The Cal-look Lounge

http://www.racer.com/phil-remington-1921-2013/article/279828/ My boss and friend when I worked for Dan Gurney. Phil Remmington or (REM) one of the GREAT ! fabricators in the world. Knowing rem, He probably worked the day he died. One of the original hot rodder's !!

Danny,
     Wow! You where taught by one of the best! I am sure he will be sorely missed. Those old school guys formed our country, and created legends! He's in a better place!

Wow, sad to hear. There's a write up on him in the current TRJ if anyone is interested.

The race car industry really lost one of the real hidden hero's. Funny back in the early 90's watching the so called engineers telling rem how something was suppose to be done and Rem probably created the tec they where preaching! I was truelly lucky to work next to him, Which was not ez !! Original old school hard ass !! But he took a liken to me and was always a mentor figure to me!! Funny story, He was a type of guy that probably slept standing up ! Always on the gas and working like it was the end of the world depending on what he was building! When the race teams would leave to go to a race, He would leave a couple days before and be at the track to make any changes to the cars for race day, I took some fake combweb stuff and covered his workbench like he was gone for ever! We use to tease him on break and ask if had built a freeway on ramp on his day off over the weekend. The ole boy had a work ethic like I have never seen before! Anyway RIP (REM)

Sorry to hear this sad news, I was just reading all about him in The Rodders Journal..amazing guy..i think you could safely  say "he had been there and done it"..one of the great's R.I.P

How lucky you were, Danny, to have learned and served under the Best around!
I'll celebrate his life by giving it my all and doing the best I can. Not just today, Everyday!
Rest in Peace, Phil Remington! You deserve it!

http://allamericanracers.com/mr-fix-it-phil-remington/ Thanks tom for posting this one! This says it all about REM !!

Very sad news. A true craftsman,the likes of which we will never see again.

As well as a supreme craftsman Rem was a true hot-rod pioneer. Everything we do in this industry is built on the shoulders of these pre-/post-war rodders. I put Mr. Fix It right up there with Mr. Bracket (Doane Spencer). Man, imagine the car they'd build (provided they didn't kill each other first).

Danny, I didn't know you worked for Gurney.

Was back in the early 90s at the end of the GTP program and the start of the indy car stuff, Did not get along with chuck palmgren and told him where to go !! LOL. And your right about REM and Spencer, That black 32 he was building was the she-ot! Don't forget LUGI !! Now there was a great FABI !!

Never met chuck but I've met a lot of people like him for sure! Didn't meet Luigi either. I got to go to Eagle once a looong time ago with my dad. Even when I still lived in Costa Mesa I kept telling myself that I should take Rem for lunch. Just did that with Isky when I went down for Grand National. He let us walk all over the place and take photos.

From what I know Doane was more or less directing the kid (whose name escapes me) who did the fab. Regardless, it's his idea and an incredible car. It's a mixed blessing that the car got finished. It's way too nice to thrash and let's face it, it was designed to beat on.

Ya (Lujie Lesovsky) Gave REM a job after WW11 Here is something lujie built in the late 40s and was restoreing for a guy back east when he passed away at 85. My friend lance laughlin at the funeral told the owner about me and I got the job of finishing and painting, Even to guy that originally striped it came over and striped the scallops and numbers that I sprayed. Was a great honor to finish this thing up!! And to see all the hand made parts.

And a Gurney tub I was doing some work on, Panels shaped at ca metal shapers in LA out of 2024 alum. And REM finished assembly.

Danny,
     Finally, we can match the name with a mug-shot! HA!!!! Nice, very nice work!

Man, that midget is a real sweetie! Lujie died in the early/mid '90s so that must've been around then.

Wasn't your shop in Orange? I remember that you lived in Orange--like off Batavia or something. Was it Capri or Westway? I was visiting (drinking and acting the fool) at Jeff Vodden and Vic's (Shifters car club) house when you came by and we shot the shit. Man, i think that was around New Years 2001.

Funny thing about forums ! never know who you are talking with!! And thanks.

Yeah, I know that area. You were on the other side of Kraemer from Topline. In fact I once bought an H.0. 5.0/AOD combo from a guy who used to have a shop in Zuma. There was another guy named Leroy who was a hell of a welder in there.

Man, I can't imagine the tooling Lujie had. I went to a few estate sales in Long Beach area at houses where aerospace old timers lived. In fact I got a lot of my machine tooling and boxes from a few of those joints. I loved trying to decipher some of the specialty tooling that they had.

Just finished reading the story that Zach referenced in the new Rodders Journal about Dann Webb's recreation of the Remington Modified Lakester. DePaulo, Scarab, Cobra, GT40, Holman & Moody, Gurney...that guy did it all!

Yes he did ! One of the top five fabricators I have ever meet!

He was responsible for mounting the first 48's on the Cobra :o

Very cool, Road and Track did a write up on (REM) in the july issue