Mormon Meteor III Mystery

In Barracuda issue 11, we told the story of Ab Jenkins, the son of the salt. He pioneered salt flat racing at Bonneville before World War II and set dozens of records with his cars, the Ab Jenkins Special, the Mormon Meteor, the Mormon Meteor II and the Mormon Meteor III.

At one time, Jenkins held more records than any other person in the history of sports. He was given the ironic nickname of “the world’s safest speedster” because of his dedication to racing fast, but never at the cost of safety. His good sportsmanship and championing of the salt flats made him a hero to race enthusiasts.

When Ab Jenkins retired from racing, rather than keeping the Mormon Meteor III to himself, he decided he wanted to share the car with the citizens of Utah, especially the children. He had always attributed his stamina behind the wheel to his total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, as taught by Mormon doctrine. He wanted the car on display so that children could be inspired by his feats of endurance and clean living.

As previously reported in Barracuda, Jenkins turned the car over to the state of Utah for display in the state capitol for the sum of $1. An agreement was made with a very plainly written, simple contract, which said that the state should properly display and maintain the car. If the state ever failed to display or maintain the car, it would revert back to Jenkins as though the contract had never been written.

Allowing the state to display the car was very generous. The Mormon Meteor III held dozens of speed records in its day (and it actually still holds some of the 81 land speed records it set in 1940). As such, the Mormon Meteor III is a historically significant car. But in addition to its historical significance, the Meteor is also a Duesenberg—one of the rarest and most expensive collector car marques around. But not only is it a Duesenberg, the Mormon Meteor III was hand built on standard 143-inch Duesenberg frame rails by Augie Duesenberg himself. It is also the last Duesenberg ever built. Because of all of these factors, Motor Trend once listed it as the 4th most valuable car in the entire world. The car’s estimated value is somewhere around $5 million.

Ab Jenkins passed away in 1956, but his car remained on display in a large glass case in the Utah state capitol, where it was a popular attraction for tourists and school children for years to follow.

However, the car is no longer on display in the Utah state capitol. And the story of what happened to the car is almost unbelievable.

Many years after Ab’s passing, his son Marv was living in Texas. A friend called and asked him if he knew where the Meteor was. Marv replied that it was in the capitol in its display. His friend told him that the car was not in the capitol, it was sitting outdoors at a local truck wash. Astonished, Marv immediately flew to Utah and indeed found the Meteor sitting in the truck wash, unattended, neglected and vandalized. “It was enough to make you want to cry,” says Jenkins.

Get the amazing story of this car’s resurrection in the print edition of Barracuda.

Excerpted from the print edition of Barracuda Magazine issue #13.