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SALT LAKE CITY — More than 70 years after Ab Jenkins set a 24-hour speed record on the shimmering white Bonneville Salt Flats, the endurance of his Mormon Meteor III has been captured on film in "Boys of Bonneville — Racing on a Ribbon of Salt."
The Larry H. Miller theatrical release will have a private screening Wednesday at the Rose Wagner Theater, preceded by celebratory festivities featuring the car, the Jenkins family and an appearance by elected officials that begins at 6 p.m.
Beyond the marvel of a milk-chugging man who shelved his career as a contractor to pursue a dream in Utah's hot west desert, the story tells of Jenkins' relentless determination to chart new records, of trying the untried and being a man guilelessly unaware of the word, "no."
Race car fans will love the story for just that — for Jenkins' passion that set 49 records with 12 that still hold today. But the story is also about the journey made by his son, Marv, and a crew of men dedicated to rescuing the car from abandonment and disrepair.
One of those men was Roger Brasier, part mechanic, part machine shop operator and all gusto who was tapped to take an aircraft engine with leaking cylinders and build it back to its glory.
Without the manual.
- The Boys of Bonneville will play Aug. 26-Sept. 8 at the Jordan Commons in Sandy; The Gateway in Salt Lake City; The Junction in Ogden; and The District in South Jordan.
- The feature-length documentary includes interviews with car collector and TV personality Jay Leno.
- The film is directed by Curt Wallin, with John Price as executive producer who believed the story of the Mormon Meteor III needed to be told. Price is founder of the Price Museum of Speed.
- In 1936, the Deseret News had a contest to name the car with an offer to pay $25 to the winner. Three people actually came up with the name and split the prize three ways.
"It was either go all out or leave it as a museum piece."
Over the course of the project — as Brasier became immersed in grease and bolts and wrenches — he became immersed in the lives of the Jenkins family and the quest taken on by Marv Jenkins to see his father's car restored.
"As soon as I met the Jenkins family, I felt like I had known them 30 years — that is the way they treat you."
Along the way, the car was retrieved from the state Capitol a couple of times — loaded up on a trailer after it was allowed to sit in the sun, the snow, the rain and the wind or be banged about by school kids on tours.
The car's engine after time wound up in Brasier's shop in Bountiful, where curious visitors prodded the mechanic for an explanation and he remained deliberately evasive.
Over 18 months, Brasier and others involved in the project set out in another race — not on the salt of Bonneville – but against death itself, trying to complete the project before Marv Jenkins died.
"We could see Marv's health was fading fast; we wanted to get it done before he was gone."
The race meant 18-hour days in the shop, puzzling over pictures of the Mormon Meteor III and picturing the puzzle that needed to be put into place.
"You almost had to destroy the pieces to see what we had," Brasier said. "And, of course, they didn't manufacture parts for this motor, so they they had to be made."
At times, Brasier said the task ahead him became as murky as the mirage of images that can rise up out of the sun on the white expanse of Bonneville.
"Several times I'd go home at night and I would not have a clue how to get over the next hurdle."
With just a few days to go before the car was ready to once again kiss the salt at Bonneville — a return not made in several decades — Marv Jenkins died.
Brasier said during the same hour as Marv Jenkins' funeral, Mormon Meteor III was racing where it had made history so many years ago.
"Who's ever in control — and you can believe what you want — this car is meant to be a survivor," Brasier said, "or it would have been gone a long time ago."
More information about the film and project can be found at www.boysofbonneville.com.
Email: aodonoghue@ksl.com
