Here are some photos from this years 2010 Pasadena Reliability Run along with brief a history on the Mitchell Muffler Pickup. This year I took my daughter Kayli along as navigator in the Mitchell Muffler Pickup. We had a great time! At the end of the day Kayli said, I think I was born in the wrong era (this just about brought tears to my eyes). I said, that makes two of us. For one day a year I get to live in another era. The PRC Reliability Run has become my favorite day of the year. I just want to say THANKS to the members of the Pasadena Roadster Club for organizing such a great event. What a bitchen day! I hope you enjoy the pictures, Jerry A brief history about the PRC Reliability Run. In the July 6, 1947 S.C.T.A Racing News Program a small announcement appeared for a new type of Roadster Competition called a Reliability Run, the event was organized by the Pasadena Roadster Club. The 1947 Reliability Run was such a success that it became an annual event until 1951 when the club disbanded. In 2002, the Pasadena Roadster Club was resurrected and in 2004 the club brought back the famous Pasadena Reliability Run. The Pasadena Roadster Club does an incredible job making sure the Reliability Run stays true to its roots. The Reliability Run is limited to one-hundred 1936 and older Roadsters with an emphasize on traditional styled hot rods. 1953 and older vintage engines are a requirement, valve covers are strongly discouraged but exceptions are made for vintage 4-Bangors, Olds, Cads and Buick Nailheads. If you like seeing rows of plastic Hot Rods with Chevy crate engines, billet wheels and no fluids dripping from them this is not the place for you. About the Mitchell Muffler Pickup. During WWII Dave Mitchell owned a welding shop in Eagle Rock, CA which is just a stones throw away from Pasadena. Mitchells Welding Shop was contributing to the War effort but when the War ended in 1945 so did the Government welding contracts, Dave had to find another way to help supplement the shops income. He had been doing a great deal of welding for the hot rodders and this must have gave him the idea to convert Mitchells Welding Shop into Mitchells Roadster Shop. Sometime before 1951 he moved the shop to Pasadena, the new location was at 803 E. Colorado Blvd (Route 66) in a building that had been the former Al Hawkins Speed Shop. Al Hawkins had specialized in mufflers and V8 Twin Exhausts going back before the War. Dave renamed the new location Mitchells Muffler Shop. It was at this shop that he started messing around with installing fiberglass in empty muffler casings, the casings he used were the ones from the heavy steel packed mufflers. It took him awhile to find the right type of fiberglass that would not blowout of the mufflers but he eventually found the correct material. Today Dave Mitchell is best remembered for inventing the Glasspack Muffler along with his unique 1928 Ford Roadster Pickup which was displayed at the muffler shop on Route 66. The pickup was built right after war. When Dave first constructed the pickup it was painted Fire Engine Red and powered by a Flathead V8 (my favorite version). The body is a 1928 Roadster car and not a Pickup body. The rear portion of the car was cutoff and the rear of a Studebaker Touring car was grafted onto the Ford body. Im slowly putting the car back to the way it was in 1951 when Wally Parks featured the Pickup in the first Hot Road Test in the June, 1951 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. I have attached some pictures of an original Mitchell Roadster Shop business card given to me by Duffy Livingston and a couple pictures of what the pickup looked like in 1949 when it was red with the flathead and then in 1951 when it was painted black and powered by a 303 ci Olds Rocket. Mitchell Muffler Pickup PRC Reliability Run History 1947 #1 Unknown 1948 #2 Unknown 1949 #3 The pickup took second place for Best Appearing Roadster at the Reliability Run. 1950 #4 Mitchell won the December 3, 1950 Reliability Run with Duffy Livingstone navigating, they were off the official time by only one minute and 5 seconds. Mitchells Pickup tied with Bill Niekamps Roadster for Best Appearing car. The pickup was still painted red and powered by the Flathead 1951 #5 In 1951 the Pickup was completely rebuilt with a 1950 Oldsmobile drivetrain and painted black. Mitchell took Second Place at the Reliability Run. 　
Thanks for the history lesson. I love the history. My Deuce roadster is packed with LA Times and LA Mirror newspapers dated Jan 1951. I always wonder if it could have been on one of these runs.
Thanks for the post! I would love to go on it,where would I get registration info and is it open to every one or just club members?
thanks jerry about time you got on here. those that dont know jerry he's very ,very hot rod resourceful and has tons of vintage shots of el mirage and dry lake related stuff. billy
Yes, I am the one who owns this '32. It was an old lakes car out of the late 40's and did some early drag Racing in San Fernando valley in the early 50's. I found it several years ago in a poor state of dis-repair. This was the first time it has really been seen in public sense I got it back together and running this spring. It still is a "Work in Progress" but it is always good to finally get a project where it will run and drive. The car runs a 59 AB with Edelbrock 3x2 intake and heads, a Isky cam, Schafer aluminum Flywheel and Harman-Collins Dual Coil Ignition. The trans is a Lincoln Top Shifter with 25 tooth gears and the rear is also Lincoln. Brakes are original Lincoln front and Ford Rear. The body is all original with "as found" Paint (?), if you could call it that. A lot of the paint is long gone and you can see the old lead repaires done a long time ago. The chassis was in suprisingly good condition and was not all worn out. All I had to do was to replace brake linnings, wheel cylinders and master cylinder and hoses. I did not have to even turn the drums as they were good and still standard. King Pins and steering components were all good. It runs and drives well but it is not too good on the Freeway as it has 4.20 Rear Gears in it. I recently found a Lincoln Clolumbia for it which I want to install. It should work fine as long as I do not "side step" the clutch while "Demonstrating" how well the car gets off the line. Lots of Fun!!! CWPASADENA
What a great thread!!! The Mitchell Muffler Pickup is one of the coolest. It's just so right in every sense of the word. I would love to be in the run one day. Hmmmm, damn I just put my roadster stuff up for sale.
Always a hoot to see this event... still tell myself, "someday, self... someday!" Anyone get photos of Frank Brown's survivor, the "Bundy roadster?" Apparently it was recently pulled from the same garage where it was parked in '56...
Do not do any more work to it other than making it drivable, cosmetically its PERFECT just the way it is. Mucho better than a shiny red one. What a find! Jerry
I grew up in Pasadena, and every trip to the market with my mother passed by Mitchell's Muffler, with the roadster parked in the lot outside. It was red then, and in a way it got me interested in hot rods at maybe age 5. Years later I was picking up some glasspacks at Mitchell's when I worked at Blair's, and saw the sad remains of the roadster in back of the shop. The paint was faded and the upholstery torn, but it was still the Mitchell roadster. So I asked the counter guy if it was for sale (of course I had no money but still had to ask), and he said "Dave will never sell it." That was the last time I saw it until its restoration (I am assuming this is the same car and not a repop?) Would love to know more about the restoration, since this was one of the classic hot rods of all time. (and my fading memory has Mitchell's on Green st, one block south of Colorado, but the address on the roadster door has them on Colorado...wonder if they moved or if my senility is just growing??!).
Frank's Bundy roadster was first in line, as always. He has almost 30 K miles on the car since he acquired it many years ago. Frank drives from New Mexico about 800 miles to participate in the PRCRR. So the actual run is all fun for him. Then he returns home. Including the miles driven in California he travels about 2 K miles round trip to come to the run. All of Frank's cars are super reliable and are never trailered. A lot to be said for the Columbia rear axle with the 2:72 overdrive, and his ability to build a very reliable Hot Rod.
I hate to bring up these old threads but I was doing a Google search for a Pasadena Muffler Shop and this thread popped up. Does anyone from the Pasadena area remember a Perly's Muffler Shop on the corner of Colorado Blvd & Madre St in East Pasadena? I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling but maybe you do.
The Jalopy Journal
