Features 1937 to 1942 Willys Picture Thread

From Bowling Green this past weekend. For more pictures of of other stuff check the thread that is linked in my signature.

 

Bone Shaker

 

Hey EG,

As usual, a great photo of the Mazmanian team… minus Bones Balogh. They were a formidable team, making some pretty awesome runs at Lion’s Dragstrip. Not only did they do it with what most accepted as a show quality race car that was supposed to be street legal, but win with a lot of power and grace.

It was always a great show to see this team race and see in the pits scurrying around getting ready for the next round. Big John Mazmanian was 6 feet 5 inches, hence the moniker…Big John. That would have been cool to see BJM at 6'5" and GeorgeBurkhardt at 6'10" standing in the Lion's Dragstrip pits side by side having a conversation. (see photo below)

Jnaki

We were invited to the best drag meet for the Gas Coupe/Sedan Classes that was held at Lion’s Dragstrip to take some movies of our friend, Atts Ono’s newly created 40 Willys Coupe. It certainly was a powerful drag race meet to make the debut.

“Without question, one of the very best known A/Gas Supercharged entries in the country was the Kandy Apple Red Willys of Mazmanian with driver "Bones" Balough behind the wheel. It was as much a show car as a racecar with brilliant crimson paint complementing the polished wheels, blower and injector scoop, with immaculate detailing throughout. So exceptional was Mazmanian's workmanship that the Willys was the subject of uncountable pictorial spreads in literally every major hot rodding periodical in America.”

“Toymaker Revell offered a scale model of Mazmanian's legendary coupe and it may have been the most widely-built kit in Revell's lineup for years. Although Mazmanian fielded a string of other equally fastidiously prepared automobiles throughout his career, his Willys is clearly the car he will always be most closely associated with.”

“Mazmanian's Willys was also a winner on the track and its drag racing victories delighted gasser fans who turned out in big numbers whenever an event schedule called for the appearance of those fat-fendered, muscle-bound hard cases. You could always count on a great show.”

What a great show it was in 1964 at Lion’s Dragstrip.

1964 Big John MAZMANIAN Lion’s Dragstrip

K.S. Pittman vs BJM 1964






George Burkhardt in orange shirt at 6’10” tall

 

In England

 

Suddenly III

 

jnaki,
John Mazmanian, Richard Siroonian, Rodney Agajanian and so many others were residents of Montebello, California. Many of them were in the trash business. Montebello, in my opinion, had a huge population of of super clean, quick, and fast cars. Herrera and Sons also come to mind.

 

Hello S,

So Cal holds a lot of cultural enclaves for old families and generations of friends/relatives. Montebello is a close in place to downtown Los Angeles. Access takes only a few minutes of driving. With the hub of all of the major freeways just a short hop away, as we have all learned..."it is freeway close" to everything. (except for the beaches and the vast coastline)

After my brother's recovery from the Willys Coupe accidental explosion and resulting fire, it was a year and a half of house bound recovery. My mom was going crazy and wanted to erase all aspects of drag racing and living so close to that "dreaded" place, Lions Dragstrip. So, in 1961 Fall, she decided to move the whole family to Los Angeles's nearby community of Montebello. She had friends that had moved there and the community was a great support contingency in place.
the dreaded "noise maker..."

My brother was getting better and was going to enroll in a college in Los Angeles. So, with my dad working in Los Angeles, my brother’s future was going to be in Los Angeles, the only person left was me. All of my teenage friends were still around in Long Beach, the location was a place to call home and our high school area was one to admire.

But, she insisted and our dad took all of us to see some new construction homes. Those homes made our small Westside of Long Beach home look like a small trailer. But, she was insistent. After many hours of family discussions, she relented, as my brother said that it was important for me to finish high school with my friends. I had a year to go.

He said he wanted to have a place to call home as access to the beach and our coastal adventures needed to be near water. He did not want to live, smack dab in the middle of greater Los Angeles. So, thanks to my brother, I was able to stay in Long Beach with my friends until I was ready to move away to college in Northern California.

Jnaki

High school is/was the most important part of developing our future ways and means. It was a discovery place, meet new friends and we still had access to drag racing at Lion’s Dragstrip. But, this time it was with a bunch of friends sitting in the stands. Our Willys Coupe was gone to a scrap yard and the 671 SBC motor was someplace in the Midwest. So, that chapter was starting to see the finish line.

Every time I think of Montebello, it always brings back this connection of drag racing, new friends and a close shave to almost having moved there in my last years of high school. That would have been a crazy time. But, as it worked out for me back in Long Beach, meeting my future wife in college and being in a coastal living arrangement was the way for us to get along. We have enjoyed our lives as 20 somethings to the present time, all in coastal So Cal.