Motorsport Profiles

Before Palm Springs

Art Evans

Last month I wrote about the road race that took place in Palm Springs in 1950. It was the first such event in Southern California after WWII. Some of you were, perhaps, surprised to learn that the California Sports Car Club rather than the Sports Car Club of America organized it. These days, of course, the Cal Club is a Region of the SCCA, but in those days it was not. So, where did the Cal Club come from?

Three enthusiasts got the idea in 1947: Roger Barlow, Taylor Lucas and John Von Neumann. Roger had a foreign car dealership in Hollywood called International Motors. Lucas and Von Neumann were employees. The dealership and the repair facility were located on Sunset Boulevard.

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