Remind us as the date gets closer. I'll try to bring one of my cars. I may be able to track down some of your ol' Mo Rat buddies if need be.
Just happend onto this site---i was ans admit to being a mo rat----knew kivitts pretty well---sold him a 66 nova hardtop in early 70s---he wanted my little 67 sedan that was painted higger orange----was living in kirkwood when the mo shut sdown---went to the burger chef for a long time---then we moved to macdonalds in adelphi---kept his going as long as we could----a good friend--jimmy hall---he had a nice 68 gto in the mo days----i did one for him to make it like the one he had-----thats when he said to me----danny---i would give anything to go back------by the way----was not the fire started by hinkley welding a gas tank------i could go on and on----tommy is a true mo rat for sure----he know things that only a moe rat would know------like turn off your headlights as you come in----almost got to be a trademark for queenstown mo rats------and i am looking for some pics----
TOMMY---I am pretty sure the girls youare talking about----can not for the life of me remember their names----but when I saw them last----that is all they would talk about---was to try and get all the old crowd together-----I knew billy armstong pretty good too-----bought the wide whites off the 32 when it came from california---used them on my 51 ford----they were original firestone 500s--16 inchers-----and if memory serves me-----tubby was a dc cop------had a 65 chevelle----ended up with a bad brain tumor--------i kinda wish i could go back----
You never owned a motorcycle did you? Some of us were trying to figure out who the guy is in the photo (message # 137).
Jimmy Hall was an every nighter for sure. He drove a 69 Mustang Mach I. His girlfriend Betty Boop had a beautiful pale yellow 68 4pd GTO convertible for a while that I almost bought but she backed out on the deal. They usually had the corner booth inside. Does Jimmy still have the 57 T-bird rusting away in the back yard? I had a 63 Corvette for a while and it was the custom to leave the headlights on but roll them under as you entered and then roll them up when you left. Hinkle was sectioning a Dodge van. The club said work on it or get it out of there. He removed the gas tank but poured the gas along side the tin pole building in the dry grass. A spark went under the tin and the rest is history. Sadly the Hinkle twins are both gone now. Brian had a heart attack not too long ago. Tubby's 65 Chevelle was a plain dark blue Malibu HT with those thick plastic seat covers because of his dog. He ordered it with the L-79 327-350 and a 4.11 rear. A real sleeper. Kivetts called the 66 L-79 Marina blue Nova the "blue bitch" It ran like a stripped ass ape. Does anybody remember the names of the 2 guys that got killed in a 66 L-79 Nova? He wrpapped it around a telephone pole on Riggs road across from the cemetery. The passenger, his best buddy, had a 64 or 65 Olds 442. The Nova broke into two pieces when they unwrapped it from the pole. The gas station down the street from the Mo had the towing contract and we went down there and looked through the fence at the pieces. I can remember all the details about the cars but names are a different subject for me. The sad part of the story is that his dad had to co-sign for the car and refused to let him get a 4sp. He said you'll kill yourself with a 4 spd. It was probably pretty rare to be a 66 Nova SS L-79 with a 3 spd. His dad did not know what L-79 stood for. He crashed it a year or two later. He took it out for it's first test run after replacing the 3spd with a 4 spd. A real sad and freaky story. Both of them were nice guys. The guy on the Sportster is Tony Pagano. One of the guys on the Facebook page, "Friends of the Mighty Mo", refreshed my memory. Tony dated his sister. Lot's of L-79s huh? A real icon of an engine for me for obvious reasons.
That sounds like jimmy williams with the mach one and the green t bird sitting in his back yard-----------jimmy hall had a pale blue 68 gto---sitting up all around with americans-----i redid one just like that for him-----
I used to hang at the McDonald's in Adelphi once in a while. I guess during that time I was probably on my Harley most of the time or driving my buddy's 69 Dart GTS or just an old pickup. I remember a Danny Shaw that hung out there sometimes. I don't suppose you are that Danny from the sounds of the cars you mentioned.
No---I.m Danny Hil-----Danny shaw was a good friend of mine-----when the moe closed----we shifted things to the burger cheif and then to the macdonalds in adelphi-----ending up in the parking lot at dart drug-----thats why they called it double dees------a lot of mo rats ended up there-----me---truck----thats was Bill Saunders----Danny Shaw gave him that nickname----billy armstong-----emmitt moatz-----and a bunch of others---
Danny Shaw had a Knucklehead for a while and I knew his sister Melinda better than Danny, but he and I were on our Harleys blasting through MD U when it was closed. There was a stop sign every ten feet for pedestrians and it seemed ridiculous to stop when no one was around. We got pulled over by a female cop (sort of dyke type) and Danny started talking shit. All the shit that a feminist dyke type doesn't want to hear. We would have probably gotten off light if I had a few feet of duct tape. I seem to remember hearing that he had moved to N.C. There were some charachters that hung at Mickey D's, that's for sure. I remember Al Swanson making a game out of scaring the Wakenhut renta cops to death. One night he hid in one of those trash cans with the swing lid and when the renta cop went to put his trash in, Al went off like a mad dog. I heard he died a couple of years ago. I didn't know Truck but I saw him at Leland when he was dying and we spoke just out of recognizing each other. That was many years ago. Klink (if he's still on this side of the dirt) probably wouldn't remember me, but I remember him because of his antics. He liked to gross people out. One night he acted like, or maybe it wasn't an act, that he was wiping his ass with Mc D's napkins and then ate them. Another night he made a big deal out of working up a luggi and then hocked it in a high arch across the parking lot. When it landed he went over and licked it up. That sent the girls packing! He had about a 53 Ford pickup and would let it idle around Dart Drugs parking lot with the wheel cut to one side and then ride in the back in a lawn chair. He'd pretend to fall asleep and everyone would panic as the truck slowly worked its way toward their parked cars. One night some Leave-it-to-Beaver type family came in and made some dispariging remarks about us and Joe Venuto pulled a ten foot tree out of its very shallow Mc D planter. The root ball being very flat allowed it to sit on the roof of their car. They sort of freaked when they came out to find a ten foot tree on the roof of their dweeb mobile. Joe works for me and I see more of him than I need to sometimes. Bruce Warring was another charachter. He was killed on my old Harley in Daytona some years back trying to ride home from a bar in a hurricane and a tree came down across the road. I still stay in touch with Billy Cranston from time to time. He's still a charchter. Joe Venuto stays in touch with Joe Otrumba (who is still a motorhead) and Quiddly. I don't know how many of these names are familiar to you or the other guys here but... I think Roy Fiddesop hung at the Mo once in a while but not Mc D's. He was probably running a 62 or 63 Ford. He died about four years ago. I'm on the board of directors for some condo warehouses that I own and one of the other members is friends and neighbors with Tommy Kivets who now lives in DE. Tommy and I had bays next to each other for a while when he had a tranny shop at Rt 4 and 495.
Hey---I have got the feeling that we know each other-----i know every name you mentioned-----Klink and me went to montgomery blair together-----do not let his antics fool you----andrew was one smart man-----i have known him since i was 15-----call him every now and then and he catches me up on things and people------the reason i think we know each other is that i was there the night al scared the rent a cop----and the night klink did the lugi on the pay phone booth and liked it off----crazy al wanted me to go work in the oil fields with him----he came home one time and we went and saw Smokey and the bandit-------the next night he was driving that black trans am-------i remember he would come home from the oil fields----i would be sitting in plain and fancy donut shop having a cup of coffee-----look around and the trans am would be outside the window------dead of winter-----al would be wearing a bright yellow hawaiian shirt and blowing the horn and yelling at me-----cranston and joe otrumba and all of those were like the second wave of hang outs----when you see billy cranston tell him Danny Hill says hi-----the rent a cop ended up being Al Irvin-----he was the best man at my wedding to Alicia Vannes or Lee as she was then------he came down here one time and i took him to charlotte for the race----have not seen him since------last time i saw joe otrumba he was dating jenny that worked at the donut shop-------driving that blue 56 chevy-------if i find some pics of my cars from that era i will post them and maybe you will recognize them-----the gto to the left is about the last one i was driving when the adelphi crownd kinda pettered out------
PAUL--See if any of these ring a bell---MY HUGGER ORANGE CHEVY 2----MY 56 PU THAT KLINK ENDED UP WITH----MY 57 WAGON-----MY 68 ROAD RUNNER-MO DAYS------MY 67 GTX-----51 FORD---WIDE WHITES CAME OFF BILLY ARMSTONGS 32-----51 FORD AND ME WHEN I MOVED TO LAUREL FOR A BIT
Heres a couple more----MY HUGGER ORANGE SEDAN CHEVY 2-----MY 66 NOVA SS----MY ROAD RUNNER---MY 67 RED NOVA---MY 65 CHEVELLE MALIBU-----KLINKS 66 STREET HEMI----MY 65 FURY--BILLY ARMSTONGS FIRST ENAMEL JOB
Paul---you said something about pics-----i've owned over 400 cars in my life---this could take a while---MY 51 WITH THE TAG THAT ARMSTRONG WAS TRYING TO FIGURE HOW I GOT------THE 51 SITTIN AT MY BUDDIES SUNOCO STATION ON PINEY BRANCH---NOTICE THE CRAB HOUSE IN THE BACKGROUND---MY 57 WAGON IN FRONT OF KIRKWOOD APTS-----YOU HAD TO DRIVE BY IT TO GET TO THE MO------MY 66 PLYMOUTH CONVERT----383--4 SPEED---NO P/S---NO P/B----ALL GO-----MY 67 442 AT WORK IN LAUREL-----MY 67 GTO THAT I PAINTED AT DANNY SHAWS HOUSE IN BELTSVILLE----THIS PIC IS AT BENNIE AND VENICE HOUSE IN BELTSVILLE----ME AND MY 65 PARKED AT P AND F AND JIMMY COMBERS
Face looks familiar and so do some of the cars, but you know what they say the 70s did to memory cells. I used to hang at Gary Therauf's apartment in Kirkwood sometimes, so, I know where it is. I bought a 56 ford PU from a guy that also hung out there but can't remember his name. Mike somebody, maybe Kelly. It was a light blue 56 with a stock 292 and like 5:13 gears. It stayed wound out. Did you race a Black 69 Dart GTS on University Blvd with your Olds one night from Mickey D's?
Hey paul----you hit it right on the head with the brain cells------with all the names you mentioned------told alicia all the names and she just said -----i forgot all about those guys-----but she knew all the names too-----as for racing a 69 dart gts on university blvd.-------cccoooooouuuulllllddddd bbbbeeeee-------you know about those cells-----but if someone edged me on-----i would go-------when i lived in kirkwood------i was right out front----cars were parked on ager road------i was just about a block up from that gas station----what ever it was----damn cells again-----sometimes they work------sometimes they------whatever
So this was an L-79 that you sold to Kivetts? I watched it take a few bucks a few times. Ahh Jimmy Combers. I spent a few nights in there chasing skirts. I don't think I was there very much in the daylight. Except for the wheels this is exactly like Tubby's L-79 I don't recognize any of your cars except the Chevy II but thanks for the pictures.
Tommy-----that marina blue 66 was a 283---225----one of those 4 barrel dual exhaust jobs----my first wife dove this all the time-----the one i sold kivetts was just like this but in black primer----he painted it a bronze redish color and had pulled out the quarters to fit big tires-----he was going to use it on the track but he switched to the camaro i think---------------on the 65 442----- i only knew one guy that had a red one----name was jesse-------still looking for mo pics-----i lost a bunch of mine in my first marrage-----live and learn remember the night that the black guys from dc came to the mo to race kivetts-----he said he would think about it and walked to the back of the 55-------some guy asked me why he had to think on it-----i told him----tommy already knows he is gonna race-----hes not thinking about it----he back there shaking the car to mix the nitro he has in the tank with the gas-------went out on george palmer highway and stood that 55 straight up in the air------kivetts was known for d stroking a motor----all rpm---no torqe-----thats why they could not weight anything----he would have a 327 deestroked down to a 265-----granade motors----same principle as the 302 z moTors in 67 68 69----i just remembered that my little orange 67 chevy 2 had the rear end out of terrys chevy 2 in it-----513 if i am thinkin right
I think the gas station was Jerry's or maybe it was just the towing part that was Jerry's. I remember one December the nursery there on Ager Road had a bunch of way overpriced Christmas trees. A bunch of us snuck over one night and and slowly unscrewed them from the wooden bases and then at the count of ten we all took off through Kirkwood. My parents couldn't believe what a nice tree they got for Christmas. I wasn't normally into thievery but I had worked for Burtons nursery who treated me like a dog. Worst company I ever worked for in my whole life. I busted my ass for everyone I ever worked for including them, so, I didn't feel guilty. Jerry McGuaghlin (spell check) lived there in Kirkwood and had a sort of candy blue Fairlane. Gary Therauf lived in Kirkwood and had a primer 55 Chev.
This must have been after the Mo closed and I lost track of Kivetts. The 55 that he built in our club garage had a stroked 57 283. More cubes not less. It might have been able to clear a pack of cigarettes on a good night but it never stood up. I'm talking 69-70ish era. There were no cars on the street in my area at that time that could "stand up". I take that back there was a 56 Chevy from SE that could stand up but it had an altered wheelbase with a big block. the only car I ever saw on the street that could do that. Tommy talked him into spotting him a car length down at Blue Plains. Tommy's Marina blue 66 Chevy II jumped ahead another 2 cars out of the hole and he never looked back. In my world a 12 second car on the street back then was a world beater. I do remember a Corvette that broke into the high 11s at Capitol but he kept breaking half shafts with the slicks on. I can only speak about the things that I actually witnessed.
my dad tells me storys of his times at the queenstown mo,he went to bladensburg high and graduated in 62,he had a 59 impala that he drove and still has,but since has given the car to me,it is waiting to be restored,
thanks,it does run kinda,need to rebuild carb but other then that mechanically its solid.but like everybody knows life puts a back seat on things is why its at idle at the moment
quote from tommy- I remember a Healey with a Chevy in in it. Chrome wheels on the back (narrowed rear) and the stock wires up front tommy there was a ford powered healey like the one you described that had a 302 stuffed in it,im getting ready to leave for work but il scan the picture of the car tommorrow while im off.
Please scan any pictures that you or your dad have of the Mo back then and any of the cars. I'm still looking for a picture of the front.
ok heres the picture tommy,i got it from a book that was called beltsville shell.my dad doesnt have any pictures of the mo.
That's the one!! Silver blue with a blue top. It was a pretty car and as I recall it was pretty quick although I never saw it race. A car on the street with a narrowed rear was not as common then as it is today. Thanks for posting it.
thats picture is from a book a guy who use to work at the old beltsville shell on rt 1 where the usda place is now about his times and adventures ,the healey was owned by charlie hopkins,he out ran the cops one night when was set out to race somebody from what the book says,it was a really intersting book.
The Jalopy Journal
