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

[Jeff Hail]

I sent the link to the Mulholland thread last night to Pete Brock. Thought he would get a kick out of it.

His response:

"Thanks Jeff…fun read. Mulholland was THE road long before it became generally known, so some pretty strong racers tested up there very early on. In those days I worked for Max Balchowsky of Ol’ Yeller fame. His shop , behind a gas station on Hollywood Blvd was just minutes from Mullholland back then. There was no traffic in the early morning hours and was safe to make a two way pass and head back. pb "

Jeff Hail

[KevinP73]

Although of little consequence the Lola that Dan acquired was the crashed one from the movie. I have pictures of it being restored but like so many other trinkets from a long and hectic life they are squirreled away in some box somewhere. Also in that box is the New West magazine with the article on The Banzai Runners. I'll scan it as soon as I can find it. I also have a picture of the RS that Dan had/sold to a museum in Japan. Typical of many of Dan's cars this picture is taken in the Police Impound in Burbank. Imagine that!!

[TRE Cup]

Actually Jeff- I don't think that either of the AIR- Garner cars were the ones that were used in THX 1138. As kevin mentioned , the crashed one from the movie got repaired and became the "new" AIR car. Garner allowed Dan to use the name since the race team was now defunct

As an aside on Lola T-70's , maybe Kevin can help figure out where the super wide Hagerty Lola started. The grey cells tell me it was a roadster that Dan and Dan modified into a super wide coupe

The white RS that kevin is referring to was actually a 73 RSR restored by Porschmen (Valerio and Skoein) in Sacramento. Dan traded a black 930 turbo for the car , since PM figured they could sell the turbo a whole lot easier (which was true back then- few wanted to pay $25k for a old porsche racer!)
Dan had some left over pieces to detail out the RSR correctly and sold it to the Matsuda Collection in Japan

[KevinP73]

I stand corrected! It was an RSR that went to the museum. Dan got paid cold hard cash for that car and I had to count it three times while the courrier waited for Dan to sign off on the transaction.
I don't recall the exact origin of the Lola that Haggerty had. I was under the impression that he had the chassis made from scratch but I wouldn't bet the farm on the accuracy of that claim. Dale Gould and I got the car as far as in primer when Haggerty went broke and I have no idea what became of the car after that.
It was then that I left Haggerty's and went to work for McLoughlin.

Pictures of the magazine don't work well at all so I'll scan/post it later from home.

[TRE Cup]

The Hagerty Lola, along with the wide body Dino, got sold as part of the divorce when he split up with his wife.

[gostraight]

Originally posted by Jeff Hail
I sent the link to the Mulholland thread last night to Pete Brock. Thought he would get a kick out of it.

His response:

"Thanks Jeff…fun read. Mulholland was THE road long before it became generally known, so some pretty strong racers tested up there very early on. In those days I worked for Max Balchowsky of Ol’ Yeller fame. His shop , behind a gas station on Hollywood Blvd was just minutes from Mullholland back then. There was no traffic in the early morning hours and was safe to make a two way pass and head back. pb "

Jeff Hail

Hi Jeff, You got to talk Peter Brock into joining this thread. If we're talking about the same Brock- car designer(cobra coupe) racer, auto journalist,college professor- he'll be an great asset to this thread.
I was one of this students 13 or so years ago..

[Jeff Hail]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TRE Cup
[B]Actually Jeff- I don't think that either of the AIR- Garner cars were the ones that were used in THX 1138. As kevin mentioned , the crashed one from the movie got repaired and became the "new" AIR car. Garner allowed Dan to use the name since the race team was now defunct

Dave, the gray is good. You were correct.

(#9 T70 Patrick+Jordan, and #8 T70 , Motchenbacker and Leslie)Garner announced that his AIR team would be selling their Lola T70 Mark 3s. These may have ended up with Sunoco/ Penske as they bought a few up for parts. After that your guess is good as mine.

[Jeff Hail]

Originally posted by gostraight
Hi Jeff, You got to talk Peter Brock into joining this thread. If we're talking about the same Brock- car designer(cobra coupe) racer, auto journalist,college professor- he'll be an great asset to this thread.
I was one of this students 13 or so years ago..

Join? No, just to comment. I got his email reply about 20 minutes later so I dont think he read the thread all the way thru. Yes it is Mr. BRE

Jeff

[TRE Cup]

Just got a call from Marty with some info on Charlie and the Vette.

This guy named Jeff Robbins had a couple of Corvettes. He was friends with Charlie and sold the 66 big block vette to him.

Charlie went on to become King of the Hill .

Contrary to other stories we had heard ; Charlie lost his life when the vette's suspension broke at real high speed on the 405 freeway. He put it into the center divider and that was it.


Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for some pics and more Charlie info

[lfot]

Originally posted by TRE Cup
Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for some pics and more Charlie info

It will be interesting to put a face with then name. All I keep thinking of is Dennis Hopper in King of the Mountain.

[Jeff Hail]

Originally posted by KevinP73
I stand corrected! It was an RSR that went to the museum. Dan got paid cold hard cash for that car and I had to count it three times while the courrier waited for Dan to sign off on the transaction.
I don't recall the exact origin of the Lola that Haggerty had. I was under the impression that he had the chassis made from scratch but I wouldn't bet the farm on the accuracy of that claim. Dale Gould and I got the car as far as in primer when Haggerty went broke and I have no idea what became of the car after that.
It was then that I left Haggerty's and went to work for McLoughlin.

Pictures of the magazine don't work well at all so I'll scan/post it later from home.

Thats it. I still have a copy somewhere. That article caused many to seek motor vehicle counseling. I recall the photo with Dan squatting down between the headlamps of his toad. I ran into Bob Ward a few times. The Evil Seville that Jon Ward ran was a bastard creation but went like hell. Had those huge Hella's mounted on the front. Jon was in the motion picture industry (stunts, rigging etc).

Jeff

[KevinP73]

[vntgspd]

Originally posted by lfot
It will be interesting to put a face with then name. All I keep thinking of is Dennis Hopper in King of the Mountain.

Yeah, me too!

This pic was posted on page 12. Is this a shot from the filming of KOTM or is this an authentic photo from the period? If it's a period photo, then I'd say the KOTM movie was fairly authentic with one of the characters!

Looking forward to more...

[vntgspd]

Here's the photo I was referring to Ah! Just noticed the file name and answered my own question. Makes the anticipation of any period photos even greater!

[TRE Cup]

Jon Ward , and now his son, can be truly considered as Banzai Runners .

They have a special effects production company that specializes in vehicles. Ward bought the rights to the original Kurtis specials and produced a short run of the V8 powered roadsters.
He really got the La Carrera bug and ran the modern Panamericana a bunch of times.< the modern day incarnation of Mulholland x 1000 ?

His son, Dean, has ran over 205 mph in their chevy powered Studebaker on the Laredo leg of the race.

Remember the plate on the caddy? 1FASTMF

[Jeff Hail]

Originally posted by vntgspd
Here's the photo I was referring to Ah! Just noticed the file name and answered my own question. Makes the anticipation of any period photos even greater!

That is not Charlie Woit. That is Dennis Hopper or a stand in stunt-man as Cal in King of the Mountain.

[Jeff Hail]

Originally posted by TRE Cup
Jon Ward , and now his son, can be truly considered as Banzai Runners .

They have a special effects production company that specializes in vehicles. Ward bought the rights to the original Kurtis specials and produced a short run of the V8 powered roadsters.
He really got the La Carrera bug and ran the modern Panamericana a bunch of times.< the modern day incarnation of Mulholland x 1000 ?

His son, Dean, has ran over 205 mph in their chevy powered Studebaker on the Laredo leg of the race.

Remember the plate on the caddy? 1FASTMF

Dave,
Jon/ Bob- its a gray thing. You know how it is?Isnt Shelly his son?

[TRE Cup]

could be? now all i see in the la carrera results is kevin and rusty- how big a family does jon have?

[t6dpilot]

Hey Milt,
You worked at LeGrand? My uncle (Laguna Beach resident) got his start in open wheel cars running a LeGrand MkV (I think). He continued on to race in FA in the mid and late 70's against many famous names - Gloy, Rosberg, Rahal, Sullivan, Villeneuve, ect. That LeGrand was supposedly a factory assembled car - I guess some were customer assembled according to him. I think it was in orange and blue livery back in the late 60's or early 70's. He and I tracked it down several years ago, but some gentleman in SoCal was having it restored to F3 specs in driver Bruce Eglington livery. Anybody familiar with the car? Sure would like to own that someday...

Just curious, anyone know my uncle? He was pretty involved in the car scene in SoCal back then (but probably not Mulholland). His name is Cliff Hansen. Long shot, but I am curious.

Thanks and sorry for the digression. Back on topic...

[SSB]

Originally posted by Jeff Hail
Dave,
Jon/ Bob- its a gray thing. You know how it is?Isnt Shelly his son?

I can chip in on this one as I worked for Shelly Ward and saw the Studie at his shop in Aqua Dulsea (or however one spells that). I was told at the time that Shelly drove it in the La Carrera.

I also saw the Caddy Seville Banzai car parked at Willow Springs one time. Now I'm wondering if the two cars were one in the same as the sheet metal was not structural on either car. Turbo Big Block on a Banjo Mathews chassis. Simple and effective.