Eugene LeBlanc

A photo taken in front of the home of Beau's fiance. Beau's brother is the guy by the front wheel of the car in the photo. Gene's nephew, Jeff LeBlanc, believes the photo was taken in December of 1946, and it might have been on their wedding day. The car in the photo is a 1933 or 1934 Ford that Beau owned. Custom modifications included a custom cover for the grille, headlights that were molded to the fenders and a bumper from another car. Photo courtesy of Jeff LeBlanc.

A photo of Beau from Popular Mechanics August 1953. Photo courtesy of Popular Mechanics Magazine.

The LeBlanc Special is a twin-Hemi streamliner designed by Eugene LeBlanc of Cupertino, California. The build was completed in 1953, and Gene ran it on Bonneville in 1953, 1954 and 1955.

Eugene "Beau" LeBlanc of Cupertino, California. Having an interest for automobiles, Beau was a hot rodder early in his life. In the early 1950s he decided to test his skills at the salt flats, and he designed a twin-Hemi streamliner known as the LeBlanc Special. The streamliner was Gene's attempt to set a land speed record at Bonneville in 1953, 1954 and 1955. He was given the Harvey Haller Memorial Award for sportsmanship at Bonneville in 1954. As reported in Hot Rod Magazine November 1954, "Gene's determination and contagious good humor, in spite of many difficulties, made this choice a "natural.""

After Bonneville, Gene got into drag racing. He also ran LeBlanc's Engineering, a motor repair and rebuild shop in Sunnyvale, California for many years. He was very successful running a B Fuel dragster at Fremont in the late 1950s. According to Gene's nephew Jeff LeBlanc, It was a very simple design, running a rather heavy 430 CI Lincoln engine with 8 carbs; "My oldest brother helped mix the fuel and set the car at the start line. The car routinely ran the lowest ET, and beat many A Fuelers. His driver was Yeiji Toyota, who ran the first sub-9 second ET, 180 MPH I think, and was attempting to back up the record on 11/29/1959 at Fremont when the car crashed at about 150 MPH, resulting in a fatal brain injury. Beau stopped his direct involvement in drag racing after that, but later was active in the dune buggy scene. He bought the "town" of Glamis, California, and built a 1/8 mile sand track for fun. He owned a pretty hot dune buggy as well."

Eugene passed away on February 1, 2016, at age 88.

Eugene LeBlanc's Cars

The LeBlanc Special