Mulholland Charlie, Crazy Charley

[Tiger Joe]

Howdy MRA's

I searched out an old friend and see many of you have told stories about Charles Woit on this web site.

My name is Tiger Joe Michiels a 1966 charter member of the Mulholland Rollers, MR's as was Charlie Woit and Doug Snyder. Both of them are now road racing in the sky.

Stuart Taft and I are still around, how about any other old timers from Laurel and Nichols Canyon?

See Ya,
Tiger Joe Michiels

[lee thaxton]

Alive and well in Pahrump, NV. spring mountain ranch motor country club / race track. Any one from those days mail me. contactme@leethaxton.com Ronnel,Richard Gray, Carl Moore,Dave Terry,Doug Snyder,Joe Lubin,anybody I'm Lee and Robin Thaxton. home adDress skyline/mulhulland Dr

[speeder]

I wasn't around back then but we're neighbors for sure now. I'll try to email you sometime!

EDIT: Unless I misunderstood where you live now.

[TCracingCA]

My Father very much like Charley and other used to run the Corvette and his 356 Porsche thru Mulholland having worked out in West LA, back in the day. He would detour up to Mulholland and take a pass thru coming home from work once or twice a week. He wasn't one of the late night racers, but he scared many a fast car on those stretches of Roads! He had all of the Road Racing modifications and Guldstrand components. Some of my family were GRA group members.

Me I was up there in the 1978-1987 eras with a Road raced 914, and a very Road Race capable 1967 Camaro and a 1969 Z-28, then a flared modified 1964 Corvette Roadster. And I would borrow Dad's car also (sneak it out!)

I was one of the founders of the Turnbull Canyon Road Racing Society and out Whittier/Hacienda Heights we were doing our own thing! We would basically close off the road with sentries and walkie-talkies and then hold very organized runs up thru the Canyon. I will post some of this up! But I also did quite a number of visits at Mulholland and Van Nuys Boulevard in the dark of night and participated in the related activities with the locals and am familiar with a number of the cars talked about!

Here is my Dad's car!

My father James Ekas in his hip clothing! Back in the Day! Every car in the picture has a California Black Plate last issued in 1969. The bus is an out of state plate. All of the cars look to be pre-1970 in the lot (The Mustang, the Bus, the Dodge, Plymouths, etc., etc.)



And the car as it is today! My father is in the cool Steve McQueen replica jacket sitting down!



Video of car in action (younger brother Dean Ekas driving)
Video vette.MOV - YouTube
Vette Video 3 Irvine Meadows 1993 - YouTube

[TCracingCA]

Yes I used to play up on Mulholland also, but this is my backyard!!!!! Turnbull Canyon Road Racing Society

Also if you are a Whittier cruiser, this is where I spend most of my racing time!!!!! I created the names for the turns back in 1978!!!! This is off of our club T-shirts that we wore down on Whittier!!!


Here is the Turnbull Canyon Race Course Map from one of my old t-shirts!















I almost consider this my own private racing track!!!!!!!!!!! Why I haven't been slaloming for years and years!!!!!!!

[creaturecat]

Laurel canyon must have been a blast, in those days.

[TCracingCA]

Mulholland was like a fast undulating snake course, so your corner weight spring rates and shocks were crucial. Some sections were just pure fast! It wasn't practical to try to close the road, so you lived with civilians on the course. The racing I remember was you had to try to hook up with the group. Maybe pass them a few times or caught and talk to them at the gas station down the hill. Then the group would be mobile all night, on the move constantly. They would go down the hill and let the place cool off, then organize and set back up for some member runs and then leave again, going back down the hill. It wasn't like they sat in a turnout the entire night! That made them too much of a target. Once they knew your Car and took a run you were trusted. Getting that first invite was very difficult, because they were rightfully paranoid about police.

The roads out Malibu way were more secluded, but a lot of those were tighter courses and not as high speed. Thus acceleration and braking were more important on most of those roads and sheer suspension capability was what was needed on Mulholland and tires.

I can go on, but I am at work! Logging off! Lastly, if you go to Turnbull, just don't do anything stupid there! Nothing has changed in over 35 years! Same road, same turns. One group wrote up a negative review of that road being so short to tour on. Yes the Raceway section is 2.1 miles which is about the same length as a lot of our racetracks around the Country. Thus you have to look at it as a racetrack and not some pleasure tour run location. The other side is full of blind driveways and the road is narrow, and you get a lot of cars on the road and the Fire House will call in the cops on you. Thus don't be stupid after you crest the top of the hill going east.

In the modern day, the police are always up there and with plain unmarked cars impounding! Thus take that into consideration, and they are very good at getting you!

[Peniche]

The story of Charlie Woit has come up and let me put in my feedback. Charlie Woit was like an older brother to me. He used to be a mechanic at my father's Chevron station, first at Sunset and Curson in Hollywood, then at Beverly and Crescent Heights just outside of Beverly Hills. Charlie in those days had a girlfriend by name of Pat Byrd and they lasted a long time, Charlie in those days had a light blue Simca that he totally rebuilt and would use to race at Mulholland Drive on weekends. The car had only one seat, no windows, It was as light as you can possibly make a car be. I was devastated when I heard that he had an accident in his corvette near Magic Mountain in Valencia and had lost his life. My father at the request of Charlie's mother attended his funeral. Charlie had more scars in his face than anybody I knew and I still remember as if it was just yesterday when I last saw him.

[sammyg2]

What happened to the Mulholland "King of the Hill" RSR?

[TCracingCA]

This was a test to load pictures. My picture sharing site Tiny Pics took out every picture I have posted, and just practicing. I see the old posts are locked, so I can't repop the pictures. Ugh!

[speeder]

Next time, don’t use a picture hosting or sharing site, just post photos directly from your computer to this board. That way, they are here as long as this forum exists and there is no third party entity to go out of business, etc...

[Spenworks]

My Uncle Carl Moore and Ronell were both good friends with Charley. Carl drove with him. Carl’s Curve is named after him. Carl died a couple year’s ago

[Tiger Joe]

Howdy Mulholland Racers,
I have been working on a ever expanding 103 page book about the "Mulholland Rollers". The crazy kids of the Hollywood Hills in the 1960's & 1970's. We would race anything that rolled, sometimes we rolled what we raced. The stories include photos of the Charter Members of the Mulholland Rollers, Charlie Woit, Doug Snyder, and myself. Also included are a few more kids from Laurel Canyon and Nichols Canyon who I was raised up with racing and surviving those wild days of our youth. Anyone interested in this book please let me know.
Thank You,
Tiger Joe Michiels

[stevej37]

How much do I need to pay?

[Noah930]

What happened to the Mulholland "King of the Hill" RSR?

[Tiger Joe]

Howdy Stevej37,

I have to find an inexpensive way to print the 103 B&W and many color photo pages.
Any ideas?

Thank You,
Tiger