STAN DAVIS, DKP I, MY MOST UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTER

[johnl]

Last night after returning home from a parts acquisition trip for our latest car project I was on my computer.  Don't know why but I typed in Stancil Everett Davis and found an Obituary.  According to what I found he was born April 18, 1948 which I recall as correct and passed on June 17, 2010.

Ron Fleming, Ed Craig and a few others always seem to bring Stan's name up and wonder what he is up to.  Our last communication was just prior to the DKP 45th reunion back in April of 2010.  His birthdate was April 18, 1948 which is correct and according to the find he passed on June 17, 2010 which is under two months from when he communicated with several of us. 

After my discovery I spoke with Ron and Ed on the phone and the time frame seems to work.  Stan has always been my most Unforgettable Character and I'm sure he will remain so.  There are simply too many stories to tell about him.  Trust me anyone who was around him back in those times has stories...

So now the question to me is what happened to him.  When we spoke he seemed fine and was looking forward to retirement.  Maybe we'll never know but I was sorry to find this news.  To many of our guys from that era are leaving us..........

Stan as long as I have breath you will always be there when discussing those days long ago.  I hope you found peace...............

[Neil Davies]

A shame that Stan is no longer with us, but could you share a few stories with us John? From what I'd heard, he was something of a live wire!

[marc1951]

  I first met Stan Davis while helping Ron Fleming and Doug Gordon with the Under Dog. He was always hanging around the shop doing odd jobs. My first indication that Stan was "special" was when we were towing the race car to a race in Doug's bus. I was in the back and Stan was driving and we were all talking and just having fun when the police pulled us over. Everyone went silent and I saw the fear on Ron's and Doug's face. As the policeman approached the driver's window I leaned forward to see what was going on and I saw Stan pull out a gun, holding it next to the door. I sat back listening to the police officer telling Stan he had a trailer light out, never asking for an ID or anything else and then released us. That's when I found out Stan was running from the law and vowed never to be taken alive.
 
He was from Washington and did some credit card fraud and I don't know what else there and came to California to lay low for 7 years (he figured he would be safe after that), living on peanut butter and bread and doing odd jobs. I don't know how he got hooked up with Ron......Ron will have to tell that story.
 
 Stan was not a quiet person; very outgoing.....he would be the one wearing the lamp shade at a party, so to speak. I couldn't help but like him as he was so different than......well...anyone else. We became friends. He was the opposite of me so I think I got to see what I was missing.LOL  A lot, thank goodness.
 
 It didn't take long for the 7 year plan to fail and he started stealing cars......mostly VWs. He liked to steal new cars from dealerships, sell the motor and dump the rest. Can you imagine how tempting it would have been to buy a brand new 1971 motor (dual plunger case, dual port heads, cross drilled crank, etc) for $100 in 1971?

   One time, Stan stole a new Lincoln Mark IV and came by just so he, my wife and I could go to a drive-in movie. He had cut the seat belts to disarm the seatbelt buzzer. The next day he took the Lincoln to a VW dealer and wearing a suit told the salesman that he was looking for a VW for his daughter. The salesman seeing this dapper fellow driving a brand new Lincoln quickly gave him the keys to a bug for a test drive. About a half hour later, the salesman becoming worried, looked into the Lincoln and saw the keys still in the ignition (Stan usually only took cars with keys) and knew he was in trouble.

When Stan finally got caught, I went to court and got to hear the victim’s side of the stories so I have a pretty good picture of what happened at several of his adventures.

I could go on and on about his crime spree......and then there are the girls. He had a gift with the ladies......that he, of course, abused. <grin>  He is the only true pervert I've ever known. During his trial, the police who went to his apartment described it as having an unbelievable amount of sexual related hardware.
I never saw it but my wife and I set him up with a friend of ours. Now this friend of ours was quite worldly and talked openly about her shocking escapades. After their date, she did not want to see him again and would not talk about what had happened. Quite unusual for her.  Hmmmmmmm.

I’m sorry to hear that he died and I have to wonder what the circumstances were. He called me a couple months before his death and we talked for about 2 hours.  I know he also called Ron and I don’t know who else………  I believe he knew he was going to die. I need to find out.

He definitely was not a role model, by any means,  but he taught me a lot about myself and I thank him for that

That’s all for now…….

Marc Buehler

[deano]

I always wondered what happen to Stan, but I held out hope that one day, he would return the VW scene, and share some of his stories of the past. When I was first hanging around the DKP, around 1972ish, I met him at a club meeting. Sarge warned me about him upfront, so when I saw him driving a Lincoln Towncar wearing leather driving gloves, and packing a gun on the seat, I kept my eyes open for anything to happen. He was funnier than crap, and I can still recall his laugh. He used to go to the beach and take his camera and a huge lens, and take some rather interesting photos of girls, er, ah, sun bathing. He would then blow up the photos to 11x17 and show them off. Yikes. He never drove the same (borrowed) car twice, so every Sunday, it was a surprise to what he would be driving next. What a character, but he was just one slice of the entire DKP scene back in the day.

[johnl]

Marc, you've covered many aspects of Stan.  Remember when he worked at the Boston Store in the men's department.  You could stop by for a visit and leave with a complete new wardrobe.  A shirt in every color was nothing unusual.  How he continued to pull stuff like that was beyond my comprehension.

His first marriage to a gal name "Kat" who was quite reserved always puzzled me.  I wanted to think that after his time behind bars he had changed but it didn't take long to see that nothing had.  A very short time after the marriage Kat was gone, long gone.  I'm sure it didn't take her long to figure out what Stan was really all about.

I heard stories about his photo shop in Fullerton and well, knowing Stan and the ladies you can only imagine.  His adult literature collection was well known by all in the club although I never got a personal tour...  

He could be a real charmer and always had a gal on each arm.  The man could dance like James Brown as many of us use to go to a club in Fullerton on Thursday nights.  He was a real show stopper on the dance floor.

I wonder in his latter years if he had mellowed any.  I'd like to think so but somehow suspect he never changed......

[johnl]

One more story about Stan.  The last time we saw him was on Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa.  We were driving down to a local place to have dinner and as we drove by the group of car dealers there was a guy walking off the lot.  You guessed it, STAN.  I can still hear Christie saying "keep driving and don't you dare stop".   

[edcraig]

If you met Stan you'd like him.  A very outgoing guy.  However with time and further contact with him my opinion changed to a more negetive one.  I'm sure most anyone who knew him has a story or two.  Some pretty funny and others not so much .  I think Marc's note is a pretty good summary of him and I think the description of "colorfull" personality sums it best.

He worked for me at the Auto Haus Buena Park store for a few years. One day he was helping a customer time his car.  A few minutes into it he came back in, in total shock. Stan had his hand on the generator belt when the guy hit the ignition cutting off the upper portion if one of his fingers.

One of the funniest things I ever saw was him dirty dancing with another DKP member at the end if a car ralley. I wish I could describe it better as it was something to see. 

Stan was wild and did a lot of bad things.  Still, he was funny and tried to be warm and helpfull to people as when he was helping the customer with his car.

RIP Stan

...Ed

[Jim Ratto]

Sarge has shared many stories about Stan Davis with me. My sides were splitting. Seems like the guy lived life to its fullest.
RIP

[flemdog]

RIP Stan see on the other side! someday !

[Sarge]

Sad news about Stan but reading the stories here sure brings back some not-so-sad memories.
I was selling life insurance back then and had to wear nice clothes.  I quickly became a "regular" at
the Boston Store where Stan outfitted me in the best... I had at least eight pairs of Florsheim shoes
that I later passed on to my dad (a very religious man who would never consider wearing ANYTHING
stolen ).  Loads of the best neck ties, shirts, sweaters... you name it.  When Stan needed a place
to stay for a week, Sharon and I put him up in the back room of our rented 800sqft house... he stayed
for a month before we finally got up the nerve to ask him to please leave.  I saw it all back then... the gun,
the porn, the Wonder Bread and Skippy and more laughs then you could shake a stick at....  RIP

The only pics I have are two from the '71 Winter Nationals... Stan always wanted you to watch the "birdie"!

[Fastbrit]

Yeehah! Ain't DKP members great? 

Quite the guy, it seems. The world needs 'different' folks – but maybe stealing VWs and packing a gun isn't quite the way to go... RIP Stan.

[deano]

Stan used to be a member of these camera clubs, which go out to some remote locations and take photos of models. You pay a flat fee, and shoot as much film as possible of a selection of up and coming models. These were tame for the most part.... as I think his local beach photos were way more "interesting".... When I built my 1700cc engine for my sandrail in 1975, Stan shot the engine on a stand, in a studio of some type (can't remember), and I still have the blow up of that photo.

[johnl]

Well in Stan's memory I've obtained this to share with all of you.  It took some creative effort on my part as I couldn't copy it or even print a copy to scan.  Stan had sent me this photo of his daughter and himself back in April of 2010 when we spoke.  The photo is dated April of 2009.  He referres to his daughter as "Jess".

Other than the shorter and more grey hair he looks pretty much as I remember him back in his glory days.  I do have one more photo that I'm currently trying to share but it is giving me fits.  It is both of them camping and yes for those of you wondering there are "two" tents.  Oh God why did I go there??

[johnl]

Here is Stan's text that came with the photo.........

Hope this email gets through to you. Really great talking to you again. We all go through LIFE on different paths, and even though the one I chose
might not be the one you would choose, we're both at the same point right now....alive and well. So everything works out in the end. If we're all
alive and in our 60's then we're all together. Some of the best times of my Life were spent with members of DKP. I'll always remember them and
cherish them.
 

I'll be in touch. Tell your lovely Wife Stan says Hi.

Chou

[Fritter]

Here's a link to the posts he made on this forum

http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php?action=profile;u=2946;sa=showPosts

Seemed like a real character!  I think everyone has a person or two like that they've known in their life....as long as you stay on that person's "good" side, you're OK!

RIP

[kingsburgphil]

This really sad news. It wasn't that long ago we were exchanging emails and catching up on old times.
Unless there's a statute of limitations in place, I can't really share much. RIP my friend.

[johnl]

I've returned to this post for a couple of reasons.  Recently I stopped by Greg Brinton's shop and my old Auto Haus and DRF/DKP buddy was there.  None other than Mike Dumphy who actually helped me move into our home some 36 years ago.  Today Mike only lives just over a mile from us but I seldom see him.

Anyway, we were discussing times long ago and I mentioned that Stan Davis had passed.  Mike was shocked to hear the news and then of course the stories started coming out about those times.  I thought Greg Brinton was going to break out the Pop Corn as he was fully engrossed and his jaw kept getting lower to the ground with each story.

One that Mike relayed and I'd never heard was that when he and Stan worked in the Auto Haus Store in Orange a fellow comes in one day and wants to speak with Stan.  At this time Stan directed Mike to a remote section of the store to do "busy work" but Mike could pretty much hear what the discussion was. 

Seems that this guy was the father of a girl that Stan had photos of.  Mike said he could hear the dad saying I want all of the pictures back and all of the negatives which I guess Stan complied.  Mike also stated that he heard something like "these better be ALL of them or there would be real trouble".

Greg relayed to me that after I left Mike made the comment that he would sleep better tonight knowing that Stan wasn't out there.  I'm sure nothing negative was meant by the statement and I fully understand what he was relaying.

Yesterday some of the DKP guys got together for our monthly cruise to an interesting location and food.  For some reason Ron Fleming asked me if I'd posted anything on this site regarding Stan and of course I said yes.  Seems Ron seldom posts here although I do see something from him.  I guess he is just getting OLD..........

I'll close this post as I've done before in that Stan will ALWAYS be my most unforgettable character and I hope he found peace.

[marc1951]

Amen!