I'm interested in the history of Fiasco Automotive at 11002 magnolia blvd north hollywood. And would be interested in any link pictures ect. did a search but nothing good came up any help appreciated Thanks
It apears he p***ed away ! http://www.google.com/webhp?sa=N&ta...pw.r_qf.&fp=4c682113b7e1b4cf&biw=1498&bih=667 http://www.hotrod.com/thehistoryof/retrospective/hrdp_1005_inside_fiasco_automotive/ http://www.*******factory.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3799 The memorial was held at the Elks Lodge here in town. The hall was filled with old school Hot Rodders, Street Racers, Car Builders, and Bonneville record holders. Richard Johnson grew up in Hollywood, even as a teen he had a knack for getting cars to go faster. He opened his performance shop, "Fiasco Automotive" in 1964 and was of the very first to have a Dyno in his shop, making it easy to prove that he was able to take a freshly built car, built by top professionals, and squeeze just a little more horse power out of any given engine. And he could do it every time. Those of you that know movies, may know the movie " Hollywood Knights " .
Thanks i had also found all this , but there only seems to be a few picture of Richard Johnson and none of his shop on Magnolia blvd ! would love to see some pic's of the shop Anything else out there ?
Fiasco Automotive was in an episode of Adam-12. There is a scene were they were at a gas station and you can see the shop in the background. I'm not sure which exact episode but it was on a few weeks ago.
When I read the name Richard Johnson a picture of a yellow (maybe black???) Pro Street Vega popped in my head. Did he own one at one time?
As a Burbank boy, I knew Richard. Although I knew of Fiasco, I could not afford to use it when I was in school. I had some work still in his home shop when he died a few years ago and attended memorial tribute with hundreds of Southern Ca rodders and racers. Who ever sorted out the mess at Richard's houses and shop made no effort to get me back my parts. Quite a feeding frenzy amoung the Road Kings all claiming to be Richard's pal. I found myself coveting some of the equiptment but didn't want to get into the mob scene. When I was the crab dolley grip on the film, "Hollywood Knights", recall the question was asked about the hero car, Who put the tune on it.? Fiasco. That scene was filmed in Tony Nancy's shop. Tony had a small part in the show too. Thoughts of Richard and Fiasco then Hollywood Knights brings back those great years. Good Luck: Fred A
What A Fiasco In our opinion, there was never a greater name for a speed shop than Fiasco Automotive, and few stories of old-time gearhead debauchery exceed those that tumbled out of the front door of the so-called "Fiasco House" in California's Studio City. Both joints were operated by Richard Johnson, who p***ed away in January 2010. Richard was not a**** the best-known legends in the hot rodding world, especially outside of his local area, but he's one of thousands who made their mark on the SoCal tracks during the '60s. He's also notable to us, as he was a neighbor for many years, often sitting in front of our garage in his hot rod of the week, burning a cigarette and telling us how we were doing it all wrong. Richard had a taste for the odd, as you can see above with his Chevy-powered MG B/Modified Sports drag car that he ran with Fiasco's cofounder, Terry Clairmont (at right). He also sponsored the Sigmon-Peterson-DeRegotis G***er, which was pink and ran Dodge wedge power (seen here at an AHRA event in 1965). The photo at left with the Nova is an outtake from Fiasco's biggest exposure in HRM, a two-page story in the Mar. '66 issue about how Richard (left) installed a new 396 in the Chevy II owned by local serviceman Chuck Barnow (right) of Hollywood's Schownlaw Chevrolet. The SS396 Chevelle behind them was a press car being driven by HRM's Eric Dahlquist. Fiasco cohort and one-time National Dragster editor Bill Holland filled us in: "The Fiasco House was in Studio City, and four guys lived in it: Richard, Terry, Chuck Barnow (he of the Rat-powered Nova, who is a good friend to this day and spends his time dropping Chevy motors into old Rolls-Royces), and a guy named Mike Gordon. When Richard got married, I moved in. Then Chuck got married and Terry, myself, and another guy moved to a different house and started having some notable parties (lots of good stories there)." The Fiasco shop itself was at 11002 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood, which is now a sign shop. Fiasco Automotive will live on in memory and in film: the shop is mentioned in the old Hollywood Knights movie, and a sign is seen in the background of, incongruously, The Fast and the Furious. Read more: http://www.hotrod.com/thehistoryof/retrospective/hrdp_1005_inside_fiasco_automotive/#ixzz22PrtTTP0
Well just watched The Fast and the Furious and i did'nt spot the Fiasco shop sign Has anyone actually seen the scene with it in ? and where abouts in the film is it ? so far i have not come up with any more info on the shop or any other picture .
I finally found the episode of Adam-12 on my dvr and paused and snapped a pic. this is from '73 I think. that's Martin Milner getting into the car at the Wesco gas station across the street when gas was 39.6 cents a gallon!
The address was on Magnolia Bl. The access was off of frontage road to Vineland Ave. I had my 1969 COPO 427 Chevelle tuned there and have a blue and silver decal (unused) still!
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