"Mulholland Drive/racing history"thread

[Banning]

A book has been written about the old racing days on Mulholland. It is ready for publishing, however info from the late 1950's and early 1960's are missing. Is there anyone out there that used to go hang out or race on Mulholland during this time period or just after this time, like late 60's?
I saw a message thread posted here from someone named Chuck Miller, in the past. He belonged to the MRA. Information is needed on the two groups that preceeded the MRA, and any other relevant stories or information.
Much appreciated guys, I'm the guy with the RS that used to race between 1974-... Thanks to any info on this missing time period.

[Chuck Miller]

Was up on Mulholland from 1969 consistently to about '75 then off-and-on to about '78...

I was of the generation of Jim M. (all out Spriget), Harvey W. (Mini), John W. (Élan), Bruce C. (911S), Jay W. & Dale S. (Mini) ... etc.

I was up there in a '59 Alfa Spider first than a setup '67 VW Cal Bug...

I figure, like you say, I was about the 3rd generation of serious Mulholland street racers...

The only way of really stopping my generation was to tear up the road in the '70's

Unfortunately I have no idea who came before... as well as who came after… sorry

However... I if ever have to get from the 101 to the 405, I can probably still average about 30 MPH..... with my headlights off...

I will be interesting to see if you get it right in your book...

Cheers,

[TRE Cup]

Hi Chris
Small world!
You had bought Arnie's "RSR" and lived off mulholland between coldwater and beverly glen . Yep- we are still around- CRE is holding its Xmas party this weekend in mission hills! i see crazy gary's ranchero (jacked up 58-59 vette that spanked most of the road racers) parked up the street on lankershim across from in and out burger. He still owns it , so you can get his story. The Mini Cooper "gang" is still active in vintage racing now with Dale Shore racing Jay Weinstein's blue mini. Bill Fox- another mid 60's Mini regular, is retired and living near agoura. I have a porsche hi performance and maintenance shop on chandler between lankershim and vineland. (used to race a blue 64 Tempest and red mini up on the hill, before getting into my blue targa)
c'mon by
11046 chandler bl
north hollywood 91601
818 509-0257

[Banning]

Thanks for your replies, TRE Cup and Chuck. I will try to visit you soon TRE Cup, and Chuck, I really want to get it right. That's why I am doing my best to fill in the missing years, but it's difficult after so much time has passed. Maybe someone out there knows about the days before the CRE and MRA, if so, I hope that they post here and give more accuracy to the book. It would be great if that happened. Thanks again, Chris

[Jeremy Cottrell]

Somewhere I have the New West magazine from about 1976 that features pictures of you and John Hall. I can dig it up if there is any info that could be usefull for the book. BTW, I work at TRE as well if you happen by I could get you the info.

[Banning]

Thanks Jeremy, However I have many copies of the New West article already. I do appreciate the offer though. I am missing the 1964 Hot Rod magazine article about racing Mulholland, not sure of the month.
I would really like to find info about pre 1960 Mulholland. Specifically, any groups, no matter how small, that hung out or raced at that time.
Regards,
Chris

[TRE Cup]

i have the hot rod 1974 article by corey farley on our CRE racing on mulholland. "The Mulholland Scene" 3 pages with pics at the shop

[Jeremy Cottrell]

That's before my time. During the early 70's I was the 5 - 10 year old, hanging around with my older brother Tony Cottrell and the TVL group who ran various VW's, 510's, etc. while he was supposedly baby-sitting. My time was the 80's and the action had all but died except a few of us who attempted to keep the flame burning.

[89turbocabmike]

Please keep us informed on the publishing of this book. It sounds like a must have for my library.

[Banning]

Jeremy, I didn't know you were Tony's brother. Tony used to hang out with Jeff Coleman and Brad Zazzetti. Brad and I shared a two bedroom apt in Westwood in 1978, while I was going to LAVC. I still talk to both of them once in a while. Cheers

[Jeremy Cottrell]

I know those guys well! If you remember Scott Call, he and my brother married sisters, so they are now related. I go out and autocross with Scott and his son Dean about once a month.

[Banning]

Thanks TRE Cup(Dave) for talking with us yesterday. It's amazing how every person that was a "regular" on the hill like yourself, has so many different interesting stories and recollections. I have interviewed over 30 different people, and there is so much to tell. Believe me, anyone that thinks that they know everything about Mulholland is in for a real shock. Even Gary. My life has been Mulholland, and yet my eyes are still as big as silver dollars at what I have heard from some of the racers. I think that everyone will get one hell of a kick from hearing these memories and stories. It sure has been for me. Dave, it's nice that you still have Rick's 914-6 and take such care and pride in it. Way to go.
Thanks again, Chris

[TRE Cup]

thanks chris
i forgot to tell you the bobby caradine / cops story yesterday: Bobby used to come up from time to time and rip through in his early 70's vette roadster- VERY fast ! He also had a Turner- thin fiberglass bodied english sports car on a tiny frame- even smaller than a mg midget. Inside was a hot rodded cortina motor. So you can imagine the power to weight ratio.
Well... Bobby and a friend came up to grandstands one night, they parked the car amongst the rest of the group, then disappeared into the brush to smoke some pot. In the meantime one of L.A.'s finest pulled up on Bowmont , parked with his lights off. A little time later Bobby gets in the Turner, starts it up - revving the blown out glasspack amongst our cries to him to "cool it ! cop on Bowmont!!" We thought he didn't hear us as he tore off in that direction. The Belvedere turned on its headlamps and cruised down to the intersection, presumably to pull over Bobby and write him up. What happened next was pretty ballsy- Bobby stopped right in front of the cop, then very deliberately so all of us could hear back in grandstands : "F**K YOU!!!!!" At that the cop turned on the christmas tree, while Bobby proceeded to out drag the now liberally smoking tires cop car down the hill.
We got the h*ll out of there as this was surely one p.o-ed officer of the law. When we came back a couple hours later, there were cops hidden up all sorts of streets. One of them pulled us over to ask if we had seen a little white austin healey. Oh well, those cars must have looked the same to them, but with that we knew that Bobby had gotten clean away

Yep- once you start scratching the surface, all sorts of memories come back. Best wishes with the book

[diverdan]

Dang! Those were the days!

I had a 69 911S and drove only "spiritedly" up there in the early 70s. Coming back from Marina Del Ray one night one of those VW bugs blew my doors off just after I exited 405 on my way to Beverly Glen. Heard it could have been Dennis Hopper in a mid engined v8 with a VW body or it could have been your cal special? Back to the original question. How about picking Dick Guldstrand 's brain. He should still be around. Dennis Hopper? Oh yeah. I lived on Witzell drive in S.O. and had either a Maser 300S or an Elva Mark VI sitting on a trailer in front of the house.

Diverdan

PS Also had a 425 horse 65 Vette with "off road" package that I remember pissing the motorcycle guys off with. Thank God I never got busted up there!

[Banning]

Hi Diverdan,
Definetely right about those days being in a very special time, not only on Mulholland, but in LA, and the world in general. Music was great!
It wasn't me who raced you that evening, I kept my VW's for racing off-road in the developments off of Mulholland, of course this was before houses were put in. Some, like the Beverly Park Development, lasted for many years as bare dirt 300 acre lot. Great to play in. Thanks for mentioning Dick, I interviewed him a few weeks ago. He is one great guy. He set up my SCCA Camaro for Riverside in 1979, and still remembered me right away after all these years. Bless his heart. The interviews for this book have been quite amazing. I'm sure that most will find the book facinating reading. It sure is for me.
Thanks Diverdan,
Chris

[TRE Cup]

Chris
He may be talking about Rex in his white VW. Rex was incredibly talented in throwing his bug around without using the brakes- he would just drift it to scrub off speed. I saw him dust quite a few of the super fast regulars one night, much to our surprise.

[Zeke]

Rex who? I once worked as a crew member for a Rex Ramsey. He drove vettes in SCCA and then drove a F5000 built by Red LeGrand, at that time, up in the Valley. I would bet a dime to a donut that RR was up there with you guys circa the mid to late 60's.

I Googled him awhile back and he appears to be in in NorCal and is a concrete contractor? Doesn't sound a bit like the RR I knew. I think he maybe had some roots in FL, so he could be there instead.

That whole LeGrand group might have some connections from beforehand. I don't know if Red is still alive. He had a guy named Jack Smith who is definitely not alive. He died at El Mirage Lake on a supercharged Norton. I know damn well JS was up there, but you can't interview him. I have heard many hours of tales from this guy. Nothing but stone crazy.

Gotta find Ramsey if you want some stories, he has plenty. The guy was a little less than honest and seemed to sorta copy the Whittington bros and J Paul Sr + Jr., if you know what I mean. RR may have been doing that even before those guys, for all I know. He too, was eventually jailed. Still, I bet he has the stories about Mulholland. He lived in Topanga, IIRC.

[Chuck Miller]

Milt,

Red LeGrand died about 25 years ago ... he was living in the house, and working out of the shop just to the left of the entry gate at Willow Springs International Raceway...

BTW Dave - There was a couple of years in the mid 70's when I 'killed' a few of the regulars in MY old white VW...

[dd74]

Chuck - you almost got my 10,000th post. I must say, though, I think I've raced that little white bug a couple times back in the day. If I recall correctly, it was faster than *****. Wasn't there a Porsche engine in that thing - that was the rumor, anyway...

Like Jeremy, I was there mostly in the early '80s. I've more hair than Jeremy, but probably the same amount of grin-induced pot-related crows feet.

Anyway, back to topic: my second most harrowing Mulholland story is spinning a Pantera DeTomaso 360-degrees at Dead Man's. Back in '81, Grand Stands was freakin' packed. I remember some clowns racing a tricked-out Maverick with megaphones and making mincemeat of a lot of more capable cars. Lots of Minis back then, Porsches, and 1960s muscle cars built for road use.

I raced a Mustang and a Cosworth-prepped Fiesta that was more laughs than speed, though I swear, if possible, the Cibie Oscars I had on the car, could light the Hollywood Sign for most of the course if they didn't drain the battery and burn the alternator first.

We used to see a few H-wood stars, but we were usually too stoned to make out who. I worked at a Bev. Hills law firm at the time, and saw a lot of suits I knew with too much horsepower for their own good try their luck at the corners Fri. and Sat. night after being in court all week. One guy who was marginally good, had an authentic Shelby Mustang and a couple Bugeyes - great fun.

I really didn't get fast on the course until Cort Wagner taught me the Laurel to Coldwater run. Coldwater to Beverly Glen was more my liking.

Oh, and what's my most harrowing Mulholland experience? It wasn't even on the road. That experience instead involved Marlon Brando's front yard right off Mulholland, his attack dogs and a deposition I had to deliver to him - some paternity suit or something.

I'll put the event this way: after pulling up to his remote controlled gate of his long driveway, where he said through the speaker, "Keep your windows rolled up, Amigo!" I quickly found out why, as did my new car, the bite marks in my bumpers, punctures in my tires, and claw marks on my hood, doors and trunk. :eek

Damn, those were the days, weren't they?

[Zeke]

Originally posted by Chuck Miller
Milt,

Red LeGrand died about 25 years ago ... he was living in the house, and working out of the shop just to the left of the entry gate at Willow Springs International Raceway...

Now that you say that, I think I heard back then, but I forgot. He would be pretty damn old if he were still alive, eh? I think he started LeGrand Race Cars as a 2nd career after a career in the military, but I could be grossly mistaken.

I knew about his shop at Willow, one of the first ones to be established on the row. He had a son who might have taken the business over. He would be a few years younger than me.

Anyone ever hear of Rex Ramsey, or am I the only one that knew of him? I know he raced against Brian Redman, etc. during the formative years of F5000, at first called Formula A, and drove the only V8 LeGrand even built, AFIK. I wired the car in the Northridge shop and then went on the tour for the last part of that year up to Mt. Tremblac and then Trois Rivereres (sp?). It was '68, that I know. Ramsey was A Prod champ, or high in points, the year before that in the SoCal region, IIRC.

He had to be up in Mulholland, most likely in a Corvette.

Hey, David, congrats on the 10,000th post!!