Awesome thread! Does anyone remember a station that had a Challenger or 'Cuda parked beside a station in the San Fernando Valley as late as the late '90's early 00's? I think it was in Sun Valley.
The guy that owned the station, and the Challenger ( white with aqua & pink graphics if I remember right, and 383 engine?), was George. He was a regular attendee at LACR. The gas station was on the south side of Glenoaks Blvd. just before Tuxford St. Not sure if the station is there anymore. George was also buddies with Eddie, at PDQ Auto Salvage just around the corner. I grew up in Sun Valley and worked first at Master Auto Parts, then at Dick Gazan Racing engines, across the street from PDQ.
Love this one, I lived those days and remember them like yesterday. The problem is the only pictures I have are in my memory bank. I don't think I ever held a camera until I was in the army. I worked in a service station and after the boss went home the real work started. Then test and tune on the streets Wow those were the days. Ron
Since nobody else has done it, I'll bump this thread. There's got to be more neat photos on this subject out there.
Here's my contribution. I don't know much about Walt Orr other than he was a local drag racer and owned a gas/service station. The important part is that he always parked his latest racer out front, which I loved seeing as we'd drive by when I was a kid, and he had the memorable sign out front, "Home of the Fossil." This is an earlier Fossil than the one I grew up seeing, but it's pretty bitchin'.
Two neighborhood friends that were 5 years older than me worked at the local 76 gas station. This station was definitely a hang-out for gearhead kids and the owner was pretty cool. In the mid 70s, these two guys pooled their money together and built a 63 Nova drag car that they ran at OCIR. They would leave it at the station and work on it on days off or at night. It had a 327/Powerglide. It was not registered for the street, so it had to be towed. The tow car was a 1964 Chevelle 300 2-door sedan and had a real 1968 Z/28 302 engine/4-speed and hauled ass. The joke in our circle of friends was that the tow car was faster than the race car!! BTW, I'm still friends with these guys.
Although these three Hot Rods spent most of their life on the street, they also ran at the Fremont Dragstrip: This staged '50s Filling Station photo was taken in 1973 ... at a gas station on Main St. in Pleasanton, California (it still exists today). That's the our 331ci Chrysler HEMI-powered Deuce 5wd on the left, Bill Burnham's butterscotch yellow '29 Hiboy in the center, and Clark Kibler's silver '29 Hiboy on the right. ... The "hoodlums" are Kibler (left), Gary Meadors (center), and Billy B (right).
We had Drag Cars at the Gas Station I worked at, a '55 Chevy and a Plymouth Road Runner ... wish I had pictures.
Billy's 321ci Pontiac-powered butterscotch roadster was the predecessor to his FE-powered Ol' Blue roadster. PS: Rather than hijack this thread any further ... for more info & pics of Billy B's cars, checkout my Billy B Ramblings thread in the HAMB Old Farts' Club social forum.
Note that so many of the cars had "car in tow" shoe polished, on the back window. In the late 80's, I used toflat tow my '69 Nova SS to Thompson and Dragway 42, with my little 2.8l v-6 4 speed x cab s-10 pick up. Also...On my way to St. Christines grade school, in Euclid Ohio, there was an old Standard Oil gas station corner of E 222nd and Ivan. The kind with an additional garage off to the side, for more service work. These guys ran a '68? Big Block Camaro. Can still remember drooling over it, after school. It was meduim blue. Circa 1975?? There were stations like this ALL OVER town. Sorry cannot download pictures from my head to my computer. JT
Grant (pictured) and brother Murray Iseli, the guys that got me into Drag Racing, sadly Grant passed away in 1986, but Murray and I still remain close friends and were racing partners until I retired from racing at the end of 2008 RIP Grant.......
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