Good morning everyone,
DVD arrived on Tuesday and I gave it a watch last night. Very impressed!
I have always been an avid fan of what goes on out at Bonneville, but never knew too much about the history of it, nor anything about Ab Jenkins the man who started it all. The DVD follows Abs career as a driver starting from his days running across America, around the old board tracks and competing in hill climb events. It follows the progress of how he built up various cars for out and out speed and endurance: Pierce Arrows, Duesenbergs all the way though to the purpose built aero engined Mormon Meteor III. Ab Jenkins makes modern day drivers look like pampered babies: He was sitting in a car for 24 hours straight doing 120MPH+ in the 1920s and 30s, no windscreen, a soft leather helmet and a pair of goggles, stopping only to have a glass of juice and a glass of milk every time the car needed a top up. Classic line from the movie taken from one of his pit crew goes along the lines of: Ab never got out of the car, he never ate during his runs, all he ever did was drink milk and juice, god only knows where it all went because there certainly wasn't any time for toilet breaks when Ab was driving. In his 24 hour runs Ab would break up to 50 different land speed records (some still stand today) and then he would invite others to come and try to push his them further so he could break them back!
The racing history is in the movie is fantastic, but it is the back story that really struck a note with me. When Ab semi-retired from racing he donated his car to the city he was from, where it was proudly displayed in their council building. After his death it got neglected, kids were allowed to climb on it, steal things off it, stick rubbish down it's exhaust. After years of trying Abs son Merv buys the car back from the city and sets about restoring it to it's former glory. This is a genuine love story, a man and his Dad's car..........I wont spoil this part, just recommend you grab a copy and have a watch. Seeing his reaction when the car is fired up for the first time in 50 years defiantly brought a tear to my eye.
4 out of 5 stars
