@HEMIDAV Hello, When my wife and I got married, one of the gifts from our mom and dad was a trip to Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve. He had reservations through his Los Angeles connection and we stayed at the Riviera Hotel. It was his favorite place to stay and he always got a room with a view facing downtown and on the 7th floor. No, not lucky 7, but the fire escape ladders only go to the 7th floor, just in case. So, for 20 years, our side trips to Las Vegas were at the Riviera Hotel. His luck never ran out. One of the original shows during those times was the Ann Margret Show. She was one good looking performer. Photos do not make her better, in person, she looked great. Our dad always got a dinner show seating pre-arranged by his friend. The center section booths facing the stage and a nice walkway in front for a no block view of the whole stage and performers. My wife was not the jealous type, but she laughed when Ann Margret got off of the stage and walked around on the wide aisles. She stopped right at our table and gave me a wink and a nod. What??? My dad was impressed and chuckling. My mom was aghast. My wife really wanted to take a photo, but the situation was not a photo moment. Only in our memories. Jnaki The years following, we had another reservation and her stage persona was a black leather clad motorcycle riding vixen. She looked great in black leather. Ha! But, we did not get a center aisle table booth. We were now down on the stage area, front and center. (Different shows, different attire…) When the floodlights highlighted Ann Margret when she started her famous walk down the aisles, the wide beam lights lit up everything, including us. Of course, she came over to our seating area and did the same “look” and finger waving “come with me” look at our table or just me. This was getting old, but nice. Ha! The show was several numbers with actual motorcycles on stage and one fired up for some real sounds. Note: I rode a Triumph 500cc out in the desert. We were getting a little tired being ahead in the start of our desert races and then getting passed by the larger cc bikes of all types. Those larger desert built Triumphs were the fast ones that we always saw as they zipped by on the flat surfaces. We had a chance in the rough sand washes and dirt trails, but the power was too much any other time during the race. Twist the throttle and instant power. So, our friend in the next door pit area had a 500 cc Triumph. He allowed me to go out for a few runs along the course, we just got off to come into the pits. (It was the end of the day relaxing gab sessions to calm down prior to the 80-100 mile road trip home.) It was like night and day. There was no comparison in the surge and reserve power when necessary in sand washes, short uphill climbs and flat out desert trails. The power plus the comfortable Bates seat were like riding on a dream and it was fast. Not as fast as the 650 Triumph bikes, but fast enough. Talk about instant power and surge when necessary. The sand washes were no longer deep ruts holding us back. The Triumph 500 just flew across the sand when I gave it the throttle. Sometimes, I had to curtail the full throttle as the front end would tend to raise up with the power surge. It was a future bike in the making. And it still would have fit in the back of the 65 El Camino...YRMV
First assembly were all 4 doors. I think the 2 drs were about 4 months later and not sure on the wagons..
The Jalopy Journal
