What ever became of the gang?
That was over 40 years ago in the early 1970's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
in summer of '71 i was cruising thru downey past the stonewood shopping center and noticed 3 guys with 3 pintos in the lot off firestone so i pulled in & started to get to know them.
one guy john gunther had a pale metallic green 2 door, another guy steve sisson, had a hatch car , dark green i think and the other guy/car i can't remember. well over 40 years ago & the memories start to fade.
we hung around downey usually in the lot there every weekend before taking of to find some pizza & beer and just started picking up members meeting them the same way i met those 3 guys.
shortly after that 1st meeting, john gunther printed up a flyer and posted some around town.
there were about 10 to 15 members shortly after that and we would take once a month road trips all over so cal but usually up the coast to the gaviota area or down & inland to the mountains inland from escondido and into julian then down into the desert before heading back home. those were overnight trips.
we made many trips to the drag races and even more trips to road races at riverside for weekends when a big event was happening out there.
there were many trips to the san fernando valley to take in 'fun runs' or, as they were called then 'navigatioanl rallyes'. where time, direction and navigation were important. those were a lot of fun with the group.
the names i can remember are (mine of course-steve thomsen) john gunther, steve sisson, joe ballistrea, blackie kintigh, ralph bruner, gary kuhns and roy dimsay. my girlfriend also bought one in 1973 & joined in the fun also.
i ran across john gunther in newport beach about 25 or so years ago (haven't seen or heard from him since) and just reconnected with joe ballistrea last week. it's tough when we were just a bunch of kids with dreams and getting older jobs school and interests changed they way s we could interact and newer people stepping up to fill the ranks.
i'm glad the club got bigger. wish the cars were still around too!
if any of you old members happen across this post & don't see your name i apologize! give me a shout if this rings a bell in your distant past.
at the time all were sedans with one them a hatch car and (at that time) only one wagon which was ralphs and he had some panels made to turn into a sedan delivery.
my car was dark green metallic with stock (but widened to 7") wheels with dog dish hubcaps and a turbo. lowered to the ground.
all the other cars for the most part stock.
i remember the weekly meetings at Shakeys. it was on alondra or something wasn't it.
i became much less active in the club in 1973 & started going my own way and that was before anyone sprung the cash for jackets. all i have is an old t-shirt!
If you can find those photos I would really love a chance to go through them.
