Lindley Bothwell.. some people are inherently amazing, some are forged by the times they live in, some are both... I'm not sure which category he fit, but he was astonishing.

He invented some pretty cool things, like cheerleading. Well, sort of, cheer yelling might be more accurate. Not impressed? He invented flashcards for the specators at college football games to use to make those stadium seating areas display ginormous pictures of his team mascot smashing the other team mascot. And releasing balloons in tandem to float up in his teams letter.

He completed a masters at USC, and another unnamed degree, then went to Oregon State University to study agriculture (leading to owning 34 orange grove ranches and becoming in the top 10 largest citrus farmers in the US, and now the last in the Fernando Valley) and while at a game at Notre Dame impressed Knute Rockne so much Knute made him a honorary cheerleader at the Rose Bowl game against Stanford.

Impressed yet?

How about attaining the largest private car collection in the world? Not as large as collections since, but at the time, the biggest.

He loved old cars, and especially old racing cars... so much he invented vintage racing. No one else was, so I say he invented it. Prove me wrong. He was the Los Angeles regional director of the SCCA, and took a 1913 Puegot to the Indy 500 (it had won the 1916 Indy 500) so he could have fun... and inadvertently set a speed record, but didn't qualify for the race. It was 1949.

He collected horse drawn street cars, and was the only one to do so, and I'm sure he was the only person to save any for posterity.

Amazed yet? Hell, this is only the bits from the Wikipedia page!

At 12 Bothwell discovered the allure of speed by whizzing down Los Angeles' Cahuenga Pass at 50 mph on a high-wheeled coaster cart.
In 1926 he bought his first old car, a 1901 Olds
in 1928 a 1909 Benz driven by Eddie Hearne
and a 1907 Stearns which had known the heavy foot of the great Barney Oldfield.
" His chief regret is that no one else west of the Rockies maintains a similar stable, against which he might have a rousing series. " as the racing on Catalina Island and state fairs

he staged the 1950 Vanderbilt Cup in Santa Monica which Ralph De Palma officiated...

The "vintage racers" he collected
the 1913 boat-tailed Peugeot with which Dario Resta won the 1916 Indianapolis "500"
1913 Stutz once driven by famed Bob Burman,
 a 1916 Hudson
 a 1910 Buick.
1914 Ford,
1907 Stearns of Barney Oldfield,
1909 Pope-Hartford,
 1908 Benz,
1907 Packard,
1914 Ford,
 1909 Benz probably the Blitzen Benz, was the Oldfield world speed record breaker of 100mph
 1910 Buick,
1909 Mercedes,
1914 National,
1916 Hudson placed 8th at the Indy 500
1910 Simplex,
1905 Mercedes
 1912 Cadillac.

info from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1133626/index.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindley_Bothwell

November 1952 issue of Motorsports:

found on http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/pictures?userid={161BD2CF-C5CD-446B-B028-586AF136C181}&inv=8B7C8CB6972B330&userid={161BD2CF-C5CD-446B-B028-586AF136C181}&inv=8B7C8CB6972B330&albumid={FDEA0978-EA2B-409A-BAE6-B6C62751982F}

the 1913 Puegot, winner of the 1916 Indy 500

Color photos from http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?55599-Lindley-Bothwell

Vivian Maier photo (upcoming movie about her soon) by accident captured a 1969 Coronet

what is the info on the hupcap center? I don't recognize it. 

She was born in New York City, she moved between the U.S. and France several times during her childhood, living with her mother near to her mother's relations. Her father seems to have left the family for unknown reasons by 1930. In the census that year, the head of the household was listed as award-winning portrait photographer Jeanne Bertrand

 In 1951, at the age of 25, Maier moved from France to New York, where she worked in a sweatshop. She made her way to the Chicago in 1956. and there, for approximately 40 years, she worked on and off as a nanny. For a brief period in the 1970s, Maier worked as a nanny for Phil Donahue's children.

 The families that employed her described her as very private and reported that she spent her days off walking the streets of Chicago and taking photographs, most often with a Rolleiflex camera.

She learned English by going to theaters, which she loved. ... She was constantly taking pictures, which she didn't show anyone. In 1959 and 1960, Maier took photographs in Los Angeles, Manila, Bangkok, Beijing, Egypt, Italy, and the American Southwest. The trip was probably financed by the sale of a family farm in France.

Toward the end of her life, Maier may have been homeless for some time. She lived on Social Security and may have had another source of income. The children she had cared for in the early 1950s bought her an apartment in the Rogers Park area of Chicago and paid her bills.

 In 2008, she slipped on ice and hit her head. She did not fully recover and died in 2009 at the age of 83. Maier's photographic legacy – in the form of some 100,000 negatives, many still undeveloped – was discovered by a 26-year-old real estate agent, John Maloof, who bought 30,000 prints and negatives from an auction house that had acquired the photographs from a storage locker that had been sold off when Maier was no longer able to pay her fees. After buying the first collection of Maier photographs in 2007, Maloof acquired more from another buyer at the same auction.

 Maloof soon discovered Maier's name, but was unable to find out more about her until the day after her death, when he found an obituary notice in the Chicago Tribune.

Photo from http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/

Clay Smith... aka Mr Horsepower (the Woody Woodpecker cigar smoking logo)

Smokey Yunick once dubbed Clay Smith, “the world’s smartest mechanic.”

 In 1942 Smith bought the company the engine building company he'd been workign at when the owner died, it was renamed Clay Smith Engineering.

 It should be noted that Smith cams were appearing in midgets, land speed cars, Indy cars and even stock cars, but with the addition of his own full line shop, his name skyrocketed along with his celebrity.

 Now building full-on racing engines, Smith’s business was expanding, he teamed with Bill Stroppe to compete in a hydroplane boat race. Their machine was powered by a Ford straight six engine, oil starvation and vibration were two of the terminal problems with that particular motor. Smith solved them both and they won the event.

He took a stocker Mercury and tweaked it to get the best mileage possible, winning the 1950 Mobilgas Economy Run.

 Following up on that success, Ford had Smith and Stroppe prepare Lincolns for the PanAmerican Road race across Mexico. The big Lincolns dominated until the race was discontinued in 1954.

 His crowning achievement was tuning Troy Ruttman to victory at the 1952 Indy 500.

 Roger Ward lost it on the front straight of the Du Quoin Speedway in Du Quoin, Illinois. His car careened into the pits, striking Smith and killing him. Smith had been Ward’s own crewchief in years past and the accident shook the steely Ward so hard he nearly walked away from auto racing forever.

Clay Smith, another gearhead guy you should know.

info from a well written piece on http://bangshift.com/blog/gearhead-guys-you-should-know-clay-smith.html