RIGHT DOWN THE BLACKTOP ROAR OF THE ENGINE BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF A DIFFERENT WORLD WHEN STREETS WEREN'T CROWDED.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer Arnold Marks checked the road, checked the mirrors, nodded to his buddy Mel and mashed the T-bird's gas pedal right into the carpet. The Ford leapt forward and he was hooked. He was a skinny Jewish kid from Panorama City, but Arnold grew up in the junkyards "In The Junkyard" is the debut single from The Potbelleez. Track listing
But none were as nice as that '57 Thunderbird thunderbird In North American Indian mythology, a powerful spirit in the form of a bird that watered the earth and made vegetation grow. Lightning was believed to flash from its eyes or beak, and the beating of its wings was thought to represent rolling thunder. , pink, brand new and borrowed from a friend of his mom. That big motor ran so smooth, so nice as Arnold gassed her down Devonshire. This was love and gasoline, rubber on the road and the roar of the engine going, going, going, gone! Straight as an arrow, right down the blacktop. He would never forget. ``It was such a different world back then,'' he said. ``Streets weren't crowded, cars were bigger. If you didn't grow up back then, you don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. about it. It's sad, kids today don't even know what it was like.'' Today, Mark is 65, with a gray beard and a tough, don't-mess-with-me demeanor. He's lived many lives, rolled plenty of very nice cars down the Valley's boulevards. His house in Tarzana has eight automobiles parked in his garage, all knockouts, all with great stories. He's got tales of cruising and breakdowns to fill hours and hours, starting with his childhood watching big men and big wrenches bringing dead lead sleds Originally, the term referred to extensively repaired/modified cars due to the use of lead as body filler and was, for the most part, an insult. Since the introduction of man-made fillers (such as Bondo), the term has come to mean a post-war, large (full size) American car of the back to life with nothing more than strength and mechanical genius that never gets taught in a book. Brother-in-Law, who only had one tooth, and the Chief, they helped make him into a man. Brother-in-Law was short and fat, but he could somehow wriggle under a car and get it running with just basic tools. Oscar ``Chief'' Tippin was the biggest man he'd ever seen, a huge guy as broad as a bear, always dressed in greasy overalls. In the center pocket, he carried a change purser PURSER. The person appointed by the master of a ship or vessel, whose duty it is to take care of the ship's books, in which everything on board is inserted, as well the names of mariners as the articles of merchandise shipped. Rosc. Ins. note. 2. which held a roll of bills. He called Arnold his white son, taught him how to turn steel and chrome into a rolling dream. After Arnold barely passed his driver's test on his 16th birthday, Chief sold him a '49 Chevy for $125. It was so far out of alignment, he had to drive with a trunk full of tires in case they blew. On one particularly miserable trip across the Valley, all four did. The cars of the era were huge, heavy and disposable. Kids would hang around and work to make them faster, flashier, lower, louder. One of his classmates Classmates can refer to either:
He's had a lot of rides over the years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time 1950 Oldsmobile 98 convertible he put a then-unheard-of $200 stereo in back in high school, the $50 '53 Plymouth with the wrecked front end, the Chevy Impala impala, species of antelope, Aepyceros melampus, closely related to the gazelle and found in the savannah and bush country of E and S Africa. It is the antelope most commonly depicted in illustrations and in motion pictures. he sold to make his first tuition at Long Beach State. They've been his life - he fixed them, taught driver ed in them, sold Toyotas in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. during the gasoline crunch, and today, he runs Mustangs Etc., a successful repair shop in Van Nuys that specializes in classic Fords. when he opened the place 30 years ago, he brought Chief, who smiled and told Arnold he was proud. Though plenty of his rides have been jalopies, he's also built up a serious collection of classic vehicles. A rare 1970 Boss 429 Mustang The Great BOSS 429 (Ford) Mustang The BOSS 429 story is tied closely with NASCAR racing, because in the mid to late sixties NASCAR racing was dominated by Chrysler’s radical 426ci hemi powered racers. with the biggest engine Ford ever built, that '57 Chevy he longed for, a 1930 Ford Model A and a T-bird for his wife, just like the one that he loved as a kid - he's got 'em all. All this, these dreams  This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. , this passion, started long ago, driving cool and driving slow on the streets of the Valley. ``We'd cruise Van Nuys, stop by the side of the road, shoot the breeze, look for girls. Once in awhile, you'd get a couple of guys who'd race down the street, but most of the time, it was peaceful - just good times.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Arnold Marks has always had a love affair with cars ever since he was a little kid. His 10-car garage is proof, where he has Mustangs, Thunderbirds and Bel Airs Bel Air may refer to: Places in the United States:
David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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