Iconografix Publishing

Ab and Marvin Jenkins The Studebaker Connection and the Mormon Meteors

by  Gordon Eliot White

Reviewed By  Fred Horky, IPMS# 6390

MSRP: $32.95 ISBN: 1583881735 The subject of this automotive history will be relatively unknown to most "car guys", even those who know racing pretty well. The cover will give a pretty good hint, however: a colorful, exotic, and obviously older race car parked on dry lake salt. As many IPMS readers will know, my own automobile interest is dominated by Corvettes. In 1990 the then-new Corvette ZR-1 burst on the scene by breaking a number of long-standing endurance records of more than fifty years, on a circular test track in Texas. Among the speed, distance, and endurance records set by the 'vette were 5000 miles at 173.791 mph and a 24 hour distance record of 4,221 miles at 175 mph. The announcement said that the old record had been set in 1937 by an "Ab Jenkins" in a "special" named the "Mormon Meteor III", powered by a Curtiss Conqueror V-1570 twelve-cylinder fighter plane engine. (If you're not familiar with the engine, think Curtiss P-6 biplane fighter!) What is not mentioned is that the Corvettes setting the modern record were driven by a team of eight drivers rotating on a strict schedule. In his Meteor, Jenkins was a real "Iron Man", driving as long as twenty-four hours without relief. David Abbott Jenkins Jr was born in 1883 in the American west of immigrant English parents. On growing up he thus was of the first generation that grew up with automobiles and their speed. Called "Ab" from early on to differentiate from his father, he was soon racing cars on any type racing surface possible, from the roads of the day to high-banked WOODEN race tracks. He quickly established himself with wins and records with Studebaker, a prominent luxury car of the twenties and thirties, as well as the famed Duesenberg. Jenkins became a prominent figure in his native Utah, even becoming Mayor of Salt Lake City. He is best remembered as one of the racing pioneers who established Utah's great dry lake as the premier land speed venue in the world. Ab Jenkins and his Mormon Meteors, combined with the feats of his son Marvin, their many other cars and records are the stuff of this book. Ab drove competitively well into his seventies, and was associated with many of the famous racing drivers, engines, and cars of the day, most notably the famed "Novi" Indianapolis race cars of the post WWII era. The softbound book is heavily illustrated with pictures of classic old race cars, as well as the luxury cars of the twenties and thirties … Cord, Deuesenberg, Studebaker, and the like. Modelers who like to scratch build classic race cars will find a treasure of information. This book is heartily recommended to anyone interested in early automotive motor racing history in America, especially in the specialized field of long distance land speed records. Available for $32.95 directly from Iconografix (www.enthusiastbooks.com), or through standard book sellers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

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