Thanks for that info on Dirt Mulholland. In high school (early 70's)we used it on weekend nights to mix it up racing in the dirt. This went on until one of the girls riding in the back of Bruce's truck flew out accidentely. Just a few bruises luckily.

In the 60's my Boy Scout Troop had it's meetings at the Bel Air Presbitarian Church near where Mulholland Drive turns to dirt at Havenhurst.
We had hikes on dirt Mul that went down some of the dirt roads to the south.

One time we got a personal tour of the Nike-Hercules Missile Base located off dirt Mulholland while it was still in working order. They raised one of the huge missiles up out of it's silo at an angle of about 30 degrees, wow was it impressive. A couple years later, I heard that a kid on a minibike was shot and killed by one of the sentrys mistakingly. The base closed soon thereafter. Today if you go a few hundred yards up dirt Mul from the paved end, you can enter a dirt road on the left that leads to the entrance of part of the Nike installation. There are maps, and signs near the old radar installation that describes what was there once. It's worth going to go see. It would be good to post some photos from there if anyone has some. If not, I will go and get some pics for this thread so that everyone can see it.

"D.B. T.R.E.
I am sure Dave B. is out there lurking. Hey Dave due you remember back in 1989 or 1990 when you called and said those friendly words " Hey G. I am doing a little Porsche Rally nothing crazy just a cruise.......yeah right Dave B. and just a cruise. I have a picture of my speedo buried at 180 on Highway 23 with a gardeners truck traveling at 55 almost caused my death, it really was like the guy had thrown an anchor out of his car thats how quick I was on top of him. And then Dave. B. leading through some serious corners prior to entering 23 and I sort of took off with my 520 horses in my twin turbo 930 and Dave decided to ahhhhhh... yeah road test the compression ratio of his shocks at 120. So any ideas what Dave found out what happens when you hit a dip at 120 compress your shocks, springs, seats and bushings to there fullest. Well one hint everything that gets compressed must get un compressed weeeeeeeeeee! I"ll let Dave finish but Dave your skin color was interesting the rest of the day..........."

Well... It was on one of my Solvang Stomps that this occured: George showed up with a couple of friends in builts 930's, Chris Fisher (Powerhouse) had his monster blue 930, and there were a few more 930's thrown in for good measure. Mix in another 40+ Porsches and the Testosterone was flowing like Niagara Falls!

I was driving my brother's 74 Carrera , mildly set up for the track with a 2.8 mfi motor in it (sorry Grudk!< its his car now). Earlier in the day, only one car could keep up on a wet Cerro Noroeste dropping down from Pine Mountain. But then again that road is NOT turbo territory.

The guys driving the turbos were going huge speeds. One driver would goad the others and pretty soon it was Banzai Night Runners- but during the day and in light traffic.
We stopped in New Cuyama for regroup, gas , etc. and the turbos took off first. They had left about 30 seconds ahead of me and my better judgement was put away in the glovebox. I took off after them and after 15 minutes of pushing the 2.8 to its 7200 rpm limit in fifth , I could see the peloton about 1/4 mile ahead. They were certainly not waiting for no one as the turbo powered "snake" was slithering past slower cars at Warp 10. You could always tell the non car people from the brake lights applied immediately after being blasted by the group (WTF ? - Oh yes, they were scared!)
I was concentrating at 110% for traffic patterns, road condition, engine monitoring, car placement on the long curves of 23 at 150 mph, and it was starting to pay off. The turbo group was getting larger. " HAH! You will be mine !" I thought foolishly.
Then along came this seemingly innocuous right hand down hill turn..... A long downhill curve with no one coming the other direction for well over 1/4 mile as I flew into it. I had a great set up for it allowing for just about any contingency except..... the most innocent of dips in the pavement. WHAM!! The car bottomed out right at my apex... and it did not come back up.
What seemed to me like an eternity was actually happening in the blink of an eye. I was no longer the driver, so much as the passenger in a loosely land bound missle. The car had gone into a drift, I pushed the pedal down harder- trying to get some more imaginary torque out of the already redlined engine (Note to self: NO torque exists when you are flat out at top rpm)
Now it was getting REAL interesting: The car kept a very nice drift and I could see that IF there was enough road, IF my girfriend stopped her "Rather Concerned Comments" stage, and IF the now oncoming traffic wildly blinking their lights, and IF the 5 inch asphalt curb at the edge that is 4 inches wide at the top, and just the nicest consistent paving job I had not noticed before.....

Wow, oh wow... the car rotated and I missed the curb by only a few inches!!
At that point LIFE took on much more special meaning and value. I went around a couple more turns with the tightest of grips on the steering wheel at a whopping 60 mph (which seems like you've stopped after driving at the big end over 100 for so long)
I stopped the car and got out, as did my girlfriend. All my bravado, skill, and a terrific car just about got us killed- I had really lost control back at the gas station.
We enjoyed the Lupens lining the road for a few quiet minutes and then proceeded at a sane pace, waving by the other participants of our Stomp.

So, yes George, I was most definitely out of sorts for the rest of the weekend. And since then, I do remember that "almost" incident on every fun drive we take.

From the service road facing north towards Ventura Blvd
circa 1961

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172594273.jpg

Sometime before it became a park:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172594303.jpg


The reason they were built:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172594337.jpg

Great Photos Jeff, thanks.

Dave B.,

That was the first of a few Stomps I joined in on....

I was stretching 4th gear in the blue car in some nice top end sweepers when I was passed by a 3-car-turbo-train at at least a 40 MPH differential ... and then, of course, came the mid air debris from 3 FAT tire'd race cars...

At that moment I knew THIS was indeed a different league of crazy....:eek:

... and so it goes

Cheers,

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172598961.jpg

I heard about those great runs you guys were doing, probably from George. Sounds like you had lots of fun.

It's especially interesting to me because I plan most of the high speed events for the Ferrari Owners Club. Being Vice President and the Event Coordinator for the LA/Orange County Region has been a blast for the past couple of years.

The photo shows my little Italian Sports Car next to the Mulholland Porsche. After adding racing seats, fire extinguisher, larger wheels and tires, and a clear enging cover, I modified the intake and exhaust on the Testarossa to make it a little more fun. Outside you can see the front of the Corvair Pickup Truck I'm restoring.

You know, anyone can join the Ferrari Club. Some of you guys that like to go fast and have an outrageous time should join up for some fun. Having a Ferrari is not a requirement, in fact many members started out with their SUV's or whatever.

I've ended up in grueling races against Porsches on Mulholland Hwy. while hosting an event from Malibu to the Sagebrush Cantina with the Ferrari Club. It's really quite entertaining (for the Porsches and the Ferraris).

Please go to www.ferrariownersclub.us and just check it out. This year I'm hosting 3 events myself. March 11 will be a fast one. I can't quote speeds in this public forum, it would be irresponsible for someone in my position on the Board, but just for interest, Ferraris top out at about 185 mph to 200 mph depending on the model. I would love to see any of you on a run, it's always fun to talk about old times on Mulholland.

This thread has been an absolute treat!!! I'm glad that so many of you have come out of the woodwork, so to speak, to give your recollections.

Banning, I think it's great that you still have the Turbo that everyone's been talking about from so long ago.

And Dave, glad you made it out alive after that, ahem, incident at 150 mph. How the heck did the Turbo-train preceding you make it through that dip?

It's funny, the older you get, and the more times you scare the tar out of yourself, the more you start to realize that this sort of craziness is definitely for the younger crowd who haven't yet faced their own mortality. I definitely am very aware of consequences when I'm out canyon carving or humming along the freeway at night at triple digit speeds or even at the track. At 18, mortal consequences didn't even enter my mind.

What Scott said. And, how long after that was she still a girlfriend? :D

Oh, and after watching Dave disappear more that once in the cockaroach, me thinks he's still looking fr that torque at the redline. ;)

I was catching the "Turbo Train" by keeping my corner speeds real high; they were slowing down to 100 or so. Any small dip REALLY can make your day in those circumstances

My girlfriend? She's been with me for over 17 years now and is the most supportive lovely woman I could ever hope for.

Hello Chris,

Any more pictures of the 911? Love the chopped look! I'd like to do that to mine some day!

Before the Mulholland Carrera whose original chassis was from Arnie's Racecar, I had built another RSR to race with. The parts from that first RSR were transferred to the chassis that I bought from Arnie. The first car had 11x15 wheels in front and 15x15 wheels in the back and was way too much tire for Mulholland with its tight twisty turns. The Motor and Transmission was built by Bozzani Porsche/Audi where I met John Thomas. He was head of the service/racing dept. I believe.

One summer, thanks to a letter of introduction from John Thomas, I went to the Porsche Factory and saw the Racewerks. After explaining that I was building a car for a road with tight turns, short straightaways with lots of bumps and off camber sweeps, I was handed this collection of Manuals, Part Lists, and Information.
This proved invaluable when setting up the Carrera for Mulholland, I had the Porsche Factory's own recomendations for certain track types and conditions.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172610701.jpg


This rare collection of Porsche Manuals was a gift of the Racewerk. They include; Spare Parts Lists for 1970 thru 1972 911S, Sport Technical Information for the 911S and 914/6, Spare Parts List for 1974 RSR 3.0 ltr. competion type, Information Catalog/Manual for Carrera RS 3.0 Ltr. Straasenversion, Sports Information- Carrera Racing Version FIA Regulations Group 4, Information Regarding Porsche Vehicles Used for Sports Purposes 911 911L 911T 911S, and a 1974 Carrera RSR Owners Manual.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172609835.jpg

This is the front of the RSR Owners Manual, Wow!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172609855.jpg

Inside the RSR owners manual, it shows what gearsets to use for each individual track in Europe, Awesome!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172613263.jpg

Here is shot from 1977 looking east toward Coldwater Canyon. Marlon Brando's house is just above the Porsche's roofline.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172613286.jpg

Here is a shot from the same location but from 1958. The roadcut on Mul looks the same, but fewer houses exist at this time. It appears that I like to park my vehicles in this spot.

So you must've been about 23 or so when you took that picture of the turbo?

Yes, and what a great time to be here, great music, cars, and you could get away with alot more back then.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172614375.jpg

Here is a photo from 1924 of a Steam Shovel digging out Mulholland and making the road. The location looks like Carls Turn or Carls Jr. What do you guys think?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172614799.jpg

Another Mulholland construction photo from 1924.
Can you identify where this was taken?

Most excellent. After a scare like that, you know you got a gud'un if she stays around.

Though not Mulholland related, we used to enjoy many a Highway 1 run to and from the Historics at Laguna every August. We figured out that if we left late in the evening on a Friday night, we could enjoy a pretty empty cliffside run from San Luis Obispo to Carmel. One year just as we were about to hit this section while driving thru San Luis, a group of 4 of our Porsches were caravanning at a reasonable pace through town. (The year before, the CHP had shut down the 101 in an effort to stop us, but that's not this story)
So we see two pair of headlamps coming up on us fast. " Oh Jeez !! We're not even going that fast and going to get popped by two cops?!?" Well.. it wasn't two cops. Dan Haggerty (yep Grizzly Adams fame) had a couple of 308 Ferraris- Black customized one with a "Vader" plate and a red stocker. He and his buddy were doing over the ton through town!
They went by us with a blare of air horns. Seeing that there was no cadre of gendarmes in pursuit, what is a group of young men in Porsches supposed to do when faced with such affrontery?
Well.. 4 right feet simultaneously hit the loud pedals and "It was ON!"
I can't remember passing through Morro Bay, Cambria, and San Simeon- we were all glued to the back of these 308's like velcro. It was both scary and fun at the same time. Just outside of San Simeon the fog started to roll in. Now it was getting interesting since this section of highway 1 starts climbing and getting into the twisties. The cliffs are steeper and the road is kissing the edge of these cliffs. Employing our best Mulholland techniques, we would follow the painted white line on the right to guage the upcoming turns and straights- there was no seeing more than 30 feet in this pea soup! Grizzly added to the fun with leaving his left blinker on , flashing an amber strobe into all that followed every second for added effect. There was no way we were going to let a couple of 308's eat our lunch so no one was letting up.
My girlfriend at the time (yeah the one that bought one of the mul capris) displayed the most unusual method of coping with her fear of the circumstances that we found ourselves in; she simply went to sleep! WTF?! Oh well, she figured out I wasn't listening to her earlier admonitions to slow down.
Anyway it got real scary real fast when the whole group , bumper to bumper, went flying around a set of turns where a) visibility was only the car ahead b) the white painted line was gone ! Oh boy... If Grizzly had gone over, it would have been a 5 car train that followed. His blinker was now really p.o-ing me off- but slow down? No never! A few minutes later as we approached Big Sur, the road had dipped down close to sea level. And with that the fog was starting to climb above us. That's it! I honked my horn, flashed the high beams, and took the pass , with my teutonic born bretheren in tow. We left the Fazzaz contingent in our air cooled dust.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Banning
I went to the Porsche Factory and saw the Racewerks. After explaining that I was building a car for a road with tight turns, short straightaways with lots of bumps and off camber sweeps, I was handed this collection of Manuals, Part Lists, and Information.
This proved invaluable when setting up the Carrera for Mulholland, I had the Porsche Factory's own recomendations for certain track types and conditions.

__________________________________
Not only did you have a home turf advantage but factory Werks manuals were the equivalent to getting a tour of the secret Skunkworks. Considering the cost of R&D spent by the factory to compile all that test data they were priceless then and still are today.

Many here seem to enjoy history, geography and things from a simpler time. It shows in the memories posted.

Have a few more Mulholland memorabilia.
Here is the newspaper article posted on 1924 for the Mulholland Highway Festival. It was named Highway before being changed to Drive. (Maybe they had an idea that is where most of the fun was going to take place?)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172634373.jpg

If William Mulholland were alive today and standing in front of me
what would I say? I guess something like "hey Uncle Bill thanks for letting me play in your sandbox"

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172634416.jpg

Newspaper




http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172634473.jpg

1930's Brochure for the first home sales along the famous Drive

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172634617.jpg

The small picture that Chris posted with the second steam shovel looks like was taken where this ad was.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172634725.jpg

Prosperity's New Highway
(written in 1925 proves true toda)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1172634934.jpg