STICK CITY worlds largest hot rod dealer

I grew up in Whittier & remember going to Street Rods when I was a kid (late 70's early 80's).
My dad says he remembers Street Rods when they on the corner of Whittier/Ocean View (next block over from Calmada).

 

...and Kugels garage was on Whittier close to Norwalk Bl.

 

I always remember the 41 Willys coupe in Street Rods for sale at 6k , had a 454 ,brown/flames. I nearly bought it.That was around 1980. I got a pic of it I oughta scan it.

 

Jim Crawford (grew up with Shirley) and Richard Hyde were also friends of mine! i remember Marvs 55 well . he used to haul it out to york field on saturday nights . i havent seen or heard from Jim or Richard in years.

 

Hey knotheads. Cool to hear from someone that also knew Jim and Richard. I havent heard from Jim or Richard since Jim and Shirley got divorced in the mid 80's.

I bought my first "real car" from Richard in 1974. It was a Honduras Maroon 66 Impala Super Sport. 325 horse 396 with a 4 speed and 12 bolt posi rear with 4:11 gears. Buckets seats and console with factory tach and gauges. Someone gave it to Richard because it smoked. I paid Richard $ 225.00 for the running Inpala and a 68 Camaro RS/SS without an engine and trans. Jim and I put a new (used) set of heads on it and while it was apart, Jim had an L88 cam and lifters that we also put in it, with some Doug Thorley headers. Plan was to take the drivetrain out of the Impala and put it in the Camaro, but marriage and kids at a young age got in the way. I traded the Impala in at a used car lot for a stock 68 Camaro. When Rabb saw me pull up in the Camaro for the first time, boy did he give me some shit for not buying something from him!!! I wanted to, but he would not take my Impala in trade. He said nobody wants a piece of shit Impala, and he didnt want it on his lot because its not a hot rod. He said he didnt care what motor was in it, Impalas are for lowriders...HA HA.

I remember that people were always giving Richard stuff. Someone had given him a 409 and powerglide for cleaning out there garage or something and someone else gave him a 68 Chevelle SS 396 with no motor or trans. He stuck the 09 and glide in the Chevelle and had a very unique combonation, that didnt run half bad.

Sorry for hijacking this thread and I hope I didnt get to far off topic, but its fun to relive the memories.

Harry

 

Street Rods or Stick City cant remember which circa 1979. The Willys had a 454,nearly bought it fot 6k

 

Yeah, I remember drooling over the cars at Stick City too!

And, my brother in law talked me out of buying a 71 Chevelle with a 396 from Stanley Chevrolet in Norwalk which later became Dial Chevrolet.

I was a young kid then and didn't trust my instincts back then.

 

WOW !!! I used to work there, I was the detailer !! From '72-75, worked ( and learned from) a guy named Andy Anderson .

 

and thats a Hemi Cuda next to it !!! I think it was about $4500 !!

 

I was visiting LA in the mid 70's and this hot rod used car lot caught my eye. I noticed that he had custom license plate frames on the cars he had for sale so I asked him for some. I'm still using them today on my old cars.

 

Cool frame.

 

I bought my '55 Chevy 210 coupe from Wayne at Stick City!! we went for a test drive and I told him I Wanted it For Sure....and at 19 I was determined; He must have seen the "Hot Rod Bug" in my eye because he let me put a down payment of $5 to hold it for a week,he handed me his business card which i have carried in my wallet since he handed it to me;I drove away in my Black 1955 Chevy 210 Coupe one week later... He was a nice cool guy...although as it turns out he fibbed to me because my Chevy is not 1 of 6 cars used in American Graffiti; there were only 3 Built and Mine in Not one of them...But I still love it !! It has gone through many different changes over the years, and I have gotten to meet some amazing people because of my car; I have to owe this all to Wayne Smith and now mtsclemente for posting this ...Thank You !!

 

My sister has possession of the family photo album but yes... I have a few pictures... since I am only like three years late responding... I would guess you won't mind if it takes a lil while to find them... lol

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

How about a pic of the sign, along with some other shots in the area.

 

Cool thread
Bud picked my car at the twilight cruise in Pomona.

 

Wow almost forgot about Stick City and Streetrods. It was the ToyRus for my generation. Married my 2nd wife New Years Eve 1979 at The Ritz just a couple doors north of SC on the corner of Beach/ Whittier. What was I doing right before the ceremony? Yup checking out hot rods.....

 

I ran into Steve Gibbs at the U.S Nationals a few years ago. He was walking around the pits with a guy and introduced me to him. It was Rabbit Samuels. I said you got to be kidding me. I told him about flying to LA and driving a car we bought from him back to North Carolina in 1973. It was the first time I had seen him since. We had a great conversation and he seemed almost as pleased seeing me as I him. He said he still brokers "interesting" cars but does not have a car lot. As far as I know he is the only owner Stick City ever had.

 

I never owned Stick City.

 

I didn't either but I stayed at a Holiday Inn.

 

Old girlfriend bought a nice 70, Z-28 Camaro from them.
Brother bought a small Chevy powered Corvair from them.
Whoever built this Corvair did a really nice job. It was a front engine build. I guess no one wanted the Corvair, musta been there for some time. My brother got it for less than half the asking price..! I'll never forget that transaction.

Mike

 

That could have been Dick Scritchfield's V8 Corvair. He is a Whittier native and Rabbit always ran 2page ads in the L.A. Roadster Show Program. Like everything Schritch owns the Corvair conversion was very well done.

 

I understand that Charlie O'Neill (Fighting Irish Nostalgia Funny Car) was involved with Stick City at some time. Does that sound right? Ron Bizio's '33 Willys P/U was sold thru them or the other there in Whittier and we were talking about those days. It was restored/raced by Tom Willford and Marty Strode in the early NDRA days at Fremont. Currently Jeff Cryan runs it in one of those AA/GS groups out of the Buffalo, NY area. Pic shows truck as raced (one version) and being loaded years later onto the UHaul. Story goes this was how it looked when sold from the lot. Any input appreciated.

 

I visited both locations dozens of times . It was a great lot and always full of Bitchin cars. Fell in love with a super badass '55 Chevy gasser called "OBSOLETE" with a 15% setback 409 around 1970 when they were on the North side of Whittier blvd.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

I remember Wayne . He was a real cool guy and his partner Rabbit is still hot ridding and wheeling and dealing cars.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Cruising Whittier Bl. Whittier in the late 70’s as a passenger in my pals 371 Olds powered 23 T, I seem to recall it being the only type of Hot Rod out on the Blvd. we stopped in front of Board Ford to check the rear Posi Traction tires after he who was 18 did a nice burnout but felt a shake, we stopped against the curb, just hopped out I was looking at the rear radius rods and I notice some real nice polished black shoes all of a sudden. Mike was at the front looking under the T, so when we got up, the nice officer with the polished shoes inquired as to why we were parked there. It was brightly lit, he didn’t like that answer, he told to get off of his Blvd and don’t come back, he called us spoiled lil rich kids from San Marino, Hell we lived in San Gabriel.....we were there the next night and so many after that into the early 80’s until they started closing it off. We just went to the street races then as we couldn’t cruise. I had a 68 GTO CONV 4 speed by then,
I always made sure to cruise past Stick City to see what was there, mostly real beat stuff by then. “Street Rods La Habra” down the street had slightly nicer cars, sometimes a late 20’s -Early 30’s Hot Rods on occasion. Always looking that elusive 34 Ford 3W Coupe, never did see one there.....as others have stated SRLH relocated around to Beach Bl. & became Highline. No 33 ZZ-Chopped Tops there either. Thanx for the cool trip down memory lane!!!!!!