Remembering "Ab" Jenkins (1883-1956)... [PIC]

David Abbott "Ab" Jenkins was a native of Utah and a devout Mormon. From his youth to his end, he was an amateur and professional race driver starting from motorcycles all the way to LSR and endurance (LDS) records. It became obvious in the '20s that Daytona Beach was no longer adequate for the newer and faster LSR entries, so Jenkins set out to promote the Bonneville Salt Flats of his native Utah. As a professional, he drove race cars for Studebaker, Pierce Arrow and others before becoming a test driver for Auburn and struck a relationship with owner Augie Duesenberg that lead to the "Duesenberg Special" (aka: the Mormon Meteor l, ll, and lll). Jenkins was more interested in establishing the Salt Flats as an international event and first lured British LSR driver with his Napier-Railton Specials and offered to put him up at his house even though Cobb was to beat him many times over the years. Ultimately the likes of Malcolm Campbell and his Bluebird which blew the LSR to bits in 1935. Jenkins had to settle for class wins rather than overall, as the the supercharged 400hp Duesenberg/Lycoming straight 8 couldn't compete with the larger more powerful aircraft engines employed by the Brits. Except for a term as mayor of Salt Lake City during the war years, Jenkins never stopped breaking records. In 1956, the year he died, he took a 285hp Pontiac Series 860 2dr sedan along with son, Marvin, and his one man endurance record of 24 hrs averaging 161 mph in that Pontiac wasn't beaten until 1990. Automodello did a really nice model of the Mormon Meteor ll and I made an attempt at an Ab Jenkins figure to display with it. The last pic is of the Mormon Meteor lll developed from the ll. The car exists today restore back to the 2nd iteration shown here.