have a hard time buying a '50's magazine without his tech in it, including MANY on topics like drilling holes in axles that still stir up HAMBage, or a sixties one without one of his super stock or musclecar tests.
As Bruce stated, Mr. Huntington was a quadraplegic from a spinal injury from a diving accident when he was a teenager. Unfortunately he died in 1989, at the age of 63. There is an in-depth interview with him in Albert Drake's book "Hot Rodder! From Lakes to Street" Mick
Roger was indeed a prolific writer on all things performance related to the automobile. before his death you could hardly pick up an auto related magazine w.o. finding his name a**** the contributers. The group I raced with during the heyday of stock cl*** drag racing, Shaker Engineering, was proud to have known Roger and considered him a friend. A couple of articles he wrote about traction devices used our '62 409 B/S as an example of getting the most out of rules allowable traction modifications. He used that car and a couple of others we prepared to illustrate the dynamics involved in accelerating an automobile from a standing start. One quick story, During the Nationals at Indy in 1964 we were in the pits getting to make some runs and Roger spotted us from the timing tower, took the mike and greeted us to the meet. We waved back to acknowledge his jesture. About 10 minutes later up rolls his wheel chair and an eager hand reaches out to shake hands all around. He had had the two ***istants with him carry his wheelchair down out of the tower and wheeled across the pit area to say hello. After the intros he wheeled over to our latest car and practically pulls himself out of the chair to examine the underhood layout, followed by directing his ***istant to push him around to the other side all the while taking notes on what he observed, clicking off a few pictures and shooting questions as to why certain things had been done the way we had done them. His curiousity knew no bounds and everything had to be explained according to sound engineering and physics principles. It was sad to hear of his p***ing, but one thing remains and that's his example of not letting a handicap keep you from doing what you love to do. Frank
IS this the same Huntington thta worte the "Huntington Papers" (sp?) ?? I remember reading those when I could find them. Which wasn't often as I was born a tad late.
Hey everybody, Thanks so much for your information. I searched the net for days and could only find info on his books....nothing on Roger H. Again...your help is so much appreciated. Bob
He also ran his own mag for a while...Soup Up, circa 1957. I don't think it lasted long...typical small East Coast looking magazine, BUT with a dynamite RH tech article in each issue. His articles are more common in the small mags than in Petersen ones, I guess because he was an outsider selling stuff rather than a captive payroll writer.
The Jalopy Journal
