I met this man when I was 17, he was not much older. True genius can sometimes be mistaken for eccentric. Robert "Jocko" Johnson was a great mix of both. One of my true heroes.
Try a little shot of canned compressed air, like what's used for cleaning electronics. Be sure to keep the can in the upright position when using. You might also try using a soft brush. A soft bristle lens cleaning brush with a squeeze bulb blower should work well. To be safe, avoid using any cloth, tissue or liquids.
In the 1990's I had to travel the LA area for my job, I frequented "antique" shops looking for old plastic models and general cool stuff. In a store in the "old" Old Town Pasadena I found a old three foot model, or buck, or the Jockoliner made of aluminum, just bare metal, hand formed. I couldn't afford it but I often wondered who made it ( Jocko)?) and what became of it. This would have been 1993 or so.
I was working for Galoob Toys around 1995. I got in touch with Jocko, and told him that I wanted to make a tiny version of his first streamliner for Galoob's Micro Machines line. We discussed compensation for using his design, and finally agreed to give him 2000 pieces of the finished toy (it's only 1 1/2" long). He carried them around by the pocketful, and gave them away to any kids that he met.
I also count myself very lucky to be one of the few that own one of these. Body hand made by Jocko from a crude fibergl*** mold. Painted by Larry Fator.
Not at all. I found that slide and tried the compressed air but when I tried scanning it, ..... didn't work. I think I scanned them in with a negative scanner my wife bought many years ago but I'll have to check to see if it will connect up to the computer I'm using now. I remember it has a big connector, not the USB that's in use today, but there may be an adapter for that purpose. Thanks for the suggestion and nice job on the "pump-up".
I bought a new Canon negative scanner and tried cleaning the slide. I'm guessing it has been scratched during it's 55 plus year life. I used my Photoshop program to clean and crop the photo but don't know if this is much better than the first time I posted this photo.
I have nothing to add about streamlines, except that I believed in them. But I still have an old 327 turned into a 301 that he did the heads for me. And as for Emery his brother did a lot of machine work on my injected dragster. Adams spoke about Emery in those days
I remember reading about Jocko cutting an Allison V12 into a V6 for that car. Don't know if he ever got it running though......
The reason the Jocko was unstable at speed is the same that made Porsche 917's take off - the long rear body higher than the short low nose effectively made the body into an aerofoil - look at the side view of both vehicles - and just as wings make an airplane fly the Jocko and Porsche bodies wanted to fly. Lots of streamliners have had the same problem.
All those flying funny cars had the same aerodynmic problem Jocko and Porsche 917s had: the long rear body higher than the short low nose effectively made the body into an aerofoil - look at the side view of both vehicles and typical funny cars - and just as wings make an airplane fly the Jocko and Porsche bodies wanted to fly. Lots of streamliners and funny cars have had the same problem.
I was lucky enough to be able to buy this autographed model of Jocko's Liner at the 1992 SEMA show. #13
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