Subscribers are starting to receive their August 2007 copies of Hemmings Muscle Machines. Mine arrived today.Therein is the six-page article and report on Ted and The Stude Tomato (They call it "Flyin' Tomato"!) We were able to proofread it before it went to press, so it is factually correct as well as nicely done by writer Dan Strohl.
[Well, OK; if you want to get picky, he should have said 1964 model year for the Granatellis and R3/R4 engines, instead of "1964" ...and if you want to read it other than the way it is written, you might read that the 289 engine expansion appeared in 1957. But the way those items are actually presented (the writing itself) constitutes gray areas of style, so I'll give Dan an A- overall. He made every attempt to seek compentent reviews; those points in his final writing weren't part of what was reviewed and are "writing style deviations."]
I was especially pleased that Dan squeezed in, after we had reviewed the article text, last-minute material I had sent him about Phoenix AZ Studebaker dealer Ray Tanner. In 1963, Ray and mechanic Floyd Mendehall campaigned a 1963 R2/4-Speed Lark Regal 2-door they named "The Whistler."
The Whistler held the 1963 AHRA A/Compact Stock 1/4-mile record in 1963: 13.52 seconds @ 104.52 MPH. [
] As a 17-year old Stude nut, I had written Ray Tanner in 1963 and received a nice glossy photo and letter from Floyd Mendenhall, which I still have. I forwarded copies of everything (not the originals, that's for sure!) to Dan Strohl and he included The Whistler information in the article about Ted - cool beans! [8D]BTW: OK, sleuths: To the best of our knowledge, no one has yet found The Whistler! Production Order research has led several of us to conclude it was Serial Number 63V15969, Blue Mist, with Body #63V-F4 746, shipped with engine #JTS1412 under the hood. If anyone discovers any car or body or engine with those numbers, let us know right away.)
Enjoy, all: Dan's piece on Ted and The Tomato is nice.
[][] BP
We've got to quit saying, 
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