Folks Of Interest Ed Pink's Shop to Be Torn Down (Shop Tour)

Solid..

 

I have a few pieces of the Berlin Wall, somewhere, so pieces of Ed’s building sold off to raise money, and celebrate nostalgia, wouldn’t exactly be novel or out of the question.

 

After seeing @gimpyshotrods map I bow and recede. That image is incredible. @corncobcoupe you are correct, I tend to be nostalgic and prefer that everything stay the same. Sometimes that just doesn't work and we need to move on I guess.

 

And that's just what I could fit in the phone screen, and still have you see Van Nuys!

If you go to Google maps, and find Van Nuys, you can zoom out half-way to space, and it still looks like that.

What doesn't is beach, airport, golf course, or what would be a double black diamond ski slope, were it to have snow on it.

Anything single black diamond we are happy to ram piles into, and build right on it!

 

It always goes that way, destroy a history and put in a parking lot or something. Or this case a bus terminal, gonna take more space then I see on maps. Just did a street view, if I lived closer, I'd try and "obtain" the sign on the front of the building.

 

History is nailed and hanging on the walls, All that stuff can be moved to a new building-- nothing is lost

 

The problem is where do you draw the line between "progress" and history.

I am not saying every old building needs to be saved but so many people have no sense of or respect for history and at some point, history will be lost in the pursuit of progress.

Let's not forget there was a serious movement just after WW II to tear down the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the pursuit of progress.

1941

1952

1966

1971

2020

 

Research "The Ship of Theseus". Sometimes, history is slightly more fluid than we realize ...

 

For some reason “high density” housing is needed in So Cal and being forced by the state to city’s. I tell the city to use golf courses as they are a waste land now…..I lucky to still have my b**ls. Only Pebble Beach uses their for something constructive….. Best vintage car show in the world.

 

People are making it sound like that there are hourly tours at that location

 

If Ed Pink decided to pull up stakes and move the shop 20-years-ago, to somewhere else in the valley, nobody would have even noticed.

 

Watched the video. The shop is old, cramped, and poorly laid out, and most of the equipment is quite antiquated. I haven’t seen that antique valve grinding equipment in a modern shop in thirty years

I think the bus terminal is a better use of the land, quite frankly.

Actually, I am somewhat surprised at the good reputation the shop has, given what’s there. Just think of the possibilities a new location, and a modern shop could bring.

 

Less than 1% of the population care about drag racing and a guess would be 1% of that 1% have heard or care about Ed Pinks shop. That's just my opinion.
Article in a online Motor Trend interview where he states that once the top fuel guys started rebuilding engines between rounds he knew his days building top fuel engines was about done.
A pioneer in drag racing history? Yes.
Worthy of the angst? Not sure. I waste my worry on other things besides the blame game and political notings.

 

I agree on the premise. I will unpack the logic for everyone, without politics, using just statistics and math.

One-percent of one-percent might be a high estimate, but let's run with that assumption.

The greater Los Angeles area, which this transit terminal will serve, has almost 19-million people living in it (and that's if we consider every person).

One-percent of 19-million is 190,000 people. One-percent of 190,000 is 1,900 people.

If you want to count only people 40+ that might have heard of Ed Pink, cut that number by 54%. Of them, if you want to consider only men, cut the remainder by 51%. To save you the math, that is just 428 males over 40+.

To contrast that against another hard number, The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit system serves around 800,000 unique riders, daily.

To contrast that against a hard map, I live in a medium-density city, in a neighborhood that is exactly 14-blocks by 4-blocks. That neighborhood alone has four-times that 1,900 persons number.

Those 428 dudes could live on just three blocks in my neighborhood.

Nostalgia is cool, but it needs to be for the right reasons.

 

I bet if it was the original Starbucks location, store number one it wouldn’t be torn down. Hahaha.

 

Starbucks #1 was relocated, and what tourists now flock to is technically its second location. Food for thought, eh?

 

Enjoyed the video. Learned that Pink did a lot more that drag race engines. Saw room after room, a virtual maze. I'd think the "new" owner could lay out a better flow in an even smaller space that might be easier to keep up and maintain.

 

I sometimes think that people just want to be upset about something.

I am not sure that grief as a lifestyle or culture is healthy or productive.

The only constant in life is change.

 

The building is not the main point, that is where he did most of his work. As far as I am concern, he could of been building out a tent and still turn out outstanding service and products.

 

Haha damn. I knew I should have googled that. O well. Back to working on engines.

 

That was a Fabulous Video - Documentary is more like it.
Cant stop progress though.

 

I can’t sleep since seeing that Indy Infinity oil pan with integrated pumps

 

The whole area is destined for a new transit facility for the upcoming 2028 Olympics. Not just Ed Pink. The City is taking the property under eminent domain and will relocate him. There are plenty of industrial buildings available nearby. It's not the end of the world.

He's not too far from the old General Motors Van Nuys plant.

 

"Van Nuys es very nice
But its not paradise"

 

And when the Olympics are over, it will be used for?
Seems those places always turn into wastelands. All for a 2 week sporting event.

Time marches on, and waits for no-one. And change always happens. Not always for the best, IMO. I just hope all of Ed's nostalgic artifacts will be preserved somehow, and not scattered to dust.

 

It will continue to be used as a bus depot.

As I have mentioned, the immediate vicinity has about 19,000,000 people living in it. For perspective for you, that is about 7,220,000 more people in the entire state of Ohio, and that is just the singular metro area around one California city.

There are already way too many people in cars on the road in the LA Metro Area, and even more that cannot afford to even own or drive a car. Those people need to get around.

The future of transportation there cannot be automobiles.

People just do not get the scale difference here.

"Los Angeles County is the biggest county in the nation. In fact, it’s larger than 43 of the 50 states. The state closest in size to LA County? That would be Michigan – which has 150,000 fewer people. This is one probably worth repeating: a single California county is larger than 43 of the 50 states.

Folks think Texas is big. Really? California’s population is 48% larger than that of Texas. Not 5% or 10% bigger; 48%! Even if you threw in Ohio (and Ohio is the 7th largest state in the nation), their combined population is still 571,000 less than California’s."

 

I was referring more to the entire process and construction for the Olympics, which is a singular event. I'm sure the bus station will be used, but that is a tiny fraction of the entire event. That's another subject though, and I don't want to drag the conversation down that path.

Ed is extremely lucky to have such an incredible mental awareness still. Many people aren't that lucky as they get to those ages. For many, it becomes a very bad experience with mental decline.

 

Except that it is the opposite of that, and I am getting very tired of posting the numbers to continue to dispel these myths.

I am just going to let the wrong be wrong here.

 

You're not local so you may not know. The LA Coliseum was built for the 1932 Olympics and was also used in the 1984 Olympics and now in 2028. The Rose Bowl was used. The Aquatic Center is still there as are almost all of the venues. Pauley Pavilion, the Sports Arena. Unlike some sites in foreign countries none of the sites in Los Angeles were abandoned.

 

Didn’t the Rams play in the Coliseum until they went to St Louis?