Ventura Highway led me to discover a hidden gem.
I had the great pleasure to meet Maureen Magnuson today. I went up to Ventura to see my buddy Johnnie Martinez and he said, “Hey, while you are here, let’s go see Maureen.”
I was game and he said they have a museum at the shop that I am sure to dig. Game for that too. I had a fairly vivid picture of what I was going to see, which was quickly blurred by the passion this woman has for what her, Jerry and the entire Magnuson “family” did for our industry.
As she talked about the 6 cars in their showroom surrounded by photos and memorabilia of a Fuel Fed Life. She reminisced about the people they met and became dear friends too, like Carroll Shelby, Dan Gurney and Chip Foose to name only a few. As we ate pizza in their lounge together maureen started talking about how she asked George Poteet who is drving the Speed Demon… I briefly interrupted her to ask if she wanted to drive it… She almost fell back on her chair and exclaimed she makes A GREAT PASSENGER. To which she started in on the list of WWII era planes she has ridden in and then the kicker about how she bungee jumped TWICE off a hot air balloon!
This is the tip of what I learned. The passion. Maureen exudes the passion we hear about that drove the pioneers in the automotive aftermarket. The passion they have building performance and style products.
After lunch she showed me Jerry’s “office” which had a small lathe, mill, and more, then on the opposite end was his drafting table. WOW. I didn’t take any photos, because it just seemed so personal. She told me about his hobby building model boats with those tools.
