Shawn, looks like you've found the Roaring Season where I did post a fair amount of info on the two flared cars on the car lot. Stealing back some of what I wrote over there...
OK, I got some information from my friend Dave Miller. He says...
"I kept that (black car) for the next 10 years. I leased it to a friend I met in Santa Maria after my relocation, and he and his pals repainted it (red) and put in an Enderle injected SBC. It took first place at a big car show in Fresno, 8 foot tall trophy which my friend still has, then it was featured in Super Chevy or Popular Hot Rodding, and a cover car on Car Craft, all in the mid 80's. It sold for a nominal sum in 1986 at an auction in the bay area. I heard a rumor that Reggie Jackson eventually bought it, but I have never bothered to confirm that."
I mentioned to Dave that the Aloha Bobby and Rose car (the red one on the Performance Classics lot with the side pipes) and the black car with the round tail lights had a similar style to them and he told me... "Both cars were built by the same person, the late Dan McLaughlin. Do some research on Dan and you'll find he owned American International Racing after Jim Garner and his buddies. Dan was mostly associated with Porsches, but in the late 1970's he built some radical "canyon racers" (read Mullholland Drive) and those two were part of a trio."
Apparently each car was stamped with a number, 1, 2 or 3. Dave thinks the black car was #1, the Aloha car #2 or #3; not sure which. Anyway, the cars were built by Dan McLaughlin and his AIR company. James Garner did not have anything to do with them other than the fact that McLaughlin acquired the rights to use the AIR name from Garner.
Where did you get those photos that you posted at the top of this thread? I've never seen them before.
