Here is a little more History about the RENEGADES OF LONG BEACH By: Harold Johnson Club President 1960 ...

 

 

A little more History about the

RENEGADES OF LONG BEACH
By: Harold Johnson, Club President 1960

When I was in High School attending Poly Hi in 1953 in Long Beach, I remembered a 1946 Ford Club Coupe owned by Delvin Cain, with a Renegades plaque, that attended Poly Hi also. I had a 1941 Ford Coupe, but it was not worthy of being a member at that time. It was not until I had a car that was worthwhile of being in the club that I was asked out to become a member in 1954.

We had meetings every Sunday evening in a garage that had been converted into the club house. The meetings were conducted by the president; we had a secretary; and a master of arms to fine any unruly members. We went over what was happening and any future car shows or events that we could attend that were coming up. If a show was coming up we would all meet at the Clock Drive-In and caravanned to the show, fun was had by all. At the end we received our trophies and caravanned home.

The Renegades conducted many events, such as car shows, picnics, poker runs and other events. One I remember was a Poker Run that ended at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, which we had rented so we could have a Dance after the run. We had hired a band and after all had finished the run, we handed out the trophies. 

In 1957 we started planning the ROD & CUSTOM MOTORAMA, which was to be held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in 1958. We had three shows there; 1958, 1959 & 1960. We had a great turn out by participants and 10,000 guests.

The IRS got involved as we were not a nonprofit organization, so we decided to cancel the 1961 show and all future shows. I had just married and I dropped out of the club in 1961 and lost contact as I moved to Orange County. I stayed in contact with a few of the members. Ron Guidry and I got together and had a reunion in November 2008 at NHRA Museum; we had a good turnout, with about 25 of the old members attending. We had a catered dinner and Greg Sharp the head of the NHRA museum had gathered a lot of slides and put on a slide show. He also blew up the magazine article where the Renegades had won the CAR CRAFT Car Club of the year Award in the February 1959 Issue.

 

Be sure to Check out the Renegades Club Car Show, Showcase of Kustoms and Motorama at the Long Beach Arena Sept. 24-26, 2010. For information on this show go to www.showcaseofkustoms.com