Don
Francisco participated in and innovated off-road motorsports
around the world, from Mexico to Africa, the dry lakes of El
Mirage and Muroc, race tracks from Pomona to Indy, and on
the salt at Bonneville. He helped to technically perfect the
vehicles used for all types of off-road racing and shared
this knowledge with the off-road community through his
prolific writings. He also formulated the National Off-Road
Racing Association’s (NORRA) detailed set of rules and
vehicle classes.
Born in 1918, Don Francisco, or “Cisco”, as he was known to
the Hot Rod Magazine (HRM) staff, was one of the true
Southern California Hot Rod Pioneers. His practical
engineering knowledge and undisputed engine building skill
positioned Francisco in the middle of high performance
vehicle development and advancement. In the 1940s, from a
small gas station in Alhambra, Francisco started rebuilding
and tuning engines for many fellow Road Runner’s (an early
Southern California car club whose members included: Vic
Edelbrock Sr., Wally Parks, Bill Burke, Ak Miller and
brothers Zeke and Larry, Randy Shinn, Eddie Meyer Jr., Dean
Batchelor, and Ray Brown). Along with regular engine work
and other Hot Rodders looking for good reliable engine work,
this “side business” started taking precedence over his
regular job at the Alhambra Fire Department.
In 1949, Wally Parks, founder of the National Hot Rod
Association (NHRA) and at the time editor of Hot Rod
Magazine, offered Francisco a job as technical writer and by
1950 the job grew to Technical Editor. Francisco wrote for
the magazine until 1965. He also worked as a contributing
editor to Motor Trend Magazine and as the Technical Editor
and Reader Forum Chief at Car Craft Magazine. He wrote with
a targeted and straightforward style. His readers and fans
recognized him as a trusted and true car lover and expert.
His writing went beyond magazine articles and in the late
1950’s he founded the Don Francisco Publishing Company.
Under his own publishing company he wrote, and sold several
books on high performance vehicles and engines, including
Maximum Performance-Stockers for the Strip or Street and How
to Modify Chevy V8 Engines. He gained his expertise through
every day experience working with engines and vehicles in
racing environments.
By the early 1950’s Francisco joined Bill Stroppe and Clay
Smith to help prepare Lincolns for the grueling 2,200 mile
Carrera Panamericana, also known as the Mexican Road Race.
The Panamericana ran north and south across Mexico on its
newly completed Pan American Highway over the course of five
days. The Lincolns dominated their class and gained the
nickname “Road Race Lincoln.” Due to spectator safety
concerns the Mexican Government put an end to the race in
1955.
Francisco then participated in preparing vehicles for the
Mobil Economy Runs from the late 1950s until the mid 1960s.
The Mobil Economy Run was a competition to maximize fuel
economy over a cross country route that changed every year.
The cross country event lasted several days and often
covered a distance of over 1,000 miles. Successful
participation in the event allowed for manufacturers to
advertise the fuel economy and performance of their
vehicles. In the mid 1960’s, Pontiac hired Francisco to
manage their factory team. He prepared the cars, chose the
drivers, then oversaw the teams participation in the event.
Francisco continued a working relationship with Stroppe and
the two worked together again in 1963 and 1964 preparing and
testing a team of Mercury Comets. The Comets were to be
entered in the 1964 East Africa Safari, “The Worlds Toughest
Race.” Francisco served as the team manager on the project
and had a full list of responsibilities ranging from
personnel to budget and to actual vehicle building, testing
and development. He traveled to Kenya twice to oversee the
onsite operations and testing of the vehicles. However he
left the team when Mercury upper management disregarded his
recommendations regarding the shock absorbers on the
vehicles. During the race all of the Comets suffered from
broken shock mounts.
In 1966 Francisco joined Ed Pearlman and a group of other
California based off-road enthusiasts in founding the
National Off-Road Racing Association (NORRA). Francisco
helped establish the inaugural Mexican 1000 in 1967.
Utilizing his skills as a pilot, Francisco charted a viable
racecourse and calculating needed service stop locations.
Using his personal aircraft, specially modified to fly on
lower octane pump gas, Don was very active during the actual
events transporting VIP’s and press up and down the race
course. He also worked with Pearlman to establish the first
set of rules and classes for the sport of off-road racing.
After NORRA changed hands Francisco continued to do business
with Pearlman. The two operated the Baja 500 Off-Road Mart
in Pasadena until the mid 1980s.
Don passed away on January 29th, 2005 at the age of 87,
after a full lifetime of accomplishments and adventures.
Source:
Charles Rollins, Editor Bench-Racing.com, Don Francisco, Hot
Rod Pioneer, http://www.bench-racing.com/html/archives_2005.html,
February 2, 2005.
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