Despite my earlier post, I never doubted the existence of Hazel Reid...or for that matter the possibility that it was in fact her that sent the telegram to Team Lotus. My remark about someone else doing it was somewhat tongue in cheek.
I want to thank Michael for writing about Gordon Reid - the driver. I can only add a small amount to his excellent post. Reid was supposed to have been a charter member of the CRA - California Roadster Association, and was a regular competitor in the track roadster ranks during the late 40s. He won one the first CRA sanctioned features against some very good talent.
Reid was also quite stylish. His nickname was "Flash" Gordon Reid. Likely a play on the "Flash Gordon" character (seemingly everyone in U.S. sports with the surname Gordon was nicknamed "Flash"), but I have to think in his case there was a bit more to it. He worked at one of the Hollywood movie studios, I believe in the p.r. department, and apparently he picked up some (self) promotional ideas. I've seen a photo of him seated in a midget wearing a Hawaiian shirt (though I've seen a few other drivers similarly attired, like Jim Rigsby), but better yet, there is a photo of him at Gilmore Stadium where he's wearing a tailored suit, standing by a Cadillac convertible towing his midget
The suit almost appears luminescent even in the black and white photo.
And, as Michael writes, Reid did have a car lined up for Indy a month later. I truly should have remembered that, but with seemingly every driver who died in a racing accident reported in the press as either "running his last race before retiring" or "was entered for the Indianapolis '500'", I wrongfully disregarded it because so many of these claims are pure malarkey.
Edited by Jim Thurman, 05 July 2010 - 23:30.
