Years ago, I worked with Shav at the LA Times. Yes, he brought up Mulholland a couple times. Paul Dean, the old car test writer for the LA Times also knew Mulholland fondly. It definitely held acclaim to the local LA media scene.

I agree that only after Dave, Tyson and Jeremy at TRE introduced me to the idea of track days, did I back off on Mulholland. It's weird how that works that once you have a time or two on a race course, suddenly your street driving mellows - mine has.

Besides, as I may have said, Mulholland now is so overpopulated with tourists, cyclists and runners, it's difficult to maintain any sort of speed up there. Hell, I've almost hit a coyote or two while driving up there.

"Hell, I've almost hit a coyote or two while driving up there"

indeed.... Paul B had a totally set up Fiat 850 coupe- it was totaled by a deer on Coldwater Canyon and Mulholland one night

Another time I was driving this guy's Capri V6 one night , lights off under a full moon. As we were flying thru the sweeper east to Carl's turn, the Sh#t was just about scared out of me when a huge pair of eyes appeared at the A pillar passenger side with a loud THUMP ! Oh my gawd! I must have hit some hapless night jogger?!?!?
Nope- the dazed and somewhat confused deer shook its head and bounded over the side back into the brush. The capri only needed a new antenna- phew!

Now THAT gives you some pause for thought doesn't it?

indeed.... Paul B had a totally set up Fiat 850 coupe- it was totaled by a deer on Coldwater Canyon and Mulholland one night

How many times was that car totaled? I thought Beverly Glen and Valley Vista was it demise.

you are correct sir: - it was the white 850 coupe that got nailed by the deer on Coldwater. Paul wiped his blue coupe by himself after a CRE meeting at Miller Datsun when he hit some water at speed

yah- yah - aged memories not always like fine wine :)

Here's the Hot Rod article sent to me by SSB.
I converted it to jpeg for all here.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1169934935.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1169935329.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1169935354.jpg

Oh ya. Now I remember Shav Glick. Didn't get all the facts right but we did get 3 articles in the Times from him. This one is about going to Road Atlanta with the SSA Mustang (named Fang - the only car I've ever driven that can understeer & oversteer at the same time - scared many a corner worker with that car ) http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1169937276.jpg :eek:

Hey Dave,

What ever happend to Paul B? Last time I heard he had gone to college in Detroit for an auto engineering career.

I remember that Blue 850 coupe well. Paul had that thing tweeked to the nth degree with a PSB engine and all the suspension mods. He surprise many larger displacement cars. Paul also had so many watts of landing lights on that thing that the engine idle would drop a couple hundred rpm when he turned them on!

"Lights off" LOL. I hard-wired my rally-spec Fiesta so that when I raced up there, only the headlights and brake lights came on - no running lights or tail lights - for obvious LAPD evasion tactics. Of course, the race exhaust gave away the car's presence, and it didn't help the car was a brighter yellow than my 911. :D

I ran Marcel Ampliluxes and big Cibies, all with 100-watt bulbs. People said from the Dead Man's to Grandstands, my car's illumination looked like searchlights. Some people thought I was the cops. :eek:

Thanks for doing the conversion, lfot! Victor sent me the article yesterday too, but I was at a PCA autox all day and didn't check my email until this morning. You had already done the job, so I'm a day late and a dollar short, as usual. :)

TT

OK, deer story #1: Travelling east I was entering the Sweeper pretty quickly, however having done a westbound run I knew that there was water running through the 2nd apex. So this time I was ready, I set my VW Rabbit up to run straight through the water at full throttle and shoot down the hill safely toward the chicane leading to Carls. Well, to my surprise, there was a face looking at me as I entered the water! "Oh crap!", I believe was my reaction. With wet tires, I managed to make an evasive actiion and just caught the hild leg of Bambi's sibling. He ran off, and I was picking up what was left of my 4 light grille and Cibies.

Deer story #2: Running westbound past the European Straights, I was hard on the throttle through the slow left hand uphill corner in my Tangerine 72 911T. I had a young lady with me at the time and she seemed to be enjoying the thrill of the 3.0 liter powerplant breaking the rear tires loose and giving us a little wiggle up that hill. Until yet another of Bambi's relations popped out from the right side and onto the street. He must have been running up the side of the hill, and just launched himself up and onto the street quite suddenly. He looked like he had just been dropped from the sky! Another oh crap, and another evasive manuver and I had a busted H1 headlight, and a crumpled left front fender. The deer ran off, and I was left to bend my fender back into some recognizable shape to make it home. My romantic interlude dashed by nature. I guess it was just not meant to be.

Now a story that is not so funny:

Mulholland doesn't have a lot of runoff...in fact there is none. More than one newbie found himself climbing out of a ravine...if he was lucky. A particular case comes to mind...

A newbie started showing up at the pits with his new "acid dipped" Camero. A nice car, lowered with a nasty V8...but it takes more than appearances to survive Mulholland. Egos, speed, and a cliff were a deadly combination in the '70s.

Sure enough, this Camero pilot thought he would give us a show...he left the pits in a cloud of tire smoke as he raced down the sweeper. We watched for his headlights exiting Charlies's turn....but there were none. Someone screamed "he went over". Charlie's turn, the tight right-hander, had claimed another victim.

We all jumped into our cars and raced down to see what happened. As we arrived, the driver had climbed up out of the ravine, luckily he was not injured. He was sure the car was "OK" because he "drove" it straight down the hill and it didn't roll. Mulholland veterans knew better. Once the tow truck had their way, the car would be totaled.

We watched and waited. Sure enough, the tow truck driver didn't even bother to close the drivers door when they pulled it up. The driver's door was sprung all the way forward to the headlight, and every corner of the car was crushed. It was sad but the reality is that the tow drivers are only interested in the weight if the victim...be advised.

Sacrilege... the is no "E" in Camaro .......

OT, but if I remember correctly, the Autopower roll cage catalog printed Camaro with an "E" as well. Bugged the crap out of me...

This thread is awesome, by the way. I can't wait to get back to L.A.

-Garen

Paul B is alive and well, married, and with an engineering job here in L.A.
He came on the New Years Day rally as passenger to that Can Am look blue V8 914 driver.
He had a Lingelfelter motored vette for a while, but with several points on his license, it had to go.

If you remember he had done some development work on the Vector turbo system, as well as other wild turbo conversions. Remember the Lancia Monte Carlo (nee Scorpion for usa use)? that car was sooo apart by the time he figured out what to do with it, it got repossesed in boxes !

Interesting reading.

Hi Dave, Henry, and a few others that I may know. Victor sent me the link to this thread last night. This will take some time for me to read through all the posts. I was in the Boss 302 that was hit by the 914 in Henry's story.

There were many other "unique" characters and events that transpired. The surface hasn't even been scratched yet.

Officer Harrington. Steve Mc Queen dropping by in his Porsche one night. A car almost landing in Frank Sinatra's swimming pool. The night a police car went in pursuit of Charlie only to be passed by him several times going in the opposite direction. Many unseemly rides (Victor's mom's Pontiac station wagon, a big black Lincoln Continental, Dave's dad's Citroen, miscellaneous beater trucks) that were surprisingly fast.

Carry on, Gentlemen!

I hit one of it's relatives in the Boss 302 one time. Neither of us got Venizen jerky out of the incidents.

There are plenty of ugly stories on events up there . Maybe not as many as the good ones, but when people get hurt...

One very busy night , after the Hot Rod article was published, the place was packed with cars. Grandstands was full, Bowmont was lined up both sides about 15 cars deep. It was quite the zoo with all the people and cars. So of course someone called the cops. They came up from both ends of the "course" and used their P.A. systems to tell us to go home.

Well... the groups started to leave going east and west and some fool on a white Yamaha RS 350 with open pipes thought he would just leave the cops when they tried to pull him over. Bad move- with a huge line of cars to pass , counter course traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road, the bike just was not getting by the cars. So here we are in this line of cars going east towards Laurel Canyon and this bike goes by us doing maybe 35 mph. And here comes L.A.'s finest with siren and lights. He caught the bike easily on the wider residential section of Laurelwood and all of a sudden we have traffic backed up. Yep- the bike lost it and the rider was down. The cops were not amused either as one had his knee in the guy's back and slammed his jaw repeatedly into the pavement !
A little frontier justice perhaps, and certainly not right. Too bad video cameras or cell cams were not around back then, eh?

I got the following story second hand, however, maybe Dave or someone else can fill in the blanks.

One of the regulars with a Capri had a relative in from the middle east. The relative had found out about Mulholland and also managed to find the keyes to the Capri. The guy was watching the racing from Grandstands, or Bowmont and with great exuberance calls out, "I go to fly the road!!" Well he sure did! I think he "flew" off Carl's!

I don't remember that incident, but i think it was MM2 that sent his capri off between grandstands and coldwater. The car went so far down the canyon that it had to be dragged out from the street below !


Another yellow capri met its demise on Sepulveda tryin to outrun a CHP. The guy lost it on the curve just before the 405 and planted it sideways into the bridge column. The car was crushed all the way to the driver's seat. The driver ended up in the hospital with some broken bones

I must have heard that story from Gary in the Ranchero. Talk about a regular, he was up there every night until the early 90s!!

The Mulholland Drive many of us knew is now a time and an era gone by. I and so many others are proud that we were fortunate to be there. To be part of a history and a culture of what we did best with a passion for being on the edge. Not once but constantly and then going back for more night after night, year after year, rain, fog or dry. Then one day the encroaching sprawl took over our playground and the sandbox wasn’t what it was any longer.

Chris Banning's book sums up a group of people's memories and experiences for a brief moment of that time. I didn’t really know Chris back then except for a glance through a drivers door glass from time to time. I recently met Chris face to face at his book signing at the Petersen and we spoke for a few moments. A fast lap down memory lane it was. In an email Chris put it his book is for posterity because one day we are not going to be here. We are aging and that is reality. Chris has put down on paper and shared a few moments of that history with us. Some folks liked the book and others didn’t. I think we are all lucky to be a part of the history. Chris's book is a time capsule. I think most of the regulars appreciated the book for what it represents.

Mulholland Drive was important to us because it was there waiting to be conquered. It was the challenge to find the limit
And then exceed it, pull it in at the last moment and do it again at the next turn. The sounds of tortured metal at redline. Chasing a needle on a gauge or a ghost of Mulholland past. No matter what group anyone hung out in whether it is CRE, ACR, TVL or a lone wolf prowling the night. It didn’t matter if someone was an actor or a professional driver. Some had faster purpose built cars than others. We all had one thing in common though- bring what youve got and the passion for driving fast. If we came across someone who would challenge that all the better.

The mountain was alive more than any other time in history. I think of her as a comet that came once in a lifetime except for me it lasted 17 years. I had the time of my life. Some of us wouldn’t be where we are today in our current professions if it wasn’t for the old girl we call Mulholland Drive.

Enjoy the pics. Before the gate at Bowmont, before the berm at Grandstand, the original Armco at Carls. We were there and lived it.

Jeff
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136249.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136256.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136264.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136272.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136281.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136289.jpghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136813.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136822.gif

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170136264.jpg
Man, I would hit this bump at about 70 to 80 mph, and my car would go airborne...

FANTASTIC PICS!!!

Thanks for your input, Jeff.

Got any more pics of the mountain back in the days?

Ground Effect:
Yes Bob is interesting guy.back in 1974 he was so pro japanese he couldn't see the forest for the trees. But my opinion of the Elans
incredible handling,beautifull timeless design,was so obvious. Look at the Elan 26 R it beats 289 Fia Cobra's Vettes etc on a regular basis.
SCCA,Vintage Imagine if I had listened to Bob's Opinion and bought and ugly Mitsubishi Gallant with those Geeky mirrors on front fenders,History
would have been changed no Miata My God Imagine that? Look at success of Miata. Dave B /TRE drove his lady Annia's Black Miata BBS model 1992 on our Solvang Run Stock,shorter springs and sway bars mostly Porsche's Some real fast Ruf turbo 911's well when I got to Solvang I heard these Ruf boys agreeing that the Miata with the 5.0
Mustang motor that blew them away is forcing them to go to twin turbo's
I laughed and said that is a stock Miata with one fast cat behind the wheel. Boys spend your money on driving school !

HPV
Thousand Oaks,Ca
1972 911S /RS3.0 Andial twin plug
1973 T/RS 3.0 46 m Webers
1979 911SC targa

I knew someone was going to ask if I had more. I have some old and new. I have been scanning the old ones since the film is degrading over the years.

The group shot with the (510, Lotus, Fiat X19) is a screen shot from "King of the Mountain".

Once I get the remainder scanned I will post them.

Jeff


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170142349.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170142356.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170142363.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170142423.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170142429.jpghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170142528.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170142535.jpghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170142663.jpg

Jeff Hail,
Thanks for the pictures. Haven't been in that neck of the woods for some time. I definatley recognize Beaumont coming down on Muholland
that was the Police launching spot on us,have had a few chases but not a ticket it was those handbrake turns that saved the moment. Only unfortunate moment one night I had a deer run into my 510 rt fender
broke the head light crunched the fender. Weird it was just after Beaumont going to Laurel Canyon. I witness both of Pat Pearsons Head on collisions poor Pat both were not his fault. Like Chuck Miller about that
time I moved from Muholland /Holllywood to Muholland/Ventura County
and went from 510,Lotus Elan to Porsche 911S3.0 Andial twin plug
all have been thouroughly enjoying sports cars Those pictures bring back many memory's HPV

Tribute to Lemans Story/Willow Springs
 

Chuck,
As many years I've known you I read your story about sneeking onto Willow predates our visit by like seven years. Funny as rural
as it was out there a simple chain across road was just too tempting. I had worked an scca event the previous weekend.
Henry
ENRIQUE'S
Thousand Oaks,Ca

Chuck,
Hector didn't he work for Francisco Muir in Santa Monica ?
And later have his own Independent Alpha shop in Studio City?
I loved his Alpha GTA. Whats he doing these days?

Henry
ENRIQUE'S
Thousand Oaks

Pat in LA,
Hello and happy new year.
Youre so right there are so many stories out there.
Jack Kimoto painted my GP White 911S did a few cars for Steve Mc Queen a beige grey 911S. Jack and Jim Torres were partners
behind Hollywood sportcars a exrtremly special Bodyshop.
I remember Peter Porsche in San Diego at Parade asking Jim Torres
about a 934 Kremer Jim had done complete restoration on
this incredible car. Now thats a story.
Both Jim and Jack did incredible work.

Henry Valdez
ENRIQUE'S
Sonora Cuisine
La Carrera Cantina
est 1959
Thousand Oaks,Ca

Jef Hail,
Can you tell what color that 510 is ? I think that was my car.
You were up on the graded lots above the pits yes ? HPV

I have this magazine !

This car blew my mind when I was a kid. Love the CALLIOPE injection stacks !

Where is this car today???

Tom Thousand Oaks
 

Tom/Thousand Oaks

I've been inn Thousand Oaks for 29 years. Been friends with Dave B at TRE since 1969 we met on Muholland been friends ever since. My Restaurant is at 159 east thousand oaks blvd near corner of Moorpark Rd next to Outback Steakhouse.
Stop by some time like to meet you.

ENRIQUE'S
Henry Valdez
Sonora Cuisine
La Carrera Cantina
est 1959

1972 911S 3.0 Andial twin plug Grand Prix White
1973 911/1/2 911T/RS 3.0 46 mm webers Black
1979 911SC targa Carrera GT Silver

Henry,

Good hear'n from'ya

Yeah, Hector did indeed work for crazy Frank Muir, and toured with Frank's F/5000 team in '75

It was indeed his Alfa shop in Studio City… his last of three.

He is now an LAPD mechanic by day, and restorer of a couple of Itialian car colllections by night…and father of 3 lovely girls.

He still drives a fast Alfa GTV in club events… and drive some of the stuff he works on in vintage events… including Monterey last year.

If you remember the little low wall going West on Mulholland before Roscomare that had VIVA ALFA graffitied on it from the late 60's to about the early 80's…. Yep, that was us…

That road was a way of life for some of us… and, I'm sorry to say, some of the only social connection…

As I wrote before one of the guys who went on to bigger things was Bill Fox… going to the run-offs 3 times… Well, this last Sunday at the POC's Streets of Willow event Bill was out in his street 993 working the track like the old days…

We never go away… we just show up look'n a little different..;)

Chuck,
Thats a good saying coming back looking different. Never heard that one.I remember many tales of Mr.Muir guy was very interesting businessman.I rember Hectors alphas were very nice. Funny about that graffitti,I had an Escrow company across street have a grand opening party at restaurant one of his associates asked who is the car guy ? He explained he was retired LAPD and now restores Stingrays. Iasked him what years was he in LAPD ? 1966-75. I asked did you ever go up on Muholland and witness those cafe racers? He asked were you one of those guys? Oh no I said I read about them in Road and Track. Hey is your Malibu coupe Blue ? I have a 427 Vette motor I need to find a vette to put it in,With prices today It may be awhile.

Here are a few more. Recent pics of what the most infamous locations look like today.The entire road seems smaller now. I think because the shrubs and trees have grown so much. A little harder to see headlights coming. My eyes are also older.

Jeff
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225344.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225351.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225359.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225367.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225374.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225383.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225391.jpg

Dave,
It just occured to me what is a DKW 3=6 German I surmize
3=6 ? Motor 3 or 6 pistons ? HPV

The 67' Barracuda in 1982 went to a full tube frame with a quad shock front end. After everything was stripped it weighed in at 2100 pounds. I never liked straight lines so I set it up as close to Stock Car specs as possible.

The topless 124 Fiat had a 273 Commando Chrysler V8 and nicknamed "the beast".

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225695.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225704.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225751.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225760.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225770.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170225778.jpg

I got hit on radar by Harrison one night doing 90 on the European straight. I ran these Gazillion candle power Cibie's that made the night become day. The lamps ticked him off more than anything. I still have the ticket somewhere. First and only time I got nailed in 17 years of running. All my buddies cruised by doing 30 mph heckling me while I got a lecture for about 45 minutes.

Jeff

Henry? Is that you? I think that was your 510. The screen shot was taken on the Griffith Park side during filming. Very few shots were taken west of Laurel for that movie.

Man I drive by Enriques all the time. I have to stop in for a bite and say hello.

Jeff