Folks Of Interest Ed Pink's Shop to Be Torn Down (Shop Tour)

I just found this video of Ed Pink's shop tour. The city wants to take over the land and tear down his shop by 2028 to build a bus terminal.

 

Sad....

 

That's a shame.

 

All the history in the building, this is more than sad.

 

What I don't like is when they tear something down for future progress and then they run into red tape and the property just sits empty for many years afterwards.

 

His health is frail,,,,but his mind is still sharp as a tack .
He’s a Great engine man !

Tommy

 

That, I say that is shame ( downright rude that is, ) a drag racing icon who did more for engine building than most and all of a sudden they decided knocking down his shop is good idea ( which it ain’t)

 

That's a good video. The 1st mag blower I bought was a Pink 8/71. His stuff was high. I don't know if it was better than anybody else's but he had the mastery of selling so people paid the price. The people that weren't engine builders did well with his engines. With what little I know about the LA area, I surprised that he hasn't left long before now. Where it is urban crawl or the price of the property, very little stays the same.

 

Land is expensive, and it is hard to make more of it.

Nothing can sit empty, or be leased at a PSF rate that is under-market value.

This is in an industrial section of Van Nuys, facing a freight railroad grade. It is not under pressure for housing (yet).

 

Ed Pink is the legend here, not the generic monolithic concrete building in a Van Nuys industrial park.

The building is of no historic value. If the business is to continue on, it can just move. There are available properties near there that are of similar square footage within 1-mile of there, and all over the SFV.

Ed is almost 90, and last time I saw him he was very frail. Let's try to celebrate what he has contributed to our hobby, without turning this into an anti-government rant.

Y'all are just going to get the thread locked, or deleted.

 

I like how the girl goes off by herself and explores......

 

Looks like it's pretty populated already, but it's California so....

 

That was sad to watch, but I learned a lot about him. He was part of a Great Era. Bob

 

Not populated.

That area bordered by main roads, and bisected by the railroad grade, is zoned light industrial, with some variances for heavy.

It is not residential.

 

Maybe not at night, but somebody must be keeping those lights on during working hours!

 

Works there, and populates are two distinct terms.

Yes, hundreds work in that zone.

 

Legend!............Progress sucks.

 

I recall looking at his stuff when I bought car magazines as a kid. I was generally broke, but managed to buy Hot Rod, Car Craft and Popular Hot Rodding every month.

 

that is exactly what happened here. pork'ys was a very hot spot for hotrods and hangin out on saturday nights for several decades,HYVEE bought the place to build another grocery store, they tore down the building probably been10 years now. still an empty lot. des moines ia lost a icon that was never replced

 

I learned more about Ed Pink watching that video than I remember reading in magazines. What were the high points in his career, races won, cars he worked on, modest guy he never mentioned any of that stuff. Bob

 

A car that Ed was part owner of was the “Old Master”, it was restored by @Pete Eastwood . Ed built engines for Ivo, Prudhomme, Gene Snow, Shirley Muldowney and sold engines and parts to many more.

 

Thanks Fordors, Did he build INDY engines back it the day or were the ones on the tour restorations?

 

I’m thinking his is not the only building.. looks like hundreds will be removed for a terminal.
Near where I live the smaller shops under 2000 sq ft are at a premium. Less than 2% are empty. Large ones are empty and the businesses have gone to other states.

 

My wife is in real estate and says that the current building is ~11,000 square feet, on a ~24,000 square foot lot.

She says that they are quite a few with comparable PSF (per square foot) lease rates in the SFV.

You appear to be correct on shops that small out your way, but I would ask what business could make the PSF rate for the lease at a size that small.

My CNC shop is just over 4,000 square feet, and it's tiny. We make rent because we are jammed full of machines, leaving just two vehicle work spaces.

 

Ed did Indy car engines in different configurations. He figured out that drag racing wasn't the best way to a successful business. He spent more time in other forms of racing. Drag racers are famous for being broke.

 

^^^^^^
Like the guy said a long time ago .
He said ,,,,,how can you make a million dollars in drag racing,,,,,,,Start with Two Million !
Lol .
Fuel destroys engines and parts,,,,,,,burning $100 dollar bills,,,,,,and not flinching !

Tommy

 

I drove the the big truck for John Hotchkiss racing out of Orange county, sponsored by Wynns, for a few months, the rig crew and car were here at Doane Spencers shop in Cayucos Ca, John ran a Porsche GTP in the IMSA class in the 80's, Pink built the motors for that car, Daytona Feb 1989 24 hr Sunbank it ran the whole time no problems at all, thats endurance, us on the other hand in the pits for 24 was tough. We shipped the test engine back to Ed and I stopped in and delivered the race engine to him on the way back to the shop, both for overhauls.

 

Sure, looked like it was bigger than 11,000 sq ft, My old shop behind mine and a customer's Merc was 10,000 sq ft, So Ed was not only a master engine builder but also a master at stuffing 10 lbs. of stuff in a 2lb bag! lol Who knows, this may allow the current people in charge to expand the business in a better location. A 60 year plus industrial area might not be the nicest neighborhood anymore. Larry

 

It is listed at ~11,000 square. No way to know if that is 100% accurate. From the satellite photo, it does look about that.

It is an industrial park, not a neighborhood. I have been down there countless times.

Nothing much to see.

From their site: "Ed Pink Racing Engines maintains a staff of approximately 15 within their 12,000 square foot facility. The highly talented staff is a mix of mature, experience leaders and a healthy blend of young, ambitious professionals all focused on the common goal of building the best racing and performance engines in the industry. Interestingly, four of EPRE’s key employees have a combined total of 130 years of service at the renowned engine development firm."

So, 12,000 square.

 

I helped my buddy move his machine shop into a 6000 SF building, empty it looked like a cavern. But add a few new machines, etc... it fills up fast. 11,000 SF does sound like a lot. Most engine builders I know are in at around 4000 to 6000 SF.