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

[TRE Cup]

The Tempest's interior needed to be redyed after that ....


I remember that group of guys that came from La Canada - Flintridge area. An Opel Kadett Rallye , Mazda RX -2, Datsun Z, etc. They were pretty fun to hang with as they had the wide eyed- "can't believe we can do this here" look. After about 2 weeks, they were getting the hang of it tearing back and forth. One night I was going downhill , full moon- lights off, and the Opel was coming up - lights off. Another startling adrenaline moment- to say the least. After that I kept my lights off runs to when the hill was fairly empty

But that wasn't any guarantee of it being safe: When driving Craig Chaddock's yellow Capri, demonstrating a lights off run, I suddenly saw a huge pair of eyes on the passenger side out of the windshield !! WHAM!!!

WTF?!?!? I skidded to a stop wondering if I had hit some jogger . PHEW! Some hapless deer was knocked senseless for about 30 seconds. He got back up, walked around like a 12 step failure, and jumped back over the side

[LateBrakeU2]

Originally posted by SSB
And now, weighing in from Miami, Florida, is Lance.

"My best story other then the one you or Cortez remembers about a time I came through and some Idiot was walking across by Beaumont and dove into the bushes to not get hit. Then there was the time I was up there with 2 friends from Manhattan Beach, I was in my Mom's RX-2, Barry was driving his mom's RX-4 and my buddy Jim was in His RX-4....at Carls or Carls Jr...Jim went over the edge understeering off the turn behind Barry and I as we were heading towards deadmans, we thought he was dead.....We turned around came back and there was Jim crawling up the side.....he had the brakes on and the car slowed down enough that it just went over the edge and the brush stopped it just out if sight...so Barry parks his Moms car right above it on the shoulder...Jim sat on the hood to wait for us as we went down to Ventura Blvd to get a tow truck....as we came back up we saw all sorts of emergency lights flashing off the hillside as we got near......we figured the cops came upon Jim and were busting him for something.....we get in sight of the scene and there are Cops, ambulances, Fire rescue etc.....it seems as Jim was sitting there on the Hood of Barry's moms car waiting....some kid with his girlfriend came into the turn just as Jim had, started to understeer right at Jim sitting on the hood, Jim sensing imminent danger leapt off the hood over the side where his car sat and the kid plowed head on into Barry's mom's car and totaled both cars and hurt he and his girlfriend....not too terribly bad as I remember...so they tow away the wrecks, pull Jim's car back.....not a scratch on it.......and poor Barry had to go home to his Mom and try to explain how her car got totaled on Mulholland swearing he was not driving it much less racing....

I think I found about Mullholland from the Mag articles first, I started going up there very tentatively, it took a couple of trips from Manhattan beach to figure out where everybody hung out and what was going on.
I was always treated well, even when no one knew me, you guys were a tight group but people were friendly and cool.
I came in pretty late....the last 2 or so years of your Era....but all the guys I met up there I can still call friends today, and a few my best friends like you and Ron....
Then I got my Job at Vilem B Haan ......and during the several years I worked there i got to know the "Beverly Hills" kids that started going up after the "CRE" Era...and that is when I met Mark Mitchell, another good friend to this day....."

I was standing on the berm at Bowmont when that guy decided it was a good idea to cross the road in front of Lance.He was on a flyer in his Cosworth Vega w/b in the sweeper and this cat does the squirrel move.. I can still remember seeing the guys adidas horizontally in the headlights as he went for the leap..Deers are smarter!

About ten years after that Lance,who at the time was the uberdog on the American Honda SSB team,got me in on the gong show tryouts for the squad in the old Escort series(Gary Guldstrand,son of Dick who had raced on the Mul years earlier was a crew chief on that team,six degree hello..))and we won the 24 at Mid Ohio that year against a superior VW GTI factory team. If you're keeping box scores Lance won several SS championships including a GTU title so there's another graduate of "Formula Mulholland" that achieved success at the pro level.Looking back at the amount of caliber shoes that cut their teeth up there it becomes apparent why it was such a truly unique learning eXperience.There wasn't the luxury of a nice fat apron and groomed kitty litter runoff- the margin for error was nonexistent,and it was brutally obvious what the consequences were if you exceed the rules.Doors 1-3 offered head on,embankment,or over the falls-all in cars that you had to romance around because they didn't stop or turn like a proper race car.Those kinds of relatively heavy,low grip dynamics coupled with that enviroment made for amazingly fast sheetbox drivers later on when (most) everyone else was travelling the same direction.If you could carry momentum up there(especially in the wet,or fog,and lights out on fullmoon nights) most real tracks were a walk in the park to figure out,especially new temporary street courses.Those scare the crap out of some drivers but not if one came from the land of the razors edge!Lots of guys laps are slower at night during the long races- most mul grads can turn qualifying laps all night long, go figure



MM

[TRE Cup]

"Lots of guys laps are slower at night during the long races- most mul grads can turn qualifying laps all night long, go figure "

U betcha! When I organized the Tribute to Le Mans races for POC , the majority of the members were baffled on how some of the Mulholland "grads" were gleefully awaiting POC's first night race. My brother and I had an absolute blast, with his RS replica, spanking much faster machinery at night

[CRE]

YES, IT SEEMED THE 'MULHOLLAND' DRIVERS IN THOSE NIGHT ENDURANCE RACES ALWAYS WERE THE FASTEST. ALWAYS.
NO ONE COULD UNDERSTAND HOW WE COULD GO FASTER AT NIGHT THAN IN THE DAYLIGHT.

JUST OUR 'TRAINING' I SUPPOSE. AS YES, RIGHT YOU ARE THERE WERE NO KITTY LITTER SAND TRAPS OR NICE RUNOFF AREAS TO SHAVE YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN. IT YOU MESSED UP YOU PAID AND SOMETIME DEARLY.

SO MANY TIMES GUYS CAME UP TO SHOW HOW FAST THEY WERE ONLY TO 'GO OVER THE EDGE'. BUT ALL IN ALL NOT AS MANY AS ONE WOULD BELIEVE.

[SSB]

Originally posted by LateBrakeU2
Lots of guys laps are slower at night during the long races- most mul grads can turn qualifying laps all night long, go figure



MM

I arrived at Riverside for the "Playboy 4 hour Enduro" to drive a stock VW Golf. As I had to work for a living, I arrived during the night qualifying. I had many laps at Riverside under my belt so when the car owner asked me if I wanted to go out and practice, I said "naw, it's Riverside and it's a Golf." However, he insisted so I stuck the helmet on and went out. After probably 3 or 4 laps I came in. The car owner told me that I had just gone faster than any of them had, day or night. I said "it's Riverside and it's a golf."

So we had the pole for our group but the two other drivers would start the race. The first driver burnt the front tires off in about 20 minutes and the second driver smashed the right side of the car breaking all the glass out and smashing the windshield on a diagnol from top right to bottom left. He pulls into the pits after the crash and says to me "you want to drive?" I said "what the hell". Running down the back straight the windshield started to cave in, so I pulled into the pit and told them so. A crew member, standing there with a hammer asked me "what do you want me to do ?" I said "give me a full face helmet" The windshield didn't fall in but was just kinda' concaved

Now, I've driven Mulholland without lights many a time. And racing at night is pretty much normal for us. But let me tell you that trying to look through little triangles of glass that light up like a spider web on a dewey night when faster cars come up from behind all the while trying to spot your apex ................ that was hard. Thank you Mulholland.


oh, btw.........7pm and we're writin' stories, we should be racin' the hill!

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Originally posted by LateBrakeU2
Lots of guys laps are slower at night during the long races- most mul grads can turn qualifying laps all night long, go figure

Night time is the right time. Been there done that.

24 hour Escort races were great at about 4:30AM when the newbies found out what it was like to slip and slide on the settling pre-dawn dew. Staying up till dawn on Mulholland taught you the skills that you needed.

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Originally posted by CRE
WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT A MOUNTAIN ROAD IN THE SPRAWLING LOS ANGELES METROPOLIS WOULD PROVE TO BE THE CATALYST OF SUCH STRONG AND ENDURING FRIENDSHIPS. CERTAINLY NOT OUR PARENTS!

ONE HELLOFA GROUP!

My 87 year old mother will never forgive any of us for all the gray hairs that we gave her, but she admits that we all went on to make a decent living with the automotive skills that we honed on the hill.

[slodave]

Originally posted by Jeff Hail
Did you get that feeling you were being watched? Cops at Bowmont with tuning fork in hand laying in wait. Just like the good old days. Nothing like a fresh rain on a quiet road late at night to stir the soul. Throttle on..........

Honestly, rear window was pretty fogged up as were the passenger and drivers windows and the top portion of the windshield, couldn't see a damn thing. I just went about my business and tried not to think about it! I did keep an eye on the rear view, just to make sure....

[TRE Cup]

"Now, I've driven Mulholland without lights many a time. And racing at night is pretty much normal for us. But let me tell you that trying to look through little triangles of glass that light up like a spider web on a dewey night when faster cars come up from behind all the while trying to spot your apex ................ that was hard. "

" Ah see a thousand points of light"

[Pat_in_L.A.]

" Ah see a thousand points of light"

It's the mirrors!

[CRE]

Originally posted by TRE Cup
"Lots of guys laps are slower at night during the long races- most mul grads can turn qualifying laps all night long, go figure "

U betcha! When I organized the Tribute to Le Mans races for POC , the majority of the members were baffled on how some of the Mulholland "grads" were gleefully awaiting POC's first night race. My brother and I had an absolute blast, with his RS replica, spanking much faster machinery at night

Right you are Dave. All of us couldn't wait to run at night. Saw that happen so many times in the old Firehawk and Escort Endurance races. Also at Daytona 24hrs and Sebring 12 hours in a GTU Mazda.

Now Daytona is lit up like it's mid-day. What a bunch of panzies!
At least Sebring still has some dark spots.

I remember trying to get by a guy at Nelson Ledges in the 24 hour race...No lights there buddy, I can tell you that! He kept me at bay down the straight as I had him covered in the corners.
There was a big banked RH sweeper leading onto the longest straight. Knowing that my lights were shooting past him due to the curve we were both in I simply turned them off! As entered the straight I jumped to the right lights off and slipped by him before he knew I was there! Then turned my lights back on.
I chuckled and thought to myself "Buddy I've bet you've never seen that trick before! It was a good tricked learned from the Mulholland days. (CRE)

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Originally posted by CRE
"Buddy I've bet you've never seen that trick before! (CRE)

Done that too on the Escort and Firehawk races. At Mid Ohio, my guy in the pits got on the radio... "The stewards of the meet want to know if you're having problems with your lights. If so, they want you to pit and fix the lights."

"Naww, I'm not having any problems, I'm just giving the alternator a rest."

-----------------------------------

Another fun distraction was to aim the rear view mirror in a manner as to shine the following car's lights back at his eyes.

-----------------------------------

Many course workers during the night races reported in seeing a red glow inside my car around my helmet during my stints. Stewards make their visit to my pit once again.to ask if there was a problem. "No problem. He's smoking a cigarette.".

I got really good at figuring out how the airflow routes around my car. I would break the concentration of a competitor following me by flicking the butt out the window so it would bounce off the following driver's windshield dead nuts in his line of sight.

At Portland ESCORT some folks didn't find the humor in this. Stewards visit my pit once again. Steward: "Tell your driver to STOP SMOKING!!!". I recited back to my crew member the GCR section that only required no smoking in the hot pit area, that there was no provision for such a rule while driving. I doubt that my response was relayed to the stewards, but one crew member fell out of our timing stand he was laughing so hard.

Just my version of multitasking in a race car.

[Jeff Hail]

Had to run to Hollywood this evening. Took the scenic route and remembered I have my camera with me. Digital sucks at night in motion but the blur adds to the moment. Traffic was lite between Encino Hills and Colwater- the slow cruise was enjoyed.
[img]

[Jeff Hail]

[slodave]

Wow! Great pictures!

[Jeff Hail]

Originally posted by slodave
Wow! Great pictures!

Thanks,
I thought they were lousy. Forgot to turn on the image stabilizer setting for darkness.

These are much better:
Mulholland End to End

[slodave]

Originally posted by Jeff Hail
Thanks,
I thought they were lousy. Forgot to turn on the image stabilizer setting for darkness.

These are much better:
Mulholland End to End

Then pictures convey speed and being just at the point of loosing control, even if you were driving 10 MPH. Sometimes, being out of focus makes the shot! And the fact that they were taken at night. I like them!

Dave

[Banning]

[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads10/TestaCarrera1172505178.jpg[/img


Greetings to all. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed reading this fantastic thread. Thank you for starting and all those that have contributed their lore. I appreciate the good and especially the bad comments on The Mulholland Experience book. The only way to properly fix something is to get alot of feedback. First Editions are usually rough, that's why most books have Second or Third Editions printed. Writing a book is not as easy as one might imagine, and this book was a personal journey for myself that I hoped others might find interesting. When you build a racecar, you know that it will need "sorting out" before taking it out for competion, and so does a book need a kind of sorting out.
I have had the book re-edited professionally now and have doubled the photos. This is not enough. A grave error was made by not trying harder to contact most of the CRE group and the MRA. You guys are harder to find than a fox in the wilderness. I called phone numbers that had no connection, leads that went dead, and I must admit that I got frustrated a little and time was passing, costing money. So please accept my sincere apology, I really wanted your stories in the book just as much as anyone else. We are all created equally in our enjoyment of Mulholland.
The book still needs CRE and MRA stories, and I would love to include them in the Second Edition if some of you are willing to contribute, we can still make it good.



Over thirty years had passed. and no one had stepped up to the plate to document what Mulholland is all about. I kept thinking, crapp, someone had better get it in gear before more of us die making it impossible to get their accounts and therfore be lost forever. At www.mulhollandracing.com I made an early effort to start making a book but later found it too daunting a task by myself. I found someone to help make this book a reality. My co-author may not be perfect, but at least we have one book about Mulholland now, that will be much better in it's next Edition.




It seemed logical that I should write a book about Mulholland for many reasons. Most of us that consider the drive to be a treasured thing have a personal relationship with her, as do I.
I have lived on Mul for over 51 years, I heard the racers of the 50's, and 60's making their runs late at night as I was growing up, then later I became a participant. I learned to walk, ride a bike, a car, everything on Mulholland Drive. From my home I can see the racecourse in the east, to Beverly Glen in the west, a perfect vantage point. I started racing or driving fast in 1966 in my moms new 1966 Mustang Fastback 2+2. She would indulge me and I would drive Mulholland all the way to Malibu and back in that car. It was great. I almost died on Mulholland in 1979 when I came out the closed window of my Z28 at about 90 mph when I hit an oncoming car. At the point of impact I was pedal to the metal at 85 mph with no seatbelt. It was the first and last time that I went flying without any wings or blades. I believe the spirit of Mulholland saved me that morning.



One last thing, I had a very special relationship with Charlie, no not that kind! We crossed paths both on Mulholland and at his shop where he helped me sort out my SCCA Camaro A Sedan. We knew who we were, and even after many hours of talk, niether of us brought up the subject of Mulholland. It was a special understanding we had. Charlie was the reason, the only reason that I built a custom-built Porsche racecar made just for Mulholland. One night in 1974, I was racing along Mul with my sidekick Bruce Kusada in my silver '73 911S. I loved to drive by Grandstands and goad those folks out to race to improve my racing skills. One night right in front of Grandstands, a dark old pickup passed me without headlights. I never saw him coming. I immediately pursued, but this guy was all over the road, making it impossible to pass. I saw a beer can go out the drivers window just before lower Coldwater. Finally in European Straight, I began to make a pass. This guy was not going to let me in, I had to complete the pass entering the first left hander, I think the little Porsche went up on 2 wheels as I barely, and I mean barely recovered the car. Bruce was punching me as we passed Brando's house because he thought that there was no way of making that alive. I was barely able to make ground in the next half mile. just enough to escape and dissapear just as he had appeared without headlights on. When I hear that Mulholland Charlie (and don't forget HE IS the legend) was never beaten on Mulholland, even in his pickup, I just smile and remember that after that evening I realized that there was no way to compete with the best with only a 911S to bring to the table. Hence the reason for the Mulholland Carrera RSR. By the way, I thank the Lord that Charlie and I never raced our big racecars. It would have ended up with at least one fatality, and that would have been unacceptable for him or myself.



I have some private stories and some fun photos that I will post on this thread later. I thought you guys might find a lifetime spent and lived on Mulholland entertaining. I also have some small corrections in information posted in this thread, just to preserve accuracy, please no one be offended.



Special thanks to Jeff Hail, Mark Mitchell, Dave B., Bart R., Chuck Miller, dd74, the CRE, the MRA, and to the starter of this thread, Ifot.



Let none of us forget those that have gone, we especially want to give tribute and rememberance to the legend of Mulholland, Charle Woit, may his lore last forever.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads10/Chris+with+car1172508115.jpg[/img]

Photo of Banning in 1957, Mulholland behind.

[TRE Cup]

Here is a current photo of Chris' garage. More pics to come
Love those Ferraris!

[Banning]

Photo of Carrera under construction 1975