John Friederich
Born & raised in Minneapolis, MN about 52 years ago. As a kid I remember
best a Packard straight 8 sedan my dad kept 'til I was 10 or so. Vacationed
in it a few times as a kid. First car was a '63 VW bug, a long line of bugs
followed. I ice raced in high school, a popular event on the many lakes in
the winter back then. Used retreads with crushed walnut shells embedded in
the compound.
A failed college attempt, then the draft lottery, and I joined the Air
Force. 4 quick years and gone, followed by a few years living in Grand
Forks ND. Still had VW's back then, with the petrol heaters to cope with
the bitter cold winters. Was driving to MT one time and heard Paul Harvey
on the car radio say "there is one place in the US with 0% unemployment,
Watford City North Dakota. Stopped at a bar there and was dragged out to
work. The oil boom was under way. Spent years working rigs in ND, MT, WY,
and CO.
Boom ended with me living in Western slope of CO, learning my way around the
new boom of personal computers. Was hired site unseen by a mail order
company in Los Angeles. Hated the city, owner asked if I would run it in
Las Vegas, NV. Did that till the early '80's, went to work for Dept. of
Energy doing computer stuff.
1985, was driving down Flamingo & saw this really cute little car, had to
have it and did. It was a '69 2000. It became my daily driver for years to
come. Autocrossed it for many years. It broke, I started driving new cars,
and the 'death rattled' roadster sat for many, many years.
Got the itch to get it on the road again, but with little time to do it,
hauled it down to Les & Dennis in San Diego. Months later, got it back in
it's present condition - Solex's with B cam, 15" Panasports, etc.
Along the way, married Phyllis, God knows what she got out of the deal. Our
first date was in the pre-restored Datsun, and I ran out of gas as the guage
didn't work. We walked for miles, but the experience may have sealed our
relationship. Phyllis works (environmental stuff) for Bechtel, NV, and I do
stuff for a German company that makes coin & currency handling equipment
(casinos, you know.)
Been to Shasta a few times, and supplied videos to the list - hope some of
you still have them. We'll make it next year for sure. I know, this bio
was too long, like the videos.
Current cars & uses:
'69 Roadster, Solex Fun only
'89 Dodge Raider Ex desert / mountain cruiser, now for
getting Phyllis to the Test
Site bus stop & back, 1 mile total
'94 Miata Phyllis' fun car (oh, me too)
'01 VW Passat Daily driver (120+ miles per day)
'01 Land Rover Discovery New desert / mountain cruiser
-John & Phyllis, Las Vegas, NV
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