You may have heard the name before. Losi. It pops up when someone is talking about a special car they may have seen at the Detroit Autorama, Grand National Roadster Show, or the any of the Goodguys events. He was a long time friend and customer of Boyd Coddington.
The person behind the name was somewhat elusive. I was fortunate enough to swing over to his house in Murrieta, California. A beautiful two and half acre estate among rolling chaparral with a expansive home and two garages. He showed me the tall 3-door shop, yet we spent most of the time in what I will call the stable. A long horizontal 5-car garage with individual garage doors. There was one car missing at the time. The ‘60 Ford “Slam Liner” was out for some maintenance. You see, with all these cars, Gil enjoys taking his lovely wife Janet out to events, dates or just a cruise in the Temecula Valley wine country. They drive these cars. The Rivi has over 100,000 miles on it. The Trans Am, he recently took to a cruise night in La Palma, some 50+ miles from home. Gil admits he only drives the all-steel ‘33 Boydster 3 around town on nice days.
Have you ever been somewhere and as you leave, you think, Man, I could have stayed all day there. That was my feeling, and from what I learned about Mr. Losi, he would have welcomed the stay. He had so many stories to tell. I asked how did he get into cars. Was you father, brothers or uncles into cars?
He said: “No, none were car guys. I remember listening to the Indianapolis 500 on the radio and thinking that someday, I’d like to race there.” His passion for fuel fed fun has grown from that one spark.
He did well in the Radio Controlled Racing scene of the 80’s and 90’s as well as other entrepreneurial conquests that allowed him to reach that dream with a team racing in 1994 with driver John Paul, Jr. at the controls. A super humble guy, Gil shares more about how grateful he is for all those who have helped him along the way.
With the stable in front of our eyes as we talked, I kept getting drawn to one of his newest cars. A 1956 Plymouth Belvedere Convertible they call “Rare Air”.
Some of the cool features of this Ridler Great 8 contender, and Goodguys Custom of the Year winner has are a 4.5” wedge section at the rockers, changed the headlights to ‘56 Chrysler, ‘55 Plymouth grille, and custom sidetrim and emblem by former Boyd crew member; Mike Curtis.
The powerplant is a 2007 6.1 Dodge Hemi, with one-off dress up items. Curtis spun the wheels to match Plymouth hubcaps.
When you get a chance to meet Gil, stop and say hi. There’s not a nicer guy in the scene.
