Hollywood in color, circa 1948

Maybe it was watching James Elroy’s ‘LA Confidential’ for the first time, or ‘China Town’ with Jack Nicholson, but there is some romantic and alluring about late 40s Hollywood- The physical city, not the movie version of it, but the actual postwar town that was brimming with opportunity, industry, and cool cars. Hollywood and really the greater Los Angeles area of Southern California was just the place to be after the war. They had the warm weather, clean beaches, pretty girls, and the burgeoning hot rod shops. Drive ins, Mulholland Dr., Muroc and El Mirage were all just a drive away, and any part in the world you needed for your roadster was at the local junkyard or up in valley, in Burbank at So Cal Speed Shop on Olive Avenue.

I for one would like to go back in time to LA  in the late 40s, before the tacky strip malls and dirty, overcrowded freeways. When there was a disproportional collection of talented, inspiring guys that were building cars, making art & movies, and chasing dreams, all living within a few miles of each other.

Take a drive with me…