I wish I knew more about this mystery photo, but I can tell you this: Livermore, California was just another happy, suburban Northern California town in the mid 50s, as pictured below. Like many other car clubs in the Bay Area at that time, the Block... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
cool photos. last time I was in downtown Livermore I almost puked. used to be an old fashioned downtown with the original old buildings. it was really cool. then they yuppied it all up. sickening... like seeing that roadster in the photo redone with Boyds wheels and corvette suspension. I haven't gone back since.
Neat photo. I can see a finned head right in front of the cops shin so it looks like a flatty, also, looks like an A firewall so an A roadster on 32 rails.
Love the somewhat innocent times of the 50's. Our first car club was the Gear Grinders, cast our own plaques from lead in a wood mold. We had a Nebraska State Trooper as a honorary member that came to our meetings and out to the drag races on Sunday at the local strip. We all admired him and later one of our group boght his patrol car at State auction. A 58 Chevy Biscayne tudor with a 348-3-deuce and 3-spd O.D.-4-11 posi. This trooper Wayne French became the man in charge at the local patrol headquaters. Great memories of these days! ~sololobo~
I have this Block Busters plaque an oldtimer gave me here in Michigan. I've always wondered if the club had members in other states.
Alright first....block buster's is a great name! Second, you are wrong wrong wrong on those headlight stands being ugly. Those are my favorite headlight stands ever!!! Probably not what's best for the car from a design standpoint but the cool factor.....well it has it in spades!!!
I looked at that a few times and the windshield may be there with a frameless top edge? (Or just hard to make out in the photo...)
Good eye on the Flattie! Also the firewall looks to be 30-31, so it's a late Model A on Deuce rails-- Rarer AV8 combo than a 28/29 set up...
We had a Nebraska State Trooper as a honorary member that came to our meetings and out to the drag races on Sunday at the local strip. We all admired him and later one of our group boght his patrol car at State auction.
Great picture! I am a police by day and that one is going on the wall in my office! JJ I agree, those headlight stands are great! If I ever own the roadster that I'm building in my brain it will have a set of those.
Agree on the headlight stands. If you take a look at the traditional T bucket thread, Weez put up a pic of an orange t with 2 chicks and those stands. It's wicked.. Hlafway down the page.. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=674191&highlight=traditional+bucket&page=14
My old club in CLearwater, Florida was the Blockbusters. We ran the Golden Triangle Drag Strip where Don Garlits ran near his Tampa business. Great bunch of guys in a great time in history. So there were many Blockbusters club throughout the U.S.
Here is a photo of the Livermore Block Busters' plaque ..... Dennis O'Brien has 21 different Block Busters plaque patterns and a book I have about car clubs from the 40's, 50's and 60's lists 30 different clubs, including the one from Livermore.
I know at least three past members... Bill Junk, George Madden and Rich Guasco. I'll send Bill a link. He belongs to the Livermore Herritage Guild... and might chime in and write what he knows about the club. George gave me his original plaque to run on my '55 when I went to Kingdon's first reunion. Then Bill offered one up that I sent to Dennis O'Brien to make some copies. We have thought about jump-starting the club again... But we're too busy hot rodding for that. Bill? Ohhhhhh Bill??? Sam
I can assure you that the Block Busters of Wayne, Michigan had no affiliates in California or anywhere else. And that plaque with the T roadster was cast by me and another guy at the Wayne Memorial High School metal shop sometime around 1959. We did have NHRA certification and somewhere at home in Michigan (I'm in Arizona currently) I have the NHRA document signed by Wally Parks. There were about a dozen members in the Wayne Block Busters and we made up the name without ever having heard of another club. I also still have my plaque and since I'm now restoring a '56 Chevy Nomad you can be sure that it'll wind up on the front bumper. Don't want to have to drill a couple of holes for the dangle "S" hooks in that Nomad's rear bumper which is what I did with my first '56 Chevy all those years ago.
We had an Omaha cop,I think his last name was Walton,that used to look the other way when we raced.It turned out he was a hot rodder.We got along with the cops,but the younger guys got Dodge Street shut down because of the b.s.they caused,such as vandalism.We used to save the hard core racing for after midnight,at places like the old Millard airport or Abbot Road.
I got an e-mail back from Bill Junk. it reads: "Sam, My memory is shot, but I'll give you what I can remember and let you forward it. I was a Block Buster in the early to mid '50s. Our most famous (not then) member was Rich Guasco - his dad had the wrecking yard at the freeway end of Santa Rita Rd. so he had access to everything he needed to build a car. Bob Fornaciari and Sam Chakires are still around. The car in the photo is not familiar to me, but I would give 10:1 that it has a Ford flat head V-8 in it - they were plentiful and cheap compared to a hopped-up four-banger. Most young guys didn't have the money that they do nowdays (I was making $3.00/hour in 1953). The cop with his foot on the frame rail is Chief of Police Johnny Micheals (sp?) and the other cop (can't remember his name) kind of looked after the club. The club plaques were purple, not red. The Heritage Guild has access to old newspapers at the Carnegie Bldg. When I joined the club was new (I'm thinking 12 to 15 members) and didn't do much. I was only active for a few years - got married in 1956 so cars took second place. There was some street racing - East Ave. was a drag strip - mostly farming, ranching, vineyards east of Livermore High and some "flying" over the "seven sisters" (Greenville Rd. between East Ave. and Tesla Rd). I would say most members were in their 20's. Only a few guys had what could be described as a street rod - I think I had a '33 Ford pickup, stock except for wheels & tires. Bill"
How cool of you to respond. I always wondered about the history of this plaque. To hear from one of the guys that made it, thats just amazing. I'm in Allen Park Michigan. If you're back in town for the michigan ave cruise give me a shout, i'd like to say hi.
HI, just came across this thread and wanted to ad.....in the Custom rodder magazine for Oct 1957 Volume 1 #4 theres an article "Materials and Methods" theres a young lady names Carolyn Walten in numerous pictures working on and modifying her 53 ford wearing a block busters livermore jacket.....
Thought I would drop a line and update this thread. Hopefully answer all questions. The guy in the white coveralls is Bob Fornaciari and Jim Young is the other person with his hand on the radiator. The car is Bob's 31 Ford Roadster and had a 3/8 by 3/8 flathead in it at that time. That's Chief Johnny Michelis with his foot on the frame and officer Frank Lewis standing behind. Officer Lewis later left the force and opened the Foster Freeze in Livermore. I joined the club around 1962. Roger Busbee
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