| SO-CAL Speed Shop 060128 by Christopher Schmidt. (Richard Parks) | ||
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SO-CAL Speed Shop exists as a testimonial to the
pioneering spirit of men such as shop founder
Alex Xydias and current owner Pete
Chapouris. Recently, these two legends attended a news
conference at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum for
the grand opening of 60 Years
of SO-CAL Speed, a new exhibit celebrating the shop's
milestone anniversary. With an extensive
collection of photographs, trophies and memorabilia, the new
exhibit shows the shop's evolution
from the day Xydias opened his Burbank shop in 1946. Among the
SO-CAL creations on display
are the So-Cal Double Threat 1934 Coupe, the Morris'
Brothers' So-Cal Model A Roadster, the
Haas Racing 1934 Roadster and a re-creation of Xydias' 1953 Ford
F-100 Push Truck built by
the team at SO-CAL's Phoenix, Arizona shop. Also on display is
the famed SO-CAL Belly Tank
Lakester driven by Alex Xydias at Bonneville in 1952. The car set
the top speed for Class C
Lakesters at a speed of 198.88 mph, at Bonneville. The exhibit is
open for public viewing through
April 9th, with Xydias making three more Museum appearances for
special Saturday showings of
his drag racing (Feb 25), Sebring (Mar 18) and Indy 500 (Apr 1)
film footage. "Well, I was going
to tell you all the story of my life," said Xydias during
the media event. "But I've been told that
time is running short, so I'll have to skip ahead to the
junior high school years." Xydias has
dedicated his life to the sport of hot rodding. He opened the
shop in 1946 on the day he was
discharged from the Army Air Corps. SO-CAL was a home for
building, restoring and racing hot
rods, custom cars and motorcycles. In 1997, he teamed up with
legendary street rod builder Pete
Chapouris to revive the SO-CAL name in the hopes of continuing its
legacy and furthering its iconic
stature in the industry. Chapouris has expanded its brand power
immensely. Today, the SO-CAL
logo can be found on everything from surfboards and clothing to
beach cruising bicycles. Rocker
Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top asked SO-CAL to build
two high-profile cars; the Kopperhed and
Slampala. The 60th anniversary is a great jumping
off point for SO-CAL, said Chapouris. It's
taken time to build up the business, and I really feel like
we're on the cusp of a re-emergence
as a considerable force in the hot rod industry. We've got an
anniversary gala scheduled in
March at the Petersen Automotive Museum, and our line of 60th
anniversary clothing just
made its debut. It's going to be an exciting year-long
celebration. According to Xydias, the
Museum exhibit was a welcomed and unexpected surprise. The
shop has generated a lot of
history over the years, he said. When I first
borrowed $100 from my mother to start a
garage, it never entered my mind that we'd be here today
celebrating more than six decades
of business. After the war the car industry was booming.
Guys like me had some extra
money and a lot of extra time to spend creating some of the
finest examples of automobile
engineering. I'm honored that I was able to be a part of
that. In its heyday, SO-CAL was
renowned for its accomplishments. In 1950, the Xydias & Batchelor
SO-CAL Speed Shop
Special became the fastest car in America after setting a record
at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Three
years later, the SO-CAL Competition Coupe set a 172 mph record at
Bonneville as the SCTA
Point Champion Fox & Cubb entry the vehicle set a record for its
class. Between 1948 and 1954
the SO-CAL team set more than 20 records with their innovations,
and that spirit of creativity is a
reemerging trend. We're currently working on projects with a
lot of big names in the industry,
said Chapouris. I think you can expect to see the SO-CAL team
set a few new records this
year. One of the recent projects is the GM Ecotec
Lakester, which is also on display at the
Museum. In 2003, the Director of GM Performance Division
contracted the SO-CAL team to
build an Ecotec-powered Saturn Ion Red Line coupe for Bonneville
racing. The car set a record
at 212.684 mph, and a second Lakester was commissioned the
following year. The shop is doing
more relevant work today then it has ever has. The Wally Parks
NHRA Motorsports Museum is
open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., PST. Current
NHRA members are admitted
free. Admission for non-members is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors
60 and older, $3 for juniors six
through 15, and free for children under the age of five. The
Museum is also available for private
parties, meetings, corporate events, weddings and special group
tours. The Wally Parks NHRA
Motorsports Museum is located at Fairplex Gate 1, 1101 W. McKinley
Ave. in Pomona. For
further information on special exhibits, museum events or
directions, call 909/622-2133 or visit
http://museum.nhra.com.
(Christopher Schmidt)
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