04-30-2021, 04:38 AM
American Honda started business in n a small storefront in L. A., 4 blocks from where I grew up. Now, most of it's motorcycle division is moving to their assembly plants in South Carolina or Georgia or Ohio. Bear in mind, most of this was administrative, and some upper management remains, along with Honda and Acura cars.
From L.A., Honda then moved south 20 miles to Gardena, across from Isky Cams, and from there, to nearby Torrance, a stone's throw from Edelbrock. I mention Isky and Edelbrock because the '60s and '70s were an explosive time for cars and motorcycles and things on wheels, and So Cal was the center of it all.
Many of the 2 million who had come out to work in wartime aircraft plants and shipyards stayed afterwards for the weather, and found peacetime jobs at Boeing and Douglas and Lockheed, or in the new aerospace industry. And these were gearheads, eager to get their hands on a machine, tear it apart, figure how to make it faster and better.
Without good timing and the So Cal car and bike culture, the motorcycle industry , especially Honda, would not have have had the boom it did. (In the early '70s, Honda had 50% of the market.) Now times are different, the nature of business, the market, and the population have changed. It was a great run, great fun for 63 years. Hope for more wherever you are.
Adios
From L.A., Honda then moved south 20 miles to Gardena, across from Isky Cams, and from there, to nearby Torrance, a stone's throw from Edelbrock. I mention Isky and Edelbrock because the '60s and '70s were an explosive time for cars and motorcycles and things on wheels, and So Cal was the center of it all.
Many of the 2 million who had come out to work in wartime aircraft plants and shipyards stayed afterwards for the weather, and found peacetime jobs at Boeing and Douglas and Lockheed, or in the new aerospace industry. And these were gearheads, eager to get their hands on a machine, tear it apart, figure how to make it faster and better.
Without good timing and the So Cal car and bike culture, the motorcycle industry , especially Honda, would not have have had the boom it did. (In the early '70s, Honda had 50% of the market.) Now times are different, the nature of business, the market, and the population have changed. It was a great run, great fun for 63 years. Hope for more wherever you are.
Adios