the Buggy House Fan Club

[Jim Ratto]

Seems like it was just yesterday, at my post behind the counter at Buggy House, Sheep to one side of me, and hours of insane fun ahead of us each day. Well, most of the time. The best part about working at Buggy House was all the good friends I made, through the "extended family" that existed on the other side of the counter. I can't name all the cool people I met while working there, but we had a core group of guys that seemed to "always" be there. Hours and hours and hours of harassing each other, making fun of Sheep and his questionable choice of attire for the day (or lack of), the daily, brawny burnouts directly in front of the shop, the countless lunch trips to Lucca Delicatessen, or Safeway for MSG-nightmare Chinese food....
I think the core group pretty much consisted of fellow VW club guys, Bryan SODA, Kyle Madden, Derek "kafercup", John "stealth67" Bates, Aaron Johnson, and plenty of other loons too...not much money changed hands during the day, but the place wouldn't have been the same without these guys. Outside of the club, we had other favorite buddies that came in too, usually for a good bull session or just to pick up a knick knack....Jason X (aka She Bee, moxama, peeps, jasonx...), Tony Mace (aka RACEHEAD), Darrel "mcnutty" McNulty, Larry McKenzie, Pete "Grinder" Sibille ("aww man, my f--ing dog bit me GGRGRGGRRRRR") I wish i could remember everyone. I have to admit, there were times I wanted to pack it up and stomp out of that place, but almost everyday, we were laughing our asses off for one reason or another. The prank phone calls, the gay bath-house, Sheep's bathroom problems, the 70 year old stripper, the various hookers that used BH as a pick-up and drop-off point, the vintage canned corn, the calls for Mazda RX7 piston rings, the cartoons of sandrails with machine guns and Porsche 917 engines, the UPS guy, the exhaust-gasket cheeseburgers.....the list could go on and on. Too much rowdy fun.

If you ever stopped by the shop for a minute or two ( ) stop by here and say Hi

[kafercup]

Big Frank over in the corner on his stool with his super-mega big gulp

[Tony M]

JERRY LOOKING AND ACTING VERY MAD - GDI JIM..... YOUR NOT GOING TO WANT TO HEAR THIS  - AND THEN THERE WAS RICH

[Jim Ratto]

JERRY LOOKING AND ACTING VERY MAD - GDI JIM..... YOUR NOT GOING TO WANT TO HEAR THIS  - AND THEN THERE WAS RICH

this was about happy memories, Tony... hahaha

how about my 7,000 rpm passes down Mission past Mike's Car Service? 

[Tony M]

ONLY YOUR CAR CAN MAKE THAT KIND OF NOISE - EVEN FROM A FAR YOU COULD HEAR THE 48'S SUCKING BIG AIR 

[Jim Ratto]

Mark Miller leaving the shop in his El Camino or the 911-powered 412...pulling front wheels. Only M Miller could make a car move like that.

[Tony M]

MARK MILLER - THAT IS ALONG STORY - PAN ONLY WITH A MILK CRATE SEAT GETS A SPEEDING TICKET IN THE ALAMEDA TUBE - GOING WAY TO FAST - ENGINE WAS A 2180 W/48 IDA'S - STRAPED A GAS TANK ON AND GO 

[speedwell]

old stories by jim eastwood 

[Jim Ratto]

I love that story.  

where is PRL JAM? Red sedan with noisy motor, dual Magnaflows....?

[The She Bee]

I love that story.  

where is PRL JAM? Red sedan with noisy motor, dual Magnaflows....?

REMEMBER MY STICKER ON THE BACK WINDOW REDRUM

[Jim Ratto]

I love that story.  

where is PRL JAM? Red sedan with noisy motor, dual Magnaflows....?

REMEMBER MY STICKER ON THE BACK WINDOW REDRUM

you were just a young punk. You shoulda come over to the dark side with Bryan and me and the boys...we coulda made that red sled a real ride.

You were too busy hiding and stashing early bus air cleaners.

[The She Bee]

I love that story.  

where is PRL JAM? Red sedan with noisy motor, dual Magnaflows....?

REMEMBER MY STICKER ON THE BACK WINDOW REDRUM

you were just a young punk. You shoulda come over to the dark side with Bryan and me and the boys...we coulda made that red sled a real ride.

You were too busy hiding and stashing early bus air cleaners.

WHAT EVER ERIC HAND. REMEMBER THAT GUY.

[sheep]

Dude that place was boring , nothing fun ever happened . I would go to work do my job and go home....... BORING....................

[Jim Ratto]

I guess you don't remember Marry Chismis?

The wino bum that offered to paint our storefront windows on a Friday night, but only if we paid him up front.

Jerry agrees,

next morning we get to work and there is an empty bottle of Ripple laying on sidewalk in front of store, there is paint splattered everywhere. On the storefront windows was some red blob with a white cloud in front of it, a stick figure of a weed and MARRY CHISMIS scrawled all crooked and slanted.

Only in Hayward............

[Diederick/DVK]

awesome!
sounds like they were the days, man 

[Tony M]

jim you probley dont remember the massage parlor across the street - had a big pair of lips over front door - and as allways the hookers - saw two fat mexican sisters getting into a brand new To#¤ta with a sales man - had to see what was going to happen - went around corner and spied on them - lets just say it was very nasty. yes the good old fun days at butt hole

[Jim Ratto]

jim you probley dont remember the massage parlor across the street - had a big pair of lips over front door - and as allways the hookers - saw two fat mexican sisters getting into a brand new To#¤ta with a sales man - had to see what was going to happen - went around corner and spied on them - lets just say it was very nasty. yes the good old fun days at butt hole

I think it turned into a tattoo parlor, still looked really seedy. Much of the foot traffic in front of the shop was always amusing. The pimps on BMX Mongoose bicycles (with foil weaved through mags, to replicate 20" "dubs"), the guy that carried the scale model of the Space Shuttle everywhere he went. The crank fiend couple that fought all the way from Lewelling to A St., the gypsies that caged up Tiger and took him to pound, and don't even get me started on all the biker guys that stopped in next door at Paul's shop....scary dudes.

[Jim Ratto]

there was also the time the Saturn sedan flipped over all by itself, TIP to TIP (front to back) in front of the shop. Don't ask........

[Soda]

I always loved going to lunch with you or big Frank or little Frank. Big Frank telling stories about driving Ferraris though the Broadway tunnel at over 100mph. What about the customers that would show up at 5:05pm. Dude I just need a clutch cable, or dude I need some heater ducting. We did have some fun back then. Have you talked to Al lately. He always had stories about killing something. I just went down to the four h and killed some sheep. I would have stayed there longer but I could only work for parts for so long. I loved going back in the back to tell Jerry he had a phone call. (not fucking right now) or the scat bin in the summer time at 110 degrees.


Bryan

[Tony M]

got to talk to jerry today - had the post with the boniville car up - he got all over it - we hade some very good times at buggy house - i will all ways be very glad i worked there - going to pismo - boy are there some stories - building the little dodge d-50 pick-up into a flat bed - then putting a 2.6 with a turbo - just to put one sand rail on the bed and a trailer the other - all this to get over the pass to slo - 

[Jim Ratto]

I always loved going to lunch with you or big Frank or little Frank. Big Frank telling stories about driving Ferraris though the Broadway tunnel at over 100mph. What about the customers that would show up at 5:05pm. Dude I just need a clutch cable, or dude I need some heater ducting. We did have some fun back then. Have you talked to Al lately. He always had stories about killing something. I just went down to the four h and killed some sheep. I would have stayed there longer but I could only work for parts for so long. I loved going back in the back to tell Jerry he had a phone call. (not fucking right now) or the scat bin in the summer time at 110 degrees.


Bryan

the best lunches were when Jerry would ask us to bring him back "something", as long as it wasn't a tuna sandwich. We'd, of course, bring him back tuna on sliced white, let it sit on the seat it the sun on the way back, and get him an unsweetened ice tea to wash it down with. The look on his face when he'd take the first bite and sip.....priceless.

Were you there when the dual spring flew out of the Rimac and got me in the nose? Oh man, blood everywhere. Jerry grabbed a cold Budweiser and shoved it in my hand "here put this on that fucker, it'll heal!"

[stealth67vw]

I remember eating lunch with you guys one time on a Saturday. Jim or Frank(Sheep) ordered pizza, mushrooms and anchovies as a joke 

[kafercup]

How about Mark with his mayonnaise that he kept in his car all day for his lunch.   

[Tony M]

staurday's were a killer with a big hangover - allready a line at the front door at 8:45 - and it never stoped till you slamed the door on the last customer at 4:45 - stan would go get lunch and you would stop and have one bite of what ever it was running from the back to the front - but then it was time to go racing - midget was loaded and ready to go 

[sheep]

I just remember being super polite and always getting the right part for the customer , no matter what hahahahahahahaha

[Jim Ratto]

staurday's were a killer with a big hangover - allready a line at the front door at 8:45 - and it never stoped till you slamed the door on the last customer at 4:45 - stan would go get lunch and you would stop and have one bite of what ever it was running from the back to the front - but then it was time to go racing - midget was loaded and ready to go 

I think there less than 5 Saturdays I worked in 10 years that I arrived there sober. Some days I went in on zero sleep. The worst was the day I went in after a Friday night of Erik Maxfield's brownies. I couldn't even see straight.

Sheep, you were the counterman we all wished we could be. Polite, professional and always the right part.   

[Tony M]

Sheep was the best - dressed that is - do you remember chuck - not the chuck that worked in back - but the other chuck - drove a little nissan pu. - about 5ft nothing - dark hair - wanbe a parts man but was not even close - hated him......

[Jim Ratto]

Sheep was the best - dressed that is - do you remember chuck - not the chuck that worked in back - but the other chuck - drove a little nissan pu. - about 5ft nothing - dark hair - wanbe a parts man but was not even close - hated him......

I never liked that littrle squirrely Chuck guy. He was like the 80's version of Mayonnaise Mark.

[Tony M]

Yes jerry is still a great guy - will allway be family - love his mom and dad - they allways made me feel like family 

[Jim Ratto]

I wonder how many quarts of Kendall 40W GT-1 (in the old white bottles!) I bought from you Tony?

I think the 80's would have been a great time to work there, except for the mini truck thing. I remember the pallets of 041 heads smack dab in middle of shop floor going in there as a kid. I think from you, I bought...

Weber 34ICT duals kit (as you guys were closing on a weeknight)

Chrome plated lowered ball joint beam

041 heads, solid rocker shafts, swivel ball screws, springs, retainers

Engle VZ25 & Scat lifters (when they were sold in a paper lunch sack)

Dellorto 36DRLA's

countless sets of the cheapie silicone plug wires (every color)

S & S Street Silencer exhaust....what a beaut THAT was.

Funny how roles are reversed huh?