History Old Chicago Hang-outs?

The saying read--If You Beat Me, You Can Eat Me...

...Bruno...

 

What about the Cars that came out of the ChinaTown, 24th Street area????? Alot of fast cars came out of there, most of my cousins and myself (later) ran out of there..

...Bruno...

 

Does anyone remember the Oasis Drive-in on 83 at the tollway? There use to be alot of hot cars in and out of there and we then would drive up to Wheeling to the Dog and Suds drive-in. Elk Grove was one city back then that we stayed pretty much out of because the cops were really tough although I did outrun one on a late Saturday night once.... Back in those days just having a muscle car was enough reason for the cops to pull you over so they could LOOK at your car and that happened more than once for me....but usually they were pretty nice about it.

 

We used to hang out at the Mc/Ds on Rand (Rt 12) 83 near the Randhurst mall.

 

This was shot a little while before Skips was taken down. The picture was shot on color slide film but my scanners not very good at scaning slides (have to have it done by a pro). I hope this brings back some happy memorys

 

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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by gnichols
Way up north, I'm sure you guys remember "Scoopin' the Loop" in Waukegan (my high school days 62-66) was a big deal. On just about any night and especially the weekends there was an endless loop of cars running north and south on Genesse Street. Mostly a place to go if nothing else was going on. Gas was cheap. Lots of cool cars, street / strip stuff and kids in general. I had heard about yearly car shows in Waukegan to commerate those days around the 4th of July each year, but I don't know if the city still holds them. If they do, one day I'll get back with a hot rod and attend. Any Chicago area rodders with an update? Lots of othere towns had "Scoopin" loops. too. Gary
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I remember "scoopin" Wkgn too. What a great time looking at your car in those big store windows, checking out everybodys cars, hanging out with the "Bridge Guys" and heading to Kilbourn Rd for the races. You might know my cousin (class of 65) drove a blue vette w/The Taylor Shop custom paint job. Real name Rich but friends called him Henry.

I've lived in Waukegan for about 5 years now and have made it to the "Scoop the Loop" three of the 5 years. It used to be put together by a few local car clubs and it was a great gathering. Some late model stuff, but mostly nice old rods. This last year the city decided to take over the car show and renamed it "Scoopin Genesse" It was completely lame. It's really sad to see such a great event turn to garbage. Most of the gear heads that used to show at the "Scoop the Loop" did not attend Scoopin Genesse. Instead most of the guys attended a car show in the neighboring town of Gurnee. It was ok, but doesn't have the same vib as the Scoop the Loop did. Zion, IL also has a yearly car show and cruise called Nostalgia Days. It's pretty cool except for the Donks and Ricer boys in attendance.

They tried to do this same thing late in the 70's. It really bombed. I think it was called "Scoopin Genesse" then too. You don't think it's the same bunch organizing this attempt too!! LOL
Hopefully the car clubs will return and save the tradition. Next time I'm up that way I'll have to check it out.

Sent a few of these postings to another cousin who was racing in Chgo during late 50's and 60's. Can't wait to hear back from him too.
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Big Nick, Thanks so very very much for your photo....I now have printed it out and it is going in my scrapbook. I have been told I should write a book about my life and who knows, someday I may put a picture like this in my book. By the way, I have a neat little device that you can place a slide into and it will upload it into your computer and it works very nicely. Its called a 21C Digital Slide and picture converter.......and not very expensive. I think I bought mine from Dell or Best Buy....but don't remember.

Early Iron, I use to go thru that McDonalds quite often and if I remember right you could go in on the 83 side and come out on the rand road side... I also use to go to the first McDonalds in DesPlaines and in fact I remember when it was built as I was about 7 or 8 at that time and there was the Mc-D on one side of the street and a Golden Point Hamburger place on the other side of the street. The Golden point eventually went out of business and the rest is history...ha. My first car was a 57 Chevy that i bought from a gas station in Wheeling for $150. It had a 283 with a 4 speed in the floor and that lasted about 6 months before we yanked the 283 and put a 409 into it. I kept that car for a few years but in the meantime bought a 60 chevy convertible that had the 348 in it and drove it as my daily driver. When I came home on leave the first time, I bought a 67 Mustang GTA fastback and the next time I came home on leave I bought a new 69 Dodge SuperBee with the 426 Hemi and it was like a revalation from heaven because I have always loved that car more than any other I have ever owned and looking back I have owned over 60 cars that I can remember.

I use to work at the Goodyear there by Randhurst first as a tire buster and then as a mechanic and had a good friend that had a older dodge with the hemi in it and he gave me my first ride in a hemi car and from that moment on I knew I HAD to have one....ha. I remember he drove north on central from rand road and by the time we were 4 or 5 blocks towards 83 his speedo was pegged.

Another Hangout was the Bowling alley on rand road in Mount Prospect.....and of course many of the forest preserves untill the rangers came in and ran us all out..... Ahhhh those were the days....smile.

 

Vietvet, Yes that McDonalds had driveways on Rand and 83 we had a lot of fun hanging out there, and at the bowling alley at the Mount Prospect plaza, also the Big Boy across the street from the plaza as we called it. There were a lot of fast cars from there, was the old Dodge a black early 60's Belvedere or a Dart running with out a hood? we used to run wolf Rd. and raced on Palatine Rd. from 83 toward Arlington Hts Rd. Most of us guys went to Hersey so thats why we hang out mostly around there, It was a great time and I do miss it.

 

VietVet thanks for the heads up on the converter, going to look into that. I have a couple more slides of Skips that I shot that day and I'll post them as soon as I can. I remember snoopin around in there but not much left, couldent find anything with the Skips logo. As a side note, 2 weeks ago they auctioned off all the rides at Kiddie Land, it's closed after like 65 years. I guess the only thing left on that intersection now from the old days is the horse track.

 

The car that my friend had was about a 63-65 belvidere I think and one of the other guys that also worked at Goodyear along with us was a Japanese guy who also had a very similar car also with a hemi. The guy that was my friend was named Don and he was also building a T-bucket in his garage. I found out after I went to Vietnam that he died but never found out how.

I went to Prospect High but ran all over Chicago with several different cars that I had back then. I dated a girl from Palatine and in fact contacted her recently and she is now married of course but was amazed to find out that I retired at 50....smile.

 

Hi Nick,
If you go to the following URL, you can see the model that I have....:
http://www.shopmania.com/shopping~o...ative-film-slide-digital-conve~p-7319987.html

Things never stay the same as they use to be.....sadly. Life was much simpler back then! I would almost hate to see what life is going to be like 200 years from now....ugh....there will probably be so many laws then that there will be NO privacy and the average teen will not even know what a muscle car is or was....ack.

 

I drove a gold Buick GS and had a Dodge Hemi R/T, Black with Gold stripes on the hood and trunk with a bubble hood and 4 speed...

...Bruno...

 

in the city on stoney island in 1964 there was a sonoco gas station were all the guys that worked their had muscle cars and would hang out at night because the station stayed open 24 hours a day late. at night they would work on their own cars- and fri and sat nights my brother and i would sneak out to see them race on stoney island until the cops broke it up. and thats when they invented doty road ,which faced the expressway then. I remember one guy built a panel truck from the ground up ,I know bucause i watched him do it everyday in the summer. a lot of people hung out there at night during the summer and would organize the races ,and they would go to doty -race then come back to talk about it. Great summer fun for a kid!

 

In the mid-sixties we used to hang out at White Castles on 95th and Cicero and Dog n' Suds on Harlem Ave. Sure liked those 12 cent hamburgers and 10 cent coffees at WC.
Remember the Starlite Drive-in Theater on 95th near (I think) Ridgeland ave? I worked at the Drive-in filling propane bottles for the car heaters and collecting mid-nite show tickets. I learned how to drive at the drive-in using their truck and driving the isles prior to darkness.

 

I don't know if you saw my previous post, but, I cruised those spots from about '63-'72. I met my first wife in the Castle's parking lot in '68! Worked on those "night moves" many nights at the Starlite and the Sheridan, too.

 

I cruised '64 - '65 moved to West Coast after the tornado hit the High school. Hung or skipped classes in the donut shop next to H.S.

 

any body remember the hill Montrose ave. mostly just cruising was a red vega wagon with cragers and a primered hood that was owned by a big bald guy. car ran pretty good

 

We used to go to Bon Bon's, later called Bee Bee's, which was across the street from Harlem-Irving Plaza by the Harlem-Irving Drive In movies. Cars often raced on Forest Preserve Drive and west of Cumberland through the forest preserves on Irving Park (I blew the engine in my 66 Fairlane GT there in '67). We'd cruise back and forth between Bob Bon's and Skips all night. It sure was a fun time back in those days.

 

Grew up in Oak Forest remember as a little kid hearing races. I think they went out on Central Ave. Then as a teen with a POS car I remember White Castles in Tinley was busy in the late 70's. I never raced...I had a 70 mavrick with a 170 ci lol. So I don't know where they went to race probably Ridgeland from there. My dad had a car named the Alley Oop in Markham back when he was young I don't remember where he told me he hung out. Some day I want to build a 47 chevy like his old Oop.

 

Another early hangout was the Pie Pan at Peterson and Cicero....It was just off the Edens expressway.....the guys used to shut down the Edens and drag race to the North starting at the end of the entrance ramp.........There was also a car club in the area called the "Gass Hoppers"...........Great Times

Ken

 

"Also"........Clybourn and Racine was a serious Street Racing venue during the mid 60's......When I think about it now, with the crowds and male testosterone.....it was pretty dangerous..........Cabrini Green was right down the street, but....on Friday and Saturday nights......we were all Car guys..........Anyone remember "Big Ernie" with his fuel injected 55 chevy..................

Ken

 

My friend JD has videos of a lot of those races from the '70's, and some on Elston. He's got one of the "Big Bird" yellow '64 Chevelle sideswiping some parked cars.

 

hung out at dukes' early to mid 80's as well as on archer....hey big nic, my scanner is all set up to scan slides or neg. if you want to you can come down and scan them... i'm at archer and harlem... Tom

 

It's neat to see this picture of the Marshall Fields warehouse on pulaski and Diversey. It's the best i've seen yet. I used to work there as a fleet mechanic for 5 years.

 

Huh??????????? Car heaters? tell us more....

 

They used to rent little propane heaters so you didn't have to keep your engine running during cold weather.
By the way, s10ace, remember the go kart track out front? We used to take a wire coat hanger with to straighten out and hook the governor wide open. Yee-Haaaa.

 

I've heard about a guy named Tucker who used to hang out around 74th and cicero. I read that he and his pals used to like eating at a popular place called cavalinni's out at 147th and pulaski.
Boy how I'd love to be able to see them racing there going out to lunch and back!!!!!!

 

Does anyone remember Speedsport on 111th? Any pictures or memories of it in the 1960's

 

Great thread.....................

Ken

 

Yep, first met Joe Bush there.



From a Drag Racing Online interview with Chris Karamesines:

DRO: The racer you're most associated with in this period was the late Don Maynard. When and how did you hook up with him?
Maynard originally came from Arizona; he was tied up with Lyle Fisher and "Red" Greth's Speed Sport roadster. He moved to Chicago and got in with Joe Bush, who had the Speed Sport name on his Chicago speed shop. I was well acquainted with the Speed Sport team at the time, and I got together with Maynard and talked to him about running a fuel dragster. He was a really bright guy, real sharp. At the time he was working as a machinist at Bush's shop and he decided to go racing with me. We put eight Stromberg two-barrel carburetors on a Chrysler in 1956 and went fuel racing.