Thanks so much, Bad Bob..and all of you. I really missed my Dad last nite when I broke down on my way home from the beach and he wasn't there to call. He's always been there for me.
I'm here Adriene if ya need me, Sorry about whatever happened to the late model, Remember that J.B.sr. is always there .
Thanks for posting these for me, Doug. My Dad often wrote notes in a logbook so I thought I'd share a couple of entries with everyone. They tell so much about him.
Adriene, Reading this thread this morning and how your dad touched so many lives. Doug's posting of pics too. Passages mark the connections we have felt. Blessings sent to John for the gifts he brought into this world. Yours is a wonder-filled community, thanks to you and Kevin's sharing of this man's story.
Adriene , They are the great men that raised us ,lost my Dad 6 years ago, I know your heart ache. I still ask my Dad for help just know there spirit is always with you and part of you.There are good days and bad but that is what love is all about, it is very obvious your Dad was a much loved and respected man and that is his gift in your life . Rob
I so dig the fact that the Daddyman jotted down all of this stuff so we can enjoy reading about The Adventures of the Biondo's! so very and Daddyman lives on!!!!!!
It's a funny thing this Hot Rod life we live, 1st with dad passing in 07, now with A's in 12, but everyday it seems that we lose a friend who's either been a part of this life or hear about the loss of someone who's in the industry. 1986 I was invited to a cruise night that was just getting started in Westwood,CA. It was at the All American Burger, it was owned by a Hot Rodder=had a nice A-V8 roadster w/a 40 dash. Well at this cruise night, I was exposed to what the people with the rods were like. There was a guy named Stan Beringhely who had a pretty shiny 32 highboy, he had a history and could really talk, was an excellent old school body man and did chops on many famous magazine cars, He passed away last year,It's a shame cuz he still had the drive,but his body was done. Stan was friends with Dan Franco, he had the Koolest 32 3W that I could ever remember seeing. Long before the suede thing was "in" this car wore it. with red steelies on plies. Full height top, but eventually filled by Stan. This car was driven everywhere! Dan passsed in 2000. his son Dannyboy has it now. Monk was a guy who had a history with Lance Reventlow=Scarab. Great guy and hung out with Donovan, Engle, Bud Hand and Isky many times at the AAB. Monk even was portrayed by an actor in the Duece of Spades. He was a killer machinist and headed my 1st car club "The Old Timers of WLA." passed away 2009. Roger was a guy that was pretty quiet, he had a 32 Orange 5W cpe full height,drove it everywhere and always had a smile on his face, I can't remeber the exact yr but I believe it was 2006. 1999,He're a bit of irony, My sisters godparents son Manny and his wife Virgie hung with my Dad and (Mom-who I lost as an infant). Manny had a very nice A-Bone Coupe in the early 60's. we lost touch with them, but never forgot them. This nice guy starts hanging out with us and joins our group and starts travelling with us. My brother had been best friends with his brother growing up and kept in contact ocassionally. I get a call that Manny passed away, I took my Dad and it was like Wow! all of these people that I only knew in picture were there at this service. The whole time Manny spent time with us he never knew that he had been best friends with my parents. Again at the AAB, I meet Dan Franco's brother who just happened to have a 36 Ford p/u flathead powered, 62 Corvette that he had since it was nearly new, a Simca and a 56 big window Chev P/U with a Chevelle clip. He and his wife Bobbie were the nicest couple that you'd ever want to know. I've known them 26 yrs and I spent many holidays with all of the Francos. Bobbie passed away in 2005 and Frank last Sunday. Will be attending a service tuesday at the same place where Manny was. With Adriene losing her father, who I consider a great man I realize that our time here is precious. Make the best of it while we're here, walk over the cracks in the side walk avoid things that could anger one. I miss all of the people mentioned above, I'm quite sure that there are more to follow,but do cherish the time that one has with friends and family.
I'm asking Mazooma to post something cool I just found. It's a little vacuum-driven horse that my Dad must have saved for me I remember being delighted by it when I was a little girl but I can't recall which car it was in. When Doug posts the pix look at the cap -- it used to sit on the dashboard and stand up or lie down when the car was moving. I'm trying to remember if he was in our Metropolitan or Simca or Hillman or ? Any thoughts..?
Adriene, Sorry for your loss. Reading the notes from your dad brings back memories of my grandfather. As a kid he would take us to Loves BBQ, man i could not get enough of that food! Funny thing his note is written on my birthday.
Although you don't know me, I feel I have some understanding of the magnitude of your loss. So very sad. That's my Dad with his Simca in 1958, and in my avatar in the doorway of Blair's in the late '40's. He bought that Simca because of the Ford V8 60. A fellow machinist (at Blair's and Tim's Precision Engines) back in the '50's and gone now. Grew up in East Pasadena, and you are my kind of people -- sorry if I'm intruding here -- but I lost him to cancer a few years back, and you know the rest . . . still have his '40 coupe.
Thanks Rodhotz for your sincere note. It is amazing how just the thought of a place (like Love's BBQ) can bring back so many mem'ries! Yesterday I was reading another logbook and my Dad mentions a breakfast outing to Sambo's, a Sunday afternoon spent searching for parts at C&H Surplus Store in Pasadena, and going out after "a job well done" to Oscar's Drive-In on Van Nuys Blvd. for a deep dish boysenberry pie...a la mode
Thanks for your thoughtful note FineNobleGentleman. What wonderful photos...so great to see your Dad with his Simca in '58, and wow at Blair's back in the '40s. No intrusion here, I appreciate hearing your story and meeting a fellow machinist. It helps to know there are people out there who understand, it makes a difference. I am very sorry for your loss as well. Post a pic of his '40 coupe if you can--love to see it.
Isn't that just the sweetest lil V8 60 Ardun style OHV conversion ever!!!!!! Wait, where's Lil Sambo getting chased by the tiger The tiger must've already eaten!!!!! Very cool pix Adriene and the posting by the MAZ-MAN!
The Jalopy Journal
