| (9-6-09) From Wade Fuller:
"Ah, that's it in all its tarnished beauty.
I owned it for a very short time and
what I know of its history comes from the son of the original owner, one
Jeffry Parker, who inherited the car after his father's death. I'm afraid
I only know Jeff's father as "Mr. Parker", the former president and CEO
of Parker Pens, thus the Wisconsin tags. He was a close friend of Bill
Mitchell of GM and the B.O.P. alloy V-8 was supposedly a "factory hot Rod
" built for Parker courtesy of GM and Mitchell. For some unknown reason
the car had a speedometer with an odometer which registered only a few
miles. Family lore suggests Parker Sr. drove the car down the road and
was so intimidated by the power and handling he never touched it again.
A very wise decision from what I saw. At this time Parkers company plane
was a converted B-26 bomber, so he couldn't have been easily intimidated.
The taped "4" on the car was on it when
I owned it as well as the HM which seems to confirm it never raced with
the V-8. I sold the car at Hershey to a fellow from Wilberham, Mass.
8 or 9 years ago who had big plans for it. The following year it reappeared
in the same spot and in the same condition. I never saw or, mercifully,
thought about it until a year or more ago when Paul Wilson, a vintage
racing friend, called and said he was the new owner and was interested
in its history. When I returned his call he informed me he had sold it.
Where is it now?
Paul Wilson, by the way, races a very
nice Jabro Crosley and Parker Sr.'s other son Steve was a very quick SCCA
and IMSA Firehawk racer."
(6-25-11) From Geoffrey Parker:
"I bumped into Wade Fuller today and
he told me of the website showing the Jabro-Olds V-8. My father was the
original owner of this car and I would be happy to share what I know about
the car with the owner."
(12-7-11) From Geoffrey
Parker:
"This is my second email since there
was no reply to my first. Your site describing the Jabro-Olds asks
for information on the history of the car ...
My name is Geoffrey Parker; my father
Daniel had the car built in our home workshop near Janesville, Wisconsin
while I was growing up. I'm happy to answer - or try to answer - any questions
about the car's history. Just drop me a note ...."
(3-1-13) From Mark Schoenlein:
"I did reach Tim. He said that he sold
the car about 4 years ago because he felt that it was a major project.
I do not know who purchased it." |
