Hot Rods OLD SPEED SHOP PHOTO'S

This where I spent what I made when I was a lad

 

Your misspent youth ?

 

My old friend Carl Harvey's speed shop, Oak Hill, West Virginia in 1956. I enjoyed hearing his stories from back then of customs and rods he built. He died in 2015.

 

Maybe not a speed shop in the traditional sense but if your focus was fuel racing Chris Karamesines and Don Maynard’s Engine Specialist was the place to go in the early ‘60’s in Chicago.

 

Here are a few..

 

^^^Baldwin Motion Camaro. Wow!

 

Here is Don Garlits Speed Shop, Jegs and a few others.

 

rbrewer, The S & S Parts Company photo is from 1962-63 period. The building was at 200-202 S. Washington Street in Falls Church, Virginia. In the late 60's the business was moved to a larger building a few miles away on Broad Street.

 

Henry Dana's old shop

 

Shells in LA area as i remember would be my favorite

 

I don’t have any pictures, but when I walked into Wise Speed Shop in St.Louis the first time, I about fainted from sensory overload!

 

I think you'll find that not many Hotrodders carried cameras around with them back then. Today with the fixation of taking photos of everything it would be different.

 

This is Bill Corbett in his shop, O. A. Corbetts, Sioux Falls SD, where I made my first speed parts purchases. How many remember when Penny's sold speed parts?

 

Louie… Culver City.

 

In north Jersey there was J&F Speed shop in Saddle Brook. Joe Biss was the owner, great guy. Got me my first set of Crager SS Wheels..

 

Home of Walt's Puffer:

 

What a great thread. I remember a couple older speed shops growing up. Going in with my Dad wishing I could buy stuff. Looking at all these old pics makes me wish I could go back in time to those days. Don't care for the world we live in today.

 

There used to be a little speed shop parts store in darn near every little town . I miss those days too. Personal service, no internet . Lippy

 

Besides being in our hometown, it was the stop over for all traveling drag racers and hot rod guys when touring all of the west coast drag strips. It did not matter where the racers were coming from, they were made to feel at home, stopping in the Reath Automotive lot at 10th and Cherry Ave. If we were lucky, the lot usually had a ton of hot rods and trucks with trailers/race cars in tow. It was a virtual candy store for hot rod builds and speed parts for drag racers.


Hello,

My recollection of driving up to Reath Automotive’s original shop on the corner of Cherry Avenue and 10th Street was amazing. There were all kinds of hot rods in the lot and inside was a treasure trove of cool speed parts, motors and of course, plenty of advice from the old master, big, Joe Reath. We were just little kids (teen and pre teen) but Joe Reath always took the time to show us the latest stuff or give suggestions on a build or part. Because he was so tall, we always "looked up" at him and his words of wisdom. His presence just commanded attention.

It was a fun place to drive up to the building as the workers got to look at what just rolled into the corner lot. First, it was the 1951 Olds, the 1958 Chevy Impala, then the biggest impression was the 1940 Willys 671 SBC coupe, and finally the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery. We were like old friends, as the years rolled on into the teenage/20 something years. That old speed shop was like home. Many different speed parts, machine work and great advice was done/purchased here over the years.

When they moved to the big corner lot in Signal Hill area of Long Beach (still on Cherry Avenue) that same old homey feeling was waning. (But, the new, big corner store was a couple of miles to the famous Bixby Knolls, Cherry Avenue drags location…that was handy.)

This was the hot rod/drag racer's dream shop... plenty of space for machining, building, on the spot repairs, and a huge showroom full of the latest stuff. Everything possible in parts and service was in stock. Including more words of wisdom from the big master himself, Joe Reath. But, we all could see the glory and different attitude of the whole drag racing parts/racing/building scene with this new shop and in the coming years, the whole drag racing scene was changing, too.

The huge corner store on Cherry Ave and 33rd had everything, a large showroom, multiple machine shops/ working garages, tons of ready to buy motors, parts, and the displays were like a museum, all laid out in an orderly fashion for every hot rod/drag racer. They had hit the big time and outgrew that original small store on the corner of 10th and Cherry Ave.

After moving to the huge corner store on Cherry Ave and 33rd and staying for several years, they finally moved to a small industrial building on 28th St. in the Signal Hill area of Long Beach.

Then it happened…it closed. A sad day in drag racing history, for sure.


Joe Reath... Legend of Lion's Dragstrip

 

Regarding vinfab's earlier post showing Mark Hansen's Willys, I sadly report that
Mark Hansen ,born 2/10/1937, passed away last year 9/12/21.
https://www.lindquistmortuary.com/obituaries/Mark-McLennen-Hansen

 

Custom Automotive on Pearl Street in Dallas, Texas around 1950 owned by Charlie Adams

 

Lovely photo of a USAF pilot still wearing his 'pinks and greens' in 1950, even after the introduction of the USAF blues the year before. The army pinks n greens were not permitted to be worn after the summer of '52.

 

CWS Speed equipment was owned by C. Willie Strickland from New London, Connecticut.

 

Hall's speed shop Wichita, KS since 1948 It's still in business.

 

speed city in East Providence RI with B ill Fontane behind the counter

 

- Actor Robert Stack?

 

NO it's Charlie Adams after he left the service in California and moved to Dallas and started Custom Automotive. Here is a picture of the roadster progression thru life. It's alive and well in the Mitchell Auto Sales decor.

 

Hello,

Before this address and building was taken over by Mickey Thompson Enterprises, it was the 3rd edition of the Joe Mailliard Speed Engineering. That was his own speed shop business once started in a joint effort with Joe Reath. Soon after Mickey Thompson moved their offices to the next big street over next to the Santa Fe Italian Import business, the remnants of Joe Mailliard disappeared and is hard to find in the history publications.

MICKEY THOMPSON CLOSE TO OUR HOUSE

Extra: As far as Mickey Thompson’s shop, it was on 1410 Cota Ave. It was located one block behind Santa Fe Importers Delicatessen on Santa Fe Ave. Trying to stay as accurate as possible, in doing further research in several books and files, I finally found the correct address for Mickey Thompson Speed Shop in our Westside of Long Beach neighborhood.

Jnaki

In many articles including some of mine, we all thought Mickey Thompson’s Shop was on Santa Fe Ave, between Bill Williams (huge) Welding Shop and the Santa Fe Importers building. The original was actually one block behind. Old memories sometimes need a kickstart and more research to validate the visuals.
from this Cota Ave. shop, to just down the block to this expanded shop:

Then finally to this shop next door to the Santa Fe Importers deli store on 1419 Santa Fe Avenue.


All in a two block radius: