WHEELS IN MOTION

PETE CHAPOURIS . October 03, 2022 . All Feature Vehicles

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La Verne Cool Cruise 2014

Spring in Southern California never fails to deliver countless car events, and this year has been no different. In fact it might have started earlier because, frankly, winter in SoCal was a non-event. Back in February when Carol and I were headed out to Palm Desert for the Doctor George Car Show it was sunshine from door to door instead of our normal gloomy rain or drizzle.

Of course, I reported last month on the first Muscle Car Show at the Fairplex, which also saw two days of sunshine, and now to report on another sunny event, I most likely sound like a broken record. Well, I can’t help that; we are blessed!

Some of the staff of the Alex Xydias Center for the Automotive Arts sell raffle tickets (L to R): Carina Spears, Kalyn Taylor, Yvonne Tejeda and Boss Lady Margie Shamblin. Photo by Neil Britt.

Peter Chapouris is seen manning the SO-CAL booth at the La Verne Cool Cruise with Gary Lorenzini’s blown Deuce three-window coupe at the right. Photo by Neil Britt.

We are also blessed with something else, or should I say someone else, that being LD Johnson. LD is the father of the La Verne Cool Cruise, and through his leadership, success has followed. A few years back, LD passed the reins of the Cool Cruise to Family Festival Productions’ Larry Trujillo.

Did I say success, you bet! The 2014 Cool Cruise had its largest turnout to date, check it out: 605 cars on display, 47 vendors selling everything from car parts to chili and 11,000 spectators. Unbelievable! That’s a lot of folks prowling around Old Town La Verne. You can bet the Circle K sold a lot of coffee!

John Lynch traveled all the way from Camarillo, CA, to show off his ’56 gasser. Man, what a treat to see this one come thumping through old town.

Here’s a great shot of Tom Medley’s venerable hot rod ’40 coupe—perfection! Nuff said!

On a more somber note, Tom Medley, best known as the originator of hot rod cartoon character Stroker McGurk, passed away March 2 in Los Angeles; he was 93. I met Tom in the early ’70s, and one of my proudest moments was being part of the November 1973 Rod & Custom Magazine he administered as publisher. While Tom was known for his Stroker cartoon, he was also an integral part of the Petersen Publishing Company from concept to his retirement.

On April 12, Medley’s son Gary hosted Tom’s celebration of life at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. Among the usual suspects were Petersen coworkers from back in the day, including Jim “Jake” Jacobs. Goodbye, Tom. I can still hear you laughing.