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Remembering Pete Millar, Part 1 of 3
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Pete Millar’s Half-Century
Of Art, Satire, Humor -- And Flies!
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By Dave Wallace Photos by DAVE WALLACE & COURTESY OF MILLAR ARCHIVES |
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the request of Competition Plus, Dave Wallace has updated a story
that appeared in Hot Rod Nostalgia’s print “magalog”
just prior to Pete Millar’s death on February 28, 2003. To
order this magalog (Volume Five) online, visit www.hotrodnostalgia.com.
To view a controversial ‹ and fully animated ‹ Pete
Millar cartoon addressing NHRA’s attempts to slow down Top
Fuel cars back in 1997, go to Hot
Rod Nostalgia. - Editor
An unexpected highlight of last October’s NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion occurred at the end of Saturday afternoon’s AA/Fuel Dragster qualifying session, when Pete Millar’s ashes blew out of a parachute at half-track in full view of Famoso Raceway’s capacity crowd. “Pete always said that he wanted his ashes scattered at Bakersfield,”
explained his wife of five decades, Orah Mae Millar (pronounced
“Mah-Larr”). On her behalf, a mutual friend and event
announcer put the special request to driver Bob Muravez (a.k.a.
Floyd Lippencott Jr.), an old friend and frequent subject of the
recently-deceased cartoonist. Muravez, in turn, approached car-owner
Jon Halstead, who instantly granted the widow’s request. Better
yet, because the team had planned a half pass to check out its all-new
engine combination, Halstead instructed Muravez to dump the laundry
at the eighth-mile mark. All parties promised to keep the secret
In consideration of the other Nostalgia Top Fuel teams attempting
to qualify, Halstead hung back in the staging lanes, assuring that
his would be the last fueler to run in the session. When the signal
was given to fire his motor, the announcer shared the plan with
the crowd (at least, with those within range of Famoso’s “nostalgic”
PA speakers). Muravez did a blazing burnout, then recorded his quickest-ever
launch. At half-track, Bob simultaneously clicked the throttle and
popped his dual ‘chutes, sending a large cloud of gray ash
skyward at 200 mph. For the first time in memory, witnesses to such
a ceremony were both aware of what was occurring and in Article continues after advertisement
Pete Millar’s widow, their three daughters and their grandson,
Peter, were among the thousands who remained in their seats as the
track sweeper rolled up and down a left-hand lane that was coated
in gray all the way to 1000 feet. As someone would later comment,
this surreal scene “looked like a page out of Drag Cartoons.”
It would also inspire Tom Hunnicutt to create (in the style of his
late friend and colleague) the “Ashes To Ashes” illustration
that is seen for the first time in this issue.
Referring to Pete Millar as a cartoonist is like calling Von Dutch
a pinstriper, or Sam Barris a body man, or Wally Parks a former-dry-lakes
racer. While Millar is indisputedly the greatest drag-racing cartoonist
of all time, the perfect strokes laid down by his ancient, crow-quill
pens are merely the visible tip of his talent. Beneath each image
lies a depth of observation and humor that has never been approached
by any of the competitors who has come and gone since 1953, when
Pete penned what would become his first published hot-rod cartoon. “When Petersen bought Quinn, they asked if I would also do
the illustrations for the tech letters in Hot Rod. That was when
Wally Parks was the editor and Barbara [the future Mrs. Parks ‹Ed.]
was his secretary. I was still working as an engineer and doing
this stuff at night. What I wanted was to quit my engineering job
and become a fulltime cartoon-book editor; that had been my dream
from a little kid.
“Like most cartoonists, Kohler always needed money. I still
had my engineer’s job to support my family. He had a wife,
four kids. Plus, we had to take that $2500 and split it among the
other cartoonists that we’d hired to come in and help us put
the book together. When the money didn’t
In next month's issue, Pete Millar mortgages his house to create Drag Cartoons. Tune back in for Part Two! --EDITOR
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