Racing was not new in any form after the war, but I like to hear more on the street scene and before NHRA and I heard the hot-rodding and 1/4 mile racing around Culver City on Culver Blvd and Sepulveda Blvd late 40’s. I has not found out much more information to read, but when I try to find the style on my coupe I was looking at the dirt or salt or ’era correct’ style, but it did not really fit in what I did like to do, so I came over a movie on a coupe at YT and owner talked about those early times asphalt or street racing at Culver area in west LA. That car and the history some of my plans on what I was looking for. Not a street rod or a custom or parts few or no one used or build a mire pure race car for the desert, but the use of LA made speed parts the guys could bought back then. -So any information on what was going on there are interesting.
I will look if I found something there. Found this how they got into west LA from the dust in the desert and raced. Plus the area had racing ( track ) history. https://www.hotrod.com/features/drag-racing-bean-fields-to-big-bucks-january-1973-982-760-132-1 https://www.culvercityhistoricalsociety.org/the-historic-culver-city-racing-scene/
Hello, My wife and I have been on Culver Blvd. many time we had visited the huge Marina Del Rey Harbor. Inland of the area is/was a shopping mecca when we were 20 somethings. We put on many miles driving the 65 El Camino all over the place. (Movies, shopping for low cost LP albums and small diners.) The street was one of the alternatives we took along with La Cienega through Baldwin Hills trying to get back to the coast or farther into the South Bay without having to take the crowded freeways. Those side streets were almost as fast and there was usually no traffic. As 20 somethings, we had all the time in the world, so together, we would drive down these streets to get to our destination farther south. We hated driving on freeways and so, we learned all of the side streets that would give us an alternate route from downtown Wilshire/Pico Area to the South Bay Peninsula. If there were no traffic, yes, the freeway was always faster. But, being together was more important and we had plenty of time to just cruise and remember where we were going. Most streets East/West lead to the ocean and in the opposite direction the North /South streets lead to the ocean in the San Pedro/Long Beach area. We have seen the Baldwin Hills oil fields in various TV movies and it is/was one route to get to the southern shores in San Pedro/Long Beach. The barren oil fields were a great example of early Los Angeles empty hills and lack of development back then. Jnaki As one gets closer from downtown to the Marina Del Rey Harbor area, there are the old swampy lands from a long time ago, that are still empty. The Culver Blvd. runs along the wetlands and back then no other buildings were around. So, yes, that would have been a great place for late night races. At least 2 miles of no buildings or residents other than wetlands environment. Note: The style of old hot rods is about the same for most all the way back to the 50s. (a roadster/coupe without fenders, a flathead or OHV motor in the 50s.) But, there were also the fast sedans in the early 50s, so usually, it was a similar scene of hot rod styles from one area to the next. There is so much one can do to a roadster or coupe that did not cost an arm and a leg. YRMV
Back in the day EVERYWHERE in SoCal had their street race spots. In the 50s-70s a lot of that ended up on the many drag strips that were popping up. Santa Ana, San Gabriel, Pomona, Riverside, Lyons, Fontana, Irwindale, Orange County, Ontario. Culver City was a hot spot of speed equipment companies - and like the Big 3 engineers who'd use Woodward in Detroit the Culver City boys also used their local streets. https://www.motortopia.com/culver-city-heroes/ https://www.culvercityhistoricalsociety.org/the-historic-culver-city-racing-scene/
Thank's, really cool pictures of the speed shops ! -Good story on the area from your memory lanes, so this was late 60's or early 70's ? Me and a buddy bought a Ranchero 74 with a camper up in Seattle 1989 and went HW 1 south. We spend some weeks at LA area and as I was a machinist I got a work at Kryptonite crankshafts in Orange, they used Berco RTM 225 crank grinders I was used to back home in Sweden. I did not get the chance to go work there so we went as planned east to Florida and then home. Once home, it was not easy get back as I had work, life back home in Sweden. But my buddy still got the Ranchero and it’s still with the original paint and a ugly rear bumper from a earlier crash and a LA radio station sticker we put on the bumper over the ugly part. We stayed in camper some days up at Ralphs parking, swim on the ocean and some nights a hotel ( to save the bucks ) and we went to beach in Santa Monica and up east to Ralphs. So we might been at Culver Blvd, but I has been in LA many times over the years since that but normally I stay up at San Dimas, Pomona area ( drag racing and shops ) But last year I did try visit Dick who had the 3W coupe with the Okie axle and was in Culver and try find him, but called and no answer. I might try again this year at LARS.
There a bunch of episodes worth listening to, but on this particular topic, listen to the episode with Henderson!!! I need to donate to AHRF, if for no other reason to be able to get the circle on my FB picture!
Well now we talking hotrods LA. -Did got a big smile when he said Zephyr ignition. I has both a Kong Jackson and Kurten and LZ tranny and Aburn 32 dash. https://silodrome.com/1932-ford-v8-pete-henderson-roadster/
Kinda cool reading all the history and resurrecting some old memories......I was born in the old Culver hospital and grew up a few blocks east of Sepulveda. It didn't seem very special place at the time but I know as far as the 50's you could travel 10 miles in any direction and procure any speed part made at the time. Just a stupid story that I can remember, being 4-5 yo watching jalopy racing at Culver stadium where they incased one of the drivers in a hollowed out block of ice and then he was suppose to drive the next race.....don't remember the outcome, but the car was purple. As far as speed parts go, it was either derived from circle track or lakes purposed. The coolest thing somebody might actually have for their drag car were a pair of recap slicks from Inglewood. My 40 had 6 inchers with very cracked sidewalls
What I find intresting is the dragracing, and I was born 1966 and on the mid 70’s my father had a dragcar and and on dinner table was Bill Jenkins ’How to to hotrod a SB Chevy’ book. But I was a Mopar guy and a Hemi guy early. So when I started my hot rod ideas it went fast to Ardun heads and blowers, but it was not really my cup of tea. So when I saw the L&S Racing heads ( as I bought ) made up in Burbank I knew I was om my path direct. I was into the Weind 37 Hi-Rise but got a PM7 intake, but as my other stuff was more the end 40’s I wanted something more racy so I bought a Kong distributor and a Muliti x4 intake ( made in Burbank ) At LARS last year I find a ported way back a 41 Merc block and a baby stroked 1/8” 4” Merc crank. That really set my style. I know ( and said racing was not only at Culver area ) but I feel it made a inpack to what to come, airfields and the NHRA. I set my life to stock eliminator racing ( NHRA ) hobby/work so this early style get my attention !
I'd say that back in the day most towns in the country had the road that they had "their quarter" on. I think that one of our members was involved in painting start and finish lines on his town's quarter on a section of road a ways out of town that allegedly the highway department repainted the lines when they did the stripes on the road. Those stories about the early day street racing in Cali are legendary though.
It’s not to my knowledge but I guess the street racing in west LA was early, or a trend setter what to come. -But just love that history.
If you like early 50's history, read up on the Culver City Screwdrivers Club. A few were my neighbors and pretty notable personalities in the mix. The culture in "what was to come" originated with dry lakes racing and getting validated with a brass timing tag. Just my perspective, street racing was a small part leading to SoCal drag racing.......where Santa Ana and actual timed runs gave the bragging rights. San Fernando, Saugus, San Gabe, Lions, Colton, Fontana, Riverside and 60's later Irwindale and OC offered a lot of opportunities. Street racing did get a whole bunch bigger in the 60's actually. I was involved a bit in north Sepulveda, but Exposition Blvd was absolutely insane. Big Willy (better known later at Terminal Is) would close off the street and they'd run into the wee hours ........open headers and curiously cop-free. A completely chaotic scene that was accurately portrayed in opening scene of Two Lane Blacktop
Racing cars is not new, and they was running ex T-Fords in Sweden on ice in the 20's and so on all over the world in many forms but what get my attention up is the pre drag racing history. Even if it’s a small part in the hot-rodding, I guess it started in desert and I seen pictures of several cars in a row chasing and dust all over. So before the timing at Santa Ana it might was street racing, but brag/true timing and maybe Police has a word on it to ? So if it started in Culver Cito or not, maybe hard to say, but it does sounds cool.
Yep, ole' Terminal Island racing . . . and 'Big Willy' - I remember that well. Was amazing that the cops didn't show up (in the early years) - was sort of a free for all. There was a lot of match racing, money changing hands, etc.. There was also Van Nuys Blvd out in the Valley - that was a big cruise spot and early on an impromptu race spot. The Cops soon descended on it and stopped most of the nonsense (except when they were not around!). As many noted, there were ALWAYS a multitude of places (in just about every city) where folks street raced. Thank God that many race-tracks soon opened - really kept a lot of racing off the street and also enforced a lot of necessary safety rules. Such a shame that just about every one of them is long gone . . .
I has never been a fan of street racing myself as I'm a NHRA rule guy. But the story how it started is the thing nice to know. Plus my car ( if it ever get ready ) will be far - far away from racing ,, ;- ) So one can say for shore that west Los Angeles was not really where it all started, as just one of many places around USA.
If it was close to LAX (north) it was probably Culver City. If you were 25 miles N of LAX it was Van Nuys Blvd. 25 miles east of LAX was Whittier Blvd. There were 2 cruise areas on Whittier Blvd- in the city of Whittier it was the hot rod/drag race crowd and the low riders were in East LA. Those were the big spots but anywhere that had an In-N-Out, Bob's Big Boy or A&W had car gatherings on Fri and Sat nights. Google maps says we live 4.75 miles west of the Pomona starting line.
This streets and places is like sweat wine to me to hear about. I has live in Sweden all my life but Los Angeles are is my ’place’ to be at. I dont know how many times I been going over since -88 but guess 40 times and many of them has been to So Cal, LA. Its late in life get into hotrods and its just my recent 2-3 years.
Racing was at Culver City Stadium which was on Washington Blvd near Sepulveda. Costco is now located there. https://search.aol.com/aol/video;_y...city+stadium+1/4+midget+racing&v_t=loki-tb-sb
When searching on Culver City a name came up, Karl Orr. One has to love the photo as he tuned a late 30’s Weind intake in a bowtie. I’m not a fan of hubcaps vs I’m into racing but the Lyon or Pacard hubcaps is way cool. Was this on wire wheels for look good or aerodynmac ideas ? This mid 40’s style is so cool. It not mention on any street racing but desert and timing. Just as Henderson. http://johnstraub.blogspot.com/2011/12/speed-shops-karl-and-veda-orrs.html?m=1
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