Steele Thurkelson, RIP

[auto doug]

After more thinking am pretty sure he sold hie books to pay for his trip to NZ he had hopes of living back in Hasting but felt he knew very few so went back to the States and not a lot was heard of him except Toms daughter told me Tom was taking care of him,Steele converted a Ferrari then a Mustang for her to race as here legs never worked all controls were hand operated made by Steele

Hi I've read some of these post about Steele Therkelson he was a friend of mine in his later days, i got to work with him a bit, have lunch, dinner and other normal days to day things he would always have such great stories to tell about his days in the racing world with all the people he worked with and so on just fascinating stuff! He says I have a lot of photos and slides of those days and with Shelby American. So I told him we must see these! so we set up a BBQ dinner at his home in Azuza, California and we had a great time listening to all his stories and him reliving the Glory Days while watching his slide show presentation, WOW! is all I can say if you like vintage sports car racing history this was something to witness! Oh by the way I just happen to have had my video camera rolling and captured the evening on film! i still miss Steele a great deal and sure wish I'd had more time to capture more of his amazing wonderful life and stories! Now with the unleashing of this Movie Ford vs Ferrari it is bringing back a lot of those stories and times, so I'm thinking now would be a good time to get my story of Steele out there for more folks to enjoy. I can be reached at my classic car restoration shop Auto Kraft body & paint inc. lincoln, Nebraska 402 475 9968 thanks, Doug Kielian

[auto doug]

Hi I've read some of these post about Steele Therkelson he was a friend of mine in his later days, i got to work with him a bit, have lunch, dinner and other normal days to day things he would always have such great stories to tell about his days in the racing world with all the people he worked with and so on just fascinating stuff! He says I have a lot of photos and slides of those days and with Shelby American. So I told him we must see these! so we set up a BBQ dinner at his home in Azuza, California and we had a great time listening to all his stories and him reliving the Glory Days while watching his slide show presentation, WOW! is all I can say if you like vintage sports car racing history this was something to witness! Oh by the way I just happen to have had my video camera rolling and captured the evening on film! i still miss Steele a great deal and sure wish I'd had more time to capture more of his amazing wonderful life and stories! Now with the unleashing of this Movie Ford vs Ferrari it is bringing back a lot of those stories and times, so I'm thinking now would be a good time to get my story of Steele out there for more folks to enjoy. I can be reached at my classic car restoration shop Auto Kraft body & paint inc. lincoln, Nebraska 402 475 9968 thanks, Doug
Kielian

testing, ok not sure this is working Im having troubles loading a picture of Steele, I type d in photo # but it brought up one of Peter Brock signing my car. I think the others are to large?
and i can't find how to delete it ?? so there it is ?



img4906

[auto doug]

Attachment 63982 ok ill try this I found one that appears small enough to post, here is Steele T with Paul Brown and me. and my new rotisserie the Roller Hoop.

[auto doug]

Attachment 63983 playing with a vintage pinball game (I found at a thrift store as a gift for Speedy Bill), with two racing legends ! how fun!!

[Kiwiboss]

Hi I've read some of these post about Steele Therkelson he was a friend of mine in his later days, i got to work with him a bit, have lunch, dinner and other normal days to day things he would always have such great stories to tell about his days in the racing world with all the people he worked with and so on just fascinating stuff! He says I have a lot of photos and slides of those days and with Shelby American. So I told him we must see these! so we set up a BBQ dinner at his home in Azuza, California and we had a great time listening to all his stories and him reliving the Glory Days while watching his slide show presentation, WOW! is all I can say if you like vintage sports car racing history this was something to witness! Oh by the way I just happen to have had my video camera rolling and captured the evening on film! i still miss Steele a great deal and sure wish I'd had more time to capture more of his amazing wonderful life and stories! Now with the unleashing of this Movie Ford vs Ferrari it is bringing back a lot of those stories and times, so I'm thinking now would be a good time to get my story of Steele out there for more folks to enjoy. I can be reached at my classic car restoration shop Auto Kraft body & paint inc. lincoln, Nebraska 402 475 9968 thanks, Doug Kielian

Hi Auto Doug, i'll call you at some stage when i can get the time zone rite. You have seen some of my pictures added on this posting, i spent a bit of time with Steel towards the end when i was flying up from NZ couple of times a year, really enjoyed chatting and spending with him, went to his Pomona shop a few times and to one the Shelby reunions with Steel back in 06, i really enjoyed his company and got to meet some of the other Shelby Team members, mechanics though Steel including Peter Miles. Steel was quite highly respected by all the others i could tell. I'd luv to see the video you have, please load up onto you-tube when you get a chance. Just watched the Ford V Ferrari movie two days ago, having known and met a few of the caractors in the movie i thought it was about 80 percent, so not bad for a Hollywood car movie, but more important is to get those achievements out in the public eye and i think its done that. Regards Dale

[auto doug]

Hi Auto Doug, i'll call you at some stage when i can get the time zone rite. You have seen some of my pictures added on this posting, i spent a bit of time with Steel towards the end when i was flying up from NZ couple of times a year, really enjoyed chatting and spending with him, went to his Pomona shop a few times and to one the Shelby reunions with Steel back in 06, i really enjoyed his company and got to meet some of the other Shelby Team members, mechanics though Steel including Peter Miles. Steel was quite highly respected by all the others i could tell. I'd luv to see the video you have, please load up onto you-tube when you get a chance. Just watched the Ford V Ferrari movie two days ago, having known and met a few of the caractors in the movie i thought it was about 80 percent, so not bad for a Hollywood car movie, but more important is to get those achievements out in the public eye and i think its done that. Regards Dale

call me some time if you want a copy of the dvd's I have of Steele showing us his slides of his time with Shelby American Racing. pretty interesting stuff! 402 4375 9968