Vintage shots from days gone by!

Western Union line men erecting the Hoover Dam line along the right-of-way of the branch railroad of Union Pacific Railroad

 

DON BLAIR was one of the first people to set up a speed shop in Southern California. His success on the lakes before the war gave him a reputation for hot rod ingenuity. Blair was known to stay away from “conventional” engine set ups and would use anything from Roots-type Mercedes Benz superchargers to blown Chevys. Aside from lakes racing, Blair was also involved in sprint car racing and funny cars.

 

In 1933 Edelbrock opened his first shop on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Business soon grew and so he moved again to Hoover and Venice where he took on a young kid by the name of Bobby Meeks. In 1938, Edelbrock bought his first "project car", a 1932 roadster. This was to be the vehicle and entry into the hot rod road and the dominance of Edelbrock at the dry lakes. It would also serve as a testing ground for new Edelbrock products.

 

Bobby Meeks and Vic Edelbrock Sr.

 

It was while in the air force that a young Stu Hilborn came up with a revolutionary new way to feed more fuel to an engine. The technological breakthrough earned Stu the reputation as the Father of Fuel Injection

 

Most hot rodders were skeptic yet in 1948 Howie Wilson drove the Hilborn srtreamliner through the 150 mph barrier, effectively silencing his critics. While the car broke all records the design was seen as a piece of art. In April 1948 it appeared on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine and continued to campaign at the lake. Unfortunately on a run, the streamliner flipped several times, putting Stu in hospital and the car out of action