Bill Thomas stuff

[sYc]

Only a few pages, outlining the differences between the 396 (which was covered in the first book) and the 427, part numbers, etc.

[1967Z28]

First time I had seen the '69 catalog. Attached is the 1970 1/2 Bill Thomas catalog. As you can see, he went bankrupt 9/1/71.

-Jon

[Rainer]

Neat stuff, Tom Any idea if Bill Thomas had a relationship with any Anaheim-area Chevy dealers? One of my cars was sold new at Vern Trider Chevrolet, a little over a mile from Thomas' shop.

[mbxlesney]

Hi Rainer....Just curious about Vern Trider that you mentioned. Where were they located in Anaheim? Did Anaheim have a couple dealerships? The research I have done has a Cone Bros Chevrolet on Euclid Ave near downtown Anaheim a few miles from the Thomas location. The dealership changed their name to Woody in the 80s and then became Anaheim Chevrolet in the 90s. I have found that Thomas did have some ties to Cone Chevrolet in Fullerton around 6 miles from the Thomas shop. I to would like to hear about Bill Thomas and his ties to any Chevrolet dealerships from people that lived in that area but have not really seen any responses from Californians on this subject. Seems like they do not share the same historical enthusiasium of the rest of the country. I purchased the BT 396 booklet and 427 suppliment NOS on ebay a few years ago as the guy had several of them. First time I have seen the 1970 booklet. Cool!!!

[Xplantdad]

If I'm not mistaken...Vern Trider was at the corner of Euclid and Lincoln in Anaheim. It eventually became Woody Chevrolet...and now it's something else...

If there was a Cone Bros. In Anaheim (Sounds familiar)...I would suspect that it was on Anaheim Blvd near downtown..I think that Hardin Olds (where I worked) eventually took over their lot...before Hardin moved down the street...


Cone Chevrolet in Fullerton did have quite a few high performance cars...

[sYc]

Looks like Fullerton on this racer.

[Stefano]

Ronnie Kaplan the Crew Chief for Nickey's road race operations which started in 57/58 had told me that Bill's shop was initially in Fullerton prior to Anaheim.

Kaplan,Thomas and Yunick all knew each other and were key players, as GMs back door engineering dept. These guys had direct access to GM facilites and parts.

Ronnie would personally inspect mass produced parts on the assembly line and hand pick the ones he was going to use on his cars.

Any dealer who worked with Hi-Performance Cars and parts in the area would have known of Bill Thomas. Especially if it had to do with Drag Racing.

[mbxlesney]

Hi Bruce.......I dug up an old Post card for Cone Bros and found the they were on 215 N Los Angeles St. which I believe later on changed the name to Anaheim Blvd. I may have the 2 addresses mixed up. I was thinking they may have moved to Euclid from some info I got from a Anaheim resident years ago but they could have been mistakin also. My memory does not work as good as it used to. I wish I would have written down some of my research findings. Cool ad Tom I have that original Hurst ad from the day. Here is a pic of Mr Cone (Bill Thomas affiliation) who also was a President of Orange County Int. Raceway.

[Xplantdad]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Bruce.......I dug up an old Post card for Cone Bros and found the they were on 215 N Los Angeles St. which I believe later on changed the name to Anaheim Blvd

[/ QUOTE ]

You are correct...Los Angeles St became Anaheim Blvd later on...way later on.

Cone Bros was on Los Angeles street as early as 1927

See here: http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt3r29q07d/

And this pic taken in the flood of 1938 shows Cone Bros the 3rd building on the right (half circle shaped roof)

[mbxlesney]

Bruce..... Here is a pic of a Cone Bros License plate frame from Anaheim.