History 50 Years Ago; 1959 Car Club Murder

1950 to 1960 -The were two places car clubs cruised that tested your nerve. One bad ass place was "L" street in Wilmington, Ca if you made a pass you did it once and got out of town quit. The other place no one from out of town wanted to cruise was Pacific Avenue in San Pedro,Ca. San Pedro and Wilmington were hated each other and would exchanged shooting quit often. Some of the clubs names I recall are: Sires, Gents, Mudslingers, Lords, Saints, Vandals, Rouges. A lot of guys I went to school with are either dead or in jail. Barton Hill on the East side of town was the baddest area in San Pedro a long with Mexican Hollywood.

CRUISER

 

That was the only Toolers plaque photo I had from the So Calif area so I added it there. Not sure if the other Toolers from Artesia High even had a plaque.

The club I joined in 1955 was also from the Gardena area .....

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This was common in the late 50's and early 60's in the mid west also.
Surprised a lot of folks, after they were assisted by changing their tire, or other help.
It was a good thing.
Cheers......

 

Here is a good one coming up!
http://amherstfair.com/links/rumblefest-car-show

 

That was the only Toolers plaque photo I had from the So Calif area so I added it there. Not sure if the other Toolers from Artesia High even had a plaque.

The club I joined in 1955 was also from the Gardena area .....

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<!-- / message --> <!-- sig --> Where did you find a Toolers plaque? That's an original one with screw holes, the later ones didn't have them

 

It was a gift to me from someone that was a member of the Toolers, and it came to me polished and painted, just like you see it in the photo.

It's also one of the plaques in my small collection that I took a picture of and gave to American Pickers to use on their show.

 

cool story

 

good thread ,lot of memories

 

It was a gift to me from someone that was a member of the Toolers, and it came to me polished and painted, just like you see it in the photo.

It's also one of the plaques in my small collection that I took a picture of and gave to American Pickers to use on their show.

My girl friend was a member of their sister club and I've met several of them at their reunions thru the years. Her brother saw the plaque on Pickers and had told us about it. Who did you get it from?

 

New to this site but I just had to jump in. Kenny Bales belonged to the "Coasters" in fact I have his plaque. I believe he belonged to the Magoos also and that one may be around also. Several of the names you stated bring back years ago memories. Kenny was killed in a car accident in the late 60's hope there are some out there who remember him. He was quite the mechanic. Several in Redondo spent a lot of time hanging out at Bales Garage on Catalina Ave. I was looking to see if there was a value for plaque when this site came up. I don't want to sell it, means too much to me.

 

"including one who had shaved off his goatee. Many of the attackers were described as having goatees or beards."

I KNEW it!Beatniks!!

 

Ha! Me too!

 

Reading through this old thread and wondered if that Fleetline was finished yet. I think I saw a photo of your pickup somewhere because it had the old Magoos plaque in the back window .....

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My friend Louie Pena passed away and I miss talking with him from time to time.

 

Have you ever heard of the car club called the peacekeepers? Based in Wilmington?

 

The link to the original story in the first post isn't valid anymore. If someone has it please post a link because a lot of people on the first page seem to be pretty impressed with it. Thanks....

 

http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Townsmen

 

That article was something! (Thanks, carcruise)

We had a cluster of car clubs around the Santa Clara/San Jose area, most prominent in the '50s.
Some of the San Jose clubs had some 'Ne'er-do-wells', later '50s and thru the '60s. These clubs evolved into semi-custom cruisers, and car show dwellers.
Club plaques and jackets were their BIG swagger boost, some old friends of mine joined the 'Axle Busters' about that time, (1962-1964) the club meetings were not about cars, but parties and car shows.
That club originated at the drags...how time changes!
Some 'notables' started it up again, around '87...last time I saw someone with a plaque was around that time, a former custom shop owner from San Jose.

 

I am a big fan of preserving hot rod history, good or bad, because I don't believe in revisionism . I enjoy reading and reminiscing about the accounts of days gone by. I am glad to see that the moderators have had a change of heart since they deleted a similar thread of mine some time back. History is history. Let's not white wash it.

 

Earlier this year I received a message from the son of Eddie William Padilla, the confessed car club murder shooter. Eddie Jr. told me that his dad loved cars. "He grew up in Romana Gardens and was forced into a gang in the 1940s as a kid. Hard life was ingrained in him. He had to join like with the White Fence and El Hoyo Maravilla back then to survive." Padilla Sr. had two brothers who both died young. "They were in car clubs and had old school bombs. One died in an accident on Whittier or Beverly in the 1950s, and the other drove off a cliff in a drag race by the beach." Padilla passed away in 2006. He never told his son about the shooting, but he has learned from others in the family that his dad regretted it. "it apparently was a stupid attempt of him trying to join the Townsmen in 1959. He just went overboard and didn't think about his actions and how it would end a life. It never sounded intentional, more like a show, and he just didn't count on the consequences." A sad but interesting story, that I thought some of you here would enjoy. Eddie also shared this photo of his dad with us. I have added Eddie's story to Kustomrama, along with also a story from Jim Beeson, a Dutchmen member that was at the meeting the day of the Rumble. Click here to check it out: https://kustomrama.com/wiki/The_1959_Car_Club_Murder

 

Here's another update on this interesting story. Patrick Farrell had been a member of the Long Beach Cavaliers car club for a couple of years when members of the Townsmen car club attacked a Dutchmen of Paramount meeting in 1959. After reading about the 1959 Car Club Murder in Kustomrama Newsletter No. 157, Patrick decided to reach out and share this story with us. At the time of the shooting, Patrick estimates that there were somewhere between 20 and 30 car clubs in Long Beach. According to him, the top three clubs were the Cavaliers, which were associated with Poly High and the west side of Long Beach, the Rebels from the east side connected with Wilson High, and the Jesters from the north side and Jordan High. "The Lakewood, northeast, was mainly a bedroom community of aircraft industry workers until 1957 or '58 when the townsmen emerged. They were centered around Millikan High," Patrick told us. According to Patrick, there were unwritten rules about being in a rival club's territory. "If you were with a date you were allowed, but if driving around with two or more guys you would be challenged. The Townsmen wanted to build a reputation as badasses, so they didn't honor the rules. They started trouble whenever they could." Patrick and the Cavaliers played football against the Townsmen a couple of times, "ending in a fight both times. After the attack and the killing, every club lined up against the Townsmen. About a week after the event hundreds of club members converged on Townsmen's drive-in hang out." According to Patrick, it was like a military action. "All exits were blocked by cars, the lone security guard was disarmed and told, for his own safety to go inside the restaurant. The Townsmen members caught there were told that they were to disband the club and if anyone was found wearing a club jacket or shirt or flying a plaque they would be stopped and their asses would be kicked each time." Patrick recalled that the streets of Long Beach were cleared of Townsmen immediately. "It didn't bring the dead young man back but it was what all we could do."

 

I wonder if either one of these plaques were for that club. One says East LB ...





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Good question. I have been trying to find out about that myself, hunting for plaques on your page I asked Patrick if he knows, but haven't heard back yet.

 

I just double checked my list and found these other plaques from the same general area ...

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And this one from a little further north in the Valley ...

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Maybe they started the club in Anaheim after they got chased out of Long Beach.

 

My father was born in Los Angeles CA in 1934 but he grew up in Lynwood, CA. He attended LHS graduating in 1953. In addition to playing baseball and basketball for LHS he loved cars, motorcycles and So Cal racing. In the very early 50’s he was a member of both the HUNS of Lynwood and at some time also a Downey SINNER. He had both car club metal plates hanging in his garage until he passed away five years ago at aged 82 (pictured below). I have them in my possession and will be handing them over now to my son who learned the OG way of building and rebuilding vintage vehicles from my father. He will be displaying the plates now in his own garage with his vintage vehicles collection. I inherited the family 1955 Studebaker Truck (which I have passed down to my son) and my sister has dad’s 1936 Chevy Coup. He was an old fashioned, So Cal-rooted man who is missed.

 

Sondre (SuperFleye) just added some info and a newspaper clipping to his Kustomrama blog ...

https://kustomrama.com/wiki/The_1960_Car_Club_Murder

I'm not sure when it actually happened (59 or 60) but it looks like the date on the paper is 1960.

After reviewing this thread, I went back and looked at my spreadsheet and found this info that was sent with this plaque photo ...

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The person who sent the photo said ...

"The gentlemen who gave this plaque to me was from Whittier. He said it was from an old High School car club and he got it decades ago from a High School shop teacher when he was servicing equipment at the school. I read that this club had a rumble with another club at a Moose lodge that ended with one person dead."

 

I have a lot of plaques with Long Beach on them. Some may be for other areas or towns called Long Beach in other states. Here are some links if you'd like to see what I have ...

Long Beach

East Long Beach

North Long Beach

And there are probably more from areas next to Long Beach.

 

It turns out that it happened on March 28, 1960, not 1959.
That must be the plaque @Bullet Nose, if you see the jacket on this clipping I found: