What happened to the VIP Toy Store on Santa Monica Blvd from 30 years ago? | FerrariChat

What happened to the VIP Toy Store on Santa Monica Blvd from 30 years ago?

Discussion in 'California (Southern)' started by bitzman, Apr 17, 2020.

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  1. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #1 bitzman, Apr 17, 2020
    It was on Santa Monca Blvd. rifgt near the 405. I think they moved in Marina Del Rey but I hada n idle thought what ever hapened to Sam Black thar ran the plsce? The only person I've seen lately from there is Ed Superfine (which sounds like model of a Ferrsri) who bought a coachbuilt Etype from his own store that has Bertone coachwork. I bought a long nose Iso Grifo thartwas on their lot but from the owner that had consfgned it once they couldn't move it.
     
  2. ag512bbi

    ag512bbi F1 Veteran
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    #2 ag512bbi, Apr 19, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2020
    More like 40 years ago.
    Very familiar with the place. My dad did business with them.
    I remember probably in '79-'80 they sponsored a car or 2 in the Long Beach GP celebrity race.
    Maybe a Mustang driven by Gordon Johncock or something. Mind you I was 12 years old.
    Also I remember, VIP Toy Store owned the 365 GTB/4 NART Spider one off 15965.
    Here is a photo. My father took that car home that night. I got do drive in it with him. He either almost bought it or did buy it for a short period of time.
    Do you have any photos?
     

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  3. ag512bbi

    ag512bbi F1 Veteran
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    #3 ag512bbi, Apr 19, 2020
    Random!
    How Weird, within minutes of my last post, my dad just called me and told me he just got off the phone with Ed Superfine.
    Sam Died recently.
     
  4. ag512bbi

    ag512bbi F1 Veteran
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    #4 ag512bbi, Apr 22, 2020
    It's funny, all these car guys in So. Cal and no one has any stories or photos of The Toy Store. Would have loved to hear...
    I briefly talked about it with my dad.
    So, Gene Hackman, Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood had a "minor" investment in The Toy Store for the "racing" division. He didn't remember how much, but said it was something like $100k but that number was just a guess.
     
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  5. malcolmb

    malcolmb Formula 3
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    #5 malcolmb, Apr 22, 2020
    so...this is a flashback..I bought a 308 GT4 form Ed Superfon in 1976 or so, haven't heard his name in years. Straightforward deal, good car, drove it 70,000 miles.
     
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  6. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #6 bitzman, Jun 5, 2020
    Well, you can't get sued for maligning the dead so I'll tell this storyI heard someone say that Sam had turned into a gangster. The only sign of that was when one time he introduced me to a muscle guy in the corner who he said would beat up anybody i wanted, but I couldn't think of anybody. Ed was great and I'm glad he kept one valuablec car from that time, Michelotti bodied Jaguar
     
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  7. rbryson

    rbryson Rookie

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    #7 rbryson, Jun 7, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2020
  8. jlonmark

    jlonmark F1 Rookie

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    #8 jlonmark, Jun 8, 2020
    AG what about Reggie Pierce as well? Wasn't there the toy store in Florida as well?
     
  9. ag512bbi

    ag512bbi F1 Veteran
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    #9 ag512bbi, Jun 10, 2020
    I remember the name. I was so young...
     
  10. jlonmark

    jlonmark F1 Rookie

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    #10 jlonmark, Jun 10, 2020
    what about Al Mardekian? Think he was Ameri-spec who did the conversions for Boxers and other grey market cars
     
  11. ag512bbi

    ag512bbi F1 Veteran
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    #11 ag512bbi, Jun 10, 2020
    Al lives 3 houses down from me.
    He was Trend Imports.
    Fritz I think was Ameri-spec.
     
  12. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #12 bitzman, Jun 13, 2020
    I remember discovering Al Mardikian's place on Pacific Coast Hihway in Redondo Beach when the Boxer was illegal and yet I pass a shop with five or six of them lined up for repair. I go in and they say "Yes, we convert these" i started to hang out there. They had a congenial mechanic from Italy who would buy 3 Ferraris at a time in the ear;y '70s. One time I was offered my choice of of three GTC/4s for $17,000 each. Sometimes some cars were rough but ut they always had buyers. They ran into a spot of bother and had to close, but I think the door to conversion had been opened and Ferrari realized
    "If we don't make US models they will get to the US anyhow."
     
  13. darth550

    darth550 Six Time F1 World Champ
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    #13 darth550, Jun 29, 2020
    There was an offshoot of it here for about a year being run by Sid Blitz but it's long gone now.
     

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