The Roaring Season

OK, I got some information from my friend Dave Miller. He says...

"I kept that for the next 10 years. I leased it to a friend I met in Santa Maria after my relocation, and he and his pals repainted it and put in an Enderle injected SBC. It took first place at a big car show in Fresno, 8 foot tall trophy which my friend still has, then it was featured in Super Chevy or Popular Hot Rodding, and a cover car on Car Craft, all in the mid 80's. It sold for a nominal sum in 1986 at an auction in the bay area. I heard a rumor that Reggie Jackson eventually bought it, but I have never bothered to confirm that.

I mentioned to Dave that the Aloha Bobby and Rose car and the black car with the round tail lights had a similar style to them and he told me... "Both cars were built by the same person, the late Dan McLaughlin. Do some research on Dan and you'll find he owned American International Racing after Jim Garner and his buddies. Dan was mostly associated with Porsches, but in the late 1970's he built some radical "canyon racers" (read Mullholland Drive) and those two were part of a trio."

Apparently each car was stamped with a number, 1, 2 or 3. Dave thinks the black car was #1, the Aloha car #2 or #3; not sure which. Anyway, the cars were built by Dan McLaughlin and his AIR company. James Garner did not have anything to do with them other than the fact that McLaughlin acquired the rights to use the AIR name from Garner.

Jon, you're a legend! Thats the best info I've ever read about this car. Just fantastic! Thank you. And yes, thats the black '69 I was referring to. I hadn't seen a rear shot of it before, looks like they've grafted a '70 tail light panel in there plus '70 rear spoiler.

Did Dave happen to mention if the Bobby & Rose Camaro was ever intended for anything other than street use?

I can now see how the confusion came about that the Camaro was built for James Garner, given Dan McLauchlin later owned AIR. Like you, I'd searched old race results and never found any reference to Garner racing a Camaro, or a Camaro even being run by AIR with someone else driving, as was the case with the Lola's.

I wonder if that black '69 still exists?

Steve, I had somebody call me their Street Hero one time but I've never been called a legend, except for in my own mind. Actually, Dave Miller is the guy with all the answers and I am just fortunate enough to know him and be able to pass along what he has told me. The black car was not a '69 but did have a '69 grille customized to fit on the car.

There is more information about Dan McLaughlin at this link... http://www.imsahistory.com/Articles4/AIR.html

When you read about him you can understand about his talents and why these cars were flared and customized like they were.

If you've got nothing but time on your hands, here is a link to a thread about Mullholland drive and the cars that terrorized that stretch of road trying to be "King of the Hill". Largely Porsche info but other stuff too if you keep looking.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/323773-what-happened-mulholland-king-hill-rsr.html

This is one of the pics that was used on the Ebay sale a while back. One website reported that Paul Le Mat bought the car.


Bruce.

Jon Mello wrote:Steve, I had somebody call me their Street Hero one time but I've never been called a legend, except for in my own mind. Actually, Dave Miller is the guy with all the answers and I am just fortunate enough to know him and be able to pass along what he has told me. The black car was not a '69 but did have a '69 grille customized to fit on the car.

There is more information about Dan McLaughlin at this link... http://www.imsahistory.com/Articles4/AIR.html

When you read about him you can understand about his talents and why these cars were flared and customized like they were.

Wow, great info Jon. So are the flares on the Bobby Camaro fibreglass? I did read somewhere that they were, but I just assumed they were steel.

What the heck is a Street Hero? This sounds fascinating!

Jon Mello wrote:If you've got nothing but time on your hands, here is a link to a thread about Mullholland drive and the cars that terrorized that stretch of road trying to be "King of the Hill". Largely Porsche info but other stuff too if you keep looking.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/323773-what-happened-mulholland-king-hill-rsr.html

Fantastic! You'll enjoy these ones Jon, some amazing photos and stories from various street cruising/racing scenes in the '70s, this is mostly ponycar/muscle car/hot rod stuff:

http://upintherear.tumblr.com/

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=671112

Steve, the "Street Hero" name came about after I took a friend around town in my '67 Camaro at the time and I was doing controlled drifts through some of the turns on the city streets. Not the smartest of thing to do but the car handled very predictably and it was just something fun. When you're young, you do impulsive stuff like that. Anyway, my friend was impressed and tossed that label on me. I was never a "jacked up in the rear" guy but those links bring back some memories from a time that I was very much a part of. Thanks for posting them.

P.S. The flares were done in steel.

Jon, great story, I love it! It definitely suits you. And you were only doing what everyone else was doing during that decade. Do you have any photos of the Camaro you had at the time?

Check these guys out, they don't look like they're fully in control of the situation, but its fun to watch:

[video=youtube;uwaPAIqcjJM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uwaPAIqcjJM[/video]

Hows this for taking the whole "up in the rear" trend to the extremes! That Torino must be an adventure on any corner at any speed:

[video=youtube;kWMBB_uj5iM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWMBB_uj5iM&feature=player_embedded[/video]

Steve, there is a difference between me and the guys in the video. I did not do crazy stuff in the same neighborhood that I lived in. Here is a photo of the red car I had at the time of the Street Hero moniker. Doesn't look like much but I had a good time with it.

I remember a '65 Chevelle a few blocks away from my parents that had the back end way up in the air. I am 6' 4" tall and the top of the trunk lid was above my shoulders.

Then the front end collapse's and they wonder 'why'. Imagine the loading on the bottom ball joints and the steering ends etc.

Jon Mello wrote:Steve, there is a difference between me and the guys in the video. I did not do crazy stuff in the same neighborhood that I lived in.

Jon, that line right there is an instant classic! I'll have to remember to use that myself. Thanks so much for posting the pics of your Camaro. What a fabulous car. Looks like a 4-speed. This must have been fun. I know every young guy had a cool car then and they were pretty cheap and plentiful, but its nice to see your road racing rootes were already strong, as many cars of the era took on the drag racing stance.

Jon, I saw this posted over at the Jalopy Journal: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=713898

Could this be the black/dark blue car you posted earlier? The flares look similar, and it has the '70 Camaro 3-piece rear spoiler.

Needs more tyre

Steve,

Yes, that's the same car that was black on the Performance Classics car lot. According to Dave Miller, the car had a Traco 302 in it when it was black and the hood was a true GM fiberglass crossram hood also. In the photo above, the car has an Enderle injected 350 in it. Subsequently, some pin striping and minor graphics in gold leaf were later added, and then it won first place at a show called Blackie's in Fresno. This was back in the mid-1980s.

Thanks Jon, great info. Boy thats a wild car! What sort of wheels are those Jon? They must be 15" wide at the rear!

They are American 5-spokes all the way around. Dave Miller says they were either 15"x12" or 15"x14", he can't remember for sure.

Jon Mello wrote:Steve,

That car lot was called Performance Classics and was in Eagle Rock, CA between Glendale and Pasadena. It was owned by my friend Dave Miller. Dave tells me he was selling the car for the movie company. The car was a '67, not a '68. It was being sold on ebay in 2004 and I recorded the VIN number from the ad at that time.

"Eat My Dust" starring Ron Howard is another fun movie from the '70s that featured an early Camaro getting into high speed shenanigans.

Hey Jon, where abouts in eagle rock?? I work in Glendale... Always curious about where this stuff used to be..

I believe it was 2125 Colorado Blvd.