The enclosed newspaper article from the front page of our local rag says it all...please read. Eric has had a hand in almost every old school and new school hot rod in our town, but he was an old-school traditionalist at heart. I got to know him because I bought my bug convert from Erics neighbor across the street and found out Eric had done a lot of the modifications on it originally in his shop back in the late 70's after rescuing the car from a back yard briar patch, and Eric was a good friend of the painter at the body shop I was working at back then. He was a gentle, meticulous and precise man with the biggest grin in the world. He knew his ****, and everyone here knew it as well, and respected him because of it. He would help anyone who had need, he would gladly give you his advise if you hit a brick wall, and he was a master at execution of ideas. He has a modified single seat 30's dirt track car he has built entirely by hand...there is not a single part newer than 1940 on the car that is 90% finished. Eric and I independently had the same idea of building one of these back in the late 70's, and one day several years later, Eric invited me over to his house to see what he had done...I walked into his living room and there in all its glory sat this bare steel, wire wheeled rolling ch***is for this very car. I will try to post pix of it later. I believe his brother and others plan to finish the car in Erics honor, and possibly bring it to Bonneville and let it "taste the salt" and be re-united with its "papa"...well, read the story below...you'll get it. He was "the hot-rodder's hot-rodder." ERICS STILL CRUISIN Many in Eugenes hot rod community mourn longtime gearhead Eric Sanders By Tim Christie The Register-Guard Published: September 20, 2008 Sometime early next month, the ashes of Eric Sanders will be packed into a parachute behind a 1953 Studebaker and be ****tered into the desert winds of Utah as the bright yellow coupe rockets down a dry lake bed at top speed. There could no more fitting requiem for Sanders, a lifelong gearhead, than the roar of an alcohol-fueled hot rod at terminal velocity on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Sanders, a Eugene resident, died Sept. 7 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a devastating ailment commonly known as Lou Gehrigs disease. He was 61. News of his death was a tough blow for his many friends in the hot rod subculture of Eugene, who say he put a bolt on just about every hot rod built in this city. He was the ultimate old-school hot rodder and ch***is builder, said Bob White, owner of Graffiti Alley, a parts store for hot rodders. He was a pillar in the hot rod community, bar none. He was extraordinarily knowledgeable about cars and hot rod culture and knew how to ***emble a hot rod from the ground up, White said. He was way ahead of everybody else, White said. Sanders worked as a boilermaker and steel fabricator before starting a home business, Erics Garage, about 20 years ago. He was a bachelor who kept a motorcycle in his bedroom and whose home was filled with carburetors, engines and various parts, said Rick Sanders, his older brother, who worked with Eric on building numerous cars. When he worked on a car, he was patient and meticulous, taking the time to do a job right the first time, Rick Sanders said. If a project needed a part that wasnt readily available, hed build it himself. He was an excellent, excellent fabricator, he said. He only had to do it once. When it was done, it was done right. Earlier this week, on one of the last warm evenings of summer, more than 100 of his friends rumbled into Graffiti Alley on River Road, packing the parking lot with vintage cars, many of which he helped to build. The smell of grilling burgers mixed with motor oil as the middle-aged white men swapped stories and remembered their friend. Many knew Eric from their high school days at North Eugene and Sheldon. These are guys who remember paddling down River Road when the Willamette flooded and cruising on it most any Friday night. Guys who remember when the Balboa drag strip in west Eugene was the place to be and for whom the Bonneville Salt Flats is the Promised Land. Bob Drury, known as Low Ride to friends, said Eric inspired him to build his 1953 Studebaker and to run it at Bonneville. He was very good about helping people to do things mechanically they had never thought of doing themselves, he said. He was an inspiration to a lot of us. Drury recalled talking to Eric after he found out he had ALS. He asked him if he belonged to any support groups that could help him deal with his illness. Sanders looked at him, incredulous what do you mean, support groups, he said. He said, I dont need that, Drury said. My support group is my family and my friends and thats all I need. The idea of ****tering Sanders ashes at Bonneville arose a few months ago when Drury, who now lives in Vancouver, Wash., was visiting Sanders. Drury asked him if hed thought about a funeral, and Sanders said no, he just wanted to be cremated. Drury told him hed be honored to ****ter his ashes on the salt flats. Sanders smiled and, with a *****le in his eye, said that would be really cool. This is perfectly in tune with Eric, Drury said. Erics family endorsed the idea, and after Erics death, Drury began making plans to head down for World Finals of Land Speed Racing, Oct. 8-11, but a problem arose. Drury had to spend $3,000 to repair the transmission on his tow truck, which he needed to transport his Studebaker, and he didnt have the cash to go to Bonneville next month. The spreading of the ashes would have to wait until next August at Speed Week. Then Drury got a phone call from John Woodrich, a friend of Erics for more than 40 years. Eric cant wait until next summer, Woodrich told Drury. What do you need to go? Drury told him, and Wood*rich offered to underwrite the cost of trip. The Bonneville Salt Flats in northwestern Utah is a remnant of Lake Bonne*ville. Its flat, hard surface is a mecca for speed enthusiasts, a place where hundreds of speed records have been set and broken. Weather permitting, sometime on the morning of Oct. 9, Drury will fire up his Studebaker, which boasts a whopping 830 horsepower, put the pedal to metal and start building speed on the five-mile course. Some time between mile four and five, Drury hopes to hit or exceed 250 mph, at which point hell deploy the twin parachutes and send Erics ashes whipping into the dry desert air. Well put some nitro in the tank so he gets a good whiff on his way out, Drury said. Hell be with his heroes forever.
I lost my Grandfather to that disease - God Speed to your friend till you meet in Hot Rod Heaven again.
I saw this in the paper this morning. I didn't know Eric, but Eugene can use as many hot rodders as we can get. Sad to hear.
Believe you me, Eric's examples and inspiration has caused many a fence-sitter to finally make the move to get off their ***es and get their car done, and thats why Eugene has a LOT of hot rods...because of a few guys like him. This town is better for it, too.
R.I.P. Sounds like he was a stand up guy. Thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family. Sounds like Bonneville is a fitting final resting place for his ashes.
wow... this is crazy. i knew eric, but i didn't know he was dead or even sick. i moved from eugene and hadn't seen him in a few years. everything that was said about him above is true. eric was a great guy and did top shelf work... flawless... he knew me because i bought a 26 chevy speedster. he was always there to loan you something or give you ideas... going over to his place was always inspiring. he had an 8 bay shop next to his house full of the coolest rides you ever saw... gentle, kind and a giving person, his life was just all about cars and speed and friends... this is sad news... but what a send off... the salt flats... that must have made him happy... we miss you eric.... g
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