1947 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet

119 With Thanks And Tribute With Special Thanks: Much thanks must be given to the following people for their support, assistance, and encouragement. Each name appears just once, but many belong in more than one area—I ’ ve done my best to organize. • Phil Fleming—who made this adventure possible • The Omohundro Family (Tom, Bonnie, Gail, Lee, and Heloise who is Paul Omohundro ’ s sister). When we started our research, no one knew if Paul ’ s cars had survived. I ’ m pleased how far we have come. • Rick D ’ Louhy—co - author, who I ’ ve been on automotive adventures with since 1980, 32 years and counting. And...who without his help and support in all of these adventures—including finding, purchasing, and bringing home the “ Comet ” — this and many other stories would not have been possible. • Mike Wittman—who came to the rescue and made picking up “ Mae West ” an adventure back in 2007 Museums, Concours, and Libraries • Alain Cerf (owner) of the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum, Pinellas Park, Florida • Martin Godbey (owner) as well as Don Walters and Nathan Clary of the Sarasota Classic Car Museum, Sarasota, Florida • Ken Gross, Sandra Button, Kandace Hawkinson, Jules “ J ” Heumann, and the folks at the Pebble Beach Concours d ’ Elegance, Pebble Beach, California • Leslie Kendall (Curator), as well as Mary Brisson, Clayton Drescher, and Tom Kenney of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California • Jason Harris and the Lemay—America ’ s Car Museum, Tacoma, Washington • Jeff Lane of the Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, Tennessee • Mark Patrick, Mark Bowden, and the National Automotive History Collection at the Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Michigan • Greg Sharp of the NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California • Bill Warner and the Amelia Island Concours d ’ Elegance, Jacksonville, Florida • David White, Historian, Scharchburg Archives (location of John Bond Archives), Kettering University, Flint, Michigan Historians: • Tom Brierly, Terry Boyce, Glenn Brummer, William Chapin, Robert Cumberford, Ron Cummings, Bob Cunningham, George Dammann, Bob Falcon, John Gunnell, Bob Gurr, Gerald (Gerry) Huth, Richard Kelley, Michael Lamm, Richard Langworth, Robert Lee, Jim Miller, Raffi Minasian, James Moloney, Stan Mott, Bruce Perry, Phil Remington, Tom Saal, Paul Sable, Ray Scroggins, Jim Sitz, Jonathan Stein, Thom Taylor, Norman Timbs Jr., Mark Wallach, Gordon White, Bob Whitmer, and Perry Zavitz Magazines and Authors: • Mark Brinker—Author, historian, and friend • Woflgang Buchta of Austro Classic • Ryan Cochran of the Jalopy Journal • Tom Cotter—Author, historian, and friend • Scotty Gosson—Author, historian, and friend • Geoff Miles and Steve Coonan of The Rodder ’ s Journal • Harold Pace—Author, historian, and friend • Mike Phillips of AutoGeek • Todd Ruel of Gone Autos • Daniel Strohl of Hemmings Motor News • Angelo Van Bogart of Old Cars Weekly • Dave Wallace of Hot Rod Deluxe • Mick Walsh of Classic and Sports Car (UK) Artists: • John Caswell, Dan Palatnik, Stewart Reed of Stewart Reed Design, and Jimmy Smith Former Owners & Their Families: • Alex Boeriu, Jerry Ingram, and Kent Walter Technical Advisors: • James Saccoccio and friends at Joblot Automotive • Brian Jorgensen—friend and mechanic extraordinaire Strategists and “ Think Tank ” (and still friends too!): • Guy Dirkin, Rik Hoving, Alden Jewell, Rollie Langston, Tony Miller, and Erich Schultz Friends: • The Almquist Gang: Roger Adam, Ed Almquist, Bill Jackson, Clark Mitchell, and Jack Woolridge • Derby and Arthur Ahlstone, Pat Amendolia, Denny Allen, Noel “ Bangert ” Marshall, Tom Bambard, Peter Boyd, John Buzby, Scot Carr, Gary and Diane Cerveny, Olga Covington and her son John and family, Steve Cowdin, Frank Cornell, Darren and Julie Crispin, Bob Curtis, Joan Dawes and family, Ben Emerson, Dick and Jeanette Foser, Stan and Ann Fowler, Ted Greg and Kerry Griffin, Bill Hair, Frank Hecox, Marshall Foxworthy, Dennis Gerdes and family, James Giles, Jon Greuel, John Gulow, Dick Jones, Mel Keys, Jon Hall, Richard Lewis, Ron and Sonya Kellogg, Ted Kempgens, Arlen (Frank ’ s son) and Carol Kurtis, Tim Masters, George McGurire, Scott Miller, Hugh Nutting, Rodney and Bill Packwood, Dave Perry, Jon Phillips, Merrill and Gerianne Powell, Bill Quirk, Tim Ritter, Fred and Deanna Roth and their son Christopher, Richard and Diana Russell, Denise Sheldon, Darren Swanson, Will Silk, Jim Simpson, Tony St. Clair, Bill Tritt and his sons Matt and Greg, Les Weber, Nick Whitlow, and Michael Woodill Family: • And my family—Ruth (Mom), Sisters Missy and Julie, Brothers Jon and Josh, Uncle Phil (Phoon), Cousins Russ and Tina, and my relatives of years gone by — Morrie and Pearl Hacker, Blanche Hacker, Al Weiss, Bill and Ruth Sinkovich, Florence and Eddie Sinkovich and their son Eddie Sinkovich, and Julie and Joe Solin • Lifelong friends are like family too! Randy Abernathy, Van Karen and Kari Fenstermaker, Susan Gunn, Ray Hansil and family, Nancy Kent, Tom Shelly, Paul and Jean Terhorst, Dave Trandel, Ed Watson, and many other folks who I am fortunate enough to call my “ friends ” and who have enriched my life in every way. With Tribute: • Frank Kurtis— whose legacy in sports and race car building in the ’40 s and ’50 s is unparalleled—what an exciting life he led! • Paul Omohundro— who had the vision, skill, and tenacity to embark on such an adventure, and who fired the first salvo bringing to life America ’ s first postwar sports car. • Dan Post—who was the first to document the “ Sport Custom ” phenomenon starting in 1944 and continued doing so through the mid ’50 s—a true visionary.