Bill Burke Dies

[Commander Eddie]

We lost Bill Burke at 97. Attached is a link to the article in Hemmings.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/12/04/bill-burke-hot-rod-pioneer-passes-away-at-97/?refer=news

[PackardV8]

R.I.P. Bill.

It's because of the brilliance of his styling and design that I've been interested in Studebakers for the past sixty years.

jack vines

[DEEPNHOCK]

Sad to hear, but motivational as well....
To have had the honor to rub on, work on, play with, and continue the legacy of one of his many cars is meaningful to me.
His passion for racing drives the current version of the car...

http://www.burkeavanti.com/

and 26 pages of history and the current update...

http://www.racingstudebakers.com/foo...php?f=9&t=2731

[Commander Eddie]

Jeff, thanks for posting the additional links. In the first one, the photo of the car in its "Bucket List Dream" livery was taken by me when I was at Bonneville during World of Speed week in 2010. My brother, Dan, was driving it at the time. The full list of records broken by this car was listed on the driver's side rear passenger window. It got a lot of attention that week, as well as some valuable assistance from Dave Bloomberg's crew (Avanti Kid). They were fantastic. So, Bill is gone but much of his legacy survives.

[R3 challenger]

Ron Hall and I had the privilege of meeting Bill Burke the first time we ran Ron's R3 Avanti at Bonnevile. That was in 1988 (see the January 1989 issue of TWs for a report, and the March 1987 issue for our first visit to Bonneville). What a fine gentleman Bill was. Ron spent a lot of time on the telephone with Bill seeking advice for our first attempt; Bill was always helpful and kind. He will be greatly missed.

George

[Chris Pile]

I met him on the starting line at Speedweek in 1998. We chatted for awhile, and then he joined some other "49'rs" for some pictures. Only later did I realize I had been talking to a salt legend.

[Alan]

I thought the Bill was the security guard at Paxton when I first saw him. Later when talking to him at lunch, I found out that he really didn't work there either, but was another friend of Joe's. He was a freelancer for Sports Car Graphic mag. at Peterson Publishing. People that worked there at Paxton thought we were relatives since we looked so much alike.

[DEEPNHOCK]

This was on the 'net today...

http://www.hotrod.com/news/1512-hot-rod-pioneer-bill-burke-has-died/

(snippet copy - see link for entire article)

Hot Rod Pioneer Bill Burke Has Died

Written by Thom Taylor on December 3, 2015

[Colgate Studebaker]

Sorry to hear of Bill's passing, as I read Jeffs post, I realized that the Burke Avanti is sitting in his shop, and I've seen and touched it. I actually had goose bumps as I thought of it. That is how special he was and his cars still are. Bill

[Buzzard]

Thanks Jeff for posting all the links.
RIP Bill Burke.
97 is quite the accomplishment and I'm sure your involvement with Studes and racing in general had lots to do with it.
Bill