Bobby Varnon is an old stock car racer from the 50s and 60s. He is k9racer on the HAMB. On Old Stock Car Photo thread he recommends this book: MEMORIES OF THE CALIFORNIA JALOPY ***OCIATION by Thomas Luce. Here is a review of the book from Amazon: MEMORIES OF THE CALIFORNIA JALOPY ***OCIATION is an extraordinary book about West Coast jalopy racing of the fifties and early sixties. The racing, featuring mostly 32-34 Ford coupes and various other configurations was very popular and even seen on on national television. Jalopy Derby was a feature at Ascot, Gardena Stadium, L.A. Speedway, Orange Show, Riverside, Carrell, Balboa, etc. Drivers included names like Parnelli Jones, "Lover Boy" Bob Hogle, and Art Atkinson. This soft-cover, glossy volume has lots of history and is crammed with over 1,550 incredible period photographs. Forward by Parnelli Jones. Thomas Luce is toml24 on the HAMB. Have not seen it, but I'm getting it. Any of you mobsters with a good scanner might mine it for this thread.
I'm gonna get all old on you again. Can really see how fast things changed in the teens & 20s. Up to about 1900 it looks like the Old West. By +/- 1910 it is somewhat recognizable. Broadway looking north from Third Street, Los Angeles, ca.1895-1910 Citrus Avenue, looking north, Covina, ca.1908 Main Street in Los Angeles, showing the Grand Central Hotel, 1888
Third Street in San Bernardino looking east, ca.1905 Pacific Garage, 857 N. Broadway (John Bonetto & Domonico Merlo, Prop.) Hill Street looking north from 9th Street, ca.1924 Redondo Beach near the Pike, an amu*****t area for tourists, ca.1924 Pine Street at Broadway in Long Beach, ca.1925 the Pike, an amusment area for Redondo Beach tourists 1924 Spring Street looking north from 7th Street, Los Angeles, ca.1924 Spring Street looking north from Eighth Street, 1924
George and Sam were intrigued with the idea of producing custom truck campers. . . C'mon, let's look at the prototype. . . .the 2x4 shed-roof Arkansas Traveller . . . There's a guy in Seattle ya'll ought to go see.
Someone said something about Angels Flight? Can't find the post. The original Angels Flight, originally known as the 'Los Angeles Incline Railway,' was built in 1901 by Col. J.W. Eddy to connect the original Downtown shopping district below with the posh residentia<WBR>l district of Bunker Hill, with its Victorian frame houses. Then located at the corner of 3rd and Hill streets, Angels Flight was known (and is still known) as 'The World's Shortest Railway,' with its two counterbal<WBR>anced p***enger cars, Sinai and Olivet ascending up and descending down the hill for all Angelenos, all for a nickel. During the post-World War II era, the growth of Los Angeles boomed, and the once-upper<WBR>-cl*** area of Bunker Hill had turned into a slum. The Victorian homes were gradually razed, and those that remained were converted to boarding houses. Bunker Hill became an urban renewal project under the California Redevelopm<WBR>ent Act, and in the late 1960s, everything was demolished to make room for office buildings and a senior citizen's condominiu<WBR>m complex, called the Angelus
Wilshire Boulevard looking east fifty feet from Kip Street, 1934 Santa Monica Beach looking north from Palisades, showing houses, ca.1920 Los Angeles Speedway, 1918. A large group of cars is gathered near the grandstand at right Broadway Department Store decorated with signs and bunting welcoming the Shriners to Los Angeles, ca.1925
Broadway looking north from 4th Street, Los Angeles, ca.1924 Broadway north between 3rd and 4th Streets ca.1924-19<WBR>27 Figueroa Street, looking north, November 1941 Broadway looking north from Seventh on the east side, Los Angeles, ca.1926 Broadway and 1st Street 1940
the Pike was in Long Beach not Redondo, spent a few dates there trying to keep the swabbies away from my date... I think it closed in the late 70''s
I love the pics of Angels flight, when we were kids we used to go on it, what a blast ! who would have thought it was so short, to a kid it was a thrill ride. Love the pics BrerHair, this thread has become one of my favorites right there with "drag cars in motion"... please keep them coming....
Got these from Tom Luce's California Jalopy ***n. website. This series is from Gardena Stadium, July 1959: That's some, uh, pretty hard racin'
Hope these have not been posted. Tried going back to check, but can't go through the entire thread. Gardena Speedway 1957
The Ganzer, Palmquist, Weeks dry lakes roadster represents innovation at it's best. There are ten carburetor<WBR>s attached to the front-moun<WBR>t blower. Ganzer says that at idle it sounded like a Model-T and wide open it sounded "...like ten thousand of them." Here's a good trivia question for you to lay on your buddies: Who was the first woman licensed by NASCAR to race against the men on the West Coast? That's her in the jalopy, Hila Paulson (Hila Sweet today). It was December 1956 at Gardena Stadium and she proved a very worthy adversary. Car builder Ummie Paulson had hotshoe Rufus "Parnelli" Jones driving his racer before he moved on up.
The Santa Monica Road Races were held 1909-1919. Put on by the city, auto dealers, and real estate developers<WBR>, they were used as a promotion to bring people to Santa Monica from across the country. The course (which can be run today) ran from Ocean & Montana to Wilshire Boulevard, uphill to San Vicente and back to Ocean. Barney Oldfield, Ralph DePalma, Eddie Pullen, and Terrible Teddy Tetzlaff competed in what were the biggest race meets in the country at that time.
The year is 1902, Pasadena. It's Waldemar Grant Hansen at the wheel. A machinist by trade, Hansen developed metal machining techniques and provided engine parts for the Tourist Automobile Company, a Los Angeles automaker at the time. He regularly tested his machines on the apricot orchard roads in and around Pasadena and Altadena, eventually leading to the Pasadena/A<WBR>ltadena Hill Climb events of 1906-1909.
Hot rods Pomona. 120: L-R: Carlos Ramirez; Mike Magem; and Joaquin Arnett, with modified roadster with ford engine who held top speed for the day at 118 miles. Body was made out of old car hoods and the frame out of water pipes. 1952
The Jalopy Journal
