Now I’m the sort of guy who can’t pass up something like that without taking a look so I stopped and found the owner, who was happy to give me a tour of his oil memorabilia collection.
It was one of the most impressive collections of vintage oil cans I’ve ever seen but what caught my eye the most was this photo and a trophy sitting on top of a glass case.
The photo shows a guy wrenching on a flathead powered roadster on the salt. The caption reads “Bill Likes Bonneville World Land Speed 1952 146.365 MPH Class B N.F. Roadster”
The trophy says “B. Likes 137.40 MPH 7-8-9-50”
I asked the guy where he got this from and he told me that a friend had come by with a bunch of old trophies in the trunk of his car and was selling them. He picked out these two items because he liked them.
I made the comment that I wonder if the car still existed and he said he thought it did in about the same condition but with a small block Chevy.
I seem to remember he said it was in Chicago or somewhere like that but I’m not sure.
I’d love to hear more about Bill Likes and his trips to Bonneville but that’s all I know. Unfortunately because of his last name finding anything relevant on Google hasn’t been too productive (I get everything anybody named Bill seems to like). Anybody know anymore about him?
PS: I'll probably post this on the H.A.M.B - somebody there has to know.
