[BifRayRock]

Recall poking my nose in a large auto garage in the general La Brea vicinity, possibly near Pico or Washington. I think the shop was performing smog tests and this would have probably been in the early '80s. There was a very large "Simplex Piston Rings" sign covering much of a wall along with many references to the '29 Indianapolis 500. The sign looked something like the small image below and may have been hand painted. There was another large image I found amusing. It was similar to the ad below with the uniformed man bearing the caption: "You can have confidence in him - he is a trained Simplex expert." As I was absorbing this an elderly gentleman wearing a bow tie and a suit from another generation tried to explain something about the historical significance of the Simplex company and/or the preparation of the car or engine and its connection to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, he was difficult to understand. I did make the effort to look things up and only found references to Cleveland and Indianapolis.

When recently exploring the '29 directory I noticed a listing for Simplex Piston Rings at 1818 S. Grand Avenue. http://rescarta.lapl.org:8080/ResCar...ch_doc=simplex Unclear whether this was a franchisee/distributor or an actual fabrication shop.

Much of 18th Street and Grand Avenue retains its antiquated industrial flavor. This antique store at 18th and Grand may offer a tiny glimpse of how the area looked in '29.

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