Larry Dixon Sr. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter LAZYC
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Larry Sr. at San Fernando Drag Strip in the Fireside Inn AA/MR around 1968? San Fernando was the strip were all of us Valley guys got our start.
Larry and I match raced at Big Wille Robinsons Brotherhood of Street Racers raceway on Terminal Island back in the early to mid-seventies.
Scary place, just an old parking lot with a short shutoff with old tires placed in the shut off area against the slope of the road/highway at the end.
We both won the Nitro Championship at OCIR in 1976, Him in T/F and I in F/C. Great guy fearless racer, he used to live a couple of blocks from me in the eighties, I would stop by his house and shoot the shit all the time. RIP old friend.
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dr flames
Nitro Member
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I was at San Fernando the day he crashed the Valley Wide Muffler Fiat.
This is the photo I took at Fernando, maybe 1969??? I think Larry was the last competitive AA/Fuel Modified Roadster. He went to T/F after this car. Photo posted in post above by Larry Jr - when Larry Jr won Pomona, he had his photo taken with his son, and it was soooo much like the 1970 photo. RIP Larry Dixon Sr. My dad passed in 1981, sad when you lose your parents, even when you know it will happen.
mole
Nitro Member
I dont know if you guys have heard this...and I don't know if its true...I was listening to WFO radio last week and Reinhart said Sr. was the origin for Falfa in American Graffitti...Apparently Sr. had one of the fastest cars in the central valley and it was a 55 chevy...I love that movie and to hear that was cool as hell....
Yes - Van Nuys Bobs was the "place to Race" to go to Chandler Blvd. or "River Road" (Riverside Drive) and the later on moved to Canoga Park (Platt Ranch). I worked on some of the cars that Cruised there. One of the cars was a 409 Chevy that I put a "Roller" cam in and the guy kept bending Push Rods. He would call me in the middle of the night and I would go there and beat the push rods straight so he could get home. Finally I put a Rev Kit in it and got good pushrods. One night he calld me and said that he crashed the transmission. There was a Chevy dealer ocross the street and down from Bobs with a parts department that stayed open until Midnight. We pulled the car up with two wheels on the curb and I pulled the transmission while he got the parts and rebuilt it on the sidewalk. Got it done in an hour and a half and he got back to Bobs before they closed
. Between Van Nuys Bobs - Taluka Lake Bobs and later Canoga Parks Bobs it was the place to be on Friday nights. There was also a Hiwaiian Hamburger place in Canoga Park that people sometimes brought cars on trailers to race. West Valley Police wern't quite that leinent.
. Between Van Nuys Bobs - Taluka Lake Bobs and later Canoga Parks Bobs it was the place to be on Friday nights. There was also a Hiwaiian Hamburger place in Canoga Park that people sometimes brought cars on trailers to race. West Valley Police wern't quite that leinent.
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Yes - Van Nuys Bobs was the "place to Race" to go to Chandler Blvd. or "River Road" (Riverside Drive) and the later on moved to Canoga Park (Platt Ranch). I worked on some of the cars that Cruised there. One of the cars was a 409 Chevy that I put a "Roller" cam in and the guy kept bending Push Rods. He would call me in the middle of the night and I would go there and beat the push rods straight so he could get home. Finally I put a Rev Kit in it and got good pushrods. One night he calld me and said that he crashed the transmission. There was a Chevy dealer ocross the street and down from Bobs with a parts department that stayed open until Midnight. We pulled the car up with two wheels on the curb and I pulled the transmission while he got the parts and rebuilt it on the sidewalk. Got it done in an hour and a half and he got back to Bobs before they closed
Larry Dixons 55 Chevy had a small, block chevy with a B&M Hydro Stick Trans, they were the hot ticket back in 1965-75, Larry worked at B&M so it was a natural.
Later Larry sold the car to Jim Adolph, (after Larry had the car sandblasted for repaint and it was never the same.) Jim loved that car but later sold it to Dale Pulde, Dale put a big block Chevy in it, and drove it all over the valley.
Dale later sold it to another guy, and he crashed it and totaled it.
About 15-20 years later Larry built another 55 just like the original, but with a blown big block on Alcohol for the street. Larry would trailer it out to Bob's Canoga Park on Friday nights for cruse night.
Later on Larry started running it at the drags, the car ran to fast for his class and broke out on most runs. One weekend Larry lost a freeze plug at Bakersfield at the CHRR or the March Meet and flipped it and it was totaled again for good.
I first met Larry in 1966 and we worked together at Ed Pinks for awhile. later Larry did my cylinder heads when he worked at Kens Automotive. Larry lived by me on Art Street in Shadow Hills for a couple of years before moving to Paso Robles. As all of you that knew him, he was a great guy and hard racer. RIP
For what it's worth - Jeff had the "Baddest Ever" Woodie that ever was!
glofria
Nitro Member
I can't say for certain, but I believe this is the later version of Dixon Sr. car that Jeff mentioned.
Roger, my dad tells me about racing up on Valley Circle Blvd. (Platt Ranch) and how before all the housing tracks were in you could see out across the valley a know when the cops were coming. And how the cops usually came up either Victory Blvd. or Vanowen and the street racers wuold drive down the other way before the cops got there.
Roger, my dad tells me about racing up on Valley Circle Blvd. (Platt Ranch) and how before all the housing tracks were in you could see out across the valley a know when the cops were coming. And how the cops usually came up either Victory Blvd. or Vanowen and the street racers wuold drive down the other way before the cops got there.
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Hey Roger, Long time no see,
Roger helped me a lot back in the day. I think I used his bead roller more than he did, Remember Roger? in case I never thanked you? Thank you.
Here are a couple of shots of the 48 olds woody, The new owner Jose Logano restored in 2013. Better than it was back in the day
He installed the 1962 Oldsmobile 394 motor and B&M Hydro stick transmission The Wooden Car "Doug Carr" restored the wood he did a great job.
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That's It, I can tell by the Kustom Kraft decal in the corner, and from memory.
Larry took over the Kustom Kraft silver Smith biz from his girlfriend's later wife Sid, when her dad died. It was a biz that did silver smithing inlays and emblems on saddles and harnesses for horses.
You guys remember we usta call Pasadena "Pasa-donuts"? Also, going from Glendale to Pasadena, would go over the Suicide Bridge. I think they finally closed it, too many people taking a high dive off that bridge. I remember cruising Van Nuys Blvd. So many cars that you couldn't go much faster than 30 MPH. And I saw Jeff's Woodie run at Fernando. I am glad that car is still around. Man, reading all the above posts, so many memories.
