Robert E. Meeks (July 17, 1921 – August 8, 2006) was an American

hot rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimized for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and ma ...

engine builder and chief mechanic to famed hot rod driver and auto parts designer Vic Edelbrock. Meeks was pioneer in the early days of hot-rodding and was considered the first Ford flathead guru. Meeks was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

.Oilstick.com obituary
/ref> When he was just 15 years old, Vic Edelbrock found Meeks hanging around his repair garage and offered him a job, asking "wanna get your hands dirty?" Meeks became

Edelbrock Edelbrock, LLC is an American manufacturer of specialty automotive and motorcycle parts. The company is headquartered in the Memphis area (specifically Olive Branch, Mississippi), with a Southern California R&D Tech Center located in Cerritos, C ...

's first employee and never worked for anyone else.''Hotrod & Restoration'' magazine article, July 2005, Bill Sessa Meeks was like a brother to Vic and was next to him the day his only son was born,

Vic Edelbrock, Jr. Otis Victor "Vic" Edelbrock Jr. (August 23, 1936 – June 9, 2017) was the son and only child of famed mechanic and Edelbrock founder, Vic Edelbrock. He was the president of Edelbrock from 1962 until his death in his home in Rolling Hills, Califor ...

History at Edelbrock's official website
In 1942, Meeks joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and served four years as a

Gunner's Mate The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard occupational rating of gunner's mate (GM) is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" sch ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1955, a friend of Meeks who worked at

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

, came to him at Edelbrock and presented him with the opportunity to work on the new

Chevy Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

V8. Edelbrock was given 3 of the brand new engines before the public ever saw them and Meeks was in charge of testing. While working with Edelbrock, Meeks headed up his racing team and also worked on notable record-breakers such as the Pierson Brothers coupe and Alex Xydias with his So-cal streamliner in 1949.Anderson, Stephen K. "Historical Reunion: Repeating History Through a Car and a Great American Family". ''American Rodder Magazine'', May 2004. Retrieved 5 August 2008 The latter was the first American car to break to 200 mph barrier at the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah, United States. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land ma ...

. Meeks was known to have built custom engines for both

bootleggers A bootleg is the upper part (or shaft) of a boot. Bootleg, bootlegging or bootlegger(s) may also refer to: Common meanings * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages * Moonshine, illicitly made an ...

and the very same

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

agents attempting to catch them. Meeks was also one of the first mechanics to experiment with high-octane fuels. He worked with

nitromethane Nitromethane, sometimes shortened to simply "nitro", is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in ...

and spent considerable effort disguising it so competitors wouldn't know what his giving him the speed increase. Meeks retired in 1993 after working with Edelbrock for almost 65 years. Meeks died in 2006 at the age of 85.

References and further reading

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeks, Bobby Auto racing people 1921 births 2006 deaths American motorsport people United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors