History BC Custom Car Associaton

Heres a link to a shot of the front of the building on the GVMPS site...

http://www.gvmps.org/inductees/calvan_auto_accessories.htm

 

I remember Cal Van was in Victoria on Cloverdale Ave. In about 1975 I got my chrome reverse wheels from them for my '64 Chevelle. It was a great store!

 

a few other cool speed shops were: California Speed and Marine on Georgia st. , Western Accessories and "The Speed Shop" in N.Vancouver

 

There were a shitload of Cal-Vans in the seventies. I always remember the one on East Hastings, couple blocks past Willingdon.

 

I remember California Speed & Marine well, Jack Mezzomo's Pro-Speed up on Edmunds, Kerrisdale Speed, Surrey Speed, the original Mopac on Kingsway, and some of the shops, Bill Phillips garage on Lougheed Hwy, Liesen Auto out in Maple Ridge (I hung around there a LOT. real hotbed of local drag/street race activity) there were a lot.

 

Yea, Pay-Less, how could I forget. Theres a smattering of pics of Ecstacy scattered around on various posts on the HAMB, thats the first pic I've seen on here of the original incarnation.
The street-racing scene in Greater Vancouver in the early eighties was unreal. You really missed something. There was this real undercurrent of out-rage about the way the BC Government tried to screw us out of Mission as well. Once it became clear that the Government had no intention of following through with thier commitment, re: the dredging and land reclamation for the new track, a lot of us younger guys felt a sense that street racing was as much about a way of making a political statement as anything else. There was a LOT of anger. You should have been there for that first protest cruise at Coquitlam Center, dueling wheelstanding street racers on Barnett Highway, right in front of the mall. Crazy days.

 

Stu Braddick was an early member of BCCCA, he joined in 53.
He and Sylvia started Payless in 59.

 

one thing this place really needs is more history of the Greater vancouver area, so fire away. When HemiDeuce gets back on his feet, I'm sure he'll chime in here, he has a lot to offer in this area.

 

Some great history going on there.As for the dragster.OUTSTANDING.That has to be the sweetest drag machine that I have ever seen.Thanks for the thread.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Do you go to the Greater Vancouver Motorsports Pioneer Hall of fame induction ceremonies? Keith convinced me to go this year, I was a little unsure, but wound up having a GREAT time. I had a couple of the annuals they print up, but never went to the ceremonies, because I sure as hell aint one of the pioneers, and I kinda figured I wasn't "worthy" to show up there. I had a GAS. Howie Stevens and Jack Mezzomo were at my table, and I talked to a bunch of guys from the old days at Westwood that were like heroes when I was a kid growing up in the sixties, and met a couple guys that knew my dad. Its permanently on my calender now. You would hear a shitload of stories about your Grandpa if you went, and its a hell of a lot of fun.

 

Your killing me with these old names! I was in most of them, as for California Marine, we were in high school and my buddys dad bought a 19 foot flat bottom out of that one boat showroom and was building a 425 HP 409 for it, unfortunatley passed away before it was finished. My closest shop was on Marine Drive in North Van back then, was it Western Accesories I'm thinking, memories hazy on that one.
There was even street racing on Terminal avenue in Vancouver on Friday nights if you can believe it

 

I was wracking my brain trying to remember Terry McHardy's name when I was composing that post. His place was another spot to check out. I still have a Milodon BB Mopar swinging pu, external lines and pump I bought from him, back in the early eighties when I was running my Duster.

There were quite a few Westerns, what, I'd guess a good half dozen anyway. There was the one in New West as well.

Before I was old enough to drive, I went to street races with my cousin (he had a '69 Camaro SS396 4 speed with a swapped in L-72) up on Galardi way around '71/'72, and later, I was a regular at Viking Way, Delta Port, Mitchell Island before they put the speed bumps in, 200th out by the Rose and Thistle, Latimore Road, ect. Viking was especially hot and heavy...
We used to run on the Mary Hill Bypass before they completed it as well.

 

We used to run on Glacier Way in Port Coquitlam as well. I remember a friend of mine who shall remain nameless beating up on a guy on an 1100 katana with his short box Chevy PU. Had a very healthy sq. pt. 396 backed with a toploader, 5.86s and 15x33 Mccrearys. It was pretty quick for a truck.

 

rip Stu , they really went out of their way to help us young guys.

 

yes , it was Western Accessories. thats the store Glen worked at when he was young. i bought my first hooker headers ,hurst mystery shifter and chrome reverse wheels there. i used to get my exhaust work done there also.

 

don't forget the 1/4 mile marked out on the upper levels highway near Capilano rd. ( i made quite a few passes there!)

 

Small world. The first speed part I ever bought was there and it was hooker headers too.......for my dads 69 Javelin SST

 

And Harvey Rd. out in Langley. We could go on all day, lot of hot spots around Greater Vancouver. I heard about Upper Level Highway, but never raced there.

 

I bought a lot of stuff off of Bud Bennett, when he ran Kerrisdale Speed Centre
on Victoria Drive, and also all my Blower stuff from the "Madman" Bill Phillips...... Great Memories for sure.

 

Speaking of Bill Phillips, anybody remember "200mph Art"??

 

Any body have a pic of the black 57 Tbird gasser with the stacks sticking out of the hood?

 

There were some great shots on the short-lived Van Isle website, but they are on my other computer. His roadster is more "HAMBish"

http://www.gvmps.org/inductees/carl_tjorhom.htm

 

Is that The Kremyr Brothers Car?

 

Way too cool, I loved that car.

 

I was just wondering the same thing, especially when I read about it being wrecked in a towing accident.

 

Somewhere up at my dads house, I have a bunch of color slides (chassis, engine, front struts, ect) I shot of the Kremyr Bros car in primer after the second revamp of the chassis circa '76/'77. Man, what a trick race car that was...

 

Man, those were great days, eh? Jimmy Warter, The Kremyr Bros, Tom Turner, Bill Foster, Carl Frizzell, Ronny Wong, Dick St. Peter...

 

The Yardbirds, Dick Vaughn, Iseli Brothers (whom I started with)

Hard to believe it is now so long ago.......

 

Funny, as I posted that, and was thinking about the Kremyrs T bird, Mazzomo's Pinto, Jimmy the skate, ect, ect, ect, I was thinking how hard it was to wrap my head around the fact, that it really is long gone, ancient history, and I will never see it again. It REALLY WAS a long time ago, and only really exists in the memory cells of a few guys like me. Christ, it really seems like it was just yesterday, not 40 years ago.
The level of excitement that I felt as a teenager as the first pairing of Modified, and/or Comp would start to roll towards the water. I dont know how much of it is how much the face of sportsman racing has changed, and how much of it is how much I've changed...I suspect its a lot more of the first than it is the second.
I feel kinda blue now.

 

Thats one of the shots that was on the Van Isle site.