The Burnout KING
THEY say you should never meet your heroes, but I’ve never met anyone in the car scene who was disappointed after coming in contact with John Peterson. JP was one of the true founding fathers of the street machine movement and a folk hero to Ford fans everywhere.
John passed away at the age of 72 in August, and his memorial service was attended by over 1000 friends and family. It was by turns a moving and uplifting day. If there was ever a guy who lived life to the full, it was JP. There were many tales of automotive adventure and a lot of laughs, but it was John’s devotion to his family, his generous nature and loyalty to his mates that were the recurring themes.
Along with family and friends, those that spoke at the service included Chic Henry, Victor Bray, Norm Hardinge and former Rare
JOHN TURNED BURNOUTS INTO AN ART FORM, LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE SPORT WE HAVE TODAY
Spares General Manager Dave Rayner, who acted as MC. Dozens of Zephyrs and Zodiacs formed a guard of honour, and John was taken for his final ride by his son Shane in the mean black Dodge pick-up that was JP’s workhorse for many years.
The extent of John’s influence on our sport is hard to fathom. Before JP, a burnout was a short skid drag racers did to warm up their tyres. The cars that did big burnouts were full-on race cars, dragsters, altereds and funny cars – it was not really the domain of street cars. But John turned burnouts into an art form, laying the foundations for the sport we have today. Would the Street Machine Summernats have been so successful for so long without burnouts? Impossible! Watching a John Peterson burnout changed the direction of a young Victor Bray’s life and many others.
While JP and his iconic black Mk3 Zephyr are most famous for their burnouts, the pair also won multiple trophies on the
