I brought the very same Canon IVS 2 35 mm camera that took so many B&W and even a dozen in color, to the interview for the program, “Lost L.A.” The first episode is called “The Fast and The Forgotten.” The five minute episode concentrating on me is called “The Forgotten Racetrack.”

By Allen R. Kuhn
Photographs courtesy of Matt Bass, Director of Photography PBS

Behind the PBS SOCAL Story: My 15 Minutes of Fame and some Additional Footage from the Original Interview

In November of 2024, I was working on a project for VeloceToday, I heard “Ride of the Valkyries” playing on our phone. Another spam call, I thought. I looked over, and the name Tom Young showed up; by gosh, a real phone call! He was calling to see if I would help PBS SOCAL put together a half-hour show for a program called “Lost L.A.” This would be the opening season episode called “The Fast and the Forgotten.”

I first met Young, a retired Ranger of the National Park Service, at a car swap meet under the grandstands at the Irwindale Drag Strip. He asked me if, by chance, I had any photographs from Paramount Ranch. I said, somewhat facetiously, that I might be able to find a few and I asked my wife, Carole, to get the two notebooks full of 8 X 10s from Paramount Ranch. He wanted to use my photographs to illustrate the racing history held there. It was hard to describe the smile on his face when he saw our photos and he could not believe his good fortune in finding exactly what he was looking for.

With Matt Bass, Director of Photography. Matt also Directed this episode. Photo by Ben Fredman.

At the time, Tom was a real champion for The Ranch. He was constantly pushing the Park Service to repair the track and bring it back to the way it was in the late ‘50s. He also wanted to place placards around what was left of the race course, giving people an idea of what went on there in 1956 and ’57. Unfortunately, the powers that be decided to cut the Park Service budget in half. Gone was the dream.

But, after all, this is Hollywood, and eventually Tom, being the ultimate Subject Matter Expert, was asked to be consultant for a PBS SOCAL feature on racing at Paramount Ranch, Downstream was me, with all those photos he loved. So when he called I said of course I want to be a part of this endeavor!

Displaying the treasures from Paramount. Along with Allen, another treasure in this photograph, taken on November 18, 1956, is the driver of the #2 Speedster. That is because the driver just happens to be a budding Dan Gurney, yet to be “The” Dan Gurney. That would come with the December 1957 race.

He put me in touch with Angela Boisvert, Senior Director of Production on this project. Angela in turn, wanted me to be interviewed on site, back at the old Paramount Ranch. When she called to set things up, I told her the only problem I had was with transportation, as I was not keen on taking my, at that time, 33-year-old Chevy G-20 Van that far during the week. She said, “That’s no problem, I’ll have one of the crew pick you up. We had made a pickup time of 10 AM.” When the big day arrived, as I was looking out the window, a very new big black Cadillac Escalade pulled up across the street. I thought they must pay their help well. Then a gentleman, dressed in a full chauffeur uniform, got out and headed my way. This was my ride. He stayed at the Ranch the whole time and safely returned me home.

Could that be the Porter Mercedes? Yes, it could, with Chuck at the wheel. It is his Special in all its Hollywood makeup for the phenomenal movie, “The Devil’s Hairpin.” The girl, that’s what they were called in them days, with her mouth open, is a frightened Jean Wallace who stared in the movie, with a backseat driver being co-star Cornel Wilde. Like all good co-staring couples, they were married for thirty years.

Now the waiting began, and began, and began ad infinitum. After the first phone call in November 2024, the program finally reached the airways on February 3, 2026. Let me check my abacus, AH, Yes, a mere 16 months.

As some of you may already know, my original 15 minutes of fame lasted about 1 minute and 53 seconds in the original video. However, it came to pass that there is an additional 3 3/4 minutes of the interview which laid on the cutting room floor, Hollywood style. And it’s all ME! So, we show the links here so you can enjoy Kuhn Unfettered. Click here:

Thank you for your diligence if you have come this far. Just think, if they resweep the cutting room floor, they may find the remaining 13 minutes of the original interview, and we can do this again.

Historically yours, Allen R. Kuhn

PS Here is the link to the original half-hour program.

On January 6th, catch Allen on PBS SoCal. Photo courtesy PBS.

By Allen R. Kuhn

I was interviewed for a show on the PBS SoCal station for a show called Lost LA. I spoke about my experience photographing races at Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica mountains in the 1950s.

The episode I’m in is going to air this week. It’s Season 8 of Lost LA, Episode 1 and called “The Fast and Forgotten.” You can watch it on LA PBS station KOCE this Tuesday, January 6, at 7:30 PM if you’re local, search for it on your local PBS station website, or watch the full episode directly on Youtube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEgE7qBT1kw&list=PLWu5ajp6Zk8c22IbTTF49HITJLuOM8HMv

Here is a description of the episode.

“The Fast and the Forgotten” – Tues., Jan. 6 at 7:30 p.m. on PBS SoCal / Wed., Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. on PBS SoCal Plus.

Explore Southern California’s century-long love affair with car racing. Once a major form of entertainment, racing drew crowds and shaped the region’s car culture. Host Nathan Masters visits the Auto Club of Southern California’s archives, watches land speed racers in the high desert, tours the Petersen Museum’s vault and uncovers the hidden racing history of the Santa Monica Mountains. Featured interviews include author Harold Osmer, historian Morgan Yates, archivists Laura Fisher and Nathaniel Salvini, photographer Allen Kuhn, retired ranger Tom Young and SCTA race director Bill Lattin.

Allen R. Kuhn’s photo of Corvettes at Paramount Ranch was used in the PBS special. #314 Bill Gaskins, #300 Vincent De Carlo, the Jaguar XK120 Bob Harris, and two unidentifiable Austin Healeys at The Ranch on December 8, 1957.

Here are more listings for PBS SoCal and PBS SoCal Plus:

The Fast & The Forgotten
Tuesday, January 6, 07:30 pm on PBS SoCal
Wednesday, January 7, 08:00 pm on PBS SoCal Plus
Wednesday, January 7, 08:30 pm on PBS SoCal Plus
Thursday, January 8, 12:00 am on PBS SoCal Plus
Friday, January 9, 08:00 pm on PBS SoCal
Saturday, January 10, 02:00 am on PBS SoCal
Saturday, January 10, 07:00 pm on PBS SoCal
Saturday, January 10, 09:00 pm on PBS SoCal Plus
Sunday, January 11, 12:00 am on PBS SoCal Plus
Sunday, January 11, 05:30 pm on PBS SoCal Plus
Monday, January 12, 01:00 pm on PBS SoCal Plus
Sunday, January 18, 06:30 pm on PBS SoCal Encore
Tuesday, January 20, 12:30 am on PBS SoCal Encore
Tuesday, January 20, 06:30 am on PBS SoCal Encore
Tuesday, January 20, 12:30 pm on PBS SoCal Encore
Wednesday, February 4, 08:00 pm on PBS SoCal Plus
Wednesday, February 4, 08:30 pm on PBS SoCal Plus
Thursday, February 5, 12:00 am on PBS SoCal Plus
Saturday, February 7, 09:00 pm on PBS SoCal Plus
Sunday, February 8, 12:00 am on PBS SoCal Plus

When the artwork is more interesting than the chassis number.

By Pete Vack, photos by Jim Sitz and Allen R. Kuhn

VeloceToday originally ran this photo in September 2023, and in an effort to find the chassis number and owner of the 550 Spyder Richie Ginther drove one fine day at Santa Barbara, and perhaps the meaning of the Happy Face on the front, we asked our readers to help.