Web article on The Arnett/Granatelli/Couch 1934 Ford Coupe | Mac's Motor City Garage

lovely photos and history of dad's modifications :)  We are thinking and missing him today...

http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2013/07/23/the-arnettgranatellicouch-1934-ford-coupe/

It is Christmas Day and I found this lovely video.. 

Love this OB Lights at night...

Aerial Above Garrison Street - Beautiful Christmas Lights Display
from Grijalva Films
on Vimeo.

  This is a link from Richard Venza about

"The Arnett/Granatelli/Couch 1934 Ford Coupe"   it is a nice article.

Wheels TV video of Joaquin Arnett

Filmed at Joaquin's resident in San Diego, CA 

I found this video of Dad, around 2010. It was made when he was 76 years old..

I love being able to hear his voice and see him so into his cars and friends.. He loved racing and building the cars. He had such a camaraderie with the hot rod community.. Many of his personal photos are in this film.  We still have these and are still on the big display boards my brother, Jeff Arnett and I currently have.  

Long time childhood friends, Ruben Lovato, and Leo Leyba both original Bean Bandits are in this video. Dad is discussing the club and roles of the members, including Carlos Ramirez, the driver, and alternate driver Andrew Ortega.  The Paradise Mesa drag strip was being used for the groups beginnings and is shown here.. My mom Viola Arnett, Dad and I watched it at the Petersen Museum at a dinner honoring the pioneers of drag racing. Dad had asked for a copy but things did not turn out. I was glad to see this little gem of a film.. thanks to Wheels TV..

If you would like to comment feel free to do so.. any stories you have to tell are welcomed.. Please leave you contact info if you wish...

Thanks Jackie

Well here it is again, and I have not written on this site.. Thinking of dad especially during the holiday season, we always loved the celebrations with family and friends.. I found this article written by Ron Muller It was in dad's multiple collections. It also mentions my Uncle, Emery Cook.  I miss those days of the long ago past.  Dad is wearing one of his favorite shirts, and is with my beautiful and sweet mom, Viola.  She was definitely the woman behind the man. Always going to the multiple car part-stores and junk yards finding him this and that... They had been together since childhood.. Nice article....you can click on the article to enlarge it.. 

     Today, I have been thinking a lot about my dad, Joaquin, I am still trying to disperse his tools  & equipment.  His Lathe and Mill are now in Ramona, David Brown Blacksmith will repurpose them..  Jeff Arnett is attending to all his race cars.   I cannot believe how time rushes by.  I am trying to get myself going and organize his vast photos.. Thankfully Emmanuel Burgin is providing me with some motivation.  He is re-starting a book about Joaquin. So I am beginning to do my part in picture organizing… So so so many photos...
I have been looking at all the changes in the last years from the Bean Bandit Racing Team the friends of my dad organized to the current situation.  I am confused as to the status of the racing and cars.  Although I did not mean this blog to be about the current issues of the clubs.  I intend it to be just a memory of my father, his contributions to drag racing along with stories of his doings, from family and friends.  I am now on Facebook, and have been able to follow some of those that knew him personally.

A couple of months ago Brad Sonka sent me a note he wrote to a friend about Joaquin. This is it; 

"My father in law from my first marriage , Jaoquin Arnett, was an early dragracer. He built everything from scratch himself with no sponsors and was eventually outspent by those with sponsorships. He ran a twin engine car in the early 50's that ran in six different classes by reconfiguring the car in minutes between races. One engine, two engines fenders on or off, The first time out they won so many of the races the NHRA limited them to four classes. Their club, The Bean Bandits were the top eliminator in many of the first meets but when you read dragracing acticles about the history of dradracing, they mention all the names people are familiar with and then mention the Bean Bandits won. He mostly ran a merc engine on a rear engine chassis,, one of the very first. The engine had  a set of  Ardun heads that he had further improved and that were the first set designed and manufactured by Xorius Duntoff, the designer of the Corvette. The engine is still being raced today by the club. Duntoff tried for years to trade Joaquin another set of the heads so Duntoff could have the original #001 set. Jaoquin finally agreed to give him the brass serial number tags off the heads.

When I look at the pictures of Ivos history it makes me smile as I look at the fancy machine shop equipment and then think about Jaoquin machining his own carburetors with a drill press in his garage, shaping his own sheet metal, and machining larger parts on a brake drum lathe. He has been inducted into both NHRA and Garlitts museum. I went to his induction in Gainsville Florida held in conjunction with the NHRA Gator Nationals and witnessed the first over 300MPH run."