Here’s to old friends ….

During this trip to L. A, I took a couple days off for “personal time” and visited a couple of old friends.

I met up with my old buddy from my dirt racing days. He was one of my mechanics at the Hollywood Cadillac dealer, but was also a close friend and my motorcycle racing teammate. Man-o-man, we started talking and reminiscing about the old racing days, everything from the old Barstow to Vegas races, to our many races in California, Nevada and Arizona, as well as a ton of races in Baja Mexico … Ensenada, Rosarito, etc. We met for an early dinner, closed the place down and ended up at the house to continue talking. Once we realized it was 3:00 am and we both had things to do the next day, we called it quits. Once home, I realized I forgot to take pics. [emoji30]

Another day, I met up with my old buddy Bill (Willy) Stroppe and again started reminiscing about our off-road racing days (trucks). Again, it was difficult to find a good time to end the visit, but eventually, we had to shut 'er down until next time. This time, although we’d finished breakfast and the waiter had pretty much cleared the table, I remembered to grab a quick pic.

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I doubt anyone here is interested, but here’s a history on the very famous Stroppe legacy (link attached). Willy is my age and says he’s planning to run the Baja 1000 this year. Man, I miss those days and sure wish I could be there with him. At least I have the memories from the really crazy times of our earlier years! I couldn’t come close to counting the times I woke up on his sofa! [emoji1787]

https://ormhof.org/bill-stroppe

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Always a blessing to visit with old friends. Glad you were able to make it happen.

I wouldn't know since I don't have any friends old or otherwise, I can barely get my wife to ride in the car with me. The grand-kids hide under the bed when I'm around and even my dog growls when I get near him.........I'm not sure what the deal is

Good deal, Jim. Thats always a great time. How manyeye rolls from Lynne?

BKB

Wow, your friend has an unbelievable resume. Kind of a cross between Smokey Yunick and Carroll Shelby. There is just something about those old mechanically inclined dudes.

Glad to see you had fun out there Jimmy.

Will

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penguin

Wow, your friend has an unbelievable resume. Kind of a cross between Smokey Yunick and Carroll Shelby. There is just something about those old mechanically inclined dudes.

Glad to see you had fun out there Jimmy. Will

Yeah Willie, Willie (Willie Willie? ;) ) and I are very close friends and I remember the days we'd be at his mom and dad's (Bill Sr) house planning out our wimmin-chassin' evenings. Heck, right after Lynn and I moved to Florida, they ran the St. Pete Grand Prix and we went over to be in the pits with them. After the race, Bill Sr. and Parnelli Jones' boy (PJ, who drove that year) flew back to Cali and Willie and the crew brought the car hauler to my house to spend a few days here, before heading back to the shop. Needless to say, back in the day, we were together through quite a few adventures, over and above the desert racing, and the stories could go on endlessly, but here's the funniest one I can recall (it's a wonder we remained buddies after this one!).

I was working in Beverly Hills at the limo mfg. company (head office) at the time. I was the International Parts and Service Manager and would also travel to the 5-6 different plants we had scattered all over the U.S. (California, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Las Vegas and New York) to meet with the plant managers to discuss any problems ... scheduling issues, manufacturing issues, etc. Willie and I had a good working relationship as he brokered much of the shipping (trucking) from the plants to the Beverly Hills office where I was also head of quality control. EACH limo was personally driven by me and any issues were handled before sale or delivery. So, my "company car" was usually a limo, IF I wasn't driving one of our Trans Am Firebird or Z28 Camaro convertibles out of our Las Vegas plant. Anyway, Willie had an old buddy who was getting married. I knew the guy through Willie, but not very well. I told Willie I'd snag a white limo for the weekend and I'd play limo driver to transport the bride and groom. I told him he could make it his wedding gift to the couple.

Ok, I snagged a limo, picked Willie up as my co-pilot, then we picked up the bride and groom at their house to take over to the wedding. After the wedding, we drove them to the reception. The reception had an open bar, but since I was driving, I just stood back by the bar drinking Cokes while waiting to take the couple (and Willie) back home after the reception. While standing there, this smokin' hot chick walked up to me and asked who I was. I told her I was a friend of Willie's and was just there to drive the limo. She stayed and we chatted a while, then she informed me she was the bride's sister! We chatted a bit, then the bride walked up and mentioned she and the groom really needed to get going as they had to change clothes and head out of town for their honeymoon. I told them, even though the party was still going strong, I'd find Willie and we'd get them back to the house. That's when the sister spoke up and offered to give them her car and asked if Willie and I could just give her a ride home instead. Sounded fine with me and Willie could continue partying. Well, she spent the next hour or so there talking with me, then Willie came over to ask if I was ready to head out and I told him of the change of plans. He grabbed a bottle of Jack from the bar and we headed for the limo out in the parking lot.

Willie sat in the back so the sister could sit up front and give me directions to her house. When we got there, it was pitch black as she'd left during the day and forgot to turn any lights on. I offered to walk her to the door and told Willie I'd be right back. We got to the door, she inserted the key, cracked the door open, then turned to thank me for the ride. About that time she grabbed me and planted a big ol' kiss on me and the game was on! She literally dragged me into the house and in a matter of minutes there was a trail of clothing leading through the living room and up the stairs to her bedroom. WOW! Talk about a night! I have no clue when we finally dozed off to sleep. The next morning, she asked what I'd like for breakfast and we went downstairs where she started cooking a nice meal. We were talking about how nice the evening had been and sometime during the conversation, Willie's name was mentioned. I remember BOTH of us having a shocked look on our faces and we both shouted, WILLIE!!! SHIT! I guess in the heat of passion, we forgot all about him sitting in the back of that limo!

I immediately ran outside to find Willie passed out in the backseat with about a 1/4 bottle of Jack Daniels still in his hands crossed across his chest. I woke him up, apologized profusely and asked if he'd like some breakfast. All I heard was "FUCK YOU KRIBBS" and then we both busted out laughing our asses off! TBH, I don't even remember what happened after that (I assume he came in for breakfast, then we headed to his place afterwards). I figure if we were still buddies after that he's a GOOD friend! :)

I dated that gal for quite a few months. Her dang house was huge, with a pool and must have been worth a couple million $$$ at the time. She also had a place down on the beach in Mexico and we spent many weekends there while we were seeing each other. It finally fell apart as I lived in Simi Valley at the time and she lived in Huntington Beach .. about a 75 mile drive between us ... worse with L.A. traffic. We quit seeing each other but remained on good terms. In fact, she even let me keep a key to the beach house in Mexico and I was welcome to use it anytime I wanted, I'd just need to check with her first to make sure she wasn't going to be using it. I must have used that place a dozen or more times over the next few years. I suppose she had money. Not sticking around may have been one of those mistakes made in my early years. :)

Anyway, I think that story proves Willie and I have a rock solid friendship. ;)