Fascism In America: Car Clubs Banned At Woodland Hills Shopping Center

Above, vintage Mustangs on display at a past car rally at the El Camino Shopping Center in Woodland Hills, California. Photos by Armand Vaquer

Fascism In America: Car Clubs Banned At Woodland Hills Shopping Center

Sources: The Daily News and Atty. Tom Cotrel

The All-Mustang and Ford Club, of which I am a member, and other car clubs are no longer welcome at the El Camino Shopping Center in Woodland Hills, California.

(excerpted from today's L.A. Daily News)

Lawsuit bans car buffs from shopping center

It was 6:15 a.m. on a Sunday when Tom Bellows pulled his treasured 1979 yellow MGB into the parking lot of a Woodland Hills shopping center and prepared to hang out with other classic car aficionados, as they had for years.

But instead of being greeted by longtime friends, he said, he was surrounded by four security guards hired by the owners of El Camino Shopping Center, who ordered him off the premises.

"They told me to get the blankety-blank-blank out," said Bellows, 71, a family therapist from Northridge. "They said I couldn't park my car there because it was a classic."

It was a startling way to learn of a lawsuit filed Oct. 19 on behalf of Regency Centers, the Delaware-based owner of El Camino Shopping Center. The lawsuit targets the classic car lovers and the Village Coffee Roaster, a tenant that had spearheaded the informal Sunday gatherings.

Filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges trespassing and nuisance, and serves as a restraining order against the motorists, listed anonymously as John Does 1-500.

It claims that the owners of the Ferraris, Porsches, Mustangs and other classic cars hog too many parking spots at the 135,883 square-foot, Vons-anchored shopping center off Mulholland Drive near the Ventura Freeway.

Regency Centers would not comment, citing the pending litigation, said spokeswoman Bonnie Hayflick.

Ernie Park, an attorney representing Regency Centers, also would not comment. Vons, with its corporate headquarters based in Arcadia, did not respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit has forced the classic car lovers to abandon the Woodland Hills strip mall and instead gather for coffee and socializing on Sunday mornings at a shopping center in the 19000 block of Plummer Street in Northridge.

Fascism in America has arrived! To read the full Daily News story, go here.

From Marlon Mitchell of The All-Mustang and Ford Club:

Sunday Morning Cruise-In

“Cars, Coffee & Bagels”

EVERY Sunday, Good Weather Permitting

This is NOT an Organized Car Show, It’s A Cruise-In Place Where Other Car Enthusiasts And people

From All Walks Of Life Gather For Great Coffee And Breakfast @ All Of The Stores & Restaurants

We Gather There for coffee & To Head Out For Our Lunch Cruise Event

WESTERN BAGEL, STARBUCKS COFFEE & JAMBA JUICE CRUISE-IN

19500 Plummer Street

Northridge, CA. 91324

Information Contact: 818-970-2359 ( Marlon )

Cruise-In Hours: 6:30AM to 9:30AM

Store Hours: 5:00AM TO 8PM

Between Corbin Ave. & Tampa Ave.

Corner Of Plummer St. & Shirley Ave.

Click Here For More Great Pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/navymailman/sets/72157622597825889/