Episode 249 features Gary the Appraiser, Gary Haugley from B&R Buggie

Falling into automotive without a plan, Gary Haugley has made a career of buggies, cars, and off-road. From building to appraising, car show judging and building stories. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.

7:52 – I had no clue, no clue what was going on… 

13:33 – I walked into B&R Buggy, the guy who owns it says, “you’ve got to buy this place;” he goes, I got in trouble with a little side job, I’m leaving.             

21:22 – I need to know what I need to do to be an appraiser, Tony was real quiet, then he goes, “no, you don’t have questions for me, I got questions for you.”

27:12 – I thought this guy was going to take me out, he goes, “I own a lot of cars. I have a lot of money. I pay a lot of people a lot of money to make sure it’s perfect. You’re the first one to notice it’s not.” He put out his hand and said, thank you.

35:41 – We got him a brand new car, big four-seater, and donated it to him, that’s how I got involved with Warfighter Made 

41:18 – The Sergeant Major hated me because I was non-military, he called me out of the blue one day, “I need some help.”

54:39 – they busted their butts with side jobs, and got to keep the buggy, it’s a great story

Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.

Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.

Transcript

[00:00:01.060] 

Welcome to Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview-style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the off-road industry. Being involved, like all of my guests are, is a lifestyle, not just a job. I talk to past, present, and future legends, as well as business owners, employees, media, and land use warriors, men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle we call off-road. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes, and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active and off-road. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call off-road.

[00:00:46.170] 

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[00:01:13.020] 

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[00:01:40.250] - Big Rich Klein

My next guest went from a tire store employee to a buggy shop owner, Driving Skills Trainer, Vehicle Appraiser, Car Show Judge, and is now an ORMHOF board member, Gary Haugley. Gary Haugley, it's so good to have you here on on the podcast. I just want to say thank you for taking the time and doing this. We're going to talk about your life. We're going to talk about your role on the ORMHOF Board of Directors. And we let everybody know, Gary and I came on to the Board of Directors at the same time, and Gary's a really cool dude. And so for all of you that don't know the off-road racing side and have come across Gary, he's got a pretty rich history, and we're going to get into that.

[00:02:31.520] - Big Rich Klein

But Gary, thank you so much for spending the time.

[00:02:35.340] - Gary Haugley

Well, thank you, Rich. I appreciate the call. That's interesting.

[00:02:39.080] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, well, so let's get started with the easiest question there is, and that is where were you born and raised?

[00:02:48.740] - Gary Haugley

It's interesting. I was born in Paris, France.

[00:02:52.090] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, wow.

[00:02:53.600] - Gary Haugley

My mom was in the army, and come to find out after she passed a few years ago that got in all her paperwork and stuff, found out she was an encryptor, and she was working with Eisenhower staff during the war. It's interesting. Then I came over here and basically, long story short, settled in in the University of California, and I've pretty much been here ever since.

[00:03:19.620] - Big Rich Klein

So your mom was in the military, but she was a US citizen?

[00:03:23.850] - Gary Haugley

She was in the army, yeah. I had dual citizenship till '69.

[00:03:28.790] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, wow. Okay. That's really cool. Do you speak French?

[00:03:34.940] - Gary Haugley

I did when I was a little guy.

[00:03:36.320] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Yeah, if you don't use it, you lose it. Right. That's my Spanish. I took three years of Spanish and two years of German, and all I can do is find a bathroom and order a beer.

[00:03:52.730] - Gary Haugley

Well, at least you got this stuff right.

[00:03:55.220] - Big Rich Klein

This is the most important, at least.

[00:03:57.320] - Gary Haugley

You got that right, yeah.

[00:03:59.050] - Big Rich Klein

So then When you move over, how old were you when you came back to the States?

[00:04:06.330] - Gary Haugley

I think it was like three or four, something around in there. Okay.

[00:04:11.040] - Big Rich Klein

So you don't really remember that transition?

[00:04:13.870] - Gary Haugley

No, not whatsoever.

[00:04:15.150] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. You said you moved back into what city?

[00:04:19.900] - Gary Haugley

Vista, California. Vista.

[00:04:20.630] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. What was it like growing up in Vista?

[00:04:27.960] - Gary Haugley

It was a town. In fact, it is still small, just getting a little bigger. We're about 25 miles north of San Diego and inland a few miles. There's a lot of hot rods at that time, cruising to drive-ins and all that stuff, which has somewhat gone away over the years.

[00:04:48.180] - Big Rich Klein

Cruising everywhere has.

[00:04:51.270] - Gary Haugley

Cruising Escondido, cruising over the Coast, cruising Vista, staying out of trouble, going to Carlsbad Raceway, racing over there, the drag races and stuff like that.

[00:05:02.780] - Big Rich Klein

Did you say staying out of trouble or staying in trouble?

[00:05:06.680] - Gary Haugley

Staying out of trouble. Okay. I don't ever want to admit to anything.

[00:05:10.720] - Big Rich Klein

I'll admit that things like, I do not have a mug shot. That's been my goal in life, is to avoid a mug shot.

[00:05:22.770] - Gary Haugley

That's interesting. I think I have one. I'm joking.

[00:05:26.770] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Because I know that there's one instance where I should have, but I was young, and my dad was on the City Police Department as a lieutenant in the Reserves. And so They just came and got me, you might say.

[00:05:48.180] - Gary Haugley

You got to look at that one.

[00:05:52.130] - Big Rich Klein

Yes. But it was harmless stuff, just being teenagers.

[00:05:59.060] - Gary Haugley

That's true. Got to have fun.

[00:06:01.300] - Big Rich Klein

So going to school there, how big was the schools that you went to?

[00:06:06.270] - Gary Haugley

Just high school wasn't all that big. I don't remember how many people were in there as a long time ago. But it was for the area, it was normal, about the same size as Oceanside, Escondido High School, stuff like that. I graduated in 1971.

[00:06:23.110] - Big Rich Klein

In 1971, a couple of years before me. So did you You were right there at the end of the draft period for Vietnam. That is correct. Were you worried about that as you were getting closer and closer?

[00:06:44.500] - Gary Haugley

One of my best friends, we were involved in the lottery draft. He was so stressed out that a couple of days before it was all announced, he went and joined. Come to find out both our numbers were at the bottom end of the poll. He went and did a tour in the army.

[00:07:01.790] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. Okay.

[00:07:03.920] - Gary Haugley

And I stayed here. Yeah.

[00:07:06.240] - Big Rich Klein

It was one of those things that I was watching as a kid. I graduated in '76. Okay. But we didn't know how long it was going to last at that point.

[00:07:16.320] - Gary Haugley

Oh, I know. It's crazy.

[00:07:17.880] - Big Rich Klein

And I had all sorts of cousins and everybody that went into the military, and some of them came back pretty messed up.

[00:07:27.090] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, I deal with a lot of them still to this day.

[00:07:30.000] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Because you volunteer time with Warfighter, correct?

[00:07:35.330] - Gary Haugley

That is correct.

[00:07:36.910] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. We'll get into that a little later. When you were going to school, high school, did you have a favorite subject or did you know what you were going to do while you were in high school?

[00:07:52.700] - Gary Haugley

I had no clue. I had no clue what was going on. I enjoyed the classes. We I had a good time in there. I know I was always into the automotive part. I think when I was in a senior in high school, a company came in. God, I can't think of the name of the company that they had an automotive school that you go to. It was over in Phoenix, Arizona. After I graduated, went over to Phoenix, went to school for a while. It turned out the school was a joke. So came home on a couple of breaks and talked to my mom. All the parents got together and got all the money's back because it wasn't as it was advertised. So then I just stayed in the automotive business.

[00:08:37.780] - Big Rich Klein

When you were in high school, let's talk about maybe your first car.

[00:08:46.060] - Gary Haugley

'57 Chevy.

[00:08:47.190] - Big Rich Klein

'57 Chevy. Nice. And Two door?

[00:08:53.860] - Gary Haugley

Actually, it was a Two door wagon.

[00:08:56.280] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, nice. But not the Nomad?

[00:08:59.970] - Gary Haugley

No.

[00:09:02.730] - Big Rich Klein

Wouldn't it be nice to have one of those?

[00:09:05.760] - Gary Haugley

I had a '56 Nomad for a while. They're fun cars. Yeah. Nice.

[00:09:10.560] - Big Rich Klein

I like the '55s and the '56s better than the '57s.

[00:09:14.970] - Gary Haugley

The sevens are a little bigger. The five and sixes are a little bit smaller, a lot easier to get around. The 57 has always been the most costly of the three. Right.

[00:09:26.140] - Big Rich Klein

I didn't like the bigger tail fin All the wings in the back, the fins, yeah.

[00:09:34.370] - Gary Haugley

That's where they got to hide the gas cap.

[00:09:36.270] - Big Rich Klein

Right. I just came across the guy today in a built 70 CAD convertible. Oh, really? And he drives up and it's the guy's probably right around '70. It had a big cam in it. You could tell that it was all custom exhaust, just pretty much straight. And it still had the torque thrust wheels on it. Thrust finish wheels? Yeah. And I was just like, Dude, nice car. And he was pretty proud of it. It was pretty sweet.

[00:10:17.910] - Gary Haugley

Those cars are fun. I deal a lot with those guys.

[00:10:22.710] - Big Rich Klein

Let's talk about... You said you got into the automotive industry. What did you do early on, when you came back from Phoenix, did you working for a shop or what?

[00:10:36.260] - Gary Haugley

I went to work basically for a Firestone, a tire and rubber in Oceanside, California. Started out as a brake mechanic. After, I think it was two and a half years, they sent me back to Akron, Ohio for store manager training. Came back from Akron, and I ran the Firestone store in Oceanside for a while. Then they closed out for a new location. I went to the new location Poway, and stayed with them for a while. Then I left and went on to the entire business in another location for a while.

[00:11:10.200] - Big Rich Klein

A different company?

[00:11:11.600] - Gary Haugley

Mm-hmm.

[00:11:12.090] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. I did the same thing with Sears Automotives. Oh, really? Yeah, I had two stints there where I started off as... They hired me to do AC work because through high school, I'd worked in an AC shop. Then There was no AC work to do when they hired me. So I was in the exhaust shop. I spent like one day in batteries, two days in tires, and then they moved me to the exhaust shop.

[00:11:41.810] - Gary Haugley

A little bit of everything, get some proper cross training.

[00:11:44.310] - Big Rich Klein

Exactly. I did everything but alignments at that time. And then went off to college. And then in the '90s, I went back to work for Sears as a salesman and ended up being, they moved me really quickly up into management First as an assistant store manager for one year, and then I managed a number of different stores in the Bay Area. Just fixing right after... Remember when Sears got nailed with Bureau of Automotive Repair?

[00:12:14.160] - Gary Haugley

Oh, B-A-R Yeah, they got them pretty good.

[00:12:16.450] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, they did. I was part of the team. I had just gotten hired back with them, and I was part of the team that went through all of the complaints to figure out why Sears got busted, and then worked on the team to make adjustments in how we approach sales so that that stuff wouldn't happen again.

[00:12:39.520] - Gary Haugley

That's a rough one right there.

[00:12:40.910] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, but it was great because it was really high profile in the company, and it made me move up really quick.

[00:12:48.800] - Gary Haugley

That's good. You got lucky. You could have gone the other direction real quick.

[00:12:51.830] - Big Rich Klein

Exactly. But after five years, I saw the writing on the wall that Sears was really starting to screw the pooch. So I bailed. But that's been my modus operandi, is I never did anything for more than five years, whatever business I worked for or ran or started of my own, until I became an off-road event promoter.

[00:13:19.080] - Gary Haugley

That's good.

[00:13:20.230] - Big Rich Klein

I get bored.

[00:13:22.840] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, I can understand.

[00:13:26.130] - Big Rich Klein

So work in the tire business, you Firestone and then another company? How long?

[00:13:33.100] - Gary Haugley

I did that for probably about a year and a half. During my fun time, we used to go to Ocotilla Wells and have fun. I used to buy my parts down at B&R Buggy, Oceanside, off of Industry Road. The guy that owned it at that time was a retired insurance rep out of Orange County. That's where he was from. He'd come down, stayed during the week in his motor home, and then they'd go home on the weekends. He ran into some marital issues after a bit. I walked in there one day and he goes, You got to buy this place. I go, What do you mean you got to buy this place? He goes, I'm leaving. He goes, I got in trouble with a little side job. He left and I borrowed... What did I do? I think I borrowed 20 grand from my mom because I didn't have the cash. I had family. Basically, bought it. There was a guy that ran the counter. There was a guy in a mechanic that ran the back room. I go in there and I have no clue, except I knew somewhat what was going on.

[00:14:45.630] - Gary Haugley

Was there, I don't know. I think it was about a week, and the guy in the back was stealing. Caught him stealing. Then the guy in the front caught him stealing, so I'm standing there all by myself. That was what I did. I moved from that location to a bigger location and was helped from a lot of friends and family. I was there almost 40 years.

[00:15:07.140] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. Was that a parts place and mechanics place, or what work did you guys do there? I'm not familiar with it.

[00:15:22.290] - Gary Haugley

A full showroom. We did fabrication mechanical. Had four buildings, all kinds of stuff. Did a lot of wholesale. Came out with a line of aluminum wheels back in... God, I don't know what year that was. Aluminum wheels made in America. It was like a center line. That business sold what the B&R. But we did a lot of fabrication, a lot of mechanical, a lot of everyday mechanical people. We worked on hot rods during the summertime when off-road was slow, and then the wintertime, we did a lot of the dirt stuff.

[00:15:58.110] - Big Rich Klein

Very good. How old were you about when you took over B&R?

[00:16:05.890] - Gary Haugley

Wow. Testing my memory. It's probably early '20s. Okay, cool. It was a life change, but fortunately, I had a lot of good friends, and a lot of people helped me through the years when running the issues and stuff. Made a lot of great friends, a lot of people. Did some little racing here and there as I could afford it. It was fun.

[00:16:33.790] - Big Rich Klein

What class did you race in?

[00:16:37.890] - Gary Haugley

I raced Saddleback in a Class II car, Saddleback up in Orange County. Then in the desert, did a 516 car, 216 car. A little bit of everything. I had a great time. My son has won a Class 11 champion three years in a row.

[00:16:57.960] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, cool.

[00:16:59.150] - Gary Haugley

It's been in a family.

[00:17:00.150] - Big Rich Klein

I just interviewed Aaron Wedeking from PRP, and your name came up as his first customer.

[00:17:13.080] - Gary Haugley

That's true. I used to be a big beard seat dealer, and Ed and Barbara owned beard. They were out of Arizona, and their son's name was Levi. Super great people. They used to sell a lot of the beard seats. They sold the business, and I'm sitting there going, Oh, what am I going to do about seats? Some guy came in the front door one day trying to pimp some seats, and that's when I met Aaron. Then I bought all the seats he had on that day. It was neat. We had a good friendship through the years.

[00:17:45.410] - Big Rich Klein

Right. So what other products besides the seats and the wheels were you known for?

[00:18:00.200] - Gary Haugley

That's pretty much about it. The wheels and the seat. The seats were just a part of inventory. I saw a lot of seats. But I saw a little bit impy, a little bit of true Hoff, a little bit of true off, a little bit of everybody. It was before car tech and all those guys are big and popular. But we got along great with those in the later days and stuff.

[00:18:19.580] - Big Rich Klein

Excellent. When did you meet Jan, and how did that come about?

[00:18:33.240] - Gary Haugley

I met Jan. She was co-driving with a buddy of mine called Mike Kalicki in a 516 car. He was a salesman, a nut and bolt salesman, and I used to buy from him. Of course, we were friends. Jan was his co- driver a lot of the times. That's how we met. We were friends for a long time, then we decided to get married.

[00:18:53.550] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. She was a co- driver. That's interesting.

[00:19:00.090] - Gary Haugley

Mm-hmm.

[00:19:03.680] - Big Rich Klein

She's helped you in the business, or did she have a different job?

[00:19:12.330] - Gary Haugley

She worked at a bank at first. The business, she helped me through it, here and there and stuff. I was always involved in something other than the business, so it kept things interesting.

[00:19:24.460] - Big Rich Klein

Right. How many kids do you have?

[00:19:28.060] - Gary Haugley

I have three boys.

[00:19:29.100] - Big Rich Klein

Three boys.

[00:19:30.200] - Gary Haugley

Yeah.

[00:19:31.360] - Big Rich Klein

Didn't try for five in a basketball team, huh?

[00:19:34.460] - Gary Haugley

No, just the three. The three was my first wife.

[00:19:37.920] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:19:38.680] - Gary Haugley

Jan and I have zero kids.

[00:19:40.410] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:19:41.510] - Gary Haugley

She's just a stepmom.

[00:19:43.360] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, but that's okay.

[00:19:44.880] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, she does great.

[00:19:46.270] - Big Rich Klein

The first relationship, the wife, mother of the boys, how long did that last, if you don't mind me asking?

[00:19:56.220] - Gary Haugley

Wow. She can ask me all these strange dates Roughly. I think I was six, seven years, something like that. Okay. All right.

[00:20:06.360] - Big Rich Klein

The boys are pretty close in age then?

[00:20:09.320] - Gary Haugley

Yes, they are. They're doing good.

[00:20:10.520] - Big Rich Klein

All right. What are they What are their interests now? Are they racers still?

[00:20:19.920] - Gary Haugley

My youngest son works for a exhaust company in Oceanside called Warner Muffler. He does all their custom fabrication, builds their exhaust, all their TIG welding. He's a fantastic fabricator. He's really good. Then my middle son, he just gave me a couple of granddaughters, which are amazing. He works for a company that does a lot of DNA firms and stuff like that, the coolers, make sure everything's up and running. He goes all over the West Coast. He's there a rep. The oldest, he's been on vacation for a while. He's been out of touch for a little while.

[00:20:58.640] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. You became... Which came first? The force recon training drivers for skills with the Are you in the military or becoming a vehicle appraiser?

[00:21:22.510] - Gary Haugley

Probably when I had B&R, I also had an inspection I'm a business servicing auto auctions, a desk at Mannheim Auto Auctions. I go down one day a week. I started Oceanside and ended up in San Diego. But for one day a week, I go down there and I do post-sale inspections on all their vehicles. Checking for frame, running, and transmissions, and stuff like that. I did that for 10 years. It worked out really good for one day a week. Then I had a customer one day looking for an appraisal. In the state of California, you really don't need to have to have a license to be an appraiser. It's weird. I went and checked and got on the internet, checked with the International Auto Appraisers Association. I called this guy up, and his name, it turned out to be Tony Monopaloni. I go, I need to know what I need to do to be an appraiser. He was real quiet for a second. He goes, No. He goes, You don't have questions for me. I got questions for you. Who the hell are I'm going, Who the hell is this guy? It was interesting. Basically, bottom line, he goes, He's going to send me a packet, fill it out, mail it back with a big check.

[00:22:41.290] - Gary Haugley

I thought about it and everybody goes, You're nuts. I go, No, it just seemed right. I did it and he called me up and I was an apprentice appraiser for a year. The first meeting I went to was in conjunction with the Bear Jackson auctions in January. That's where we have our auctions every year. I'm sitting, or our meetings, I'm sorry. I go sit in this room. There's like 20 some people in there and everybody introduces themselves. I'm sitting next to Carroll Shelby's personal appraiser, and this guy over here is this guy's appraiser. One guy over here from Ford Motor, another guy over here from I can't remember where. During the intermission, I go to Tony. Tony's like five foot tall, super nice guy. I go, Tony, I think I'm in the wrong location. I don't really think I deserve to be in this He took his little fat finger, stuffed it in my chest. He goes, Gary, you don't understand. Everybody in this room has their niche. I know what your niche is. Now go sit down and pay attention. But it was pretty nice. I We learn that everybody in the room, we feed off each other because nobody is a complete expert in any particular field.

[00:23:51.640] - Gary Haugley

If I have a question with this or somebody has a question with that, everybody has their little expertise. It works out fantastic. Great people, a group of people. That's why I got involved in the Auto Appraiser Association.

[00:24:08.520] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. That's something that you still carry forward. I know Because you're the official appraiser for Ormhoff as well.

[00:24:21.480] - Gary Haugley

Right. Off-road Motor Sports Hall of Fame. I've done all the stuff in there. In the museums and stuff. That's why I specialize in off-road, older cars, classics. New cars are boring, but I still do them. But I started that in 2005. Okay. I'm still doing it.

[00:24:40.830] - Big Rich Klein

And still doing it. Did that lead into the judging of vehicles as well?

[00:24:47.760] - Gary Haugley

. I think it was early, probably 2011, 2012, right in there. I was selected to be a judge at La Jolla Concourse, the Elegance. Which is one of the most prestigious car shows, basically, in the United States. I've done that for, what, 10, 12 years now? I've done the one at La Jolla, the Concourse Concours d'Elegance, I've done at Desert Classics and Rancho Mirage. Nice. Which are really fun. Coat and tie.

[00:25:25.750] - Big Rich Klein

What would you say is the the most extravagant or the most off the wall vehicle that you've had to judge? One that was just like Way above everything.

[00:25:47.870] - Gary Haugley

One of the Concourse?

[00:25:49.430] - Big Rich Klein

Sure.

[00:25:52.340] - Gary Haugley

That's really a hard question to answer. I primarily do a pre-war American, which is packards and things like that. Okay. They don't stand out, jump up and down and stuff. I've done some very interesting cars with Rory Ward's collection. I've done the Mickey cars and stuff like that. But the most stand-up I don't know. I had a problem, tentative problem down in the Concourse one day in La Hoya. I was doing a, I think 33 or 34 packer, a touring car. There's three judges to a team, and you're all dressed up and there's grass and everything. I'm not proud. I'll get down on my hands and these look on these cars. I put my clipboard down and I knelt down and I was looking at the undercarriage, looked at where the exhaust comes back. When the tailpipe goes in the muffler, it was tig-welded. Well, they didn't have tig-welders in 1934. At the end of the day, I flagged the car. The guy lost, basically, his best to show because he had previously. At the intermission during the break, I get approached by the gentleman that runs the Concourse, the owner of the car, and he wanted to know what the hell I was doing.

[00:27:12.850] - Gary Haugley

I explained it to him, and we went over to the car and I showed him. He turned and looked at me. At first, I thought he was going to take me out, get me shot. He looked at me and he goes, You know what? He goes, I own a lot of cars. I have a lot of money. I pay a lot of people a lot of money to make sure it's perfect. He goes, This car has been best to show a few places of the world. You're the first one that's noticed that. He put out his hand and shook my hand and said, Thank you.

[00:27:38.650] - Big Rich Klein

Wow, that's awesome.

[00:27:40.750] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, it scared me for a bit. I don't know what was going to happen.

[00:27:44.660] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, especially when they say they got a lot of money and they own a lot of cars.

[00:27:51.370] - Gary Haugley

That's very true. But it's a lot of fun to do. I really enjoy it. I just got invited back for this for next year.

[00:27:58.180] - Big Rich Klein

Cool. Excellent. And what time of the year is that?

[00:28:03.380] - Gary Haugley

It's usually in March, I think it is. I'd have to look at the dates. When it warms up a little bit. Right.

[00:28:10.230] - Big Rich Klein

Before it gets too gnarly.

[00:28:12.740] - Gary Haugley

True. It's right down to La Hoya, right on the cove. It's always pretty darn nice. Right.

[00:28:17.040] - Big Rich Klein

That's true. I grew up on the Northern California Coast around San Francisco. Is that Southern Coast? Do you guys get a lot of fog in the summertime?

[00:28:31.550] - Gary Haugley

No, not really. Okay. We've been in this fog lately, which is unseasonal, but every once in a while, you get a couple of days here as well, because my shop was right like a half mile from the beach for all those years, so it's used to it.

[00:28:48.890] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, because Northern California, when the valley heats up, it sucks the moisture and the fog in along the coastline.

[00:28:58.680] - Gary Haugley

Oh, okay.

[00:28:59.570] - Big Rich Klein

And That's why Mark Twain said, it's the coldest summer or the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. Because the wind and the fog, it just creates that.

[00:29:12.360] - Gary Haugley

Oh.

[00:29:13.250] - Big Rich Klein

Narrly conditions.

[00:29:15.440] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, that I can see.

[00:29:17.350] - Big Rich Klein

And then it changes in the wintertime. The coastline will be beautiful and the valleys all fogged in.

[00:29:25.790] - Gary Haugley

It's backwards.

[00:29:26.680] - Big Rich Klein

Yes, absolutely. Yeah.

[00:29:28.900] - Gary Haugley

Interesting.

[00:29:29.910] - Big Rich Klein

So let's talk about the... You said you do a swap meet. Do a lot of swap meets?

[00:29:41.340] - Gary Haugley

The Pomona swap meets, I think it's five times a year. Oh, wow. It's largest swap meet on the West Coast. There's 15 miles of swapy rows, and usually 2,000 to 3,000 cars for sale. Wow.

[00:29:57.460] - Big Rich Klein

Are you buying and selling, or are you just What do you do?

[00:30:02.460] - Gary Haugley

We have spots up there. We have a bunch of us got together and we've had the same spots for a long time. We go up there, the swap meet Sunday for the public and Saturday is set up. There's more stuff bought on Saturday and Saturday than there is all day Sunday. It's amazing. We go there, we stay there, we cook there, we walk around, buy stuff, sell stuff. It's a good time to get together with everybody.

[00:30:24.350] - Big Rich Klein

That's pretty cool. Then let's Let's talk about your personal collection of cars, because I read a little bit about that. You've got a Volkswagen thing that's pretty different.

[00:30:43.010] - Gary Haugley

That's Frank Vessel's Volkswagen thing, 6-year Volkswagen thing. At that point in time, the trim shop down in Arizona was authorized to do three of them by Volkswagen, and Scoop had one done. They used to bring by the shop every once in a while, night service it or whatever. They hadn't seen it for years. Then the scoop passed away in an airplane crash. I think it was a year or two later, I remembered it, but you don't think about it without seeing it. I heard they were trying to sell it. A friend of mine went out there and I bought it. It was pretty rough because it's been sitting outside in the dirt and stuff. I had to replace all the floors, three of the doors, all four feners, motor and tranny. It was pretty rough. I got it all done. Curtis from Race Desert heard about it. He does articles on it, so he came by and did a little picture shoot on it. Well, I had one of my customers at the shop. His name was Fred Jones. Fred is a great guy, known him forever. Coming to find out his daughter is Bonnie Vessels.

[00:31:57.320] - Gary Haugley

I had no clue they're related. After the car is done, Bonnie found out about it, and we go to the Arnulf meeting, and she walks up to me and basically flat out told me, If you ever decide to sell that car, I want first ride or refusal. It's been interesting. It's a great car.

[00:32:17.030] - Big Rich Klein

Now, she's on the board of directors. We're on the board of directors with her. She was there before us.

[00:32:23.230] - Gary Haugley

That is correct.

[00:32:25.330] - Big Rich Klein

That's pretty cool.

[00:32:26.690] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, she's a neat lady. Yeah.

[00:32:29.900] - Big Rich Klein

And what other cars do you have in your collection?

[00:32:33.560] - Gary Haugley

I have a '72 Chevelle SS convertible.

[00:32:37.080] - Big Rich Klein

Very nice.

[00:32:38.680] - Gary Haugley

And I got the thing. That's about it right now, keeping things low.

[00:32:44.940] - Big Rich Klein

Do you have a car out there that you really- Oh, I got my two-seater.

[00:32:53.170] - Gary Haugley

Forgot about that.

[00:32:55.050] - Big Rich Klein

The two-seater Buggy?

[00:32:57.560] - Gary Haugley

Mm-hmm. Okay. A 130-inch car. It's got a Chevy in the back, a V6. Built the car, it was eight, nine years ago. It resembles... I used to have a Raceco, a two-seater Raceco, a Class II car.

[00:33:11.680] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:33:12.840] - Gary Haugley

Then we raced for a while, and it got killed in an accident, got center punched by a truck. I cut the car in half lengthwise and put it up on top of my building down on the Coast. It dropped her a lot of attention. It was fun. In fact, when I sold the shop, I gave it to Jamie Campbell for Raleigh, San Diego. When I got that done, and I made a California street legal for the SB100 program, and we go cruise that around, too.

[00:33:40.130] - Big Rich Klein

Very nice.

[00:33:41.390] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, it's fun.

[00:33:42.940] - Big Rich Klein

Is there a car out there that you would love to get your hands on?

[00:33:52.600] - Gary Haugley

Not at this time. Every time I turn around, you look at something, then you dream about it, then two days later, you see something else better. You know how that is.

[00:34:03.800] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Yeah, I was just at the Dirt Expo in...

[00:34:12.860] - Gary Haugley

Thoving over in Phoenix?

[00:34:13.970] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, in Phoenix. Scotia, Still, yeah. Yeah. I was talking to one of the Geiser brothers, and they had one of their luxury pre-runners sitting out there that was a Gen 2 raptor. I like the Gen 1s myself. Me too. I told him, I said, well, as soon as I win the lottery, I'm bringing my Gen 1 in to turn it into a luxury pre-runner right after I buy my Rapt R as a daily driver.

[00:34:43.860] - Gary Haugley

That'd be a good deal.

[00:34:44.760] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. And then he goes, Well, I want to know when you're... What we all want to know now is when are you winning the lottery? And I said, as soon as possible. But I didn't win the billion.

[00:34:56.960] - Gary Haugley

I went down and bought two tickets. I figured, what the heck?

[00:34:59.400] - Big Rich Klein

I play every week just because I feel you can't dream if you don't play.

[00:35:07.090] - Gary Haugley

You got a good point there.

[00:35:08.320] - Big Rich Klein

I agree with you. I don't drink anymore any alcohol any longer. So it's It's your vice. Yep. Now I play the lottery.

[00:35:20.410] - Gary Haugley

Cool.

[00:35:22.660] - Big Rich Klein

Drinking was just going to get me in more trouble anyway.

[00:35:26.280] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, I can understand that one.

[00:35:29.920] - Big Rich Klein

Let's talk about Warfighter and your relationship with that organization and what they do.

[00:35:41.620] - Gary Haugley

Oh, God. I started off with Warfighters when I had the old shop. I had a gentleman come one day. We've turned out to be great friends. Danny Novoa. I had worked with First Force Recon for 10 years, starting in 1998. I used to do the motors and trannies and all the parts and stuff like that for the light strikes, the three-seat tennis. That program, that's some stories by themselves. I tell you, it was fantastic working with those guys. Then after the program, the cars got mouthful and put away. A few years later, I get this guy comes in the shop, and he had some issues. He got over there, crossed the pond. He had needed some tranny work done, did the tranny. I told him to bring the car down so we could put the tranny in. He goes, No, I'll put it in. I said, No. I go, You're not going to get the tranny to bring me the car. He brings me the car down to the shop, and it turned out to be the biggest turd you've ever seen. It was unbelievable. I got with my guys, motor guys, and tranny guys, and all the guys that worked there.

[00:36:59.620] - Gary Haugley

We I got them a brand new car. Big four-seater, Volkswagen-powered, and backward power steering, and a body on it with a big old Marine Corps sticker on the hood, and we donated it to him. That's how I got involved with the warfighter made.

[00:37:16.250] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. He was just a vet that came in to have his vehicle worked on, and you guys just did a Pretty much. Cool. That's pretty stand up.

[00:37:36.130] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, it's a long story behind it, but it was very, very fun to do. A lot of suppliers donated all their parts. We bent up the frame, we had a powder We had it powder-coated. We had the body put on him by another friend. It just turned out really sweet. In fact, he still has the car.

[00:37:52.150] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. How did that lead into Warfighter? Was he part of that or They had just started pretty much, and he was part of it.

[00:38:03.480] - Gary Haugley

I went up there after I sold the shop. Then I get bored. I got to stay busy. I go up there and help them do projects and stuff. I'll never forget one of the first times I was up there, they were doing… There was a body on something. I can't remember what it was, a little bit of body panels or something. I called a friend of mine to do the aluminum work, the tin work. I told him, I go, Is there's anything you need me to do? Well, you're here, let me know. He goes, Okay. We got to the point where he needed this tab to move it on. He showed me where they went. So put him on there. I had to get inside the car to take my rivet gun, put the springs on them. It was really tight down by the pedals. I'm down there and I squeezed up in there and I reached that back with my left hand to get the rivet gun. I couldn't reach it. I go, Damn it. I hear this voice go, What? I go, Hand me my ribbon gun. I hear this voice goes, What are you freaking crippled?

[00:39:05.710] - Gary Haugley

I go, Just hand me the damn thing. We're both laughing. He hands it to me. I click, click, put the springs on. I climbed out and I turned on. There's a guy in a wheelchair sitting there looking at me, laughing at me, and he only had one arm. It makes you humble. These guys are fantastic to work with.

[00:39:24.980] - Big Rich Klein

And great humor.

[00:39:27.390] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, unbelievable. For what they've been through, they're not all perfect, but they have their issues. But tell you what, they're the best bunch of guys you ever got to work with, I'll tell you.

[00:39:38.170] - Big Rich Klein

Right. Pretty awesome.

[00:39:40.210] - Gary Haugley

It is. I'm very fortunate to be with those.

[00:39:43.440] - Big Rich Klein

There's a car coming up for auction, I believe. Do you know about that?

[00:39:49.610] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, we found it. It was donated by Ormhoff to the warfighter made. It's Mickey Thompson's old pre-runner. And of course, parking car. It's a little high jumper, two seat. It's been sitting there, been sitting there. Basically, we got it running, put it back to pretty much original condition, took the Weber off and put the Zenas back on there. Fixed all kinds of stuff. It's been sitting forever, and we almost have it done, and it's going to be advertised and sold through bringatrailer.Com.

[00:40:23.810] - Big Rich Klein

Nice. So anybody can get in on that auction?

[00:40:29.200] - Gary Haugley

Yes. Once we get it ready, everybody will know that it's going to cross the board.

[00:40:34.570] - Big Rich Klein

Well, cool. That's awesome. I'd like to participate in getting the word out about that.

[00:40:40.490] - Gary Haugley

Oh, you will. Trust me.

[00:40:41.870] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, good. And so warfighter, all the guys that are working on the cars are vets, disabled vets, one way or another?

[00:40:54.140] - Gary Haugley

Yes, either mentally or physically. I shouldn't say mentally, but you know.

[00:40:59.690] - Big Rich Klein

They have issues, correct?

[00:41:01.740] - Gary Haugley

Yes. Everybody there.

[00:41:05.660] - Big Rich Klein

That's pretty awesome. And you had mentioned the Force Recon. Let's talk about that in some of the stories that you have on Because you did driver skill training, correct?

[00:41:18.770] - Gary Haugley

Yes, I did. It was interesting. Those guys, the first Force Recon was out in Las Pogas, which is north of Oceanside, just a little bit, the top part of Camp Colton. I went out there and I go. There was a first sergeant ran the maintenance department at Recon for all the vehicles, the Hummer Vs and everything. We got to be good friends. So anytime you had an issue, I'd help them or guide them through working on it. We did the trannies and the motors at the shop for rebuilds, and we had spares that went out on flow with the different vehicles when they went out on flow to other countries and stuff for whatever they had to do. It was just fun. I had a great time. One of the first times... What was it? They had a dog and pony show coming up, and One of the first sergeants, Sergeant Major, didn't really care for me and hated me with passion because I was non-military and I had blonde hair and I didn't belong there. We just tiptoed It around that whole situation. I mean, the colonel, the major, everybody else is fantastic. He called me out of blue one day.

[00:42:36.350] - Gary Haugley

I needed my help. I go, Excuse me, sir, you need my help? And he goes, Yeah, we have a dog and pony show coming up. He goes, I need some help. What can I do for you? He I need you to teach me how to drive a clutch.

[00:42:48.140] - Big Rich Klein

What?

[00:42:49.230] - Gary Haugley

You'd be surprised. A lot of the Marines out there, they'll run 50 miles for lunch and have a good time, but they were limited on some of the mechanical abilities. Right. The first thing I did when I went out there is they had a problem of blowing them CV joints up on the buggies. They go out there and play, and I grab a handle of a turning break and do donuts in the parking lot in the dirt. To eliminate that issue, I pulled all the handles off the turning breaks and didn't have a problem after that. It was fun. A lot of fun times.

[00:43:25.680] - Big Rich Klein

Of all the things that you've done, is there something that's really passion-driven?

[00:43:37.580] - Gary Haugley

Everything I do, I try not to do things half-ass. I go for it I'm 100 %. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but that's how I am.

[00:43:50.020] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, fair enough. You sold the business, so you retired from that, but you're still doing the judging and you're going to the swap meet. I partially retired from the event promotion side of our business, and I find that I'm busier now than what I considered working full-time.

[00:44:19.860] - Gary Haugley

Oh, yeah, because I still work up a PRP.

[00:44:22.600] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. I didn't realize that.

[00:44:26.190] - Gary Haugley

Yeah. I go in early in the mornings. I usually stay till 1:30 or Then I go do my appraisal business.

[00:44:32.340] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, wow. Okay. Are you hands-on fabbing frames, or what are you doing?

[00:44:41.250] - Gary Haugley

No. Up there, since I got bought out of my best hop, they have other divisions in there. They got like Bull Ring, which is a tie-down. Then they have Speech Drop, which is another tie-down company and stuff. I just help out run those.

[00:44:54.020] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Cool.

[00:44:56.730] - Gary Haugley

I enjoy it. I stay busy.

[00:45:01.310] - Big Rich Klein

Let's talk about Ormhoff. Okay. You were doing appraisals for them, and then you were asked to be on the board of directors. What was What's your passion about Ormhoff?

[00:45:21.960] - Gary Haugley

That was a shock to be invited on there. It was totally unexpected. I believe believe in what they do. I'm more of an old-school person than some of the guys on the board. One of the first times I went to our little secret meeting for our new inductees, Mike Thomas wasn't even on the board of directors, and I thought that was It's the image strange. I went for the grassroots. That's what I'm after, where the sport started. There's so many stories and people out there, old racers that have all these unique stories that they can't get told. I think with this new program coming out about your story is my story, I think that'll help a lot. We all have our buddies that been around for 100 years, and they got the most outrageous fun stories you've ever heard. But who's going to hear about them? Nobody. That should be brought up and put out those so it's available for people to see.

[00:46:20.460] - Big Rich Klein

Do you want to talk about that a little bit, that your story is our story?

[00:46:26.430] - Gary Haugley

I think it's fantastic. I called Barbara right for the first year, I know it's been busy with all the stuff, but I need another box of cards. But every time, if I'm at a gas station, I see there's rerunners everywhere down in California. Every time we turn around, somebody's got a white fender or a spare tire hanging off the back. Every time I see one, I don't care who they are, what they do. I go over, if I have a second, I go over and I go, Hey, here's a card. Check this out. And I explain everything to them. They take the card and they look at me and go, Well, I can tell my fun stories. I go, You can tell any of your stories. If you hand enough of them out, you're going to get a reply someday. I've probably handed out a whole box of cards, which is 500 so far.

[00:47:11.530] - Big Rich Klein

Do you know some of the stories that have come back?

[00:47:15.260] - Gary Haugley

I've heard of some, and I've read about a couple of them on the website. It was fun. Cool. There's so much that needs to be put in.

[00:47:23.930] - Big Rich Klein

Have you put your story in?

[00:47:26.720] - Gary Haugley

Of course not.

[00:47:30.620] - Big Rich Klein

Well, that's what we're trying to do here.

[00:47:33.030] - Gary Haugley

I know. You're right.

[00:47:37.270] - Big Rich Klein

So the... Excuse me. No worries. With everything that you've done in off-road, when you were a kid, did you ever look at that as that was what was going to happen someday, or did you just fall into it?

[00:48:03.370] - Gary Haugley

I fell into it. I had no clue. Always in the hot rods and the street racing and stuff like that. Then I got involved in the off-road, and I thought, This is a lot more fun. You can't get in trouble.

[00:48:16.300] - Big Rich Klein

Right. We're less likely to get in trouble. Less likely.

[00:48:21.780] - Gary Haugley

The guy that owns the Carl's Better Raceway, the local drag strip in Southern California, he's gone now. He used to hire us on our quads or on our motorcycles or whatever. When he had big events out there, we patroled the perimeter of the area. Every time we caught something, we got a part of the ticket. That was fun.

[00:48:39.020] - Big Rich Klein

Nice.

[00:48:40.190] - Gary Haugley

Yeah.

[00:48:40.640] - Big Rich Klein

You always got gate jumpers.

[00:48:43.150] - Gary Haugley

Oh, yeah, that's normal.

[00:48:44.980] - Big Rich Klein

We're doing the off-road rock crawling events that I do, we'd be out in the middle of, say, Johnson Valley, Cougar Buttes area. There's no fences out there. We'd set up and we have a front gate on the main road coming up to that area, and you could always watch the cars try to drive around. Oh, yeah. It was like, Man, people, do you understand the amount of money it costs us to put on these events. We're not asking for $100 to get into the thing. I remember one time I watched this pickup truck go up to the front gate, and then he turned around after talking to our front gate personnel, and then he drove out into the desert, and I could just watch him, and he'd come up around, and I knew he was coming up around the backside. So I just started walking that way, and I get there, and there's two guys, a wife, and two kids. And the kids were probably, oh, 8, 9, 10 years old at the most. And they're carrying chairs and an ice chest and everything. And I said, Hey, Yeah, you got your wristbands? And the guy was like, No, no, we're not paying to get in here to watch this.

[00:50:08.530] - Big Rich Klein

And I explained to him that with the rental of toilets and the insurance and the permitting through BLM and the so-called volunteers that always cost a lot of money. It's still, there was a lot of cost involved to put the event on, and it'd be nice if they helped us out. And he was like, no way. We're just going in. The one guy was- Really? And I said, man, that's really bad. And I said, kids, is this your dad? And the kids shake their head, yes. And I said, okay, well, you're learning a valuable lesson from your dad today, and I always want you to remember this. And the dad looks at me and goes, what are you talking about? And I said, kids, you're learning how to steal.

[00:50:58.170] - Gary Haugley

Pretty much.

[00:50:58.930] - Big Rich Klein

And the kids just wide-eye. The dad looked at me like, I can't believe you said that. And he goes, Come on, we're going home. And turned around and walked back to their truck.

[00:51:12.810] - Gary Haugley

Oh, wow. That's good. That's great. I like that.

[00:51:16.410] - Big Rich Klein

I was pretty proud of that one. If the guy would have just pushed through, that would have been fine. I probably wouldn't have done anything, but I had to. At $15 for an adult and the kids would have been free. It's like, come on, where else can you get that entertainment for 10 hours a day?

[00:51:37.550] - Gary Haugley

You can't. That's the thing. Some people. It's going to happen everywhere. Yeah.

[00:51:45.370] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, true. So what would be your recommendation to somebody that is just an enthusiast that wanted to get into the off-road as a business or a lifestyle? What would you recommend? How do they get there?

[00:52:13.060] - Gary Haugley

It's rough right now. It used to be a lot easier, I feel, because there's only a few shops around and you can go learn and go in as an apprentice or whatever. But now it's a side-by-side movement. It's gone crazy. There's shops in every street corner. That's a hard question to answer. If they really want to get involved in the off-road part of the business, maybe going to work for a well-established company and learn the ropes first instead of trying to go in and know everything at first. Jamie from Race Co has taken a couple of people on their swing and trained them, and he's a fantastic teacher. People like that that have their heart and souls in it, and they want people to learn. I think that's about your best bet. Or maybe go work at a counter place for a It's a sports company that deals with offer, that we can learn what's out there and what this part fits and what that part fits. So you know, have an idea of what's going on. Probably the easiest.

[00:53:14.480] - Big Rich Klein

What do you think about the... For years, there was a lack of tech classes and stuff like that in schools, especially high school, where you got those kids that are I got to 18.

[00:53:34.700] - Gary Haugley

You got time for a quick story? Sure.

[00:53:37.110] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely.

[00:53:38.240] - Gary Haugley

Okay, you're going to love this. There's a guy named Richard, and he has a spot up in Pomona, close to us. It's about five rows down. He always cruises around on this little Honda '90, the old pit bikes. I think it was two trips ago we were up there, so I figured two and a half months ago. He'd come driving up It's hot. And driving up with an old high jumper, buggy, two-seater. Comes cruising up, I go, Richard, where the hell did he get this? He looks at me and goes, buy me a cold beer in the shade, and I'll tell you the story. I go, perfect. In fact, he just sent me down a copy of the story. In the late, I'm sorry, early '70s, '72, '73, high jumper donated some frames, not just bent up to the local high schools. His mental class, his project, him and his best friend, where you get that buggy done, when you graduate, you get to keep it.

[00:54:38.760] - Big Rich Klein

Nice.

[00:54:39.810] - Gary Haugley

Yeah. They busted their butt and side jobs. Long story done. Family helped them and stuff. They graduated two years later, and they got to keep the buggy. Well, during that time, they had built a little trailer to tow behind it, and it's got a 40-horse sitting in a 1,200-cc motor. No frills, just rear brakes. But back then, you could make things street legal. It was easy. They had plates on it. After they graduated, they saved up their money for a little bit, and they drove that. It's all documented, pictures, everything. It's amazing. They drove that thing from here, Anaheim, to New York City, from New York City down to Florida and back.

[00:55:23.080] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. In a two-seat high jumper.

[00:55:25.990] - Gary Haugley

Yeah. It's amazing. He sat there for hours just telling these stories. You got to be kidding. Then I saw him last time, and he brought me basically a summary of what they did with pictures and dates and all the stuff, and that's pretty cool.

[00:55:43.470] - Big Rich Klein

Is that story on the Wormh off site yet?

[00:55:47.690] - Gary Haugley

I hooked him up with one of our members. They're going to do a story on it.

[00:55:54.240] - Big Rich Klein

Perfect.

[00:55:55.170] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, that's all going in there. He's working on the magazine right now also to do it.

[00:55:59.470] - Big Rich Klein

Cool. Very good.

[00:56:01.530] - Gary Haugley

It's amazing. Just to think of it, all the pictures to prove it, it's just phenomenal.

[00:56:08.700] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. I can't even imagine driving a high jumper, 36-horse cross country and back. What an adventure.

[00:56:19.530] - Gary Haugley

Oh, yeah. That was amazing. The people you run into, to me, that's so special to people.

[00:56:25.710] - Big Rich Klein

Right. That's the cool thing about, for For me, with Ormhoff, is that I knew nothing about off-road until a friend of mine that worked for Bug Formance.

[00:56:44.520] - Gary Haugley

Okay.

[00:56:45.430] - Big Rich Klein

I I remember those guys. Yeah. And he said, Man, you guys got to watch this movie because me and a buddy were building a street bug that was pretty radical for the time. And so he put the movie on and we watched on any Sunday. Even though it was about the motorcycle side of Baha and racing and all that, I just knew that at that point, somehow I was going to get involved with off-road. And this was, I was probably '75, '76, somewhere in there, because I was still in high school. And in '81, I graduated from college, worked in San Francisco for a while, moved up to the mountains up here in Placerville, California, and met some people with Jeeps, and they took me on the Rubicon for the first time, late '81, early '82, maybe spring of '82, and I knew I was hooked.

[00:57:53.630] - Gary Haugley

I can imagine.

[00:57:54.950] - Big Rich Klein

And then when Dust of Glory came out, and Dana did Dust of Glory and did the... In 2005, that was 2003, they shot it. 2005, they released it and went to the premiere down in LA. And they had... Bruce Brown was there along with Roger DeCoster and Malcolm Smith. And I got to meet those guys. And I gladly was able to go up to them and say, Thank you for inspiring me to get into off-road. It took me 20-some years to finally make, about 20 years to make the jump into it full-time. But still, thank you for lighting that spark.

[00:58:50.560] - Gary Haugley

There's a lot of great off-roaders out there.

[00:58:51.810] - Big Rich Klein

Yes, there sure are. And hopefully with us as part of the board of directors for Arm that we can expand that knowledge about the past for the future off-roaders to understand where this all came from.

[00:59:12.360] - Gary Haugley

Yeah, it's a good idea. I'm really behind that 100 %.

[00:59:17.270] - Big Rich Klein

Well, Gary, I want to say thank you so much for spending this last hour or so and talking about your life and your time in off road.

[00:59:28.600] - Gary Haugley

Sometimes I don't really I don't talk about it too much, making me think.

[00:59:32.660] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, you're going to have to put your story in there.

[00:59:35.700] - Gary Haugley

Yeah. It's crazy. But now it's been fun.

[00:59:42.330] - Big Rich Klein

Shelle has been after me for years to write a book about myself, and I think that's really hard to do. Me too. But this podcast has been able... What I've been able to do with it is tell my story along with listening and hearing everybody else's story?

[01:00:03.180] - Gary Haugley

I think that's really good. It does two things at once. Right.

[01:00:06.940] - Big Rich Klein

So someday maybe somebody can extrapolate all that information and put together something.

[01:00:13.950] - Gary Haugley

That'd be cool.

[01:00:15.170] - Big Rich Klein

Because I can't remember everything that ever happened. But with talking with people, it triggers memories.

[01:00:22.970] - Gary Haugley

Yeah. We were talking, I was thinking about the Delmar thing that we did for years. The tough Racing and the Buggy Racing at Del Mar Fairgrounds. We started that back in late. What was it? Twenty-something, 25 years ago.

[01:00:39.560] - Big Rich Klein

Nice.

[01:00:41.030] - Gary Haugley

We did that, and then the board of directors at the Delmar Fair They're now that they're owned by the state of California, is all different type of people in their management, and they don't believe in motorsports. So we weren't able to go last year. I'm being very Yeah, you have to be sometimes. Yes.

[01:01:08.480] - Big Rich Klein

Even though you may not want to be.

[01:01:11.420] - Gary Haugley

I know.

[01:01:12.060] - Big Rich Klein

It was like when I posted up the pictures of the license plate for my new Jeep, or the Jeep I'm just finishing the build on. It says Ormhoff, and Rory came on and said, Man, I couldn't do that because I have too much road rage. I know.

[01:01:29.510] - Gary Haugley

He I'd like to hide back to that one, too. I saw that, and I got off the phone. They're available in the state of California, too.

[01:01:37.800] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, perfect.

[01:01:39.100] - Gary Haugley

Yeah. You grab them. In the black and yellow. I'm going to.

[01:01:42.100] - Big Rich Klein

There you go. Well, Gary, thank you so much.

[01:01:46.610] - Gary Haugley

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[01:01:48.230] - Big Rich Klein

And I will talk to you again down the road. Okay. At least once a month.

[01:01:54.690] - Gary Haugley

Yeah. Well, we'll talk soon.

[01:01:55.970] - Big Rich Klein

Yes. All right. You take care and thank you.

[01:01:58.780] - Gary Haugley

Thank you. Take care, Rich. Okay.

[01:02:00.250] - Big Rich Klein

Bye-bye. Bye. Well, that's another episode of Conversations with Big Rich. I'd like to thank you all for listening. If you could do us a favor and leave us a review on any podcast service that you happen to be listening on, or send us an email or a text message or a Facebook message, and let me know any ideas that you have, or if there's anybody that you have that you think would be a great guest, please forward the contact information to me so that we can try to get them on. And always remember, live life to the fullest. Enjoying life is a must. Follow your dreams and live life with all the gusto you can. Thank you.