[Healeys] Qvalle, and Huuffaker

[David Leong]

There is some mention of Kjell's Healeys in this article. This month's
excerpt from Vintage Motorsports, on speedtv.com is about Joe Huffaker and
Kjell Qvale. I'd never heard of any oval in my old Glenview neighborhood.

 

http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/vintage-speed-the-quiet-man-joe-huffak
er/ 

 

In counterpoint to his domestic adversaries, Qvale launched the San
Francisco Imported Car Show in 1958 at Brooks Hall.

 

Qvale was a driving force in the SCCA's San Francisco regional racing
programs, organizing in 1949 one of nation's first sports car road races at
Buchanan field in Concord, California. From 1950 through '56, he was
organizer and race chairman for the legendary Pebble Beach Road Races in the
Del Monte Forest as well as for the 1952 through '54 Golden Gate Park races.

 

By 1920, local boosters proclaimed Oakland and environs "Detroit of the
West." Major manufacturers with local operations included Chevrolet, Fisher
Body, Durant, Caterpillar, Best Tractor, Fageol, Chrysler, Ford and Hall
Scott Motors. Engine plant operations, foundries and machine shops
flourished.

With such a motor-crazy environment, it was inevitable that serious racing
would follow. The Oakland Motordrome was built in 1911, then the oval
Oakland Speedway in the city's Glenview District and finally, Oakland
Stadium in the suburb of San Leandro.

 

Dave