My California Speed Shop Addicted Me

Hello, my name is Gale and I’m a Gearhead! There is no 12 step program for my problem, I should have known better, I was the guy selling the stuff!

I sold my first engine in 1958. It was a DOHC V8 Studebaker Indy engine built from reject pieces that George Salih came up with. I built a sheet metal intake and put 2-WCFB carbs on it. Only years later did I realize how rare those Studebaker pieces were. That sale, $1,100 installed in a 33 Plymouth, funded my first engine and chassis shop, CP Auto & Marine, in Lynwood, Ca. I wanted to go to Cal Poly Pomona so I named my engines, Bronco Power Racing Engines after the school mascot. CP was my school money business…and I damn near starved to death!

In 1967 I opened up my Speed Shop at 929 S. San Gabriel Blvd. in 400 sq. ft. The rent was $80.00 per month. By then I was building turbocharged marine engines, winning a few races and selling the engines world wide.

A new outfit, SEMA, with Ed Iskenderian as its first president was meeting in Eric Grants insurance office just down the street. SEMA stood for Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association, my heroes attended those meetings.