History L.A. Hot Rods at the beginning

Speaking of My Dad, Don Nairn and my Uncle Jim Nairn, aside from being master pattern makers and machinists they also tried their hands at designing their own head design around 1950. The heads were of excellent design and only lack of funds prevented them from marketing them in a full business, so they ended up "loaning" the design and they never realized the profit that could have been.

 

Anybody else catch John Athen's '29 on '32 rails in the first set of pictures? Second down from the top and then repeated later down. Must be super early, cause I don't see the mounts for the weird windshield yet.

 

A treasure, thanks for taking the time to share these photos and memories.

 

in quotin' k5hart
"Very cool. I agree that gathering photo is amazing. I love seeing this stuff!"

Yes, I second that emotion!
Thanks for sharing these personal pics.
I just never get enough of viewing that John Athan's '29. It is really neat to see it without the crazy ('37-'39 ?)Chrysler rear window as a windscreen, and the carb stacks are un-machined. And, it may also appear his treads and bent spoke Kelseys got around by the looks of the T body rod in a different photo??
And yes, I personally would very much like to have a 16 x 20 poster of the group and Dry Lakes Scene, as, hey those roadsters look the style my '29 is gonna look (come a day) Well, this keeps helping me with the R & D!!

I will send a pm for a poster

 

Awesome pics thank you for posting.

this pic is post war
1 the Cad powered dodge is a postwar hot rod
2 there is a even split of wire and solid wheels.
3 E R* Trompers were formed postwar


* Eagle Rock

Also cool to see Isky's roadster pictured pre headers

 

I thought you might like this, bottom left.

 

Man this pic gives me chills....

Matter of fact - all of them do.

THANKS !!

 

Thank you so much for posting this information and the photos. Wonderful stuff! I've been getting to know both Isky and John Athan in recent months and have become fascinated by what they, and their friends ( namely, your Dad and uncle Jimmy ), did in the immediate pre-war years. By some strange planet alignment, I was in a friends shop a few months ago and noticed an interesting set of cyl. heads on his shelf. They were Nairn 24 stud. We pulled them down, inspected them, and began a journey to get to the bottom of what exactly they were that led us to Jim Miller at the American Hot Rod Foundation. Jim recently posted his findings on their website ( www.ahrf.com ). I think you'd enjoy reading about them. They were test patterns that had never been used for anything other than a casting inspection. I'll try to post some photos of the heads, as I know you'd be interested in seeing them. Thank you again for posting your photos. I found them all to be beautiful, educational, and very very interesting. In particular; the photo of the guy ( possibly your Dad or Uncle ) sitting on the frame rail of a model A chassis under construction. It's interesting to note that it has a '32 K member fitted. John Athan was one of the first guys to perform that service for area hot rodders and lakes racers switching over to the new V8 and began doing this around 1935 or '36. I would almost guarantee that he did that one as well, based on the fact that he had a system for doing it and says that he could do the whole job in two days ( that includes pulling the K-member from a '32 Ford ). I believe the photo of the young guy on the bicycle is Isky. And finally, the photo of his roadster at the lake before it had headers might be while it was still owned by John Athan ( who originally built the car ). Again, thanks for posting these.

 

Great photos. Thanks for posting these.

 

davestub32; THANK YOU very much for posting this group of pics. My Uncle Jim and John A. and Ed were very close friends and they (along with my Dad, Don Nairn) all built their classic rods with very similar design. It was truly a great time and in many ways represented the real story of hot rods and overall racing. Ed Iskenderian gave ME my first racing cam for my 1960 Chevy back in 1965. My brother still operated Dad's business, Speedway Pattern on Jefferson Blvd in Culver City (known as Thunder Alley back in the 1960's) until just last month. The shop was about 1/4 mile from one of Isky's early shops (and that is still there as well). The site on Jefferson was where Uncle Jim had his Nairn Machine Shop for 55 years. It was next door to Trayco Engineering where great racing engines were developed.

 

wow,there is some great history in these photos,thanks for sharing.............

 

No time to read this now: subscribed.

 

Doesn't get any better than that!!! Hope ya find and share more stuff. Great history.


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

Fantastic images...............great History

THANK YOU...


more please




K

 

Thanks for finding us and sharing all that history and great photos. Bob

 

Model. A. Keith; Thanks. here are a few more....

 

Rad pictures

 

Awesome!

 

Great stuff. Thanks!

 

These great shots just keep on coming, thanks for posting!!

 

amazing history and those pics are just solid gold hot rodding history.

 

Wow! this is probably one of the best pic sets and stories i have read on here in some time! Thanks for sharing!

 

This is what makes this site so great.

 

Thunder: The excitement generated by this thread will no doubt breath fresh breath into some who are struggling through more than just the winter season. Its a fresh reminder for us "old" guys and encouraging for all. Tim

 

Thank you.

 

Who's car was this? I sure hope it is still around, lots of great details, I really like that windsheild. Bob

 

Outstanding thread and wonderful family history! Pics are amazing, made me feel similar to when I discovered Bob Wright's outstanding group of images. Thanks for posting and I agree these kind of threads are why the HAMB is so important and such a wonderful place!

 

37 Kid, refer to my post on page 2. This is one of my all time favorite early builds. It is best known as the Ray Bowles roadster that won the Best Appearing Car at 1949 Pasadena Roadster Club Reliabilty Run. Cars very interesting history is best documented in modern Hop Up issue #8. Car was destroyed in a fire. I would love to know more about Frank Pommer who cast aluminum housings for transmission, rear center section, and steering gear box early on in cars construction.

 

Awesome thread! I can see why they would call it thunder alley. It's still pretty industrial around there, must have been perfect for racing back in the day!

 

WOW!!
This thread IS truly what the HAMB is all about. Great history lessons, including the now and the why.
So, cool me in. Was the trait of an Idler to have red bent spokes and whitewalls? Anything known about the caps; (club) casting, or aftermarket? Would like to know all the details. And curtail the WW vs. Blackwall fight within me.
I like the thought that whitewalls really are driven.
Thanks so much Back to Thunder Alley