That's hilarious.

Chuck's interview part II
 

Chris: Give me your best chase story.

Chuck: There are so many. Abakanash was a guy that drove a Chevelle. He was from Van Nuys, and he had radical driving skills. He would just stay right on your ass. He might even bump you a couple of times just to let you know he was there. He just had that kind of style. One night it was quiet at Grandstands, everyone was hiding in the bush, and a cop was a Bowmont. He come the Chevelle. He passed Bowmont at a good rate of speed. The cop flew out after him. He goes into the Sweeper fast, he goes into Carl’s and doesn’t even brake. He comes back, as the cop is coming around the turn now he was coming back the other way. They passed by each other. That was a good classic example of E-brake and coming back.

Chuck: We got to know several of the cops up there. I got to know one in particular. When they closed down Van Nuys we would go to Westwood to cruise. Well, this cop would go there quite a bit. I got some girls to go over to his car and flirt with him. As he was distracted they tied a balloon to his antennae of his car. After we went up to the hill we spotted him sitting at Bowmont. A guy comes, racing through, in his Datsun 510. The cop goes after him. We watched the pursuit and it travels over to the other side of Coldwater. There is a sweeping right hand turn as you come to the left, the right, the left turns. The cop lost control and went off the edge. He went down about thirty feet. We came up right after the crash, and we yelled down ‘hay, do you need any help. Are you okay?’ He was very pissed off because he had crashed his new police car. Our little trick a few hours before told us who that office was. We made rude comments like ‘if you put some more air in that balloon you could fly right up.’

Chris: Did you ever see me drive my car on Mulholland?

Chuck: Yes. After I crashed my Javelin, I got a red bluish Camero. It was a 76, and I was the guy that they were always after because I tortured them so much. Jackson was after me so much. He actually referred me to the DMV for drivers license review a couple of times. I went in my attorney and it didn’t go anywhere. They actually said that I was hitting small animals on purpose.

Chris: Can I use your name?

Chuck: Oh yes you can use my name.

Chris: What are you doing now?

Chuck: I’m a photographer here on Maui. I’m the official representative for Hustler in the state of Hawaii. I do tons of work for Hustler Magazine. My photos appear in every single issue.

Chris: You were always into photography.

Chuck: That’s right I was always shooting the cars and stuff like that. All of my old stuff is still in LA.

Chris: What was it like when I brought my Carrera up the hill?

Chuck: When you were in the Porsche you just flew through. When we did that thing for CNN, it was the newest thing regarding the racing up on Mulholland.

Chris: That was the Eye On LA thing?

Chuck: We did an Eye On LA thing also. Both that and CNN.

Chris: I remember after we finished the Eye On LA shoot, John Rosner was waiting to race me.

Chuck: I remember they put the camera in you Porsche. At that time Rosner was going to UCLA to become a doctor. He was driving a black 911. He was very fast, but I think that John Hall in his white Porsche took him.

Chris: You weren’t just from the 80’s, but you overlapped into John Hall’s time also. You were there in 77, 78?

Chuck: Right.

Chris: Do you remember George Metsos?

Chuck: Oh George yes. I know George he used to run the restaurants down on Van Nuys.

Chris: That’s right he still owns them.

Chuck: Tell him I said hi.

Chris: I will.

Chuck: We would talk all the time. I remember seeing George that night he crashed his silver Camero. I came out right after it happened. He was racing and I believe that he ran into a Cadillac head on. I know that he got taken down to the hospital. What I understood is that he got beat up by the cops on the way. His car was totaled.

Chris: Did you ever hang out at John Hall’s house?

Chuck: No.

Chris: What about at my house?

Chuck: Yes a couple of times.

Chris: Did you know who Charley was?

Chuck: I saw him once. When I first started going up to the hill. I saw him with Gary, Charley was in a Corvette. He was going up Beverly Glen. He was flying up and got air at Mulholland. We were over at that little park. I guess it is Horseshoe by the fire station. We used to have barbeques there. The cops were furious because we got permits to do that there. We partied there one night. We got a permit and had a gathering with all the guys. The police came over and told us we could be there, we just said we could and showed them our permit.

Chris: You didn’t participate in any of the car rallies did you?

Chuck: I just hung out on the hill.

Chris: You didn’t have any names of cars clubs did you?

Chuck: No not at all.

Chris: You still knew John Hall and me from that previous group.

Chuck: You guys were the fastest on the hill when I first came up. You always stayed the fastest. Every time you came around you just blew everybody away.

Chris: Is there any story that is important to you to convey?

Chuck: I was racing on a regular basis. I raced every night that I was up there. I’d race anybody. Here is a good story for your book. There were these guys that came up from Van Nuys to see what Mulholland was all about. They came up for a couple of weeks checking it out. One night they came up and started turning their car sideways and thing like that. They did a power slide into Grandstands, almost hitting a couple of the girls. They were challenging anybody to a race. They came close to hitting on of my friends, so I got Amy and she got in the car with me. We went out onto the track and said okay. I took off and he came right out after me out of Grandstands. He accelerated and was going down the Sweeper, going 80 MPH around the Sweeper. I passed a family driving along the Chicanes. I set up for Carl’s. The guy in the Cougar tried to pass on the outside of that family car. He was going 60 MPH, he put his car sideways and down the side he went. He rolled the car down off the cliff at Carl’s. We stopped and went to see if he was okay. We yelled down and he said, ‘yeah, that was fun. Let’s down another beer.’ He and his buddies were concerned about having another beer. We had a drunken fool up there, so we got him off the road. The police should have been proud of us.

Chris: This book has been important to me since the 80’s. If no one writes this down then it is forgotten. We need to set the record straight. So you testimony is very important to us.

Chuck: I have police pursuits that you wouldn’t believe.

Chris: Really, on Mulholland? Did you race in the fog with your lights off and stuff?

Chuck: Oh yes, I was well known for that. No lights on at all. My favorite thing was, Gary taught me, years ago, shadowing against a cop, and then finding your opportunity and flying past them on a straight-away. That freaked the hell out of them. We did that two of three times a night with a cop. We would by blowing pass them on the rises, then park in Marlon Brando’s driveway. That was before he had the motion lights put in. The cop would come barreling by and we would just sit and watch. We would then sneak out behind him. As he would pass us again we would go up Java or down Dixie. He would go all the way to the 405 freeway chasing our ghosts. We were playing games in and out of the fog.

Chris: You said you have another good story about a chase?

Chuck: I was always getting chased.

Chris: Did you ever slow down for them?

Chuck: Oh yeah. I would slow down and wait for them to come up to me. My favorite spot was when they would go over the rise at Coldwater, right before you hit the left, right, left turns you would slow down enough so they could see the rear of your car. I had kill switches on my cars. I would wait till the saw me. After that I would hit my kill switch and then I would go on the other side and they couldn’t see me from then on.

There was a guy in a Capri. He got into a chase at Bowmont. We were up at Grandstands watching the action. The cop was sitting up on Bowmont that was their favorite place to sit. The cop came barreling after the Capri. The Capri headed towards Coldwater. The cop was right on him. They were neck and neck as they got to Java. After they got through the Identicals at that right turn, Deep Canyon, at the stop sign. The cop was catching up to the Capri. At the sign a civilian was sitting there. The Capri went to the left and the cop went to the right of the car. Now they were neck and neck as they went through the intersection there. The Capri smoked his brakes and the cop had to brake really hard. The Capri reaccelerated and took off again. He went towards the 405. The cops radioed ahead and tow more came up Wilshire Boulevard and blocked the Capri off at the 405 freeway. As the Capri tried to go across the freeway bridge the cops pinned him in there. They arrested him right there. That was a hairy chase.

Chuck's interview part III
 

Here is the last part of Chuck's interview. I believe that Chuck is the die-hards of all die-hards. He just refused to give up his right to hang at Grandstands. He got impounded so many times that the impound yard just left his car outside knowing that he would be along any time to get his car and return to Mulholland that same night. Like I said, a real die-hard.



Chris: Do you call yourself Mr. Grandstands because you were there more than anyone else?

Chuck: No. Me and Gary were the ones who were there all the time. Gary was hanging out there with his two Rancheros, his Model T, and his Bearcat that he built.

Chris: When you finally left was it the end?

Chuck: When I left, it was really winding down. There was nothing happening at all. We weren’t getting the following from the Valley. It was over and done with. I was the last or the last. I was making power runs and nobody was around anymore.

Chris: How does Phil rank?

Chuck: Phil was okay. He was much more concerned about getting a ding on his 924 Porsche. He was more concerned about that then going full out. I would lose a fender and then I was out racing the next day. That is why I chose American cars it was easy to get parts in the junk yards.

Chris: You are a lot like John Hall in that way. He would do the same thing.

Chuck: If you crashed that night, you broke a fender or something. You would go home and fix it and come back and test it out. I always figured the best way to test it out was getting into a chase.

I got arrested once. It was in the daytime. I wasn’t doing anything, but the cop recognized me and pulled me over. He beat the hell out of me and arrested me. He said that I was trying to outrun him. That of course was not the case. I had outrun the cops on so many times on different occasions, but not that time. They were just pissed off. I understand because I was outrunning them all the time. It was fun. I had over 50 citations issued to me. I got out of all of them. Every time I would go to court and fight. I’d subpoena the cops and the girls would come in. I’d make it a show. I would get out of it because I knew the letter of the law. I knew the vehicle code front and back. I remember one of my cases was that there was a continue ness yellow line right by Grandstands and that I could not pass there. Before the court date a friend of mine and I went and burned rubber across the yellow line. We made it so the yellow line was not there anymore. I then took photos of it. The city came along and tore up the road. When I appeared in court I told the judge that it was not a continue ness line. The judge said that he was going to go up there and check. The cops testified that the road was not there anymore. I then showed the judge my photos of the roadway. He showed them to the police officers. They agreed that they were photos of the roadway. That was it the case was dismissed.

Another time they charged me for racing. They booked me and threw me in jail. That happened three or four times only one time did the charge ever stick.

Chris: I really appreciate your time. Your stories really helped.

Chuck: You can put in there that I was the romantic of the bunch. I would get the girls to ride with me, and get them to get naked with me when I needed them too. I know that I was dog and I admit it, but that is an honor. I still a dog here in Maui. What better job is there than take pictures of naked girls here on the beach? And I get paid for it.

I remember one story where the police got a 78 Camero Z-28 and they hauled it up to Mulholland to test it out. The first run they got it going about 60 MPH on the straight-away by Grandstands. We were just watching the show. The next run they got it up to maybe 70 MPH. The last run they got it going 85 MPH. The test police driver lost control and smashed it right into a telephone pole. We just laughed. They put that car back on the trailer and hauled it back down to the station. I was thinking oh you really made a good impression on us. The driver had the full protection gear on. He had a jumpsuit on and a racing helmet. His pride was hurt since he wrapped it around a pole. They were trying to impress us with how superior their technology was. They impressed us, they sure know how to take out a telephone pole.

Chris: Did you ever get a ride in my car?

Chuck: Your Camaro and your Porsche I rode in.

Chris: What was that like?

Chuck: It was very fun. Talk about an adrenaline rush. Your horsepower to weight ratio was awesome. Your acceleration and the way you handled that car was very good. Going for a ride with you gave me a few pointers, and it increased my speed. It was as if you were mentoring me a little bit. I really appreciated that because I could run my races a little faster.

Chris: Do you miss racing on the hill?

Chuck: Immensely!

Chris: What was so fun about it?

Chuck: Being able to go through the entire track and taking a nice smooth line. Just like John Hall said ‘you shut your eyes and you know how the turns go, and what lines to take.’ It is something that you cannot not forget as far as speed, you just cannot get around that thrill. I would love to be able to do it again, but I know that those days are long gone.

i swear to god !!!!!! i've read this whole thread at least 4 times now.....

pure greatness!

Hey Chris,

Man, thats some good stuff!

Here's a Charlie story.

I went to pick up my girl friend to take her to the drive-in movies. She tells me the Chevelle had a headlight out, no biggie! After the movies(Texas Chainsaw Masacure gets the chicks all snuggly!!!:p) We went up to Mulholland to look at the city lights!!;) It was getting late(after 1am or so) and we were heading back to Beverly Glen. A cop going the other way flips a u turn and pulls me over. Normally I would have run, but I didn't think I did anything wrong so I stoped. Then I remember about the headlight,oops! Might also have a warrant too! I rode a RD400 and got lots of tickets. At the time a warrant was only $65.50 and they thru out any vehicle violations(like slicks, mod exhaust, etc...) or moving violations! I had a friend that worked at the Van Nuys court house. She would call and tell me if i had any warrants - most of the time anyway! So here we are sitting up on the hill waiting to hear what the cop has to say. I tell Patty"if he tells me to get out of the car, go to my parents house and get money to bail me out. He's going to take me to West L.A. Jail" Next thing i know, i'm sitting in the back of their squad car arguing with him about impounding my Chevelle and leaving Patty up there by herself. He ended up letting her take the car.(she drove it about 10 miles in first gear:eek:) As we were on our way to the 405, i hear and feel something odd. It was coming from behind us. All of a sudden, this blue Vette with huge slicks, open sidepipes, and a loose nut behind the wheel, blows past us!! The taillights fading in the distance. The cops were trippin hard, they couldn't do anything with me in the car. They asked ALL kinds of questions. I just laughed and told them that would prbably be the only time in their lives that they would get a glimpse of Charlie. Got to the station and remembered i left my smokes in my car. Gave the jailer 5 bucks to get me a pack. Never saw him again. The guy in the cell with me gave me a smoke as he was leaving. No matches though.:( My old man came and got me. Man that was a looooong ride home!

Ahhh, the good times!!!

Jeff

Good stories
 

Killer story Jeff, thanks for posting.

I can only imagine what those cops were going thru, Charley's Vette was sooo loud and intimidating, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Too bad that you got into trouble, but seeing Charley pass you while you were inside the Police car may have been worth it. ;)

That was my first car,sold it to Rhett.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...eU2/capri1.jpg

In (almost)virgin form in front of John Hall's glen house circa 1976..before the Zakspeed box fenders and stock widened rims.Joe worked for two CRE members for years.

Hey Chris,

THAT was an experience!!! That was the 3rd time i saw Charlie in his Vette. First time i saw him, we were hangin at Grandstand about 3am. You could hear him on the other side of Laurel Cyn. The ground shock as he went by. You could hear a pin drop everyone was so quite. Reminds me of the first time i saw you go by!!

My fault about the warrant. I was really pissed that the cops would EVEN consider leaving Patty up there alone at 1 in the morning. I also hoped she would be the one to come bail me out. It was a shock to see my old man there!

Jeff

killer!!!
these need to be on the backs of shirts.....

Mulholland International Raceway
 

Speaking of shirts, I had these made a few weeks ago to commemorate the Second Edition of The Mulholland Experience in 2008. These are fine quality Golf shirts with the lettering embroidered on, not printed. Mulholland International Raceway will be a separate small book that is just about the groups that raced Mulholland thru the years. Some of the information will be pulled from the chapter called Legends of Mulholland. I have one for you Victor (red or burgundy).


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Thanks for the maps guys!

as you know I'm XXXL but I'll take a medium

Have you seen the shirts that slip on from the feet kinda like a skirt? It's for those guys who never take their helmet off.:D

just ordered the book from autobooks....

can't wait , i've been telling my 10yr old son about this thread...

he is now absolutely obsessed with two things
the legend of charley and when banning's silver porsche will be back on the streets...

like i said before this thread is greatness.

koyne

Sounds like a back story to net Bentley a winter shirt. XXXL? You could make a portable garage with one that big.

I think your son will have to wait a little longer for the car. It's raining here right now and it's not really possible to do the work on the RSR at the moment. We think it will be easier to take the engine out, in order to get the fuel system working right. A component needs to be rebuilt and it's a pain to get to, remove and reinstall while the engine is in. Chris also needs to find a new set of tires. The ones on the car have plenty of tread, but have rotted over the years and probably don't hold air.

As soon as the weather clears, we'll tear into the RSR!

Dave

killer.....can't wait for that!

happy holidays
koyne

Taking back Mulholland one piece at a time
 

Official New Old Stock! The real deal. Limited to stock on poles! (kidding)
Official City of Los Angeles printed on Genuine T6 Aluminum.

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Bob Hall
 

The December Auto Week in the 50 years of automotive passion talks about a contributing editor Bob Hall as just another clever wordsmith who later gains fame as Mazda employee who made the Miata happen.

Have a safe Holiday season everyone.

John

Watch out!
 

Jeff sent me this photo of the new "No Tolerance" speed radar trap in Malibu. With all the speeding sports cars along Mulholland Hwy. and the resultling accidents, the CHP has installed these units that will stop you in your tracks. The BMW logo is at the top because I hope that it's BMW's that get caught in this special speed trap. We don't want any Porsches to get nailed.



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