[Flathead Fever]

Those were the ultimate vintage Ford race cars even if they did fail miserably. I have some original magazines with articles on those cars I'll dig them out. I think I know where they are at? I have hundreds or more dry lakes photos I've borrowed or bought. I have photos of one of the Miller Indy cars at Muroc. I have so much of this stuff its getting hard too remember whose collection it was in that I copied and where I filed it?

One of those cars was sold to the son of the man that owned most of the radio stations in CA, Don Lee. That was probably around 1940. The hill that the Hollywood sign is on is named "Mt. Lee", because he had his broadcasting antennas up there. He probably owned the entire hill. Its still named Mt. Lee but you never here it mentioned.

His kid which more of an adult had a large collection of real exotic foreign cars. He had one of these '35 Indy cars in his collection. He showed up at the dry lakes in those cars as a spectator. Cars were band from competing unless they had American made engines. Overhead cam engines were banned too because it was suppose to be for amateur racing. I have a late 1940s parts price list for Offenhauser engines. A complete engine was something like $20,000.00 in today's dollars. So when you here the story of how a little V860 Edelbrock built flathead, in a Midget, beat a Midget with an Offenhauser engine, that was a big deal. Even if the V860 was inhaling nitro.

If this was your daddy (below) in 1940 you would have been driving around town in a 1935 Indy Car, or one of a dozen other highest priced sports cars in the world. In later year's he was in a traffic accident and suffered from excruciating back pain for years. I can relate to him after two failed surgeries. He went to the top of one of his dad's buildings and jumped off.

Don Lee

Having amassed a fortune selling automobiles, Lee branched out in broadcasting in 1926 when he purchased KFRC in San Francisco and relocated the station to the top floor of his Cadillac dealership at 1000 Van Ness Ave. In 1927 he purchased KHJ in Los Angeles.[2] By mid-September 1932, Lee also had full control of KDB, Santa Barbara, and KGB, San Diego.[3]
From 1929 to 1936, the 12-station Don Lee Network was affiliated with Columbia Broadcasting System. This venture was known as the Don Lee-Columbia Network. However, in 1936, CBS purchased KNX, along with some other West Coast stations. It also forged some new West Coast network alliances. This led to the Don Lee Network, now run by son Tommy Lee, to end its affiliation with CBS. Instead, on December 30, 1936, it became an affiliate of the Mutual Network. The two networks were known in newspaper ads as Don Lee-Mutual. Don Lee programs were offered to affiliates when Mutual had vacant time slots. The Don Lee Network was sold to ABC Radio on April 26, 1959. Programs became part of ABC.[4]
In 1931 Lee was granted a license to begin experimental television broadcasts with station W6XAO in Los Angeles.[5] The station later became KTSL, KNXT and is currently KCBS-TV. The ridge above the Hollywood sign, where Lee established his transmitter, is still known as "Mount Lee".