All photos and captions from here: https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrxp-1105-a-year-in-the-life-of-eric-rickman-1958/ Well it's been awhile since I found a subject worthy of a HAMB post. But now I have dug up a GOOD one. It's from Hot Rod back in 2012 and written by HAMBs own Pat Ganhal about 1958 and Eric Rickman and some of his shots from that year. It's a quite long story and you can read it all at the link, if you are so inclined, but in this thread I will be just posting the photos and trying to match the photos with the correct captions from the story. (if you go to the link you will see what I mean about TRYING to match the captions) Eric took some iconic shots and the other threads about him I have posted were a hit so I'm sure you members will enjoy these too. As before I will be posting about five shots per post to spread out your enjoyment. The beginning of the story from Pat We've barely scratched the surface of the Eric Rickman photo files. For this issue, the editor looked at several hundred images Rick shot during calendar year 1958 and selected more than 100 to give you some small idea what this tireless, inventive, always-eager Petersen Publishing Co. (PPC) employee was doing during those 365 days. We don't think he ever took an actual day off; a vacation for Rick was going on assignment to Florida, or Mexico, or New England to cover a racing event or car show. (This thread only has about 20) Some 1958 covers seem conspicuously absent here, we submit three reasons: (1) Whereas black-and-white film rolls were well organized in PPC's film archive, individual color negs and transparencies were not, resulting in considerable losses through carelessness or theft; (2) some cover subjects were shot by staff photographers added to PPC's roster after Rickman's arrival (1950); (3) due to magazines' three-month lead time, most of the material published in early 1958 issues was actually shot the previous year (watch for Rick's 1957 photos in a future issue). The following pages illustrate plenty of amusing, unusual, and historically significant photography from calendar year 1958, most of which has never before been seen by anyone except Eric and whoever processed his film. We'll tell you what we know about it, guess at what we don't, and encourage you old-timers to continue filling in the blanks for those of us too young to know what we're missing. We picked this one for the lead shot because it offers rare, previously unpublished insight into how Eric Rickman worked. As he did so often, Rick handed off one of his cameras and said, "Take my picture!" It's just as typical that he's shirtless, up on a ladder, and wearing a jaunty cap. The photo taking shape in his big, "view" camera ended up as the full-cover image for the Feb. '59 issue: the gold-painted, highly chromed, Hilborn-injected Cadillac engine in Webb Callahan's '34 Ford drag-coupe chassis. It's a shame not to see sex-bomb Mamie Van Doren posed with Bill Morse's brand-new Titian Red Impala, as seen on the June cover, but those photos were taken by an MGM publicity photographer. However, Rick's high-angle rear shot shows just how sexy the all-new Chevy was with just a little dechroming and scallops plus some serious lowering, as demonstrated by Morse, who rebuilt the brand-new car in eight weeks at his El Monte, California, muffler shop. In the '50s, Indy was still a hot rodders' race, with drivers that started racing roadsters on dirt tracks. Rick and the editors knew that any rodder loved seeing the detailed workmanship on these Indy "roadsters." So, the June '58 issue not only had an Offy engine on the cover but also led off the annual Indy Preview article (wherein Brock and Rick visited the shops to see cars in progress) with an outlined version of this new Kurtis Kraft with its Offy "laid down" to 15 degrees from horizontal--lowering the CG and putting the driveline weight on the left (inboard) side. Greg Sharp notes that this car became the D-A Lubricant Special, driven in 1958 by Johnny Thomson. You can't tell from the rear shot--and Rick didn't noticethat Bill Commane's flawless, black Ford coupe is a '39 with '40 DeLuxe fenders, hood, and trim. A three-page "roto" (i.e., green-tinted) feature in Aug '58 correctly called it a sleeper and included chassis shots Rick got on a rack (though it didn't show the Halibrand quick-change). The big, three-carb, 332-inch GMC six was built by "the late" Manny Ayulo, while bodywork was handled by Eddie Kuzma--two Indy greats. It wasn't a typical hot rod, but it was a very impressive piece. Well that's it for today my brain is frazzled trying to match photos with captions. More to follow in the coming days.
Some more for today's enjoyment. The June '58 story was about bolt-in rollbars, showing Sidney Malcolm and friend (pictured) quickly installing one in this Olds-powered '28 A pickup, as well as Dick Scritchfield doing likewise in his well-known '32 roadster. Not shown was this great sequence of stripping the top and windshield from the street-driven truck, bolting on a set of slicks, then blasting off the line at what appears to be the Old San Gabe strip. One way to get drag trophies and records in the '50s was to enter a two-seater into the much-less-populated Sport and Modified Sport classes. However, if you were unlucky, you'd have to face Sam Parriott's gorgeous and fast, candy-red, Cad-powered Kurtis that ruled the roost for several years. It got a Rickman color shot on the Sept. '58 cover, plus two pages inside. If you look closely at the Bill Edwardsbuilt engine, you might notice the Cad-Olds S.Co.T. blower is bigger than the common Ford flathead unit, and what look like dual four-barrels are actually four pruned 97s on a common, custom-built base--ingenuity in action! Still more to come
Loudbang, This is one of my favorite shots by Eric Rickman. The fresh rebuild of the Swindler II in the staging lanes circa 1962. Doug behind the wheel and Tim behind the door. One of the photos I used to capture likeness during the restoration. Pardon the water mark.
And when was the last time you were under the hood...wearing a tie? Always love these @loudbang vintage pic threads
Today's batch Too much to say here. It's the famous orange Iacono six-cylinder dragster that shared the Jan. '59 cover. Who took the obvious setup of Rick in San Pedro, California, wearing a tie (!), with his 4x5 camera and big flash? Greg Sharp says it was his own next-door neighbor, Bob Brownell, the kid seen assisting Ike Iacono here. Bob took pictures for his school paper and started doing tune-ups at Ike's gas station at the tender age of 15. Greg adds that this is the neighborhood hot rod that turned him on to hot rodding, big time. [Editor's note: It must've made quite an impression on your author, as well, because Too Tall Ganahl is the restorer and current owner of this dragster. --DW] Art Ingles, a metalshaper in the Kurtis shops, invented the go-kart, and that might be him in the apron. Because go-karts, by various names, were a hot, new topic (and ad-revenue resource), "How to Build a Go-Kart" was on Rick's story list for the October issue. Greg Sharp pinpointed this one: It's Jim Fowler's handbuilt "sports rod" with an injected '58 Olds engine and a 'glass body by Sports Car Engineering, as seen in the Jan. '59 story titled "Screaming Banshee." Photos show it finished in silver paint. The text says it set records at three different tracks within 24 hours, first day out! It's obviously a well-engineered, well-crafted car, but what we love are the photos showing how it was built in Fowler's Van Nuys home garage and driveway--especially the shot with Rick's car parked alongside. The Corvette truly was this hot rodder's year-round transportation, and you'll note the absence of a top in every photo. To be continued
Thank you Loudbang! Please keep em coming! We can't get this stuff in magazines any longer! I am glad that you have access to these and want to share it with us!
As always with Mickey Thompson, there's a story here, and this one went untold in all of the magazines we researched. We knew that M/T's Cad-powered Kurtis was at Riverside for the USAC Grand Prix at Riverside Raceway, that Jerry Unser is at the wheel in the action shot, and that the guy in the goofy hat is The Mick himself. As for why he's in the wheelchair, we struck out until Judy Thompson recalled how her late hubby had crashed into Ak Miller (!) during practice, shattering his kneecap. We'd also like to know the purpose of that large, round canister, with hoses hooked to it, in front of the engine (a fuel radiator?). Rick, the guy on the right in the tilted hat next to the "HOT ROD Magazine" Peugeot (!), doesn't look too happy about participating in the Mobil Mileage Rally (probably under Wally's orders, in consideration of Motor Trend advertisers). At least he and his unidentified co-driver didn't have to drive one of the tiny Renault Dauphines or other weird, underpowered imports lined up behind L.A. 's Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. To be continued
Actually, if you want to win a mileage rally, you want a "weird, underpowered" car. I call dibs on the Goggomobil coupe in the lower right. Probably the smallest engine in the bunch.
Devin, a longtime advertiser in HRM, manufactured one of the better kit cars of the many available. Still, when we saw a photo with 25 (count 'em) bodies stacked in Devin's big warehouse, we all went, "Whoa!" We've never seen anything like this before. The second shot of a bare fiberglass body next to the simple tube frame with early Ford axles and suspension is a typical product shot. The Devin-bodied Knoop-Huffaker Special made the October cover and center spread with a similar shell, but mounted on a much more sophisticated chassis. Looks like one already built in the left background. Do you think Rick took Christmas Day off? We wonder. The last roll on his log sheet for 1958 was entered as "Hollywood Car Show--NHRA Booth." That's the beautiful Scotty's Muffler T roadster on display inside a building that Sharp identifies as Hollywood Legion Stadium, the L.A. home of Roller Derby, pro wrestling, and other '50s favorites. DECEMBER 30: That's the date this final roll was turned in, but absent any description, so we can't say where Rickman and his boss, Petersen photo director Bob D'Olivo, pitched camp on this night. They're obviously in a no-frills motel somewhere on the road. Given that D'Olivo is putting his gear away in one photo, still wearing his HRM hat and shirt, and looking bushed in the other, we'd say they spent a long day covering some event. The lingering question is: Why did Rick snap these photos? These guys weren't particularly fond of each other, so perhaps Rick had a couple of frames left on his last roll. More likely, he just couldn't stop snapping pictures. It was in his blood. This one I don't know what it represents and looked everywhere for a caption that matches with no luck. Well sad to say that's it for this batch hope you enjoyed the shots. But the good news is I have already found the next batch and it won't be as long between threads this time.
That's Bob De'olivio (sp?) he was the photography director for all of the Petersen magazines for years. Some of his outstanding work was in center spreads for GUNS & AMMO showing collector fire arms.
The Jalopy Journal
