the first inch pincher and its eventual demise

[therealonevwnut]

the mystery pertaining to the original empi inch pincher is no more.
i know the REAL story about the famous 53 oval that started all this.
i am talking about the history after the empi days, the days nobody seems to be able to recall. well, all i can say, is that its a dogs life....
for several years after the empi days, the oval window became a dog house. recieving various coats of primer and general decay.
however, sometime in the mid 80's, the car was purchased by todd reynolds and mike lanning. i have personally seen the photos of the car being delivered on a vw-based-double-rear-axle-with replica fuchs alloys-flatbed truck. the body, although having primer covering most of the exterior, the right rear quarter panel still shows its metalflake orange paint with logos and sponsors on the side. also, the guy who owned the car specifically said that it was "an inch pincher". the car was a 1953 oval with a straight front axle, fiberglass rear decklid, front and rear aprons still intact, although minimally intact, aluminum floorboard & firewall.
plus, the vin determining it to be a 1953 year.
the car was re-built, painted light blue, and raced on the streets in the 80's, usually whittier, el monte, and ultimately being rolled and totalled in long beach by *(current inmate in calif. st. prison) mike lanning.
todd reynolds still builds and restores vws and is a die-hard vw good guy.
mike lanning is in prison for life. he killed his wife for no good reason.
but that is the story of the original inch pincher.....

[beetleboy58]

Where do you get this info?

[bugnut68]

[therealonevwnut]

all i can say is that i am a good friend of todd. i have seen the photos of the inch pincher, and was there FIRST HAND when mike pulled his stunt. all in the prime of our vw love,, the pro stock, now warren skaggs pro stock, was the #1 pro stock thanks to andy costello rip and we had a shop in riverside next door to lee leightons shop. dean lowry would stop in regularly to visit with lee and things were crazy fun,,, but mike had to screw all that up... but to all those who dont know,,,, todd reynolds is still vw crazy,, still building motors, and just a very cool guy. ive known him for over 15 years and i was there with the pro stock days, having helped build the car AND design the paintjob that is still used by warren skaggs. *i have all the artwork still to prove it besides my name WAS on the car before it was sold to warren skaggs. but nevertheless, it was fun and a cool experience to play with that car. but more importantly, i want to clear up any/all misunderstandings about the whole lanning situation.
mike lanning did something really stupid. to this day, neither todd nor i or anyone can understand what went through mikes tiny brain. but we all had to endure that horrible event. but the guilty one is dealing with the penalty hes due. as for us, just another vw event to look forward to.

[Dean1]

Number one.... The first Inch Pincher was not a '53, but rather a 1956! Check the many stories on this famous car and you will confirm that fact. Next, if you call Darrell Vittone, you will find out that the when he built the Inch Pincher II, he REUSED the Inch Pincher One chassis! So, the only thing remaining at that stage was the body shell (there are numerous photos to prove this as well). That '56 body sat at Empi for years (never primered by the way), and was ultimately sold to a guy who lived in Mexico. From there, the "body" has gone out of sight among the VW industry. All you have to do is to prove your story, is ask those who were there, and are still around (Darrell Vittone, Paul and Mark Schley, etc).

[Dave]

Hey Deano, Darrell will back your story up.. Wifey and I just got back from a trip up the OR coast, (Salmon and crab season are over, so no real reason to stay home.. ) and we happened to stop by Sheridan on the way back.
When I was able to spend some time with Joe Vittone a few years back in Florida, he basically said the same thing that Dean1 and Darrell are saying.
Sir, I would LOVE to see some sort of proof of what you are saying. There are many, many people out there, who have tried to find the remains of the original Inch Pincher, and have come up with a blank. I'm not going to come right out and say you are incorrect, but I would want to see some definite proof before I lend any credence to your story..
The only 1953 Inch Pincher that I am aware of, was Richard Guarino's 1953 Split Window "Inch Pincher 3" that was run out of Richard's shop, Competition Car Parts of New York, on Boston Post Road in the Bronx. And that one is most certainly in the posession of Mr. Komori, of Flat-4, and it resides in his museum in Japan.
Reynolds & Lanning? Geez, I remember that car when it was being sponsored by SoCal Imports, and when my good friend, the late, great, Andy Costello, was driving it. I didn't know what had happened to the car, and when I was at an event in the midwest (I think it was the MI Bug-In in Dundee, MI, IIRC) I about $hit when I saw Warren Skaggs pull up in the car. That was one of the straightest running cars I had ever seen, and while I haven't seen as many passes as Dean1, I've seen a few...
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2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"

[Dean1]

On the matter of the remains of the Inch Pincher One... It has come to my attention that one of the original doors from this car has surfaced. While not displayed in public (yet), still this door, still orange/original race paint with lettering intact, remains here in the States.

[Bruce]

[vwluver74]

oddly enough, i was wondering the fate of the famous "Inch Pincher" the other day. i cant imagine the amount of money a collector would be willing pay for the car (in any condition). it would be interesting to know what happened to the car, and its journey thus far.

are the other inch pinchers accounted for? too and three?

[Jason C]

[Dean1]

[Dave]

Deano is right on this one... he and I contacted every owner of the Inch Pincher 3, from Richard Guarino, to Mr. Komori, and everyone in between. I don't have the facts in front of me, or the timeline (Deano, it was in the top right drawer of my desk, if there's chance it is still there)
but I do recall, that someone (was it Rich Kimball? I don't remember, but I know his name popped up in the history somewhere) bought the car, or went in "halve-sies" with someone else, took the original BRMs off, and re-sold the car. It then went through some owners in SoCal, then FL, (as Dean1 mentions) and ultimately, into the Komori Flat-4 museum in Japan, where there have been numerous photographs of the car taken, in repose there.
As a matter of fact, I talked with Richard Guarino yesterday...
I remember when I first met him, and he told me the story of how he acquired the Inch Pincher 3- he bought it from a private party in Manhattan, and had the owner drive it to the Bronx, where he paid 50 bucks for the car... he sold the engine, transaxle, and wheels and tires for the 50 bucks he paid for the car, and ended up with a free split window bodyshell and pan.
_________________
2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"

[therealonevwnut]

wow,, the responces are amazing. i knew that this would stir up alot of questions, answers, storys, and lots of conversations....
ok, the "proof" that i have, or have knowledge of, is that i have personally viewed the photos myself, photos of an oval window body, with VERY distinct and definate features. metalflake orange paint with gold pinstriping, the lettering on the quarterpanel, the fiberglass rear "empi" decklid. todd reynolds specifically recalls being told by the guy who sold it to him, that, it was an "inchpincher".
and, as far as the vw-flatbed goes,,,, this thing was a trip. it had DOUBLE rear axles,, (2-sets of rear tires) and they were replica alloys,, (the wide-five kind),,, and it was like orange/red & yellow.... but ANYHOW, the car , as i said previously, was streetraced and eventually crashed, rolled several times, was completely destroyed and no longer exsists in any form. if i am in any way mistaken, misled, or incorrect, then, "my bad". as in most "mysterys", there are countless alternate explanations and opinions. but the story, the facts i have presented, ( facts as i have experienced myself) are basically like,, "thats my story, and i am sticking to it"!!! peace y'all

[veedubcrazy]

Could those "personally viewed photos" be scanned and posted for all to see?
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1967 Deluxe Sedan
1971 Squareback - "The Silver Surfer"

[therealonevwnut]

i will work on getting the photos online somehow. todd has them. i just need to get him to scan them and all that fun stuff....

[Dave]

Any heretofore unknown photos of any Inch Pincher, would be welcomed by every EMPI nut out there. Hot VWs ran some photos that reknowned photographer Bob McClurg had of some of the early EMPI Race Cars, a few years back, that had been previously unpublished, I don't recall the actual issue, but it wouldn't be too hard to find out...
I got a bunch of reprints of the Original Rader-equipped Inch Pincher from Glenn Miller some years back, and have them as part of my (very small now) EMPI collection.
Please, by all means, see if you can get them scanned, and show them to the world, I know I'm not the only one that would appreciate it...
_________________
2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"

[therealonevwnut]

i shall do my best to get them asap

[Dean1]

To add/correct my text above, Randy Ingrasoll sold the Inch Pincher III to Kevin Jeannette of Gunnar Porsche Racing in Florida, where it remained until Gino Garcia bought it and brought it back to California. From there, it went to Flat Four, and to Japan. Prior to Randy owning the car, it was owned by Mark Bruto, Rich Kimball and Kris Klingaman, in some order...

Another note, one of the original tow vehicles used for the Inch Pincher 1 was a strtched single cab flatbed (ramp truck), that was powered by a Corvair engine (last seen in Virginia). That particular truck was shown in many old photos, with the Inch Pincher 1 on the back bed. That unique truck was red with the Empi logo on the doors, but did not have Fuchs on it.

I don't see where Todd and Mike are connected with either Empi cars...

[57Drag]

Lets all dig out some pictures of all the cars and that tow truck?I know I have some on my computor.
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[Dave]

I can't find mine, I know that Don Haight, of Virginia, had some, and thought he had the actual truck..
I did find these, Joe Vittone, Richard Guarino, and Lee Leighton, all together for the first time in many years at the Bug-In "Mixer" that was put on by Scat the night before the Bug-In, a photo of the Inch Pincher being towed by what some claim was turned into that Single Cab everyone is talking about (not proven, as far as I know, yet..) and a photo of the Inch Pincher, that is notable to me... you see that skinny, gangly kid, sitting on a barrel right over the "S" and the "B" in the Carlsbad Raceway sign? I can't prove it, but I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that that kid is ME. I remember seeing a flash from the camera, over on the non-pit side of C-bad, I don't know who the photographer was, but I remember that lil' ol' VW beating up on some pretty impressive American Iron that day...And I have posted before, the C-bad payout slip, dated July 14th, 1968, in the amount of 250 dollars, for Street Eliminator win, to some guy named Dean Lowry.. and I think that he hadn't left EMPI yet and started DDS on Borchard in Santa Ana yet, so chances are, he got that check driving that orange car..

_________________
2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"