History Old Chicago Hang-outs?

Way up north, I'm sure you guys remember "Scoopin' the Loop" in Waukegan (my high school days 62-66) was a big deal. On just about any night and especially the weekends there was an endless loop of cars running north and south on Genesse Street. Mostly a place to go if nothing else was going on. Gas was cheap. Lots of cool cars, street / strip stuff and kids in general. I had heard about yearly car shows in Waukegan to commerate those days around the 4th of July each year, but I don't know if the city still holds them. If they do, one day I'll get back with a hot rod and attend. Any Chicago area rodders with an update? Lots of othere towns had "Scoopin" loops. too. Gary

 

I moved to Chicago in '85 for college... So I was cruising around all over in the early and mid 90's. Elston, Clybourn, and the amphitheatre were all winding down. Dukes stopped hosting cars sometime in the mid 90's too. I'll have to ask two friends of mine who are a bit older who would know the scene, one guy has Monza in the 80's, had nitrous and was red, was on Archer all the time... And the other guy Kevin used to hang out and work at Jimmy Czimmer's shop.

Hey intruder are you Angelo and Pete's brother? I've had some stuff done over at Pete's shop. I'm also into the late model stuff.

 

Think i raced that monza

 

His name is John H., it was a stick shift, ring a bell?

 

Shit its all a blur to me now. He would know my car a blue javlin i cruzed with a guy in a blue 57 chevy with a tunnelram.Sold the car in 85

 

Berwyn Tops to the east and Downers Grove Tops to the west with an occasional south to McD's/Tops in LaGrange and an infrequent trip to Skips. This was our late 50's cruise pattern. Didn't have anything serious for street racing. (50 Chevy Fleetline with 2 carbs on a McGurk intake and a genuine Warshawky split exhaust manifold, Sparkomatic floor shifter since the internals of the column shift were worn out)

 

My dad used to tell stories about racin his hudson at ford plant witch is now ford city mall. He took me over there sometime in the 70's and the quartermile was still marked.He also said him and his friends used to take there girls for rainbow cones over in beverly on western.This would have been between 56 and 62

 

I knew a guy named Bob Fletcher who belonged to the Bearing Busters back in that era. He went to G.M.I. in Flint starting in '55. His ride was a '33 or '34 full fendered coupe with an Olds in it or a mildly customized '52 Merc hardtop. He co-oped at ElectroMotive in LaGrange (or was that McCook?) Ring any bells?

 

Boy, that brings back memories! I was there with a buddy one night in his 1960 T-Bird. There were almost 60 cars there that night. As you say, the cops came from both dirctions and it was chaos. They just came down the road, didn't have it blocked off at Rt 83 or 104th Ave. There were bikes "hill-climbing" into the woods to the north and we took off east, then turned north on 104th. Pulled into a forest preserve and my buddy says to open the glove compartment. Inside was one of his mom's blonde wigs, I put it on and put my head on his shoulder (breeder, plowboy, da tinman and the SW HAMB & Eggers.....I don't need ANY of your imaginative comments!!!!) A couple of squads cruised by and threw a spotlight on us but none bothered to stop and check further.

1lowtrk: I forgot all about 183rd & Vollmer! Like the new avatar! Saw Gina's cool truck this morning but no Gina.

 

You know you shouldn't have told that story ! Well have to discuss that errant behavior at next Saturdays breakfast.

 

Not offhand, but doesn't mean anything. I'll have to look around. I still have the drag plate though.

 

Are you the guys we chased out of Belly Deep Slough (a local lovers lane) with baseball bats????????

 

did someone say bearing busters?

 

I worked at JC's auto for a couple of years before Cimmer closed the shop on austin. There were all kinds of "characters" coming around. I know Mark Pollchahn (sp) ran a red monza at some point. Last I heard, he going to federal prison for some conspiracy charges involving a pipe bombing!

 

Man, that's actually a really good idea.

 

Wow, what a great thread! I don't know how I missed it before.

My own personal experience was as a regular, cruising Archer ave. from '73 to '77. You started at Gossage Grill (birthplace of Street Machines Unlimited C.C.)at Cicero ave. and cruised west down to the McDonalds at Rutherford. Then cruised back to Gossage. You then made another loop and stopped at "Ridge Center" shopping strip(where the new Jewel is). Heavy action there.

You then would make your way to Duke's Drive In at 82nd and Harlem. In the early 70's, that was stricly a place to set up street races. Beaters and tow vehicles. Then everyone would go get their racecars and I mean racecars.

Later toward the end of the 70's to the early 80's, Dukes became the big cruising spot. Man, that place was thee place at one time. Saturday night would be packed to the gills with hot cars. Unfortunately, by the 90's it turned into a power parking, lawn chair, restored car crowd. That sucked bigtime!

I also cruised with some of my buds down to Joliet and we cruised the "Silver Fross" on Cass ave. Anyone remember "Bonnie's Nova"? You'd hang there then cruise the "Loop". The downtown Joliet area was made into oneway streets, three lanes wide. Boy, we had fun! Then it was off to Jefferson St. by the Mall. Lots of stoplight drags back then.

183rd and Ridgeland was just cornfields back in '75 where I witnessed many hot nights of street racing. It amazes me to this day how it all came together. One night, we got busted by the Illinois State Police but, they just told us to "move along", which we gladly did. Drive by there now with all the commerce and subdivisions.

I always wished I could've caught the early to mid 60's action around Chicagoland. I was too young. Between older guys I work with and my pinstriping customers, I have been regaled with stories of street racing at 107th & Bell rd., Buss's Drive In, the Stock Yards, 51st. & the Dan Ryan, the Incinerator off Augusta and the legendary racing on Clybourn ave. Man, what a time that must of been.

Well, that's just about it for now. OBS Larry, I wished I would of known about the blond wig story when I seen you and Tom Kelly on Friday night.

Joel

 

107th street is still alive and well. Live near it, and ride the harley down the road a lot. Noticed a familar smell one day last summer, VHT traction compound.Bitchin. Stopped, did a burnout for old times sake. 35th street and the Dan Ryan, used the project parking lot for pit area. Big money, trailered cars, at least until the cops flooded the street with the fire hydrant.Somebody said 87th and western. Got busted for drag racing there, 16 years old.The good old days.

 

Did you know Kevin Polchan? He worked over at JC's for a while, he lives in TN now.

 

They started doing it again a few years ago. They had a big cruise in a few years ago, but the few times I've been back the crowds have been thin, and mostly stock new Mustangs and Caprices with their hoods propped open.

 

Hey Pro Stock John, I used to go racing out in Tinley Park, Saulk Trail, 107... I even went along on a Flying Mile race once. A few at the incinerators. It would be great to catch up with some of the guys from between 1977 and 1985. That was the extent of my street career before responsibility and fear of the man gave me cold feet.

 

Dumb cops. A 6'6" 250 pounder with a wig... how did they miss that one?

Did ya get any???

 

Hey One low truck, I think we raced once on Ogden heading west from toms head shop. We were just goofing off at the time though. I sure can't remember too many AMC's. I had a yellow monza before the Maroon one. I ran that one alot as well, it had a 262 V8 that was mildly built. Merle from M&H ported the heads for me on that one and it really was fun to drive.

 

Yeah some guy on www.chitownracing.com posted that, I'm thinking the poster's family might own Duke and the OP might have a late model Mustang.

I used to go out a lot throughout the 90's, I'd like to get more as soon as the Merc is out from paint.

 

I was there from '99 tp '01, and most of the time I worked there it was just me. Some times Frank Rucca or Rich(his last name escaspes me right now) would help out. I new Mark Polchan, from the Chicago Wise Guys. He used to hang around the shop with czimmer alot. Right before I quit he bought czimmers Jerry Bickel firebird. That was the last I heard untill there was a right-up in the Suntimes last year, about a FBI raid on his pawn shop. With a last name like that there has to be some relation.

 

Several oldtimers have told me that the semi-official 1960s street racing spot for the North Shore was an access road by the railroad tracks at Glenview Naval Air Station (today it's "the Glen" shopping area off Willow Road). Way, way back (late 40s) it was an abandoned airstrip in Half Day, near Milwaukee Rd and 22 in what is today Vernon Hills.

 

Very well coulda been me.It was dark blue with a black vinyl top w/4spd. Id always race for fun!

 

I raced some trailered car in the fog one night on 39th, heading west towards Morton College. As we passed the finish line, me first..., we came on the guy's van and trailer backing up. Luckily, he wasn't all jacknifed or this post would be coming in from another dimension... ah, the good old days...

 

So folks raced on the road that ran next to train tracks by the old Glenview Naval Air Station? I can see that, been a while since I was up there but it was all little shops like tow yards etc. Now it's all gentrified because of the Glen.

Did any of you guys hang out the Lincoln Village movie theatre or is that too 90's.

 

My dad grew up down the street from Skip's in Melrose Park just off of North Ave. I'd love hearing stories about racing on North Ave. Up until a couple of years ago, he still ran into people who raced there. Lots of stories about Chevy's with Cadillac and Vette motors. I guess you had to be careful not to go too far down North Ave.