JON Van Daal is a rarity in the magazine business, having been a major player on both the creative and commercial sides of the game.
As a photographer and journalist, Jon has contributed to countless magazines, including Australian Hot Rod, Street Machine, Performance Street Car, Street & Strip, Dragster and Drag News. He also edited both National Drag Racer and The Drag Racing Yearbook. In 2014, Jon was awarded an Australian Nostalgia Fuel Association Pioneer Award. As an ad guy, Jon led the commercial charge during the golden era of HOT4s and Auto Salon. He has also penned three books: The History of the Summernats, Traction Action and The Boss: The Brett Stevens Story. Jon is currently working on a biography of his father. We sat him down to spill the beans on a crazy career.
What was your first exposure to drag racing?
In 1970 I was on school holidays from Sydney up in Brisbane. My brother-in-law took me to Surfers to see US Top Fuel racer Steve Carbone. I had my dad’s Kodak 126 camera and took some not-very-good photos. But it really fired up my interest.
What was your first published image?
That was a shot of John Lumb’s ‘Panic’ Torana Funny Car at Castlereagh in December 1974. A mate lent me a Nikon F2. The windshield posts on the Torana broke and the roof collapsed down over the roll cage. It was published in some Aussie mags and it won a photo competition with Car Craft in the US. I thought: “This is a piece of piss!” and bought my own camera. And the Torana did the same thing the very next meeting!
This is easy!
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2020-Ausgabe von Street Machine Magazine.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2020-Ausgabe von Street Machine Magazine.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE
ANIKA HODGES
THE CAR DROVE INTO OUR SHED AS A CREAM 202CI VC AND DROVE OUT AS A SILVER CAR WITH A 355 V8
STAGE FRIGHT
IT TOOK OWEN SCOTT MORE THAN 20 YEARS TO BUILD A TROPHY-WINING, 600HP EH HOLDEN UTE THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME
THE Ummmal SUSPECT
FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT MINI-TRUCKS. THIS SUMMERNATS TOP 60 HILUX IS A PROPER STREET MACHINE
FULLY UTILISED
HARDWOOD ROD & CUSTOM TURNS DARREN ISON'S HAND-ME-DOWN HT INTO A SMOOTH OPERATOR
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE
PEOPLE POWER
WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT 36 YEARS OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS - AND MOST DEMOCRATICALLY AWARDED - HONOUR IN OUR SPORT: STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR
OUT-AND-OUT MAYHEM
STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE IS ALREADY A ROLLICKING GOOD TIME, BUT WHAT CAR EVENT CAN'T BE MADE EVEN BETTER BY ADDING A BURNOUT COMP? INTRODUCING OUR INAUGURAL RODS OUT!
BAD TO THE BONE
THANKS TO HIS SON, ANDY, THE LATE MARIO COLALILLO’S 39 PLYMOUTH COUPE IS BACK ON THE ROAD AND STILL ONE OF THE BADDEST HOT RODS IN THE COUNTRY
THE CHALLENGE IS REAL
FROM TRACK DRAMAS TO SOARING TEMPERATURES, DRAG CHALLENGE 2024 THREW US SOME OF ITS TOUGHEST TESTS YET, BUT IT ALSO BROUGHT SOME OF THE QUICKEST TIMES THE EVENT HAS EVER SEEN