The Hunters Car Club

A few weeks back, I got an email from a 73 year old gentleman named Al Zale. Al was president of a Santa Ana car club titled, “The Hunters” and after stumbling upon The Jalopy Journal one day he became inspired enough to dig through some of his old photos and memories. And as our luck would have it, he was nice enough to send over some of the stuff he found.

But first, a bit of a history lesson… The Hunters Car Club began as a high school Social Club based out of Santa Ana High in the late 1950’s. By 1961, the boys had finished high school and figured it was time to start a real car club and racing team. The Hunters Car Club was born.

One of the things that was really important to the boys was their appearance. This, of course, started with their uniform. “The Hunters wore grey jackets with a black cross and lettering. We also had white shirts with a black cross, and slim black ties when on community events…”

These boys looked sharp.

But they weren’t just a bunch of sharply dressed young men with a couple of Jalopies to support the look. No. They were also racers. Their two most well known cars would have to be their ’34 5w featuring a huge 477-inch Mickey Thompson motor (labeled the “7-11 coupe”) and their chain driven “Magwinder” dragster that is now featured in the Don Garlits museum.

In any case, enjoy the pictures… And if you run into Al Zale at a local car show, give the man a slap on the back – he deserves it!

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