Cruising returns to Van Nuys Blvd

Something I wanted to mention.

A few blocks past the RALPHS parking lot headed Southbound there is a left turn lane (near the car wash???) that sort of darts out into incoming traffic.

I must have seen 10 close calls last week from guys speeding back up the street to cruise and cars coming the other way trying to make a left turn.

Gotta be careful out there becuase I garaunteee that some "civillian" is going to get smashed while making a left turn in front of some speed machine trying to loop back around to cruise.

 

yo gooz . see ya there next month .

 

I thought it was great to see a 70's Chevy line up at a light next to a Hot Rod Model A. Who cares what year the cars are!! It's a cool event and I thank to guys who worked to get this going.

 

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum. I used to cruise Van Nuys in the early to mid 80s....just before they shut it down. I also hung-out at the street races, and can remember Groucho arranging races. I attended the cruise last Wednsday and thought it was great. I'd like to thank everyone that was involved in cordinating it and making it sucsessful, including cleaning-up afterwards. I agree, that if we really want this to take-off, everyone needs to feel welcome. That includes pre 64, rat rods, late models, vans, Volkswagons, low riders, imports, Harleys, rice rockets, etc. Hell...even the Hummer clubs should cruise. After all, it's all about CRUISIN. Thanks again, and see ya on August 12th.

 

so i got a idea! they don't come offen but here it is.

if you want to post pictures from the cruise but they are not hamb freindly. just post the link to your pictures instead.

 

Be careful Michael, big brother is watching and your post could get deleted....LOL

 

A pic of a muscle car or newer car then the HAMB normally covers should not be an issue.. It's a pic of the event. We are not opening a thread on muscle cars, just showing what was drawn to the event. Even the pic above posted by elrobo818 has a muscle car at the curb and a late model truck in the lane behind them.

It is a true photo of the event. The event is the story, the fact there was diversity in the cars that came out is great! It is exactly what Van Nuys was and I want to see that..All of it.

 

Forgive me if it has already been covered somewhere in the last 64 pages of this thread, but anyone know anything about these two cars? They are both are spot on.

 

That's my '55 and it just won at the Rat Fink Show.

 

Cool 55. How 'bout the specs

 

FYI - Rand was the one that originally had heard the rumor. He doesn't believe it, nor do I. Just shows some of the stupid stuff going on right now. At Route 66, Rand had a gal come up to him (I was there) and say that she saw cops on bicycles call in after they had seen him do a tiny squealing of the tires. Neither of us believe that atory either. There may be cops on bicycles but we doubt that they would call that in. It was not a big smokey burnout. Lastly, after Route 66, I ran into a friend (an older guy - 70's), and he said that he was staying away because he had heard that there were cars racing on Van Nuys and that there would be a big bust. Again, I don't believe it for one second! What's more amazing, is that he's acting as if the cops are waiting to take him away, should he just show up. He's in his 70's!!! It's all paranoia and stupid, senseless, rumors!

 

A guy named Gary owns this '58 Vette. He used to Cruise Van Nuys in this car from the 60's up till the time the blvd. was shut down in the 80's. One of the cool features about this car besides the raised stance is the flip front end. One of the first if not the first to ever try this on a vette. If you'd like to check it out closer, he said he would be out cruising Van Nuys next Wed. night.

 

thats the guys that keeps on saying that we all need to be cruising, that there is no need for a parking lot, the more cruises the better and that he knows more than everybody because he cruised in the 60's, but then ALL THE PICTURES OF HIS CAR ARE IN THE PARKING LOT.

 

there was cops on bicycles but they were patrolling van nuys and sherman way, had nothing to do with us cruisers

i did see a super bee (i think thats what they are called mopar big tail) do a burn out at on the cruise.

 

I'd say 40% of the people were driving thier cars for a while and some I saw going up and down the blvd all night. Anyway, it's been a lot of fun so far, don't want ot miss a single one. Perhaps I'll see some of you guys on the 18th...

 

Gary means well but is a very strange person. I have known Gary for along time and he DOES know everything that there is to know about Van Nuys Blvd 'cause he did cruise there since the '50's. His Vette is BITCHIN' but if you talk to him enough you'll see.

 

remember , back in the 70's we used to park for a while too......maybe for different reasons....

 

Gary is correct, in the early days of the 1950s into the mid 1960s, cruising Van Nuys was on a much smaller scale. The only real collecting point was Bob's Big Boy Drive-in. It was the real hub of activity along the boulevard, but, by the mid 1960 the population of the San Fernando Valley had more than doubled. To many people led the boulevard from being a great cruising strip where you could show off you car to it also becoming a hangout.

While some hanging out has always gone on, by the mid 1960s it was becoming noticeable. Small groups of car guys with their cars hanging out in a parking lot of this closed business or that. These hanging points that some have already mentioned are but a few. These parking lot hangout became over crowded, and more of them until every empty space that could hold a car had one in it.

I had a studio in Sherman Oaks near Van Nuys Boulevard & Ventura Blvd., the constant noise was loud enough I had to leave my stereo on all night to drown out the constant noise. The thing is, cruising Van Nuys Boulevard, along with Sunset Blvd. over in Hollywood just got to big to handle, manage, or police by anybody and that's when it began to fall in on itself.

I watched it all happen, and couldn't do anything to stop it.

 

I was just told that a few yahoo's did burnouts on Van Nuys Blvd last Wednesday. Is this true? Say it isn't so. After all that time that we could not cruise someone wants to go be stupid enough to a burnout? Are you people impaired? That's a sure way to get it shut down for good. And I for one would not want to be the ASSHOLE that got it shut down again. Can you say severe beating by many? Don't think that we won't find you.

 

Looks to me like this is one of them. Not sure though since I didn't see it.

 

yeah I know the car. I'll do some consulting.

 

I sat there and watched that red Mopar cruz back and forth and it was NOT tire smoke it was eng smoke. Ther is also some that constantly keep reving ther engine while cruzing! Maybe they should stop doing that also

 

I was riding along side that Mopar part of the night and the only thing he is guilty of would be having a front headlight out he NEVER burned any rubber for the 2 or so times I followed him up and down the Blvd.Yes a bit of engine noise and smoke but that was it. After I told him about his head lights he decided to pack it in so that the local police didn't have a reason to pull him over

 

That is exhaust, not tire smoke.

 

You heard right as there were a few yahoos who did do burnouts. I hope that they learn to contain themselves in the future. I don't believe though, that "doing burnouts" in and of themselves, will be the final nail in the coffin for this thing. It will take care of its own self when the first yahoo gets arrested and has his muscle car or hot rod towed. (Of course, racing on the boulevard would be an entirely different issue, especially if an accident and/or fatality occurred). It would most likely be consistent excessive litter on the boulevard and numerous noise complaints. (Yes, I realize that the burnouts do generate noise and sometimes smoke). Excessive engine revving on very loud cars and motorcycles combined with loud stereos will be the real culprits. Also, I would watch the vigilantism. Let the police do their job. Otherwise, we could all find some real problems lurking for us out there, and we really don't want that. Remember, we are out there to have fun and enjoy ourselves!

 

Again, it is engine smoke, not from the tire. This is one very good reason why vigilantism is a very bad idea.

 

well then if we all care then when we see it happen we need to address the problem and tell them to stop or invite them to leave.