Hello, My wife and I met in college just up Coast Highway from the Seal Beach community. I knew all about Seal Beach from our surfing days and road trips back in the early 1960-66 days. When we got married and lived past Seal Beach, our friends from Long Beach had purchased the local business site as their plus value income. We had a friend that ran a 56 Chevy Bel Air hardtop in the stock classes until he got wind of more power in his SBC motor, so in the increments over the months, he went to a 283, then a 301 to boost his horsepower and winning stock body cruising and racing. But, at the time, no one was using a stock body Chevrolet sedan body and making big time runs that amazed everyone. So Cal Dairy Queen owner’s teenage era hot rod… Lion's Dragstrip 1959 The aspect of building a fast Chevy sedan works in any era. This turquoise/white 56 Chevy was one of the fastest Chevy sedans in the Long Beach Bixby Knolls area. When Tom McEwen moved on to racing other hot rods and competitive race cars, this one was the faster Chevy sedans. We all know the ruling Chevy sedans in the late 50s was the series of 55, 56, 57 Chevy sedans from the McEwen camp. He wanted everyone to think those sedans were “stock!” 56 Chevy at Lion’s Dragstrip In the case of the two toned 56 Chevy sedan, the win record was pretty impressive with whatever motor was supposedly in the engine compartment. But, what does a 30 something guy do after his hot rod/drag race days are coming to a close? Why, open up a Tastee-Freeze? One of the most popular places in in Orange County location of Seal Beach was the Tastee-Freeze built on the Coast Highway intersection with Main Street. A 327 powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery could be found there on Saturday lunch hour most of the time. Their stuff was the best in the whole area and close to our apartment. When the owner was a teenager, he was a frequent visitor to our Westside of Long Beach house. The teen gathering purpose was to laugh, have fun talking hot rods, see a film showing of the Lion’s Dragstrip that I took, and eat our mom’s fabulous cooking meals. That was when I was given the job of the young kid doing maintenance jobs on the various old cars and fixed up hot rods of my brother’s teenage friends. The 1956 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop he drove daily to school and work back then, sounded fast with a rumble. It was fast, according to my brother, and stories about the build flew like hotcakes in the teenage circles. A 265 with a 4 barrel and cam, to a 283 with dual quads, a 301 with a cam, head work and headers, to a possible ½ inch stroker motor from Reath Automotive that looked like all of the SBC motors he had in the engine compartment. For some reason, no one knew what was in the engine build, except for the original 265 with a 4 barrel. It was on a lowered rake, looked mean and was fast with the vast array of unknown modifications after the 265 with a four barrel motor... yikes! 1959 As to the Tastee-Freeze location in Seal Beach, it was a gathering place for the local hot rod folks and at the time, the food was the main attraction. Old friendships and new ones met at the Tastee-Freeze were the fun part as the word spread about the quality of the food served here. Hot dogs, burgers and fries plus a bevy of hot rods on the weekends was a common sight. My wife and I could eat there morning, noon, and night, as the food was so good. Actually, one week, we did, to see if we could eat at dinners along the coast line for ALL meals. It was an experiment to see if we did not have to do any cooking and enjoy the excellent coastal So Cal diners and food. It was fun and we had some excellent meals, but our bank account took a big hit… at being 20 somethings, crazier things did happen… HA! Note: The Tastee-Freez location was a one of a kind in a major shopping center right in the middle of the PCH/Main Street location in Seal Beach, CA. It was a great location with sightings from the traffic flow on PCH going North or South. The Tastee-Freeze is now gone replace by a giant drug store chain. The Standard Gas Station on the corner of PCH and Main Street is also gone. But, Harbour Surfboards is still located in the same place as during the 60s. Long live surfing and So Cal’s Orange County history… The shopping center was the biggest one in the city and anyone in Seal Beach knew where it was located, despite being in a shopping center. At least the unusual shaped building allowed everyone to know where it was located in the center parking lot. An “A” frame building stood out from the flat top main structures of the rest of the shopping center. On this date in 1968, the Tastee-Freez chain published the following ad for its Tastee Two Fer promotion in the Long Beach Independent. For years the Tastee-Freez in the Seal Beach Shopping Center (listed as Pacific Coast Highway on Main St. in the ad) was a popular hang-out for teenagers, youngsters, and fans of affordable soft serv ice cream cones. Three prizes were awarded on June 2nd at each Tastee-Freez location. Does anyone remember who won in Seal Beach?
The Jalopy Journal
