Gang - Just heard from another e-group that the legendary (and universally liked) "Big John" Mazmanian has succumbed to cancer. No details as yet. You "oldtimers" will instantly recognize the name - and recall his string of gorgeous, and very successful race cars in the '60s and '70s. If you're too young to know the name - you'd do well to give it a "google". RIP "Big John"
Its a sad thing...Im not a old timer but I know who that is. His "football" is one of the most famous gasser. Was for sale too on Gassermadness.com Im not sure if it will still be for sale or not... Well another sad day for the racing comunity.
RIP, John. See ya at the top end. John was proof that being totally competitive did not mean that one couldn't be the nicest guy in the world. I hadn't kept in touch while he was sick. But my Viper brother John Hogan introduced us and I was very honored to meet one of my biggest heros. Maz was one of a kind. Those are shoes that will never be filled. Never! Godspeed, John, say hello to everyone up in drag racers heaven.
Man this is sad news. I was fortunate enough as a kid to hang around Mazmanian from time to time. My dad & John were there from the beginning of Drag Racing & they were very good friends. John Mazmanian turned me on to Armenian String Cheese....it got to a point where they had to hide it when i hung out!! I helped out on a couple of the candied Cudas & will never forget it. Rest In Peace Big John,, Love, Troy Cagle
When I got my Willys PU back in January it had Maz's autograph on the dash. I dropped him an email and asked if he remembered being in my PU...not really expecting to hear back from him. He answered my email right away. He was great...and it was fantastic to hear from him. I am thankful that I got to tell him how much I loved to see him race.........................
I was lucky to have meet him a few times and talk with him. We supplied Champion spark plugs to him and JR Thompson ( as well as others ) back in the day.
Dang. I said hi to him at Bakersfield MM in 03, he seemed like one of those really nice guys, he acted like he knew me, I had to look around to make sure his best friend wasn't standing behind me. It's a real shame a lot of the pioneers are getting up there...RIP
I will miss Big John and his cars. I always loved the Corvette, and I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Ford man. His cars always had "attitude". Its nice to hear from those who knew him that he was such a nice guy. Condolances to his family.
Man, some bad news indeed. John's willy's were some of the cars that inspired us when we built the GTO. RIP
My instincts tell me that Mazmanian is match racing his good buddy Doug Cook right about now...........Those two where nothing but the best.......Littleman
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