The Inland Empire GTO Club got started by Dil Brandow, Nick and John Anderson back in the summer of 1985, their 1st Car Show was indoors at the Tyler Mall in Riverside, CA., we currently have more then 40 members in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles Counties, with out-of-state members in Pennsylvania, Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arizona. We have several members that race their cars, and travel to different tracks, like Speed World Racetrack in Surprise, AZ, Summit Raceway in Norwalk, Ohio, and Tulsa Raceway, you can see our local members racing at AAA's Raceway in Fontana, CA. several times a year.........
Our Club Meeting is the 1st Tuesday of each month at the "Marie Callenders" in Redlands, CA. off the Alabama Ave exit. We meet at 7:00pm, most members arrive earlier to eat before the meeting starts, and to catch up on whats been going....We are a family oriented club and encourage all ages to join in on the fun, so the future of our hobby stays alive....We have Pot Luck dinners, pool parties, tour car museums, and attend several car shows throughout the year, one of the biggests is the "Route 66 Rendezvous" the second weekend of September in San Bernardino, CA. they are celebrating their 20th year for 2009.
With the passing of John Delorean on March 19th 2005, The Inland Empire GTO Club got in contact with the Delorean Family and received exclusive permission to use John's name to revive the John Delorean Awards that were originally given out to Pontiac Dealers in the mid 60's for meeting sales criteria in a particular quarter....Ours started out as a yearly Award given to an I.E. GTO club member who throughout the year best exemplified their dedication and contribution to the preservation of the GTO's, the very first award went to club member Al Meyer, who owns a very historic and significant 1965 Mayfair Maze GTO Convertible, and three years later we decided to go public with this Award Program, again with exclusive permission from (daughter) Kathryn Delorean, we have expanded to other "GTOAA" sanctioned GTO Clubs and encourage them to get involved, as proceeds from the sale of this Award go to Kathryn's Childrens Charity for kids with rare heart conditions simular to what her own daughter has...
After a long discussion with club members, we felt that the first Award to be presented outside the I.E. GTO Club should go to someone that best met the criteria, So of course Jim Wangers was the only name mentioned again and again. At a local event that he helps put on each year at his shop in Escondido, CA. I had the pleasure of presenting Jim with the Award on Feruary 16th, 2008...and he was most gracious with kind words about John and how the whole GTO thing got started, and his involvement with promoting the GTO's back in the 60's, it was an awesome day that I won't soon forget....
Please visit our website " iegtoclub.com " feel free to call or email with any GTO or Pontiac questions to: 909-489-6968, thom@67tigerpaws.com
Thanks for showing interest in our club, Thom Trafford, Club President
