"Used to enjoy going to the Lions drags back in my L.B. ’wasted youth’ era, just to enjoy the ’heat blast’ of the AA fuelers whip by"
avsjerry-
Long Beach native here. I was just too young to experience the "Golden Era" of drag racing or Lions Drag Strip. I did however get to witness the 1st run of the Long Beach Grand Prix when it was Formula 1. It was very unorganized, I was able to slip right in,along Shoreline Drive to see the race. You could FEEL the violent downshifting, then the drivers mashing the pedal back up to 15,000 rpm.
Being a gearhead at heart, I "get" what you say about NAACAR and other motorsport. I’m also a fan of Moto GP and appreciate MX.Those guys are superhuman.
I unfortunately, am part of the generation that only experienced the remaining bits and pieces of SoCal which made it great. It’s still great, just in a different way. My oldest brother was a teenager during the early-mid sixties. Vietnam vet as well. He got out of Dodge mid 70’s and never came back. Retired comfortably in Florida.
No time in history was perfect, but it sure seems if you were a teenager in SoCal during the late 50’s -60’s, you were in the peak of SoCal greatness, and you just didn’t know it.
Anyhow, I still manage to see through the insanity with my diversions.
Thank goodness, I’m past upgradeitis. Other than consumable items-phono cartridge and tubes, I just don’t feel the desire to acquire anything. I can just enjoy looking and hearing cool new stuff, knowing it’s really the same thing, only a tiny bit more convincing.
We still have a few record stores in the neighborhood, where I get my "stampers" for cheap.
Edit-Q shipI was raised by parents of "The Greatest Generation" Dad was a WWII vet. He was on a sub, probably blowing up stuff. .Parents settled in Long Beach after the war.
