Fascinating......quail distribution......looks like he was a sportsman in more ways than one. From his notes on the committee, it almost looks like they were importing birds from Virginia. Back on Russetta...... the sketches are priceless.
Hey dude, time to break out the Watkins and get a big swig of this time tested medicine! Hope you get better soon!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the Cochran family. Get well soon !!! I’m guessing a lot of younger guys won’t be able to decipher the notes in cursive
I would like far less concern about me and my god damned flu or whatever mutant cold is chewing on my skull, and a lot more arguing over these pages. These are not get well soon notes. These are biblical s****s of hot rod history. I want debates, theories, late night realizations, and mild shouting. Forget my health. Fight about the facts.
Cool stuff, I found it interesting that he weighed so many engine parts besides the internals. I will dive a little deeper this week, some drawings I’m not sure what they are. Take care, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. Petal to the metal in ‘26! Dan
I thought it was interesting that 700 invitations were sent out, 5 to 6 hundred came and that 6 potential "goats" ( SHOATS ) where barbecued and it was all pulled off for the amazing sum of $158.90
The four pages of fuel mixtures are interesting. Trying to figure what the abbreviations are in front of the degrees "before bottom center", "before top center", "after top center" and "after bottom center". Internal and external center line and operating point??
Thanks @Joe Blow , I should have taken the time to look that word up! I had never heard or seen that term before, plus I couldn't fathom barbecuing 6 goats! Once again, via the HAMB, I learned something new today!
I'm wondering if Tom was born in Virginia. Maybe this has been said....but I don't remember seeing it. His dad was a tobacco exec. All of the pages concerning the quail committee/fish ***ociation are in Virginia. Pigg/Stauton rivers....big trout fisheries in southern VA. Members of the quail committee were all big shots in Pittsylvania County, VA. - a mayor and state delegate a**** them. Meeting at Brosville High School in Pittsylvania County was where Tom was chosen as the permanent rep. for the Tunstall district (VA). Think these early pages were Tom as an outdoorsman and are mixed in with the Russetta/racing notes.....maybe?
Yes......great catch on the quail notes !! I will take time to study and ponder all the mechanical and racing notes. What a treasure trove. Besides all things internal combustion.....some of the greatest times I have experienced were quail hunting adventures in my home state of Iowa with my dad, brothers and friends. Our dad taught us to hunt pheasants and quail. Native quail continued to decline in the 1980's and 1990's. I would actually make memorable trips to some known quail habitats after the season was over. After a fresh snowfall I would jump in my company car 4wd Suburban.....navigate deep snow to the edge of the field.....grab a bag of corn and distribute it in lots of bushes .....under cedar trees and other shelter areas. What a great bird species and heart stopping when they flush out of their hiding places. My dad was in his 80's but still able to take a hike with our young daughters into the timber in the Spring and he found a quail nesting area and our girls were really impressed with the tiny tiny chicks. Another vanishing breed and species.....kinda like Tom Cobbs and us really old traditional hot rod and racing guys. Now.....back to our regularly scheduled programing.
You're preachin' to the choir man. Some of my best memories when I was young was hunting quail behind a good dog......especially in the snow at Christmas time. Kind of spiritual. Yeah, the last thing I expected to find in these notes....which adds to the fascination of the Cobbs saga.
I am still not sure where Tom was born and so far the paper trail has come up empty. What I do know is that he grew up in California, which feels right and explains a lot. He did, however, have family roots back in Virginia. Deep roots. His great grandfather, Thomas Cobbs, was a powerful political figure and a vocal proponent of slavery, the kind of man historians believe helped pour gasoline on the slow burn that eventually became the Civil War. That is some seriously dark territory. The kind of history that does not connect cleanly to hot rods and speed records. I am not going down that road. Some doors are better left closed… I don’t want to taint Tom’s history with that of his **** head great grandfather’s. Edit: I should add… the archive contains more than just Tom’s hot rod exploits. I won’t be featuring the personal stuff cuz I wouldn’t want some stranger posting my business. But, I will say… from some of the stuff I’ve seen… I’ve gathered that Tom was highly educated, a thoughtful dude, and was almost certainly on the right side of history in contrast to some of those in his family.
Geez - talking about chemically enhanced! These days, those fuel recipes would have Homeland Security, the FBI and all of the other federal and state acronyms and abreviations knocking at your door if you tried to replicate them.
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