I just had what passes for me as a religious experience.
Instead of going to the drag racing museum, we went to see the Nethercutt Collection of more than 100 classic cars, dating back to the very early 20th century and including six Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance winners. It’s in the suburb of Sylmar.
First, we stopped in Covina to see Jim’s daughter Olivia and her gorgeous 2003 Corvette, with custom 19-inch wheels and Lamborghini-style doors. I suggested pink flames as the finishing touch and her eyes lit up at the thought. Jim's did not.
From there we drove across the stunning Art Deco bridge, part of the original Route 66, spanning the Arroyo Seco canyon.
Then on to the collection that was the life’s work of the late millionaire philanthropist J.B. Nethercutt – founder of the Merle Norman cosmetics empire – and his wife Dorothy. It’s an amazing assemblage of machinery. Amazing, too, to see how big many of these beasts are. There are also a couple of the forerunners of jukeboxes, including one that still works. You put in a nickel and it plays a violin. A real violin; a little masterpiece of engineering. The whole place is magnificent – though the somewhat garish carpet could use a talking to – and entrance is free.
Best of all for me, though, were the two old Hot Rod magazine cover cars – these were creations that I gaped at open-mouthed when I was 11 or 12 in England and buying rodding magazines wherever I could find them, never dreaming I’d one day see the cars in the flesh: Dick and Bob Pierson’s 1934 coupe that made 150 m.p.h. (240 km/h) runs at El Mirage dry lake six decades ago, and Bob McGee’s seminal “Deuce Hiboy” fenderless 1932 Ford roadster from the '50s.
If I do nothing else but laundry on this trip, I’ll still be a very happy man.
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