NATURAL BORN WORLD SHAKERS

Norm Grabowski on his custom ’54 Panhead Harley with special high-torque cams on a ’38 H-D rigid frame. This was later equipped with a Steib sidecar frame adapted by Mike Parti. Read more…

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Prize Pupil — unsigned pulp paperback cover art, 1966
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The Shelby-American crew working on the Lang Cooper “King Cobra” driven by Dave MacDonald at the newly constructed Phoenix International Raceway, 1964. The car’s engine had blown after qualifying the previous day, and a replacement engine was brought in from LA and quickly wrenched the morning of the race. MacDonald got in only three laps on the new engine before being fitted on the grid, 30 seconds before the flag fell. –Image by Dave Friedman

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George Barris last photographed Marilyn Monroe between June 9th and July 18th (she was on suspension from Fox), on Santa Monica Beach ~ sadly she died very soon after on Aug 5th, 1962.“I could see a sadness in her eyes; she had learned to smile, laugh and clown, even though her heart was breaking.” ~ Photographer George Barris, on their last photo shoot

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Mick Jagger & Charlie Watts with Hells Angel. — Photograph © Ethan Russell. All rights reserved. From the start, the Altamont festival was a disaster in waiting. The stage was too low, the crowd too close, the Hells Angels too wired on beer and bad acid. Such was the rush to stage the festival that there were no food or drink outlets, and few toilets.
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$Legend has it that on the morning of the epic jump, Evel Knievel popped into the Caesars Palace casino and lost his last 100 dollars at the blackjack table, had a shot of Wild Turkey at the bar, then headed outside to the jump site where he was joined by two showgirls. He went through the motions for the pre-jump show, and took a few routine warm-up approaches. According to Knievel, on the actual approach the motorcycle unexpectedly decelerated when he hit the takeoff ramp. The sudden loss of speed caused Knievel to come up short of the projected 141 feet, and he landed on the safety ramp supported by a van. The bad news was– the resulting crash left Knievel in a coma for a month, a crushed pelvis and femur, as well as fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles. The doctors flatly told him he may never even walk on his own again. Read more…$

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Evel Knievel’s ’67 Triumph Bonneville 650 T120 TT Special jump bike– love the ”Color Me Lucky” paint job.
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Nice Woody.

-Photograph by © LeRoy Grannis. All rights reserved.

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1969, California culture photographer LeRoy Grannis surfing Hermosa Beach with his Calypso amphibious camera, invented by another aquatic legend– Jacques Cousteau. Photo by John Grannis. –Photograph © LeRoy Grannis. All rights reserved.

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Steve McQueen (ala Triumph Bonneville) on the set of The Sand Pebbles.

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“Quite apart from the music, there was the Stones’ private DC-7 (the Lapping Tongue) ~ a flying Satyricon of well-endowed groupies and unusually accommodating stewardesses serving up nonstop tequila sunrises… as well as society drop-ins like Truman Capote and his companion Princess Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy’s sister).”
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Bunny Yeager was Florida’s most stunning and sought after model. “I was never a pinup model,”she was quick to point out. “I did not pose for men individually like Bettie Page did.” Bunny made a name for herself as a fashion influencer as well– designing and donning her own two-piece bathing suits. “All the other models were wearing one-piece Jantzen and Catalina suits. I made my own and am beginning to think I invented the bikini, after the French did it.”

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1965, Hermosa Beach, CA, Donald Takayama & Bettina Brenna. –Photograph by ©LeRoy Grannis

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1960 Lime Rock Nationals– Denise McCluggage sits on the grid while SCCA gets things straight.
Back in 1955 or so, a young Denise McCluggage had a chance encounter with a then unknown Steve McQueen which led to a brief affair and a long-lasting friendship. They would be separated by their own career ambitions, and the many demands and erratic schedules that come with the territory. That said, McCluggage managed to stay in touch over the years. She herself would go on to become a legend in the world of auto racing– a renowned driver, writer, and photographer for over 50 yrs. McCluggage has won trophies around the world and raced for Porsche, Jaguar, Lotus, Mini Cooper, Alfa, Elva, OSCA, Volvo, among others. In 1961 she won the grand touring category at Sebring in a Ferrari 250 GT, and in 1964 McCluggage scored a class win in the Rallye de Monte Carlo for Ford. She recalls a young, lean McQueen who was already obsessed with cars and racing, who swept her off her feet with his searing looks, charm and well… incongruity, as she puts it.

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“That photo of Miles Davis and his red Ferrari (275 GTB) was taken on New York’s West Side Highway in 1969. We had just shot some portraits in his apartment near Central Park. He said he wanted to go to Gleason’s Gym to work out. He was am amateur boxer, as you probably know. Anyhow, we’re driving along and I said, ‘Miles, pull over. Let’s do some shots of you and this totally cool car.’ He said ‘yes’, we did, and then proceeded to the gym where he threatened to knock me out.” –Baron Wolman

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