During World War II, with most hot rodders in the military, Veda took over writing and distributing the SCTA Racing News, sending copies for free to racers overseas. The Orrs established one of Southern California’s first speed shops, in Culver City, where Karl helped accelerate the changeover from modified 4-cylinder engines to hopped-up flathead V8s.
The first female member of SCTA, Veda set several records in the Full-Fendered Roadster competition in the late 1930s. Nobody messed with Karl, so when his wife Veda pulled on a crash helmet and proved she had the right stuff behind the wheel, the the Southern California Timing Association tossed aside its “no lady racers” rule. hot rodder, had a fast lakester and a reputation for being ornery. (Credit: Clam Shack/Flickr Creative Commons/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Veda Orr: One Fast Lady Hot rodder Veda Orr with her husband Karl. He raced competitively for half a century before he died at age 97. In the process, they landed repeatedly on the cover of Hot Rod magazine, and set records at Bonneville Salt Flats, a racing mecca in Utah. Burke raced all his life, driving a long succession of faster and more sophisticated streamliners, looking to top 300+ mph with partner Clark Cagle and their sons and daughters. The courage it took to drive one of these aluminum eggshells on wheels at high speeds is almost unimaginable. Using a larger 385-gallon belly tank, the intrepid duo built their first lakester (a fenderless high-speed car with a home-built body that was not from a car manufacturer), set many records and influenced other early hot-rod stars. Burke and his talented buddy, Don Francisco, began with a small-sized tank, but its exposed engine negated the streamlined effect. These sleek “Belly Tanks,” as they came to be known, soon became affordable war-surplus items. Looking at the auxiliary fuel tanks in war planes such as the P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightning aircraft, Burke imagined dropping one of these aerodynamically perfect aluminum containers onto an auto frame, fitting a modified engine and breaking records. Read More: Beauty in the Beast: Which Classic Muscle Cars Are Most Iconic?
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