Winfield Viking Cars of the Fifties

"The Fastest Car to Ever Be on Main Street in Winfield"

Hi Bill,
Sometime ago, I sent you a photograph of a jet car on display in front of the State Bank building in Winfield. You took my suggestion and placed it in your "Viking Cars of the '50s" section and captioned it "The Fastest Car to Ever Drag Main St." I was looking through some old microfilms at the Winfield Public Library this afternoon, and located the issue of the Winfield Daily Courier in which that photograph was published: Winfield Daily Courier, Saturday, July 18, 1964, page 5. I thought you might like to see the caption that was published under it:
"WINFIELDERS CHECK over the "Bonneville Avenger", the 10,000 horse-power car with the jet engine that will run 3 exhibitions at the Ark Valley drag raceway Sunday. Driven by Bob Tratoe, Akron, O., the car is being readied for an assault on the land speed record of over 400 miles per hour at the Bonneville salt flats in Utah. In its exhibition runs, which begin Sunday at 1 p.m., the "Avenger" will be driven in an effort to top its quarter-mile record of 242 miles per hour. Time trials at the dragway begin at 8 a.m. (Herlocker photo)
As you can see, I had misidentified this car when I sent you the photograph.
Bob Lawrence

Carol Lumbert and Jack Grant's '56 Chevy

In 1958 this was a VERY cool car. I can't remember if Carol and Jack were married when this picture was taken, but they have been married ever since.

Jack Grant's '40 Ford

Denny Splane's New 1960 Corvette

The vette picture was taken in front of Herrman Chevrolet on West 8th in Winfield, Sept '59.
denny

'57 Mercury and Denny Splane

This picture is not to good, but it sure is 50's. check hair cut and black leatherjacket! 57 Merc.
denny

Travis Mitchell's '48 Merc Convertible
Black with Red Interior, Much Chrome on Inside

Location: Ninth and Main in Winfield. Time, my guess, 1953. Cars, Lots.

1928 Model A, 2 Door Sedan

Location: In front of the filling station at 14th and Main in Wifield. Time, my guess, September 1956. Car: A Ford Model A which we bought for 50 bucks of pooled money. Who owned it? Who knows? I don't think the title was ever transferred. People, from left to right, Biff Hess, Gib Overby, Jim Bates, Bill Bottorff, Chuck Hauber, Jean Anglemeyer, Loretta Fox and Peggy Schuyler.

1928 Model A, 2 Door Sedan

Donnie Jenkins '46 Ford Tudor Custom

This picture was taken in 1955 on Manning St. just north of Ninth Ave. in Winfield. Donnie has just turned 15 and his dad Bus Jenkins has had this car customized for him as a birthday present. Bus Jenkins owned Jenkins Lincoln - Mercury on 9th in the background of the picture. The car behind Donnie's car looks like Biff Hess's '49 Ford. Donnie was fullback on the Vikings football team.

Donnie Jenkins' Thunderbird

Location: the Bottorff residence at 313 College in Wifield. Time, my guess, September 1956. Cars, Donnie Jenkins' 1956 Thunderbird and Bill and Jim Bottorff's 1928 Model A Roadster Pickup. People, from left to right, Bernard Bottorff, Alan Lewis, Don Brewer, Leonard Landis, Bob Hurst, Jim Bottorff (pass in T-Bird), Terry Hunt (drvr in T-Bird), Stan Scudder (with camera), Chuck Hauber, Kay Workman, Donnie Jenkins (driver in Model A).

Donnie Jenkins' Thunderbird

Location: the Bottorff residence at 313 College in Wifield. Time, my guess, September 1956. Cars, Donnie Jenkins' 1956 Thunderbird and Bill and Jim Bottorff's 1928 Model A Roadster Pickup. People, from left to right, Chuck Hauber, Stan Scudder, Kay Workman, Jim Bottorff (pass in T-Bird), Terry Hunt (drvr in T-Bird), Donnie Jenkins (driver in Model A).

Jim & Bill Bottorff's 1928 Model A Roadster Pickup

Location: the Bottorff residence at 313 College in Wifield, looking south. Time, my guess, September 1956. Cars, Donnie Jenkins' 1956 Thunderbird and Bill and Jim Bottorff's 1928 Model A Roadster Pickup. People, from left to right, Stan Scudder (with camera), Bob Hurst, Chuck Hauber, Don Brewer, Leonard Landis, Kay Workman, Donnie Jenkins (driver in Model A).

Donnie Jenkins' Thunderbird

Location: the Bottorff residence at 313 College in Wifield, looking north. Time, my guess, September 1956. Car, Donnie Jenkins' 1956 Thunderbird. People, from left to right, Jim Bottorff (pass in T-Bird), Terry Hunt (drvr in T-Bird).

Donnie Jenkins' Thunderbird

Location: the Bottorff residence at 313 College in Wifield, looking north. Time, my guess, August 1957. Cars, Bill and Jim Bottorff's 1928 Model A Roadster Pickup. People, Jim Bottorff (driver), Larry Brown (passenger)

Mel Brown and '47 Chevy

Mel Brown standing by this '47 Chevy. Time: about 1957.

'54 Mercury

Porter Brown's (Mel's Dad) very snazzy 54 Mercury. It was yellow with green trim. The trim and paint on the upper door was styled like that of the '55 and '56 Mercs.

Drag Race

Biff Hess get ready to rumble. Flagman is Jack Myers.

1953 Ford hits 1954 Fort Convertible

Biff Hess (in red shirt) inspects the damage. Looking on Phil Hower, Larry Swintz and Larry Cooley.
Who did what to whom? Where? When:Spring 1958

Junkyard

'29 Model A Roadster Pickup

Clifton Gottlob developing his magic touch on Bill and Jim's hot rod.

Bill and Jim Bottorff with Jim's 35 Ford Project

Jim started this car pretty much from scratch. I don't think it had an engine. He put in what he late told a Kansas Sheriff was a "stock engine". After having chased Jim for some distance and loosing ground the Sheriff called ahead and had a road block set up. After getting Jim's explanation what kind of engine was under the hood, the Sheriff demanded that the hood be opened. There it was for all to see, a 1956 Chevy 265 Corvette engine. The Sheriff went nuts and Jim reiterated that indeed is was a STOCK Corvette engine just as he had said.

1954 Kurtis Cad, Jim Bottorff behind the wheel.
Picture taken at 313 College in Winfield, KS. spring of 1961.

This 1954 Kurtis Cad was purchased in Denver, CO in August of 1960 by Bill Bottorff. In November of 1960 Jim and Bill Bottorff managed to run it off a cliff out side Manhattan, KS. The car is shown in these pictures after most of the damage has been repaired and the car driven from Manhattan to Winfield at Thanksgiving with no windshield, with snow on the ground, in freezing temperatures. Boy was it a cold ride. We borrowed football helmets from K-State (Jim was on the football team) and wore shop goggles and made the 160 mile drive. This was a great car, it would go over 120 mph that I know of, and was pretty simple to work on. Of course going a hundred and twenty in a car with a Studebaker front suspension and a wobbly idler arm was a little scary. It had a fiberglass body with aluminum doors, hood and trunk. The cowl in front and behind the driving compartment was cast aluminum. The windshield was held in a frame of chromed cast brass which was crushed when we went off the cliff and landed upside down. By some miracle we bot survived uninjured.The car was in surprisingly good condition considering we had flipped over and landed upside down.When we went over I just took the steering wheel and pushed up until I was down by the floor pedals. Jim flopped over to where I had been sitting. After we came to rest, there was only room for Jim to reach down and open the inside door handle on the passenger side and push the door open with both feet. Somehow we got out and climbed up to the road and thumbed a ride back to town. Next day we hired a wrecked to get the car and drag it back to the fraternity house in Manhattan. We had about a week to get it fixed up enough to drive it home to Winfield for Thanksgiving vacation. A funny note: when we stopped in Pleasant Grove for gas and brake fluid (that is why we went off the cliff) I went around the side of the station to the bathroom. When I came back the filling station guys were running around the car like a pit crew at Indy. I jumped in the passengers seat and Jim burned out like we were being chased. I asked what was going on and he said he had told the station guys that we were in a cross country race and had wrecked last night outside of Chicago and were trying to make up time. He sure had those guys jumping!

Since that time I have found out that there were only seven of these cars built. They were made by Frank Kurtis of race car fame. Frank had earlier designed a car for Mad Man Muntz who had built several hundred cars of this style on a longer chassis. The first cars were built with an aluminum body and then more were were built with steel bodies. They were called :"Muntz Jets". After Muntz went broke, Kurtis got some of the assets of the Muntz company to settle the debt. Kurtis built seven fiberglass bodied, two passenger cars before finding out that he couldn't make any more money than Muntz.

We put a plastic boat windshield on the car and traded it for a chopped and channeled '32 Ford coupe with no engine or trans.