And I thought stealing a coupe hubcaps in my youth made me a hot rod hoodlum...... my favorite post ever.
Goodwin promoted the first stadium motocross events before hooking up with Mickey Thompson. Met him at the first LA coliseum motocross event and counted my fingers after shaking hands with him. There were rumors that he was scamming Thompson and he was the first person I thought of when I heard Mickey and his wife were shot. If it weren’t for the persistent actions of Mickey’s sister Coleen, Goodwin might have walked.
I found this article with more details… worth the read. https://www.hotrodhotline.com/curse-55-chevy-aztec#.YfIZhiRMGEc
Interesting history from the article: The fins were swiped from a Studebaker Hawk, while the taillights were created by Bob Hirohata Who's own merc caused a big ruckus this month when it was sold.
My youngest son and I saw the Aztec at Barry Mazza's house in New Jersey after we left an Englishtown swap meet. I don't remember why we went to Barry's house, but we remember the Aztec.
In that article it mentions being repainted several times. Does anybody have any pictures of the Aztec after it was repainted, I assume different colors? Or any photos of it when it was in rough shape after a drug bust, before it's restoration?
Albert Nussbaum was an interesting character - he eventually became the caretaker for author Philip Marlowe after his release from prison. I should have taken the opportunity to correspond with him when he was still alive but we didn't have this internet thing back then. https://murder-mayhem.com/albert-nussbaum Dean's Porsche is back in Los Angeles where it belongs - I sold it in 2018. The new owner is taking it to shows and has gotten articles published in Speed & Kulture magazine and Octane magazine recently. I correspond with him regularly and keep telling to take it to the hot rod shows out there. I owned the car for 47 years and did my best to restore back to exactly as it was when Dean rolled it out of George's shop back in 1957. I got to visit Dean at his shop on Cahuenga a number of times and we got together at Amelia Island in 2009 and 2011. He asked me when he could have his car back several times. He was very proud of his Porsche and it meant a lot to him that I had restored back to how he built it originally. I treasure the time I got to spend with Dean Jeffries and I was proud to call him a friend.
The Jalopy Journal
