Dos Palmos Memories From Bob Keith as told to Cliff Watts, November 2002
Dos Palmos was the machine shop that built the engine for 1964. Bob was 27 then and had met Gary Goodnight who owned a new chassis and body but had no money for an engine. Bob and Maurice agreed to provide the missing component so they could all make the UK trip. Bob had received a call from Wally Parks inviting the team to join the trip. Allard had asked (and paid) for Parks to put the team together with the stipulation that Bob was a member. They finished the car, made a few runs, put it in the trailer and towed to New York where it was put on an ocean liner. To their amazement all the other racers were top stars!! They were well known in California but unknown nationally.
When we were all booing because the US team had refused to run because of rain, it was Bob who braved the puddles, bumps and slick surface to quieten us down. He had to do it without goggles and had his eyes closed for every alternate second! Maurice told him that the car was sideways through the lights and it was only the chute that pulled it straight before it rolled.
After the UK races the Dos Palmas car returned to the US in 1964 but Gerry Belton showed up with the cash a few months later and it was crated and returned to UK. Bob said Croft DRP procrastinated so much while they were at Drag Festival #1 that the deal initially had fallen through. In 1965 he returned with a new car with a big Chrysler lump running on Methanol because for 1965 only fuelers were wanted. Bob still has the first body of the second car in his spare bedroom. It's very similar to the DP car.
He remembered visiting somewhere near Leeds to fix the Dos Palmos car so Croft could run it. Apparently they had messed with it to a point that they couldn't get it running. They took it to a (he thought private) airfield for him to lay down a few runs.
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