‘Bad boy’ owners of cool cars feel almost like teens again at donut shop meetup in Chatsworth

Dennis McCathy has the week off. Until his return, enjoy this “Classic McCarthy” column from July 14, 2022.

If you remember when Earl Scheib was painting cars for $29.95 — “any car, any color, no ups, no extras” — and gas was 31 cents a gallon, you remember these bad boys from high school.

They had black combs stuck in the back pockets of their tight jeans, a few dabs of Brylcreem in their thick heads of hair, and the coolest cars to ever cruise Van Nuys Boulevard in the 1950s and ’60s.

Their combs and Brylcreem vanished with most of their hair in the ’80s, but their cars never left them. Those bad boys from high school are still driving the coolest cars in the San Fernando Valley 65 years later.

“My ’57 Ford sold for $2,300 new, now it’s worth $45,000 fully restored,” says Steve Boskovich, who graduated from Canoga Park High School in 1958, and organized the cruise stop held every Thursday morning at Earl’s Donuts in Chatsworth.

It started slow with just three or four cars six years ago, but took off by word of mouth. Now, an average Thursday morning has 15 to 20 cars showing up from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. — bad boys from high school talking carburetors and generators just like they did in auto shop and morning recess.

They’re all in their 70s and 80s now, so recess is all day long. They park their Fords and Chevys, Studebakers and Dodges outside Earl’s, and walk in for a donut and cup of coffee. None of them as teenagers ever thought they’d be hanging out together with their cars as senior citizens.

“I’ll be 83 in two weeks,” Boskovich says to Ernie Bailey, who graduated from Canoga Park High in 1968, 10 years after Boskovich. At 65, he’s one of the young guys in the group. He’s president of the local Ford club, but he drove a black ’55 Dodge to Earl’s last Thursday.

“It’s cool, really cool, and a big part of my life now, hanging out with these guys for a few hours every week,” Bailey says. “I’ve come full circle. I almost feel like a teenager again in high school.”

Their cars aren’t novelties that they take out of the garage once a week for a spin. Not an expensive toy to show off. They’re working cars, out there everyday when the weather’s right, says Joe Di Fatta.

“If it is 102 degrees, though, forget it,” he says. Many of the cars in the ‘50s didn’t have air conditioners.

They’re all their own mechanics. They get their own hands dirty changing the spark plugs and oil. Nothing on their cars is computerized, so they don’t have to take a second mortgage out on their house to get a tail light fixed.

Their wives put up with them and know if it’s Thursday, come hell or high water, their bad boys will be at Earl’s talking cars. Unlike their husbands, they’re driving Toyotas and Teslas.

Truth is nobody’s blowing their horn and giving the thumbs up sign to a Toyota, but a ’57 turquoise and white Chevy? C’mon, that’s timeless.

“We get the ‘hi sign’ all the time,” Boskovich says. “People appreciate that these old cars are still on the road and how we’re restoring and taking care of them.”

Reminding the rest of us about America back in the ’50s and ’60s when anything was possible, and we were leading the way for the rest of the world. When Earl Scheib was painting cars for $29.95 and gas was 31 cents a gallon.

If you own a classic car or just like talking about them, an invitation is open to drop by Earl’s any Thursday morning and meet these old bad boys from high school. Earl’s is located at 20429 Devonshire St. in Chatsworth.

Dennis McCarthy’s column runs on Sunday. He can be reached at dmccarthynews@gmail.com.

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