Bob Rufi

A native of Los Angeles, California, Bob Rufi was a highly successful dry lakes competitor during the immediate pre-war years. Using his home-made tear-drop shaped streamliner, which was powered by a 1925 Chevrolet four-cylinder topped with an Olds 3-port head, Rufi would end up being the SCTA points leader for the 1940 season. An early proponent of exotic fuel mixtures, Rufi ran an incredible-for-the-time one-way speed of 143.54mph at Harper Dry Lake during that same season and would securely place him as one of the most formidable racers of the pre-war era. Although Rufi would hang up his racing goggles later that same year, he would go on to partner with his friends Chuck Spurgin and Bob Giovanine and develop their Chevy four “modified roadster” to be the SCTA top points car in 1948.