Hey, Has anyone heard of a car club called " the Slow Freights" out of Watts California, 'bout 1940- 50s? Thanx
No. What do you know? That is cool name especially if you know some history regarding the origin of the town.
All I've been told was that it was a club out of South Los Angeles (Watts), early fifties, made up of black, spanish and white guys who got along jus' fine, at a time when that kinda thing wasn't suppose ta happen. It was just about cars. i wanna say that i've seen the clubs plaque, a box car with with the Slow Freights of Watts on it.......anybody from So Cal heard of um'?
Hey Dennis, Thanks for the search on the club plates......isa purdy old club, so I wasn't holdin much hope......
I know that I have read in an old mag that name before.I will look thru my stuff and see if I can find it again.
Check out issue 4 of the HOP UP annuals. There is an article about a car from that club that is now owned by a member of the "Deacons" car club. Sorry for the lousy picture.
There is a cultural center/office located next to The Watts Towers in Watts. I beleive the have a community historical group connected to them. If you call and inquire there they may be able to inquire to their group and see if they can dig up some leads for you. Call this # 213-847-4646. Fairly sure this is the number for the center. if not they can probably direct you to the right place.
I own a Model A Track Roadster purchased from the original owner & member of The Slow Freights of Watts. The car was profiled in Hop Up a few issues back. I ended up writing the article and it contains just about everything I know about the club. The guy I bought the car from p***ed not long after I bought so I was never able to get a lot of questions answered. If you ever turn up any info on the club I'd love to hear about it. Also, I'd like to run a SFW plaque on my car and would really like to see an original plaque. Thanks- John Bade
I own that Model A Track Roadster purchased from the original owner & member of The Slow Freights of Watts. The guy I bought the car from p***ed not long after I bought it so I was never able to get a lot of questions answered. If you ever turn up any info on the club I'd love to hear about it. Also, I'd like to run a SFW plaque on my car and would really like to see an original plaque. Thanks- John Bade
Hey, I've been askin, for some time now, every older gent who mighta been on the So Cal sceen in the 40s and early 50s 'bout the "Slow Freights"...... nuthin yet! Maybe all of 'its' members are gone now?
The only member names that I know for sure are the Donato brothers. I purchased the Model A from Ed Donato, the younger brother, and his older brother (don't know his first name) had already p***ed. Both brothers used the nickname 'Tate (short for potato or tater) at various times. This was late 1999. Ed has since p***ed. When I asked him about club members he had no information - told me that he hadn't seen any of them since aprx 1960. Ed ran the car occ***ionaly at the Santa Ana Drags circa 1951 - maybe other club members ran cars there too. For an LA club it's sure shrouded in mystery.
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