History Low Riders, Zoots Suiters and "Pachucos"

Hey J,

The local OC family restaurant is/was called Manny's . The long standing restaurant run by the teenage waitress (from Manny's) now owner for 30+ years is called AMBER'S. They were/are located in Laguna Niguel. Amber's is still going strong and the food is still outstanding. The original 2nd cook from Manny's is the cook for Amber's, the last time we checked and ate there in 2019. Amber's is on a different street location, but still standing and serving quality Mexican food for everyone.

The town center is about 3 miles from the coast or I-5 freeway. The old Hilborn Fuel Injection Engineering location is/was close to the I-5 freeway, across the street location from the current Costco on Crown Valley. You would not recognize the famous multi-story red brick wall that stood out for miles when it was Hilborn's home. But, since then, Hilborn moved to Aliso Viejo, until they closed and moved East.

Jnaki

The only two stores left from the original town center is a Denault's Tru Value Hardware Store and a Chinese restaurant called China Moon. Two mainstays, quality hardware and service plus great Chinese food has a long standing history here. The rest of the original stores, including the big chain Mexican restaurant are gone.
One or the other color Chevy Sedan was very prominent cruising around on those local streets, even during Hilborn's time at the brick wall location.

 

My wife and I bought a new TV from Dooleys in 66. We lived in Lomita at the time. Don’t remember why.

 

Hey J6,

Welcome to the club. Our first TV as a married couple was a 15 inch B&W portable...(Ha... a portable that took two people to move around.) from Dooley's in 1968. Dooley's usually had better prices for most appliances than Sears or other stores. When my brother was in the Long Beach Memorial Hospital for his long stay, we bought a 17 inch B&W TV that had a click button remote keyboard that fit in our hands. But, the bad thing was, we had to get up and turn the TV on or off. What great technology for the times in 1960.

Dooleys is/was about two miles from our Bixby Knolls hangout/cruising area. But, the area near Dooley's is/was ripe for tons of lowrider cars and convertibles. For a three mile square area surrounding the general location, North and East, it was home to the local lowrider community. The area was a little "tough" and most stayed away other than going to Dooley's for the merchandise and great hot dogs.

Jnaki

The sparkly lowriders of all sorts were very prevalent when I was taking photos in the North Long Beach area for a hot rod and several motorcycle on going builds. The 327 powered sedan delivery fit right in with the other hot rods in the area, but, stood out in the lowrider community.

Original Dooley's Hardware is gone, but the same address is use for the elementary school called of all things, Dooley Elementary School. How is that for some local Long Beach history?

 

Just a couple of pics of my 48 Fleetline. It has 2" lowering blocks in the back and few accessories on it. Chrome is very nice and it is kind of a rare car to see up here in the PNW.