Talking About Cars with Randy Kerdoon

(03-22-2019) – Stories about those in the CHP or California Highway Patrol, go back to the Broderick Crawford days with uniformed officers driving mid 50s Buicks, although how those officers transported bad guys in the back of 2 door cars is beyond me. Soon, Dragnet, Adam-12 and other shows arrived on the scene. Then around 1978, “CHiPs” arrived.

It was “the Lone Ranger” on wheels, minus the star and his sidekick angle. The team concept was in full effect. Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada were “Baker and Ponch”, two CHP motorcycle officers cruising LA’s nearly vacant freeways (they did a lot of shooting on the 118 freeway before it was actually opened for use).

Also on the show, Robert Pine (Chris Pine’s dad for those of you who were born in the 90s and beyond) and Lou Wagner, who was the quirky guy in the CHP garage who wore a lab coat to fix cars while adding gadgets that reminded you of James Bond’s Q character.

Lou also was one of the apes in the original “Planet of the Apes” movies with Charlton Heston and Linda Harrison. At a recent “Hollywood Show” at the Westin LAX, not only were Larry, Lou and Erik there, but so were some big time fans of the show, talking with their faves and getting autographs. While Erik was surrounded by mobs of people, I caught up with both Larry and Lou in a down moment. Larry talked about time racing all sorts of vehicles, the time he lost to country singer Tanya Tucker, set 8 land speed records at Bonneville, (but not IN a Bonneville), and his “Top Gun” adventures (this guy likes to fly!). Lou and his wife Deborah (who I worked with some 20 years ago at LA’s KFWB radio when it was “News 98”) were looking great, and Lou talked about the one car from his past he doesn’t need to get back….because HE STILL HAS IT!

Enjoy Talking About Cars #136, and remember, please LISTEN, SUBSCRIBE (it’s free), LIKE, SHARE/RETWEET, and COMMENT! Also remember we are now a WEEKLY podcast!! Let me know who you would like to their on future shows!

Thanks again to David Elkouby and his wife Ester of the Hollywood Show for their help with this episode.

(02-03-2019)- Proof that life can change….just like that. One day Malibu residents Gary and Denise Cerveny had 30 cars and 41 assorted motorcycles, and other vehicles stored in a building on their property……

Cars like a Hudson Italia, a Chrysler Woodie Wagon, a bathtub Nash, and a Studebaker-El Camino like custom. Candy Apple reds, faded yellows, pale greens and more. When they returned from a trip to the mid-west to see family, it was gone. All of it….gone

You never expect something like this to happen. In fact, insurance companies thought there was no way something like this could happen on their property because of all the precautions the stunt co-ordinator and his wife took to make sure it would NEVER happen.

But it did. Bob and I caught up with the Cervenys at their sparsely stocked rental home in Thousand Oaks. Very little furniture (their entire house burned as well) , but they were upbeat and with the help of their insurance companies rebuild their home and their automotive collection. LISTEN below to their story, from the unique rides in their former storage building located at their Malibu home, to their reaction to finding out about the fire, to dealing with the loss and the first car they’ve started the replacement process with. ALSO, when you listen, please SUBSCRIBE, SHARE on social media, COMMENT on what you think about the podcast!!

Since we met with Gary and Denise, they say their collection is now up to 3 cars…adding a Ferrari 308 and a Rolls. They plan to rent a storage facility to house those cars and their future purchases.

(12-08-2018) – Talk about the TV show Dukes of Hazzard,  the General Lee and those “Good ol’ Boys” are the big topics, but everyone remembers Daisy Duke.    Her hot pants, her fun loving spirit, did I mention hot pants?  And the pure delight in her face when she was able to get behind the wheel of her Plymouth or Jeep or even Uncle Jessie’s pick up truck and drive like she studied at the “Starsky and Hutch” driving school.    Fans loved actress Catherine Bach.   

Fans tuned in to her various appearances in Dukes related shows from 1979 all the way thru 2003.    

I caught up with Catherine at the EG Auctions event at Indio where I found out about her first car, that she once dog sit a pooch at a 120 miles an hour, a John Schneider connection to her appearance in Cannonball Run II, and a “how Hollywood works” story about a movie role that landed her in Thailand.

Also on this episode, the host of “Wheeler Dealers-France” Gerry Blyenberg.     Gerry lives in Los Angeles, but 7 months out of the year, plays the Mike Brewer role as the guy who seeks out cars for his mechanic to rebuild.   I caught up with Gerry when I was interviewing Mike and Ant Anstead for my TAC 125 interview at their Huntington Beach, California workshop studio!     

This isn’t the first time Gerry has hosted this kind of car fix-up show.    Would you believe a French…”Pimp my Ride?”

LISTEN to Gerry and Catherine in our TAC 128 podcast, Subscribe (it’s free) on omny so you will be notified when a new podcast goes LIVE!!    Also please share our show posts on social media, and like us on Facebook, Retweet us on Twitter and like us (or repost) on instagram!     And if you really like our show, rate us on iTunes (1-5 stars) and leave a comment!