Maybelline Heir, Jerry Westhouse, Reunites With Top Fuel Dragster he Raced 40 Years Ago.

This is pretty cool. In 1973 I was working at Traylor Engineering in Palatine. My mentor Bill Traylor was building a streamline Top Fuel dragster. He had parted ways with his driver from the year before and asked me if I wanted to drive his race car. Of course I said yes. We raced the car in the ‘73 season on the UDRA circuit. After Bill passed away in 1976 I lost track of the car. Jump ahead to 1993. A friend told me that the streamline body was in an auto body shop in Prairie View, IL. That’s when I met Tony Zizzo. 

Tony got a call a couple of weeks ago from a guy that wanted to sell him a dragster. He told Tony he thinks that he was a previously owner. Low and behold it’s the original chassis that Bill built in 1973. Tony is going to restore the dragster and run it in some nostalgia races. 

Here are some pictures, one from the day we rolled the dragster out of the trailer (April, 1973) and two from today. It’s unbelievable that I may be able to drive my old dragster again after 41 years.

Jerry Westhouse's Grandmother, Eva Williams Haines was Maybelline founder, Tom Lyle Williams sister.  Here are some great Posts I wrote about him and his family.

Maybelline Heir - RACE CAR DRIVER - Jerry Westhouse and the Indy 500  click to view

 Like Grandfather like Grandson!  Jerry Westhouse loves anything with wheels.

Eva Williams Haines, put the SPARK, in SPARKLE!.

Eva Kay Williams was the youngest of the Williams clan - Always a glamour girl, with a heart for family.

Our Darling "Diddy" rests in the arms of the Angels.

              Marilyn Frances Williams - Haines 
                                 1927 - 2012

Maybelline Men and their obsession with style.

Part of the American Dream was owning a beautiful Automobile and for some that became a life long affection.  

Tom Lyle Williams, recording, Penthouse Serenade.

Vintage recording of Maybelline commercial, done by the TL Williams and his family, just having fun at a party.

Be sure to visit my Hilarious 1964 High School Blog, Saffrons Rule at 

http://saffronsrule.com/

Maybelline Men and their obsession with style.

Part of the American Dream was owning a beautiful Automobile and for some that became a life long affection. 

Eva Williams-Haines in the the family's new 1930 Pontiac Sedan.  Proud Papa Ches - with his Kodak camera - took this picture of the family, with their daughter's June and Marilyn eagerly looking out the window in the back seat.

Here is Ches Haines with his new, 1940, Pontiac Sedan, now big enough to carry three or four kids in the back seat.  A car like this was a mark of success and while Tom Lyle owned custom Packard's,

Ches Haines was a true, Pontiac man.  

Just Married in 1924, Eva and Ches began a life together that would span over 50 years.  During those years, Ches continued his love for beautiful automobiles and by the 1960's, bought a new one every year or two.

Eva and Ches Haines, in 1940, now had three kids; June, Marilyn and Bobby.  Life was good.  Maybelline continued  skyrocketing to the moon - providing security and prosperity, at the end of the Great Depression.  

     Eva and Ches in 1952, with their first grandchild, Jerry Westhouse, Marilyn's son.  Jerry grew up, influenced by his grandfather's enthusiasm for beautiful automobiles, and would eventually race them in the 1970's, and is still part of the racing world, through Newman/Haas Racing.  

Read more about Eva and Ches in, The Maybelline Story, and be sure to scroll down and listen to Ches Haines sing with his brother in law, Tom Lyle Williams, in a pretend broadcast, of The Maybelline Hour, presenting "Penthouse Serenade."

Also don't forget to try Eva's Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler,   (look under Past Events, for video of Sharrie making it on AZTV.)   The recipe is at the bottom of this web page, just scroll down.       

Signed copies of The Maybelline Story available at http://www.maybellinestory.com/ in time for the Holidays.

Hedy Lamarr vintage makeup bags coming soon.