Vintage Motoring

Woodland Hills – Lawsuit bans car buffs from shopping center

It was 6:15 a.m. on a Sunday when Tom Bellows pulled his treasured 1979 yellow MGB into the parking lot of a Woodland Hills shopping center and prepared to hang out with other classic car aficionados, as they had for years.

But instead of being greeted by longtime friends, he said, he was surrounded by four security guards hired by the owners of El Camino Shopping Center, who ordered him off the premises.

“They told me to get the blankety-blank-blank out,” said Bellows, 71, a family therapist from Northridge. “They said I couldn’t park my car there because it was a classic.”

It was a startling way to learn of a lawsuit filed Oct. 19 on behalf of Regency Centers, the Delaware-based owner of El Camino Shopping Center. The lawsuit targets the classic car lovers and the Village Coffee Roaster, a tenant that had spearheaded the informal Sunday gatherings.

Filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges trespassing and nuisance, and serves as a restraining order against the motorists, listed anonymously as John Does 1-500.

It claims that the owners of the Ferraris, Porsches, Mustangs and other classic cars hog too many parking spots at the 135,883 square-foot, Vons-anchored shopping center off Mulholland Drive near the Ventura Freeway.

Regency Centers would not comment, citing the pending litigation, said spokeswoman Bonnie Hayflick.

Ernie Park, an attorney representing Regency Centers, also would not comment. Vons, with its corporate headquarters based in Arcadia, did not respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit has forced the classic car lovers to abandon the Woodland Hills strip mall and instead gather for coffee and socializing on Sunday mornings at a shopping center in the 19000 block of Plummer Street in Northridge.

To be fair, several classic car enthusiasts admit, the Woodland Hills mall’s large parking lot was occasionally near or at capacity with these tricked-out vehicles until about 10:30 a.m. on the last Sunday of the month. Some even parked illegally in the red zones.

But most of the gatherings drew about 80 vehicles. And after schmoozing with their buddies, most of the drivers were gone by 9:30 a.m., said Dustin Troyan, the Village Coffee Roaster manager and self-proclaimed “car guy” who was served with the lawsuit.

Troyan said he had specifically advertised to the classic car lover demographic several years ago and encouraged them to come to the shopping center on Sundays for an early morning cup of coffee. Word soon spread among the car-collecting community that El Camino was the place to be on Sunday mornings.

But three years ago, mall officials called Troyan and ordered him to stop promoting the car club gatherings, he said. The advertisements stopped, but the car lovers still pulled in. Aside from buying coffee, they also bought bagels, got haircuts and shopped at other open stores in the strip mall, Troyan said.

But Troyan said much of that Sunday morning bustle has stopped.

Officials from the strip mall have posted a sign outside the coffee shop doors warning of “no car show parking” and allowing for one-hour-only parking.

“We used to have regular customers here on Sunday and they’re gone,” Troyan said. “If you pull up in your Ferrari, you’re told to get out. They will intimidate the hell out of you. But if you pull up in a minivan, you can stay.”

Erica Borders, a hair stylist in the center at Head West Salon, has lost at least 35 customers from the vintage car crowd, because they won’t return to the mall with the ongoing lawsuit.

“I lost out,” she said. “I had started coming in at 8 a.m. on Sundays to build a clientele with them.”

Though several classic car drivers have said they understand the shopping center’s frustrations over parking, they are shocked that it was not communicated earlier, and that they learned of the problem through thuggish private security guards hired to keep them out.

Standing in the center of the parking lot, the security guards and a large dog have approached the classic car drivers as they drive in. One has operated as the process server, and with a stack of copies of the lawsuit and attempts to serve the drivers.

O’Linn Executive Security Services, the Agoura-based business hired by Regency Centers, would not comment on the allegations for this story.

Marlon Mitchell, 50, of Chatsworth, had copies of the lawsuit thrown at him on a recent Sunday by the private security guards who followed him into McDonald’s at 6:15 a.m. and told him to leave and then followed him into a drug store.

At the time, Mitchell was unaware of the lawsuit. The Sunday morning car show had been a tradition for him since 2003. Though he was at the center for the car show, he also had a haircut appointment there.

But the security guards had told Mitchell to leave or his car would get towed. Then they videotaped the license plate of his 1966 Mustang.

“We’re all between 35 and 80 years old. We’re not smashing beer bottles and doing burn-outs,” said Mitchell, who never got his hair cut that day and refuses to return to the center. “That’s the crazy thing.”

James Ellis Arden, the North Hollywood-based attorney representing Village Coffee Roasters, said the private security guards have since toned down their routine. He said that the shopping center should have towed any classic cars parked illegally in the lot.

Meanwhile, he filed a cross complaint against Regency Centers for discrimination.

“They are discriminating against people they don’t like by the looks of the cars they drive,” Arden said. “They are also discriminating against their own tenants.”

Classic car aficionados are known to gather around town in groups, showing off their beloved vehicles at Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in Toluca Lake and during the summer at Fields Market in West Hills.

Up to 300 people packed into the parking lot at Fresh Market in West Hills on Friday nights for $7.99 barbecue and tri-tip sandwiches and to socialize over the open hoods of up to 150 vintage cars, said Bill Rinck, co-owner of the grocery store.

But with the end of daylight saving time, the car lovers have dwindled away. Rinck plans to host the event again next summer.

“I had that Calabasas crew call in October and ask if I’d be OK with them showing up,” he said. “I said, `Show up.’ But no one has. But I have the permits.”

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Original story printed in the Los Angeles Daily News

In the grand scope of automotive history, Graham Nearn’s accomplishment may seem very small. The focus of his ambitions was the Lotus Seven, a niche sports car that he first sold as a Lotus dealer in 1959. The dealership was based in Caterham, England, and called Caterham Cars.

“I fell in love with the car then,” Mr. Nearn said in 1993. “I was a young man then. It was a two-seater open car that would do anything you could want a two-seater open car to do. You could go away in it for the weekend or you could race it.”

Mr. Nearn later bought the rights to the car, and Caterham Cars continued building the car, which developed a cult following among sports car enthusiasts. Mr. Nearn, now known as the man who saved the Seven, passed away last Saturday at the age of 76. The death was confirmed on the Caterham Web site.

The Lotus Seven was introduced in the late 1950s. It was a bare bones car — small, compact and extremely lightweight — that completely embodied the design philosophy of its creator, Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus Cars. Its popularity soared when the British spy series “The Prisoner” cast the Seven as the lead car for the main character, known only as Number Six.

In 1972, Lotus ended production of the Seven as the company struggled to stay afloat. The following year, Mr. Nearn bought the rights to the car’s design, which has not changed much since. “Its basically 1950s aircraft technology,” Mr. Nearn recently told the Independent. “We’ll improve the suspension and put wider wheels on them but it’s essentially the same concept.”

Today, the company is owned by a management team that bought out the Nearn family in 2005. The company builds 600 cars a year and has expanded the lineup to several models. Though they all look roughly the same, the level of performance varies. The fastest is the Caterham Seven Superlight R500, which the company says can sprint from zero to 60 miles an hour in 2.88 seconds.

“I have the greatest respect for what Graham achieved with Caterham Cars and fully accept that it was his personal touch that made the brand what it is today,” said Ansar Ali, Caterham’s current managing director. “I know that, despite our involvement today, Graham will always be considered the heart and soul of Caterham Cars.”

At the Tokyo Motor Show last week, Caterham revealed plans to build a range of electric and hybrid cars. The models would be first tested on the racetrack before hitting production, predicted to be in 2012.

Article source: New York Times

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Elio Zagato, son of the founder of the Italian coachbuilder Zagato, died on Sept. 14, the company said in a news release. He was 88.

Known to many by the nickname “Dr. Elio” — though Enzo Ferrari referred to him by the fond diminutive “Zagatino” — Mr. Zagato not only oversaw the creation of classic car bodies for Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia and other makes, but also raced them. After World War II, he was part of the dolce vita culture of the gran turismo racer, where amateurs rubbed shoulders and traded paint with professionals. He raced in the same cars and on the same tracks as Juan-Manuel Fangio and Tazio Nuvolari.

In 1919, Elio’s father, Ugo Zagato, left his job in an aircraft company to establish a firm near Milan to adapt aeronautical construction to car bodies. The Zagato carrozzeria was known for racecar body innovations. During its aerodynamic period in the 1930s, Zagato led the way in covering wheels with sleek covers, tilting grilles and windshields.

Zagato bodies were famously light, thanks to material innovations like Plexiglas and structural innovations like the famed “double bubble” roof, arched for strength, and later imitated in cars like the Dodge Viper. The company pioneered aerodynamics with trademark forms like the split or stub tail (or coda tronca).

During the Panoramica period of the late 1940s, the company’s trademark large greenhouse style was applied to models from many makers, including MG. Over the years, carmakers like Ford, Jaguar, Rover, Volvo, Bristol, Aston-Martin, Bentley and Rolls-Royce went to Zagato at least once, like a society belle commissioning an evening gown. Ugo Zagato and his company prided itself on simplicity.

In 1947, Elio Zagato received a rebodied Fiat from his father as a graduation gift. He joined the family firm, along with his brother Gianni, who was born in 1929 and survives him, and soon went racing. Elio competed in 150 races, the company said, winning 85 of them, including the Targa Florio, several Coppa Intereuropas and a 1955 competition at the Avus circuit in Berlin.

In recent years, Zagato has produced mostly high-style one-off designs — haute couture for collectors in which a classic marque and model name are followed by the simple suffix “Zagato.” One example was the Maserati GS Zagato, shown in 2007 at the Concours d’Élégance Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, Italy. It paid homage to another Zagato, the Maserati A6 G Zagato from 1954.

The company’s press release for that car outlined its ambitious view of mission and was in the spirit of Elio Zagato: “In homage to the tradition of the gentlemen drivers who asked Zagato to transform the bodywork of their cars, modern collectors choose mechanics at the top level of technical evolution and ‘dress’ them in tailor-made garments that increase in value as time passes.

This is the mission of a modern automobile atelier: to create timeless objects that celebrate prestigious models and brands and which, unlike mass produced vehicles, are destined to last for ever.”

Earlier this year, Zagato showed the Perana Z-One concept at the Geneva auto show. And its Ferrari 575 GTZ was widely praised.

Source: New York Times

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The following is a reprint of an article by thenewspaper.com

Proposed law would allow Pasadena to lower speed limits to generate more traffic tickets.

A state Senate committee will vote today on whether to gut an anti-speed trap law that has protected California drivers for the past seventy-six years. Assembly Bill 564, introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena), exempts his home city from the statute that now requires any jurisdiction using radar on a road receiving federal aid to use engineering safety studies to establish speed limits. The exemption for Pasadena passed the state Assembly by a 51-17 vote last month.

With a tightening budget, Pasadena officials hope to be the first jurisdiction to permit police officers to wield radar guns on roads with radically lowered speed limits. According to the Senate’s own analysis, Pasadena’s primary purpose is increasing the number of traffic tickets issued, not safety.

“When asked if there were a safety issue associated with speed on these streets, the city of Pasadena was not able to provide evidence that there was a higher collision rate, or any other type of incident that would indicate a safety problem,” the Senate Transportation Committee’s bill analysis explained. “Posting a lower speed limit, however, is not likely to slow traffic down. The 85th percentile has long been used as the standard for setting speed limits because experience has shown that the majority of people drive at a speed that feels safe for the conditions. If the conditions do not change on the roadway, drivers will continue to drive at their current speed. Because this bill allows for radar enforcement on segments that were not justified on the grounds of an engineering and traffic survey, this situation will likely cause more motorists to be cited for speeding.”

The bill also allows Pasadena to declare streets as part of “residential districts” — which have a 25 MPH speed limit — even when the area lacks the appropriate number of homes to qualify as residential. This modification also allows the use of radar on these streets without an engineering study.

“The sponsor argues that many of the posted speed limits are not enforceable if they were not set in accordance with a valid engineering and traffic survey,” the Senate analysis explained.

California’s speed trap law states that speeding tickets may not be issued on collector roads where a proper study has not been completed within five years — unless the police officer proves in court that the driver’s speed was unsafe for conditions. Portantino originally intended his bill to remove this requirement statewide, but he later scaled back his bill to cover Pasadena. If enacted, however, the cities of Altadena, Arcadia, Duarte, La Canada Flintridge, Mayflower Village, Monrovia and Temple City are likely to be next in line to demand the same ability to lower city speed limits.

To become law, the legislation would still need to clear the full Senate before being sent to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) whose position on the legislation is not known. The Assembly Transportation Committee expects to hold another hearing in the fall about bills to lower speed limits.

A copy of the bill is available at this link:  Assembly Bill 564 (California State Legislature, 5/18/2009)

To discuss this article, visit the topic’s thread in the discussion forums.

Several cars were stopped and the drivers ticketed while on their way to and from Supercar Sunday on April 26th.  The crackdown on burnouts and speeding started with a lecture from two policemen to a large group of Mustang owners, who have gained a reputation for causing problems at the event.  The group was sternly instructed to keep their throttles under control and show more caution in the way they exit as a group.  Afterward, the crowds cheered and jeered as a silver Ferrari was the first of many to fall victim to the pair of patrol cars staking out Mulholland Drive in front of the weekly event.  The general feeling was one of relief and gratitude that the police were doing something about the “ego problems” that threaten to shut down this event forever, as seen at Crystal Cove which was the precursor to Cars & Coffee.

There was also a strong police presence on Mulholland Highway and various adjoining canyons, adding to the message being sent by local law enforcement.  Unfortunately they were nowhere to be seen at the Rock Store overlook, where several motorcyclists were doing wheelies at high speed past the busy turnout.  One motorcyclist was being airlifted out after a fairly serious accident just below the same overlook.  There was no official word on how long the increased patrols and citations will last, but it’s a safe bet that the city will be looking toward Supercar Sunday and the surrounding canyon roads as a source of additional income in the foreseeable future.

To comment on this issue, visit the discussion thread in the forums.

This just in! In addition to AB859 (which has its own discussion thread going on) here are a few more proposed bills to be aware of…

AB 986 Mendoza-D
If a citation was issued for participation in a speed contest, exhibition of speed, or reckless driving, even if on private property, the vehicle would be impounded and inspected for any modifications for speed.  A permanent notation on the title and an additional yearly registration fee of $30 would exist thereafter, if found to have any modifications for an increase in speed beyond how it was manufactured.  These violations would be subjective and in the opinion of the enforcing agent.

AB 1342 Evans-D
Would allow the county supervisors of any county to impose either a personal income tax or county vehicle license fee or both.  This being collected by the Franchise Tax Board, and the DMV.

AB 1135 Skinner-D
Would require the owner of a vehicle upon renewal of the license each year to report the vehicle’s mileage.  This data would be public information.  (The state needs this to be able to place a fee per mile, which was contained in SB 501 and was passed into law about 10 years ago but not enacted)

Please contact your state assembly and senate representative and express your disapproval!

To find out who your representative is, visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ or look in the front of the phone book.

Click here to learn more in the discussion forums…

We beat it before and we can beat it again!. This just in from SEMA. …

Here we go again! Legislation (A.B. 859) has been reintroduced in the California Assembly by Assemblyman Dave Jones (Assemblymember.jones@assembly.ca.gov) to require annual Smog check inspections for vehicles 15-years old and older. The bill would also require that funds generated through the additional inspection fees be deposited into an account which can be used to scrap older cars. You may recall that in 2004 a new law was enacted in California to require the lifetime testing of all 1976 and newer model-year vehicles. Pre-1976 motor vehicles would remain exempt under A.B. 859. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Transportation Committee.

We Urge You to Contact Assemblyman Jones and Members of the Assembly Transportation Committee (List Below) Immediately to Oppose A.B. 859

Click here to learn more in the discussion forums…

In an article by Telegraph in the UK it is reported that people are looking toward classic cars as investments during the current economic recession.  This is an interesting turn of events, as historically we have seen prices drop during times of economic hardship.  In the past, collector cars have typically been viewed as luxury items by most.  It is possible that modern media outlets such as internet forums, televised car auctions and others have broadened the appeal of classic cars and shown how stable their values remain compared to traditional investment schemes.  The following is a reprint of the Telegraph article, as found on this page.

Numbers of people interested in acquiring these old vehicles are increasing, according to insurance company Hagerty International.

It said there has been “robust trading” at classic car and collectors’ auctions of late.

Hagerty’s managing director Angus Forsyth said: “A well-sourced, classic and collector car can accrue in value rather than depreciate, as is profoundly the case with new cars.

“In the current climate, buying a classic car wisely can represent a good investment.

“As a consequence, we are seeing increasing interest in ownership amongst private motorists looking to join the ‘hobbyist’ movement, which currently constitutes some two million owners in the UK.”

To those interested in exploring classic car ownership, Mr Hagerty said: “There are both opportunities and heartaches, which is all the more reason to carefully research and verify the information on a car you have your eye on, and buy one that you love and would be happy to keep for a period of time.”

To comment on this issue, visit the discussion thread in the forums.

The organizers of Cars & Coffee in Irvine have issued a statement addressing the problem of modern car groups hoarding the limited amount of display area in the PAG lot.  Apparently this has been an issue for a while, but the final blow was when “NSX day” showed 100 cars, and then 75 Honda S2000’s crashed the gate, taking up most of what was left of the parking lot.  They were asked to park elsewhere but reportedly ignored the gate workers, yelled insults and drove in anyway.  After the show, the organizers sent out the following message:

I just returned from Cars&Coffee. Way too many “normal” cars in the display area. We had to close the “Display” lot at 7:15am because of overcrowding. Today was not the vision of C&C. We have decided to “re-calibrate” Cars&Coffee, starting next Saturday Feb 7th and future Saturdays, only “pre” 1978 and “Special Classic Automobiles” will be allowed into the “Display” lot. All others will be directed towards the “Spectator” lot and parking structure. There is a new “Every Saturday” car show starting in Orange County that may appeal to many enthusiasts starting March 7th at the “Orange County Market Place”. Please pass the word.

Freeman

A large number of interesting cars that should have been in the show were forced to park elsewhere or leave, as the lot was completely full before the official opening of the gathering.  Arguments are still raging about the details of what happened, but the problem is obvious and the organizers of Cars & Coffee have been forced to take rather drastic action to prevent it from happening again.

The “tuner” crowd are understandably upset about the new rules, and undoubtedly owners of super cars will be equally so.  However most car enthusiasts would surely agree that the average person would rather see something unique or different at a car show than to walk past rows and rows of the same cars they can see at the dealership near their homes.  Gatherings like these are the most fun when a person can see a mix of classics, hot rods and newer cars that are unusual, modified in an interesting way or somehow different than the cars that should be parking in the spectator lot.

It seems a fair assumption that the new rules are a result of the inability for anyone to come up with a way to let some newer cars in and turn others away, without appearing discriminatory.  Hopefully the organizers will find a way to balance the rules but for now it appears they have eliminated their greatest problem with the gathering and gained valuable time to evaluate their options.

To comment on this issue, visit the discussion thread in the forums.

This just in from SEMA…

Washington lawmakers are drafting a large economic stimulus package to help create jobs and rebuild infrastructure. They want to include a nationwide scrappage program which would give U.S. tax dollars to consumers who turn-in older cars to have them crushed, as a misguided attempt to spur new car sales. The lawmakers need to scrap this idea.

The stimulus package is being drafted right now. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wants to introduce the bill on January 6 and have it approved by Congress by January 20, so that President Obama can sign it into law after he is inaugurated.

Contact House Speaker Nancy Pelosi IMMEDIATELY To Oppose Cash for Clunkers!
Call: 202/225-0100
Click here to send an electronic message: http://speaker.house.gov/contact/

Click here for more information and to discuss this issue!