I'm wondering if anybody knows about this roadster. It's pink with a red 19 D Gas on it. I think it's built by the San Diego Roadster club and probably still running at Bonneville and the dry lake beds.
Here's a few more pictures I found on their website https://sandiegoroadsterclub.org/lakesters-&-roadsters I guess it has/ had a Lou Bingham Caddy in it, unfortunately I can't read the article from HOT ROD Nov.'63. I guess I'll have to dig through my pile.
Hello, When we were teenagers, there was nothing to stop us from going to a different area of the whole So Cal coastline in search of the great surf that each place had in store for us, wandering surfers. Yes, we felt that the Orange County surf scene was the best in the whole coastline from Trestles in the South to Seal Beach in the North. It was always consistent and gave us plenty to showcase our skills and challenge those smooth waves. But, our road trips, however long they were, gave us some different experiences and build our skill levels to be able to ride anything, anywhere. The San Diego coastline offered similar surf breaks from sandy beaches to reef breaks on 50 miles of pristine beaches. (other than Imperial Beach near the border) Upon looking back in my files, I did a short story on why this roadster looked familiar. This roadster looked familiar due to the location of the Bird Rock area of La Jolla. It is an area of several miles that includes some of the "best of the best" in San Diego surf spots. When we used to scour the La Jolla coastline searching for waves/surfing spots from 1960-64, we must have seen this near the Bird Rock Area. Gas was plentiful back then and it was always a thing to fill up before the 100 plus miles of coastal driving back to Long Beach from this area of San Diego. After a great morning of surfing one spot, we would get lunch, take a nap and look for other surf spots on the ragged coastal roads. The thing that sticks in my memory is that my brother and I had this thing for Mobil Gasoline. When we were little, our dad used to take us to Terminal Island and the biggest dock held a tanker that pumped Mobil Gas. Then our neighborhood gas station from the time we were in elementary school was a small Mobil Gas Station that we walked by everyday, to talk to the mechanic and get a frozen Coke out of that weird sliding machine. So, when we started driving, it was always stopping at any Mobil Gas Station or at least the one in our neighborhood. Favorites last forever… today, we still stop at our own local Mobil Gas Station, just down the street. Jnaki Back in those days, the San Diego Roadster was owned by Lou Bingham, he owned the Mobil Gas Station in the Bird Rock area of La Jolla. No dual axle trailers were built back then, so the standard single tire trailer was the choice. This trailer had a custom touch: note ½ tire carcass for each Firestone Racing tire so as not to damage it while transporting it to the drags or dry lakes. If the ½ tire carcass was bolted to the trailer tracks, then it would also give it some protected support while transporting anywhere.
If you go to the Jalopy Journal's "brother" , The Garage Journal, you will find a thread in the Garage Gallery titled "Restored 1930's Auto Shop" by member BB767. In the absolutely amazing contents in the as-of-now 319 pages you will find lots of information on the Lou Bingham roadster, including its' most recent appearances in competition at Bonneville. BB767 (Thomas) is a member of the roadster's crew and a close friend of Lou. It may need a bit of searching to find the discusssions about Lou and the roadster, but you will not be bored reading what Thomas and his wife have been up to since starting the thread in 2009. Better yet, join the garage Journal and send Thomas a PM asking about Lou. vic
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