Next time I will let you guys take my Jetta, plenty of room back there.

RIGHT YOU ARE JEFF. DAVE B. REMINDED ME THAT THE GATE WAS
INSTALLED AFTER CRE'S TIME ON THE HILL. HOWEVER, THE YELLOW FIRE GATE WAS ON OCCASSION CLOSED. NOT VERY OFTEN BUT IT DID MESS UP A FEW PEOPLE NOW AND THEN.
SEEMS THE BIG SILVER GATE WAS INSTALLED LATER AND A BIT FURTHER UP THE ROAD.
-- CRE--

Simply evolution. Weeding out the slower part of the herd.

The rule was 60 seconds. If you had not lost them within 60 seconds the chances were that you would be caught. They had radios and back ups. Mulhollanders had better handling cars and more often a better knowledge of the roads in and around Mulholland. Home court advantage.
-- CRE --

Evolution wasn't relevant in Johns or Georges case, they were two of the fastest racers of the late 70's. More like wrong time, wrong place. Both of these guys had evaded many times with no problem. John even ditched the Police helicopter a couple of times using oak trees for cover on "special" canyon roads. Eventually, your luck will run out however. When it does, no matter how experienced or seasoned a racer you are, you will pay a certain price. If the price is too high, Mulholland is left behind. I've seen this happen to some, as an observer.

evading
 

Thanks C.B. That night for me was really unbelievable, imagine jamming at 60 to 70 mph V8 screaming and then a sound you can't imagine. And then dead silence I mean nothing, not even a sound, look over passenger out cold climb out window and see to driver in other car and they are out cold with their doors lock. And then the black and white, my stomach still gets sick thinking of the officers joining 2 cuffs together placing one hand over my shoulder and the other behind my back leaving my rib cage open for ......well you know and then going to hospital and having them tell the doctor I sustained the injuries in the accident yeah right I had full belts and roll bar not even a scratch. Then the court was tough, man the judge was not a car fan at all, 90 days suspension of license 80 hours comunity service and if I ever was cited or pulled over on the hill again 6 months in jail no questions asked. That was enough for me I was done. My dad told me to go racing so I did 1979 Jim Russell series, Super VEE, Formula Atlantic, drove for Al Hobert when he was still running the show for Porsche North America and finally Indy Lights with sponsorship from Kraco car radios. So for me it was the right time to move on call it evolution, call it fate and call it the judge scared the crap out of me. And instead of Banning and Johnny Mul I was competing against Tommy Kendal, Jeff Krosnoff, Jimmy Vasser, Dave Kudrave, Mike Groff, Steve Bren and Paul Tracy who was a teamate of mine in 1986 in Indy Lights. Racing was with out a doubt my greatest experince in life to be able to drive at 10 tenths all the time going the same way with no police, no bicycle riders, no dogs, workers etc. Crash the car no big deal mechanics fixed it sponsor pays. But I always missed the hill and the history. It did show me had to put a car in some interesting drifts. As for bowmount gate, It was put up with THE push of CHEVY CHASE THE ACTOR WHO LIVED IN THE SECOND HOUSE BACK FROM THE HILL. I lived off Loma Vista so that was my way to the hill every night Bowmount was the way, the home owners even parked this huge tall white truck to try and block access but we would scrape by the truck while beeping the horn the whole time. Still Banning has the best evasion story....I mean the cops were walking up to Banning who was out of his rsr and just as they arrived at Bannings car, and placing their hand onto it......Banning getting back in through the window with foot on clutch car in first gear turned the ignition and while wheeling out of the turn out he grabs 1st then 2nd then 3rd and hes entering the first idetical turn and the cops are still standing in turn out going what just happen. Oh I remember that one, it was a good one.

George, I know that was a bad night for you. In a 100th of a second you lost the most beautiful, fastest Trans Ams that I've ever seen. Your custom silver paint done by G. Gray was awesome, side by side, it made my made my Macho T/A from the same year(1978) look only acceptable, and they were almost identical mechanically.

However, the horrific crash did get you married, in a roundabout way. And it did get you started in professional motorsports. So, there was a silver lining in that awfully dark cloud, wasn't there?

George, was that your future wife that you knocked out in the car?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1174587561.jpg



Jeremy, George didn't knock out his future wife, she came by on Mulholland later that night and saw the wreck and went to his rescue, hence the marriage. The girl that got knocked out was the girlfriend of John H. This was on a night when Grandstands was occupied by the Cops and so the hangout spot was behind Convenient at Beverly Glen and Mulholland at the end of the cul-de-sac. George was just taking a spin to Coldwater with Nancy K. when he accidently had a head-on collision at 70mph near my house.



But check out how outrageous that paint looked before the near death crash. Incredible looking silver, you will never see another T/A like that one. I took these pictures in my driveway just before the accident. I remember going over to George's house in the afternoon sometimes and seeing him polishing and waxing that awesome paint gettng ready for an evening on Mul.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1174587581.jpg


I'm the only one with a photo of the "after crash". I took a polaroid in the impound yard. However, I think we will spare George the pain of seeing it again in this forum. It's terrible.

Just hope George doesn't see your book, because the pic is in there!;)

Hey guys, where do I find the book?

It's not listed on Amazon. Want to give it a read

That reminds me of the time we were all at the Nascar race at Riverside sometime in the early eighties. We were bored and decided to go four wheeling in the hills behind the track, I think John, Mr Mitchell and a few other friends were aboard that day. I must say, I was abusing my truck on those jumps and hills and by the end of the day Mitchell said he wanted to ride home with someone else. So guess who jumped in? that poor Nancy K, well after the race, traffic was terrible and the line out to Day street was a long one, so instead of waiting my turn I decided to go ahead pass everyone in line and mow down the fence and ended up sideways on Day street with the CHP officer directing traffic. He didn't see us, but the ramp to the westbound 60 Freeway was closed for race traffic, so with the idea we could drive around the officer and enter the freeway from the hill next to it and just drive onto the on ramp and go home. But no there was a fence blocking the on ramp as we pressed the bumper of the truck against the fence we could see the pavement on the ramp on the other side. I basically backed up revved the motor and rammed the fence at speed trying to jump across the hill on to the ramp, little did I know there was a cement drainage ditch shaped in a V on the other side of the fence. We hit the what seemed like a cement wall with the right front fender and then the truck rolled over slowly on the driver side. All three of us jumped out laughing and I ran towards the police officer who was directing the traffic and I'll never forget the look on his face, he said are you guys alright! I said yes sir can you please call a tow truck so we can get out of here? His response was buddy you people have been at that race all day drinking and I smell the beer from here (people were using the bed of my truck to dump the empty bottles all day) I'll give you a choice, either you just walk a mile to the next gas station and call the tow truck yourself or I give you a sobriety test and if you fail my friend you go right to jail! but if you don't I'll call the tow for you. I wasn't drunk so I said lets go. About ten minutes later he said I can't believe your not drunk! OK I'll call the tow truck. What a night.

Getting in trouble at Riverside? Well, I can't top that one but can share a porsche related story on how we got in trouble there.

POC was holding time trial events at the various tracks. We would caravan out there in our Porsches to watch. One time at Riverside, Rick in his black 914-6 (the one i own today) , me in my blue targa, and Simon in his 912 "S" (basically a 912 with all 911S trim and suspension) went to watch the porsche go round.
Well, the testosterone starts building watching these guys and we happen to notice there is this cool small road course east of the main straight.
Yep, you get the picture. No one around, this cool semi hilly course (it was their go kart track) , and 3 guys in their porsches. Around and around we went having a ball. That is till Simon freaked out seeing the security guard (with angry red face) sitting by the side of a turn. He lifted and spun into the infield dirt raising a huge cloud.
As we were being escorted from the facilities we got an additional talking to from the President of POC .

We joined later that year and never looked back- from then on, some terrific track events were enjoyed in a proper manner

book link? anyone?

http://themulhollandexperience.com/

" At this time, books are available at Autobooks in Burbank. Located at 3524 W. Magnolia Blvd near the intersection of Hollywood Way and Magnolia. Phone number 818-8450707. Books are also available at The Petersen Automotive Museum located at 6060 Wilshire Blvd. Phone number 323-9646335."

you're welcome, chris. ;)

Thanks very much porcupine911

A question asked with the greatest respect
 

Even though things were very different back then(the road, the cars, the traffic, the laws, etc.)do you guys ever look back and think to yourself "Boy was that ever stupid"? It seems to me that racing on public roads had it's consequences that by far out weighed the rewards(or is this where I'm missing the boat?). We all do things in our younger years that we look back on and are amazed we survived or that with the wisdom of age would never think to do.

You have a serious point Kevin- its too easy to slide back into "those younger years" mode when out and about on the canyons. There have been a few threads on this and other boards with this discussion. Though some of us have serious skill, road knowledge, and equipment that "allow" us the luxury of pushing it hard when the roads warrant it. There really is no license to do this other than exercising our freedom.

IMHO as long as others are not involved, have at it. But, the real world does not always work like this as wild animals, weather, road conditions, other people, etc enters the picture. What may be perfectly prudent to one driver is completely over the top to another. No set standards can apply other than that loose term; "common sense"

Re: A question asked with the greatest respect
 

Society as a whole was different back then. I think a little bit of "boys will be boys" attitude was still alive then and some things were tolerated. I use the word tolerated loosely for lack of a better word. Like cruising Van Nuys Blvd, riding a minibike or go-cart on the street you lived, shooting a BB gun in your back yard as a kid. Today these things are illegal. Not to say driving fast on a hilltop road was acceptable but for the most part it had the out of sight and out of mind mentality because the general populous didn’t know about it. Of course to the residents who lived in the area it did have an impact and they finally spoke up which ultimately put a stop to things. As a homeowner I would not want people racing down my street.

We now live in a politically correct society that dictates what we can do and how we can act, what is socially acceptable and what is not. Enforcement of the law is much more rigorous now than it used to be. Back then we either bent a car, got a ticket, and roughed up and maybe some jail. Today the cops are on you like a yellow jacket on meat or worse. I am still rebellious by nature to this day and question many things. I do obey the law with the exception of a few brief moments when the Prima Fascia doesn’t appeal and it is safe to do so. Like going 72 on the 5 freeway when everyone else is too.

To answer your question was it stupid? At the time I didn’t think so but now in reflection it was clearly inappropriate. I did drive within the capabilities of my cars and my abilities behind the wheel. I was fortunate I didn’t get hurt or die. I honestly do not regret my experiences on Mulholland. Driving fast on Mul was something I was good at. If I caused another motorist fear I am sorry for that. Did the rewards back then outweigh the consequences? For me they did. Life did not meekly pass by.

Re: Re: A question asked with the greatest respect
 

Thanks Dave and Jeff, perhaps "inappropriate" is a better word than "stupid".

Re: Re: Re: A question asked with the greatest respect
 

Funny thought while pondering Dave's "those younger years" quote. If the clock could be set back would we do it again?

For me one word "Roadtrip"!!