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Part Three
I found a couple of pictures of the last Dyer & VanLuven top fueler. It was a
Woody car with the body byBob Sorell. If I remember correctly Bob did mostly Indy
car bodies and other exotic
stuff. He was a world
class procrastinator and took
over 6 months to complete the body and tail.
Bob took so long that Tom Dyer started thinking seriously about getting out
of racing. Dad and TomDyer only ran the car a handful of times before
Tom decided to "hang it up".
Several years later me and a friend bought the chassis from Tom (the body had
disappeared) and ran it as a
junior fuel car.
(Bob Van Luven)
Dyer & Van Luven at the Beach.
Dyer and Van Luven with right slick on fire
Dad in the staging lanes
at Pomona with the RoadRunner, his last
front-engine car. Mikio Yoshioka isbehind the tire on the other side
of the car. RCS chassis, sponsored by Louie Senter of Ansen. If there
was a long delay after Mikio was strapped in before pushing down the fire up
road he had a
tendency tofall asleep. The last person in the push truck
when we got to the head of the staging lanes was responsible
for waking him up! Bob Creitz is at the far left. Nice pants!
(Bob Van Luven)
Van & "RoadRunner"
The California Charger's clutch
board. Chuck Johnson lost both of his legs
below the knees inVietnam. This was one of Chuck's "spares". It worked
perfectly and blew people's minds when they saw it.That wooden leg had a
better feel for the clutch than some of the drivers I've known!
(Bob Van Luven)
Van & Chuck Johnson
Dad's last car, Don Long chassis, Hanna body including enclosed tail section,
417, B&J 2 speed. Fred Farndon is driving at the 74 Winternationals. Norm Wilcox
also drove the car (Bob Van Luven)
Dad bumping the mag at the last drag race at Lions. Fred Farndon on the far left.
I've never met anyone
who attracted beautiful women like Fred did. His act was
pretty close to "Take a number for better
service!" (Bob Van Luven)
Not a good day for the "Hustler"
After Dad quit racing he went sailing. He had a thirty-something foot boat that he
kept in Dana Point where he participated in local amateur sailboat races and the
beer keg races from San Clemente to Ensenada. At one time or another his crew
included Bill Hays, Woody Gilmore and (who else)
Hippo!
Once a year he also flew to the Bahamas and chartered a boat which he'd sail around
the islands for a few
weeks. He's sailing around the islands in this picture
(Bob Van Luven).
Left to right: Wayne King, Dad
and Charlie Brent
bench racing in January, 2000.(Bob Van Luven)
A Great Van Luven Story
Dad was a die-hard dragster guy. It took him years to concede that funny cars might be race cars too but he had
absolutely no tolerance for door slammers. When it came to guys racing VW bugs Dad would start seeing
red.
When he was working at Isky's old shop in Inglewood one of the workers was constantly bragging about his
hopped up VW; how trick the engine was and how fast it would go. According to this guy if you didn't have a
VW you were yesterday's news.
In Dad's opinion Volkswagens were just lawnmowers with a built-in radio. One day Dad decided to put this guy
in his place so during the morning break, in front of everybody, Dad bet him $20 that for the first 25 feet
he could outrun the VW on foot!
They raced during lunchtime on the street in front of the shop. The race wasn't even close. The best part ofwinning the bet, Dad said, was that he never heard any
more "crap" about Volkswagens!
Bob
Another Story
Dad got his thrills from being the quickest and/or the fastest. He considered the outing a success if he
was the low qualifier or left the track with a new ET record. Winning was icing on the cake, but not the
primary objective. Consequently, his engine tune-up was very agressive and he burned his share of pistons.
Hippo nicknamed him "4 in the pan Van
In my discussions with other pioneers of the sport such as Tom Hanna, Tom Jobe and others whenever the name of Van Luven was brought up, the words used to describe him was brilliant, genius, and “the best”. He definitely left his mark on Drag
Racing and was a true pioneer and innovator
I want to Thank Bob van Luven and Wayne King for all there help with this
article and be sure to watch for Wayne's new book "The
Boys of Bakersfield-Drag Racers"
COMING SOON
Hope you enjoyed the Van
Luven Story and if you have anything to
add, please
CONTACT ME
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