Friday, December 05, 2025

Ken Walkey was a 300 mph Landspeed racer, Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame, Car builder, and Korean War Navy Veteran, plus a Disney Imagineer for 25 years, and the Ventura County Model T club founder and president



Always fascinated by cars, he purchased his first car (a '26 Chevy touring sedan) and got it running at age 13, joined the Burbank Flywheelers Roadster Club in his later teenage years 

Ken served in the US Navy from 1950-55. He ran the Navy’s machine shop and built cars in his down time to race the locals in the nearby abandoned air strip in Hawaii. While stationed in Hawaii, he met a PanAm Stewardess, Bettylee and married her in 56.




He used his kids old abandoned swing set for the frame in that first tank, but didn't make the roll bar tall enough to pass Bonneville inspections, went home, disassembled the tank, stretched it out four feet with a new frame and came back in 1973 to take the class record, 185 mph something, and the F.I.A. world record.

This was the first ever vintage 4 cylinder to set a record over 200 mph and gain entry into the 200 mph club.

This car under the next owner, 
set 12 various records at El Mirage and Bonneville, 7 of which were still standing as of 2017

He built many cars, both funky 3 wheelers and 300 mph race cars, from his own ideas and with his own hands. 

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