Mr Jan Gilmer
Posted: August 21st, 2011, 12:04 pm
Last Wednesday, the last day of our American holiday, my travelling mate Jeff Griffith and I took off on another long drive. This time it was to Howard Lake Mn, to call in on Jan Gilmer.
Man....what a time we had there. Jan kept us entertained for hours in his shop and over lunch, with stories about his 1/4 scale midgets, his 3/4 midgets and his life. He's a fantastic storyteller and tells some "hot" jokes!
We sat and watched as he worked on his 1/4 midgets.
He proudly showed us the 1940?? Kurtis Kraft TQ midget he has almost completely restored. He told us how he redid the body panels on a English Wheel. About the hours he spent polishing the welds in the metalwork, before it was chromed. He loves this car so much, he doesn't think it will ever see action on a track.
Our time with Jan was way too short, and with a 5.5 hr drive back to Knoxville Iowa, for a flight home the next morning, we said our goodbyes. Another truly wonderful experience.........
Man....what a time we had there. Jan kept us entertained for hours in his shop and over lunch, with stories about his 1/4 scale midgets, his 3/4 midgets and his life. He's a fantastic storyteller and tells some "hot" jokes!
We sat and watched as he worked on his 1/4 midgets.
He proudly showed us the 1940?? Kurtis Kraft TQ midget he has almost completely restored. He told us how he redid the body panels on a English Wheel. About the hours he spent polishing the welds in the metalwork, before it was chromed. He loves this car so much, he doesn't think it will ever see action on a track.
Our time with Jan was way too short, and with a 5.5 hr drive back to Knoxville Iowa, for a flight home the next morning, we said our goodbyes. Another truly wonderful experience.........