Like a lot of you, I'm interested in history and the people that were part of it. Recently, some people have left us that I think are worth mentioning. ------------------- (From the LA Times) Don Freeland - 82, Indy car driver. Don Freeland, 82, a Torrance race car driver who competed at the Indianapolis 500 eight times and finished third in 1956, died Friday in San Diego after a period of declining health, Indianapolis Motor Speedway said Tuesday. A Navy veteran during World War II, Freeland began racing roadsters in Southern California shortly after the war and moved up to AAA and USAC compe***ion in 1952. He had 36 top-10 finishes and was third in the 1956 USAC championship points. Freeland drove at Indianapolis from 1953-60. ----------------------------- (From the Buffalo News) David Tallichet Jr.- WW2 Aircraft Collector Dec. 20, 1922 Oct. 31, 2007 David Tallichet Jr., founder of the Anaheim, Calif., company Specialty Restaurants Corp., which owns Shanghai Reds, and once the foremost collector of flying World War II aircraft, died Wednesday. He was 84. Mr. Tallichet was born in Dallas and joined the Army Air Forces during World War II, serving in the 350th Bombardment Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, in Britain. He and his crew flew 23 combat missions in B-17 bombers. Later, he flew transport aircraft during the initial stages of the rebuilding of war-torn Europe. He began working for Hilton Hotels Corp. after the war in a variety of staff positions while serving in the New Mexico Air National Guard so he could fly P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft. After serving as general manager of the Lafayette Hotel in Long Beach, Calif., Mr. Tallichet and two partners opened the Reef Restaurant in 1958, launching Specialty Restaurants, which would encomp*** more than 100 restaurants across the country. Shanghai Reds, which was built on the site of the former Crawdaddys, also run by Specialty Restaurants, opened in October 2004 overlooking Erie Basin Marina. Mr. Tallichets main interest was collecting and restoring World War II aircraft to flying condition. That sometimes took him to remote areas of the globe to recover them, including overgrown jungle battlefields. Mr. Tallichet at one time held the largest collection of privately owned flying World War II aircraft, which were sometimes used in Hollywood productions. He flew a B-17 Flying Fortress across the Atlantic to Britain to take part in 1990s Memphis Belle and participated in other films. In July 2007, Mr. Tallichet, a resident of Orange, Calif., took one of his B-17s to an air show in Michigan, where he was honored as the last World War II combat pilot still flying one of those rare aircraft. Survivors include his wife, the former Carol Margaret Schmidt, an Eden native; a daughter, Catherine Ann; and three sons, William Robert, John David and James Lee. ------------------------------------ And last, a remarkable person I had the privilege to know. Dorothy Deen Sitz March 28, 1922 - October 23, 2007 Oceanside California, October 23, 2007. As raging wildfires threatened her Southern California home, Dorothy Deen Sitz died in a nearby Oceanside hospital after a long illness. The vivacious blonde Deen was best known for the Doretti sports car, a line of sports car accessories of the same name and for importing Triumph Sports cars for the Western United States. A darling of the local and automotive press, she was a common fixture at races and promoting the sports cars she sold. Born in Hollywood, Calif., to engineer and businessman Arthur Andersen and Martha Schultz Andersen, Dorothy grew up in a time when women either stayed home with children or worked as secretaries and telephone operators. At an early age, Dorothy Andersen had other ideas. Her career started as a teenager test driving the Whizzer motor bicycles her father had redesigned. She graduated to a mail order business selling gasoline model airplane engines her father also designed and manufactured. Growing up in Los Angeles, Dorothy had always been interested in cars, but the interest really took off in 1950 when she took delivery of a brand new Ivory MG TD, which was followed by several sporty Simcas. Instantly, she was propelled into a world of rallies, clubs and races. Although her later business interests prevented her from racing, she and her father often ran their cars on an abandoned airfield near the Andersen beach house. The next business venture forever changed Dorothy's life. Unable to find high-quality accessories for her MG and her father's Morgans, the pair designed and marketed their own wind wings, sun visors, luggage racks, valve covers in addition to wood and aluminum steering wheels. With backing from Andersen and in partnership with machinist Paul Bernhardt, Cal Specialties was born. To make the Cal Specialties line sound more exciting, the partners took the first three letters of Dorothy's name, and turned it into the Italianate "Doretti" . Through his work with thin-wall steel tubing, Andersen became involved with the Swallow Coachbuilding Company that was building a sports car based on Triumph TR2 running gear. In partnership with Dorothy, Andersen took on distribution of the new car in the U.S. and simultaneously picked up Western distribution rights for Triumph. Not only would Dorothy import the cars, but for a single dollar she sold the rights to the Doretti name that soon graced the attractive new two-seater. After Doretti production ended in 1955, Deen continued to import Triumphs until the company bought out all distributors in 1960. She then became the 45th woman in the world to earn her helicopter pilot's license and later co-owned and managed an aircraft dealership. She later returned to UCLA to become a para legal on her intended (but never completed) route to becoming an attorney. Along the way she declined Max Hoffman's offer of a West Coast BMW distributorship and opted for a life of retirement and travel with her late husband, Tony Anthony, whom she met when he sold her that first MG TD sports cars years earlier. She is survived by automotive historian Jim Sitz, her husband of 16 years. Dorothy in the prototype Doretti. -------------------------------------- Kurt O.
David Tallichet Jr. was in the same flight school as my uncle from Ranger TX. My uncle was a flight officer with the 100th. His plane was lost during the very first bomb raid the 100th flew over germany after arriving at Thorp-Abbots in England. The 100th lost more planes than any other B-17 squadron in the 8th Air Force. So they were called the "****** 100th"
I have a Cal Sales '54 Triumph TR2 in my fleet that Ms. Deen originally sold....thanks for the memories, Dorothy.
Nice post---kudos to respecting our rodding elders. This would make a good thread to post notices of deaths of those who laid the foundations of this hobby and those whose inspiration and hard work laid the groudwork for our builds. Good job
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