Well don't leave lfot out!

7. The Thread, the 2007 re-birth, and the MIRRC

If you read the table of contents from three posts ago, you can see chapter 7 is about the thread started by lfot, the resulting re-birth, and the creation of the MIRRC by lfot.

Looking forward to it. Would if be helpful if you had a GoFundMe sort of thing so we who want copies could contribute early, to help defray the production costs? I would be happy to pay upfront if it will help you.

You know, I don't mind if you use my actual name.

Also, let me know if you want to do some interview time or get some more up to date photos and such.

Also also, I was up there last night around 10-11. Did you hear me? SmileWavy

Thank you Derek.

Will get together with you in the near future to complete some of the picture that is needed for modern times.

You know, sometimes I'm out working on cars in the front and I hear someone having fun on Mulholland. I look up and see you I believe racing down Mul near Beverly Park. I usually chuckle and get to working faster, what an inspiration. LOL
Keep it up!

Thanks SPB, time is the limiting factor this time, lol.

Will endeavor to whip myself into submission and complete the loose ends dangling in my life, wish me luck.

Came across this article on Newsweek's online page about the St. Francis dam failure. Figured you guys would be just about the only ones interested in it.

An Ominous Warning in the Depths of a Lush L.A. Forest

I was wondering if any of you Camaro guys that were regulars had the Guldstrand parts?

I have my mega post share here on Pg 339, but here is some more cool stories related to """The Corvettes of Mulholland"""

I have been working on local SoCal Corvette history and that includes history tied to Mulholland related to Corvettes! My father passed the beginning of this year who had the full blown canyon racer with full race suspension (pictured already in this thread), the famous Dick Guldstrand (my friend) passed away late last year, and we lost the famous Doug Hooper (my Dad's friend, my acquaintance) the first C2 Corvette race winner driving for Mickey Thompson wHo had his Corvette shop right down at the foot of Mulholland! I even asked Hooper if he ran the 1of 5 existing 1963 Grand Sport Corvettes (#10 car) through, and he just smiled real big!!!!! Doug even told me that he thinks he had worked on that Charlie Woit Corvette guy's car, that is written up as a legend! Therefore the Legends, were setting up the Mulholland legends cars!!!!!!!!

http://i67.tinypic.com/t8ln9u.jpg

I was trying to collect some of these stories like the Mulholland running Corvettes of others and guys like Robert Carradine (I would call it a decent car- that was in a feature magazine article I have, called "The King of Mulholland"- PS I could have kicked his butt in mine!) this being the brother of David- the Kung Fu guy actor) who commissioned his Mulholland Racer to be built by Guldstrand with Traco engine, that became the GS80 series car prototype basically!

My Father and Dick both were pretty close good friends having lunch or dinner together about one a month, Dick's famous shop being in Culver City and my father working in next door city Marina Del Rey. They afterwards, would head up the 405 together weaving thru the traffic and exit at Mulholland in these hot cars and pass on through heading home together (nose to tail on the Boulevard) both living out in the Valley! Usually they dropped down Coldwater though, Guldstrand on living on Cleon in North Hollywood North of Burbank! On some of these jaunts, they included stopping by and giving Doug a hard time on Ventura Boulevard! I don't know which way Dick came home, the rest of the month! This was previous to my Dad's divorce and our moving out to Hacienda Heights and my Turnbull Canyon Racing days!

In talking to others, naturally some of the old Slalom racing guard From SCCSCC (Sic Sic) were regular runners up there (adult enthusiasts)! The majority tried to stay out of the Police actions to clear out the course turnout loitering crowd ;) in the late evenings! This adult core included members like my Father and others belonging to the GRA (Guldstrand Racing Assocation) , but also a number of the other Corvette Club slalom racer groups or Slalom Club groups being Corvette Limited (LTD.), the Pacific Sports Car Club (PSCC), the Marina Del Rey Sports Car Club (MDRSCC), SMART, Big Bucks, Mestizo Club, Corvette Super Sports (having members such as Bill Thomas of Cheetah fame, Davey MacDonald, Phil Hill- F1 World Champion, etc etc), and the Cobra Club guys, and those tied to the days of Shelby's operation frequented Mulholland! Many of these were the quickest handling machines in the land known as Southern California!!! :D

My history racing Mulholland which came later, pales in comparison http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...leys/angel.gif to the peak of the Southern California Slalom Championship series heyday years 1958- near end of the 70s, but talking to my Dad and a few others, these were the serious set up handling cars in our region (the grown ups with the good jobs and money)!!! Therefore not meant to be an insult, but many of these racers have told me that they didn't tend to go up and play with the kids (meaning you guys and myself- even though we probably would have surprised some of those adults!)! Many were the first light crowd on very early Saturday mornings, or coming from work or to work who were preparing for the coming weekend events or Time Trials at places like Riverside Raceway, Ontario Motor Speedway, Adams Race Track, Dodger Stadium or other large parking lot set up events! I am seeing a real connection of the multiple-marque Clubs who were members of the parent Southern California Counsel of Sports Car Clubs (SCCSCC later incorporated into the SCCA becoming the Solo I and Solo II and weekend slalom competitors) who were tuning and testing/running and racing Mulholland! I 'll see if I can add some pictures on this post this week!

Derek (TCRacingCA- Turnbull Canyon Road Racing Society)

An absolutely fantastic example of running out of talent and exiting the sunroof in a sprint. All captured on camera on that all familiar highway to the west of our playground.

The driver responds "I'm ok, I'm ok, 100 percent ok, I think so".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9l5G0hR9zQ

Following this spectacular main event is another by our two wheeled friends. It was all going great and then two riders meld into one.



At least everyone was having fun.

Me not knowing these new cars, is that one of those that
 

Me not knowing these new cars, is that one of those that hAs the fancy computer traction controls that you should disengage when doing things like that???? I couldn't tell if the right wheels braked to correct the car's path. Or if that was an over corrected manually steer to come out of the drift, that thing sure reacted quick and hooked up straight!

The first motorcycle guy looked like he misjudged the radius and tried to increase his lean and went down , the second guy definitely washed out his front end, by hitting the front brake. The second guy probably would have made it if he hadn't hit his brakes. But those guys looked like experienced and good riders!

Stuff happens!

A tidbit more on Mulholland Corvette guys
 

Earlier in the thread there was mention of Rex Ramsey. He was driving it (Mulholland) during the years that he was competing formally in the Cal Club AP Production ranks in Nationals. He ran a very special built early 1966 HD built car with M22 Rockcrusher etc. He was competing at all of the Region 19 events and traveled some to NorCal. He accumulated enough points to qualify for the ARRC SCCA Championships that were trading locations between Riverside International and Daytona in Florida. He updated his ride and obtained a special 1967 Model Corvette and I believe he moved to Florida in and around the early 70's after selling one of these cars in Florida after the Championships. He was one of the earliest guys to mount the wider rubber 8.5 rim Thumper Belt Line Flares that became popular Nationally and gave the C2 racers tire sizing to compete with the C3 cars with the wider wheelwells. Yes Rex would tear it up on the canyon roads is what I have heard. And then he moved up in the ranks and completed in higher and faster levels within the SCCA A/SR etc.. and he still preferred Corvette street cars is what I have learned. This guy was a guy that could handle near 560hp Big Block Corvettes with a lot of finesse. Yes he was Mulholland Alumni also! I have more pictures to post above, having added one related to Dougs Corvette Shop and the Serial #001 Lightweight 1 of 5 Grand Sports. I will see if I can post Rex's Corvette racer.

PS just trying to kick and participate in this great thread. I have Banning's first book, and I really enjoyed it. I really because it is about the art of Mulholland racing, I saw nothing wrong with the first edition. It was totally cool and I look forward to the next edition.

TCracingCA,

Very interesting posts man.. I'm a glutton for corvette race history....street or track.:D

Must have been wild to be personal friends with Guldstrand...

In the "you learn something new everyday" category, Mulholland Drive was originally named Skyline Drive.

I found a web site that has an amazing amount of old photos of the L.A. and San Fernando Valley area. Buried deep on one of those pages was the photo below. I've also copied the text. I will also post the link to the website below if you want to look at all the photos. The irony here is that I didn't know this until recently and I used to live on Skyline Drive.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1463972843.jpg

Mulholland Drive has its origins in 1921 as a scenic drive, with the “working name” of Skyline Drive, engineered by DeWitt Reaburn.

The link below has the photo that I posted along with many others of Mulholland Highway when it opened.

Water and Power Associates

The link below is to the main page with links to many pages of old photos. Some of the links have multiple pages themselves.

Water and Power Associates

The Good News
 

I ran across this info and thought that I should share The Good News.
We who have Porsches from the mid to late-seventies hope to God this finally happens.

A new bill proposed by California Senator Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado) that would change the California smog exemption year cutoff from 1975 to 1980 passed through the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing earlier this week. The next step for SB 1239 is to be approved by the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

The bill passed the first committee in a bipartisan vote of six votes for and five against.

If passed, the bill would exempt cars prior to the 1981 model year from California’s biennial smog-check inspections and would open the door for non-CARB (California Air Research Board) drivetrain modifications.

“Collector cars and trucks are a unique and important part of California history and need to be preserved,” said Senator Gaines, in a statement. “Extending the exemption to 1981 is a common-sense way to encourage that these vehicles remain on display for all to see, drive and enjoy.”

The Senator said the modification – err, amendment – to Section 44011 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to vehicular air pollution, would exempt late 1970s vehicles that are already owned and operated as classic and collector vehicles. While Senator Gaines cited the obvious Corvettes, Mustangs, and Mopars, SB 1239 would also include early GM G-Body cars and Fox-platform Fords, as well as nostalgic Japanese cars such as the Toyota Celica and Datsun Z models. Many classic European cars from Porsche and BMW would also be exempted.

As with the current bill, the amendment would require exempt vehicles to be covered by collector car insurance that places annual mileage restrictions on the vehicle, which is usually around 5,000 miles per year.

Only around 162,000 of the approximately 27 million cars on California roads are exempt under the current law, according to the Association of California Car Clubs. The change is said to only affect half a percent of vehicles. The bill still has a long way to go before becoming law, but this news – just in time for Earth Day – should give classic car enthusiasts a glimmer of hope.

Street names from long ago
 

Yes, and the first street to bear the name Mulholland Drive was the road around the Hollywood Resevoir, all this long before Mulholland Hwy came into being.

Thanks for posting that DWP link, cool photos and info.

**TRAFFIC ADVISORY – LAUREL CANYON & STUDIO CITY AREA**

MULHOLLAND DRIVE, WOODROW WILSON DRIVE TO SKYLINE DRIVE

From Saturday, June 4, 2016, to Sunday, June 5, 2016 from 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. the City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Street Services will cold plane and resurface the street on Mulholland Dr., from Woodrow Wilson Dr. to Skyline Dr.

There will be full closure of the street during the scheduled working hours.

The public is advised to use Laurel Canyon Blvd. or other alternate routes.

Attention

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1465064273.jpg

I assume this is secret code for
 

Lets go tear up the new asphalt!!!!;)

Meanwhile, down in Mexico...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEyg8_-QGIA

Very cool stuff, Derek... enjoying the mix of music and engine sounds... and the editing in general. What were the highest elevations you encountered in those mountains?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1465448772.jpg