Event Coverage E.J. Potter at the Gilmore Car Museum's "1/4 Mile at a Time"

I had to miss it, but my buddy Clyde took these pictures, Clyde owns E.J. Potters "Bloody Mary II" that was on display, he drove there with Wally Knoch of "Walt's Puffer" fame,.... E.J. drove down with his daughter "Allison" (no kidding, that's what he named her),..... here are a couple of pictures.

Clyde and E.J.






Walt and E.J.


Walt and his car,.....

 

now thats cool....

 

No kiddin thats cool. Bet your hangin on to those pics for a long time to come.

Brad

 

I LOVE the Gilmore Museum. What a great place to visit in the summer. Imagine big red historic barns set on 80 acres of green lawns with asphalt roads connecting them and surrounded by white fences. Now imagine all those barns full of the coolest old car collections......ah yes, my kind of place. I want to go back.

 

They are having a traditional car show the last Sunday in Sept. Cross the Mississippi and meet me there.

I've always wondered what Walt would look like with clothes on above his beltline considering he never wears a shirt at the local cruzn nights.

 

E.J. Potter is a living legend! We used to see him run the bike and the Allison powered Plymouth at Camp Wheeler, here in Macon, in the early '60s. He put on a show I haven't, nor will ever forget.

 

Best offer I have had all day.... Here is more info on the Gilmore...http://www.gilmorecarmuseum.org/index.php

 

Rumor has it, he never really knew that a rear view mirror was to look behind a car with,..... (He was a male model in the 60's and won't let anybody forget it)

Here is Walt in 1972,

 

I've always been a big fan of E.J. Potter. There doesn't seem to be that kind of individualism (read: characters) in motorsports anymore (I would say hot roddin', too, but that seems to be shiftin' back these days).

I saw E.J. with his Allison powered tractor at a tractor pull in Atlanta back in the late 70's. It was a real gas seein' him. In the midst of all of these tractors with custom paint and chrome, runnin' multiple blown engines, there's E.J. with this tractor made from what looked like rusty ol' scrap "H" beams with no paint and this Allison mounted in place ... I mean this thing was a no frills built for business only machine.

I don't remember the outcome of that event ... but he was definitely the highlight.

 

I own E.J. Potters book. And everyone here should too. Great read and cool photos. When I bought it, the advertisement read. " Contrary to popular beliefe E.J. Potter is still alive and wrote this book". I knew who his was before that, but a line like that. I just had to have it.

 

The video is really awesome too. E.J. has such a dry sence of humor, and as you hear him narrate the video, you get a real feel of the whit of this man,...
E.J. is truly one of a kind.

 

Great, you can help me pass the word this summer.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=355171

 

I still dont ware a shirt, would it be asking too much if you gave me yours at the next car event?....

Wally Knoch

 

This just goes to prove,.... old drag racers are still quick off the line,.... Well how about it Denise ?

 

I saw E.J. Potter make his first pass EVER on "Bloody Mary" in 1960 at Central Michigan Dragway in Stanton, MI. Two years later I saw him JUMP OFF the thing at 140 MPH at Onondaga Dragway.

Some 3.5 decades later I saw him climb on the bike at Virgina Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, VA - after 25 years off it - and run 150 MPH!

Unreal guy.

 

That is just soooo cooooll! The Michigan Madman was one of my favourite drag racing personalities when I was a kid back in the '60s. I agree with Toby's comments about the lack of individualism in motorsport, compared to a half century ago.

Remember his 'world's largest slotcar'? I thought that was so outrageous at the time.

I think it's wonderful that the guy's still around. The world needs free thinkers like him, today, to inspire the next generation of hot rodders.

 

So!! ...anybody got any old shots of E. J.......just for old times sake ....???

 

The driver of our (Shaker Engineering) C/S 409 powered '62 SW was Ron Kendal from Ithica,
MI. E.J. was local to him for years. He could entertain you for hours with stories of E.J. I'm sure not all of them made it into his book so I intend to buy the book and fill in the blanks. If there were ever a "one of a kind" E. J. is "the man".

Frank

 

any more pics of e.j.'s stuff ?

 

EJ Potter is bad ass!!! I can't believe his bike didn't have a sidecar next to it for his BALLS!!! O.T but does anyone remember the allison aircraft powered tractor puller he built??? JOKER JASON.

 

The Michigan Madmad!
I saw him at Minnesota Dragways in the 60's he and Bloody Mary blew everybodys mind!! Who would have thought he would outlast Evil Knevel.

 

It takes balls (and a sense of humor) to do what he did to those cars and bikes.

His "Madman" nickname was earned, not given.

Here's a couple of Mopars... kinda.

 

any one got a pic of him on the bike sideways smoking the tire. i know i've seen it before. i'd like to do a painting of it.

 

...I have the book & video, everyone should have these, they are really great.
Long live E.J.!

 

Just came across these shots of E J........

 

One wild looking bike. Looking at it you know it had to be one hell of a ride down the track.