The Cal-look Lounge

With the recent closing of Nick's, I thought it would be fun to have a thread filled with memories. I could probably fill several pages myself.

I guess I should start at the beginning.

I wanna say around 1982, Der Kleiner Kampfwagens was looking for a new meeting spot. We had been meeting at the Denny's on State College and the 91 Fwy. for quite a while. and felt it was time for a change.

We were approached by the owner of a new restaurant in Fullerton called Scooter's. He was looking to make it a hang out for car people and car events. He offered us a cramped small meeting room that was above the restaurant for our weekly meetings. Did I mention hot... it was HOT!  ;D

It quickly became the DKK hangout and we'd meet there to caravan to different events.

What is truly remarkable is when I get in a circle with people like Bill Schwimmer, Henry Mayeda, Tod Fuller, Dan Mazur, Mark Kessenich, Dave Mason, Greg Brinton, Worm, Steve Wlikerson and many others and realize that we've  been standing in that same parking lot and talking about the same cars for over 30 years.

That is truly amazing and I'm VERY lucky to be a part of it.

way back in the day i had a 67 at the same time as ben salazar but sold it cause of money needs at the time. i would stop by the classic and nicks over the years the dkp guy were always great to me and a couple would mention my car(it was sold to then brand new flat four in japan) so it was with much pride i brought my car to nicks last year and was treated really great by the dkp crew. hope they keep it a place to hang out.

It's amazing how much I now want a Nick's Tee shirt.  Never wanted one until I could'nt get one.  Damn.

P.S. and a rooftop pic from Nicks was the only time one of my cars made it in a magazine...hah

I would have to say Rick summed it up pretty well. Scooters / DQ was the hang out for the baddest of the bad street racers. Big Willie showed up now and then, The School Teacher, Dark Mark, The Anglia, Mason's Belvedere. Then the vw guys too, "Spoke", Hot Tub, Sachette. Everybody would talk trash all night then we would head out to Alameda / Santa Fe at 3:00 am to watch a 9 second street race. To be young and dumb again! Bill, Rick, Mason, Greg and many other have made the same comment about standing in that parking lot 30 years ago.

This location was also known as Boondogles, which if you look up the meaning, is an interesting name for a fast food location. Doomed!

When was that Dean?

Right after it was an official Dairy Queen. Robert, the owner, decided to break away from Corporate DQ, and renamed it Boondogles. But that only lasted a short time, before he moved on...

its a pity there isn't a In-N-Out close by.... as it is the best

about 13-15 years ago some friends and I (living in Northern CA at the time) left Bay Area one Sunday morning with DQ as our destination. About 4 hours down interstate 5 we realized it was Easter Sunday and the DKP Cruise @ DQ was probably going to be a bust. We went anyway, and though pretty dead, a few choice DKP guys and their cars prowled into the lot.... Jose's black '55, Ben's blue '67 and Art's ST DRGN '67. It was all us guys really needed, 3 squeaky clean, definitive cars of the club right before our eyes. I remember some lady talked Jose into taking her for a ride in his black car, as he left the lot and cracked the 48's wide open, you could hear her screaming in the car.

A few years back I needed Carlos' help ordering two beers @ the little taqueria next door. I walked up to counter and asked for two beers and the cashier said something I couldn't understand, in Spanish, twice maybe three times. I began to kind of panic, like this was some gag. I went and got Carlos and asked him to please translate. Apparently I was ordering something with a choice of corn or flour. ? Beer??
that same night (one of the Santa's Lil Helper Cruises), I get home after a wacky night with the guys, and my wife asks me "what are those gold stars on your back pockets of your jeans??" I run to the mirror and sure enough, I had 2 "Jr Fullerton PD Officer" gold sticker stars stuck to my ass.  ::)

Actually there is an In-N-Out a few blocks away. Unfortunately the parking there really sucks.

That's usually the case at most of the In-N-Outs that I've been to... but the burgers, oh man, the burgers! lol

I'm glad to say that I attended two pre-Classic, dkp cruise nights at Nick's burgers. Before that, my exposure to the event was limited to magazine features with small photos of some badass cars. In 2010, I drove my car 8 hours to stay in Orange County with my sister for a week, and participate in the Classic events. I got to Nick's late, and the parking lot was already packed with cars and people, so I pulled across the street and left my car in the big lot. Before I could even walk across the street, Sarge and Carlos DeAlba were waving me over to bring my car. The isle was very tight and there was a ton of people, but I got the last space available in Nick's! The first thing Sarge did was offer me a beer. So there I was, hanging out at Nick's, with my car, and drinking beers with one of the founding members of DKP. I was honored being that I was just some random dude from the SF Bay Area. I put about 1100 miles on my car that week and it is one of my favorite VW memories.

One funny note about Nick's: my friend from SF, who is a member of DBK, was there 3 or 4 hours before me and his car was only a few feet from mine. He asked me how the heck I got in there. I told him they waved me in from across the street. Something to do with the fact that I drove my car. He wasn't too happy. ;D