B & L Automotive

Maso,

Good find and great photo.
Dennis of B & L Automotive.
Off Webster Avenue, North Bronx.
His shop right near that big auto wrecker place.
Photo looks like 65′ or so. I think Dennis held a National Record or Dover track record with his rail.
I brought down many of motors (internal parts; cranks, rods, pistons, flywheels and harmonic balancers) to Dennis from my fathers engine shop (Valley Motor & Machine) for balancing.
Fair price too, ($125). Dennis was pretty good with welding also. Also, one of the few guys around who enjoyed re-building flat-heads.
After dropping of a balancing job, would head up Route 1 and stop by the “Wedge Inn” right on the border of Pelham and DA Bronx.

Paul C.

Let’s not forget; Storm Crankshaft Grinding, Mt. Vernon
Ross Engine Rebuilding, Mt. Vernon
B & B Auto Parts, Bronx
Competition/Plus, Yonkers
Fairbanks Transmission,
Bonded Engine Rebuilders, Yonkers
Connecticut Driveshaft, Ct.

Dino,

Thats Buddy Holly on the left, with the glasses.
Betty Crocker is holding the trophy.
Dennis is in the white T-shirt. Notice the NHRA Champion lettering on the shirt with
Detroit Dragway on the bottom of the shirt.
Last time I saw Dennis was in 1994. Still looked the same.
Positive he held a record (National or Dover) for MPH in his rail. Maybe A/D?
Anybody got info on that.?
Always saw some certificate on his wall in his little office at his shop, when I would
write the check for balancing ($125).
No credit or billing at his shop, no matter how good your credit was. We must have had over 400 engine units balanced their, and never once left the shop without writing a check. He got burned by way too many racers, especially the roundy-roundy dirt racer guys.

Paul C

Betty Crocker…thats funny….Know the guy on right -Joe Archiere, track owner

Maso,

Sorry. I have to DQ on the line for that one.
In the picture left to right.
Buddy Holly is portrayed by Joe LoSello.
Dennis Barbera is in the white T-shirt.
Betty Crocker is, well… Betty Crocker
Luca Brazee is on the far right. I think he was connected, and owned a gravel pit in
lower Dutchess. Lots of pure gold Bank Run in them there hills. $$$$$

As for Dennis. I think I would know him. I was at his shop dropping or picking up balancing jobs for my Dad at least once a week for over 10 years. I don’t ever remember writing a check or giving cash to Buddy Holly.
Overview. B & L’s shop was located off a dirt/gravel road off Webster Avenue. Right off I-95 you could see the big auto wrecker place behind his shop. Dennis had a big rectangular sign on the front of his shop. Large garage door in the front. To enter, you had to go on the
left side of the building, and enter through the steel door. His office was immediately to the right as soon as you entered. You could’nt mozy around his shop, he didn’t like that.
Place was like a maze, with all the engines around.
I was there in 1983 when he bought a new DCM flywheel grinder from Jack “Lizard Face” Vogel. I was upset, because he didn’t purchase a Winona flywheel grinder from me, when I was in equipment sales.
If you recall, Dennis had a Stewart-Warner balancer, and then swapped over to a Hines unit, because it had a concrete-base, and was much more accurate for high-speed balancing.
Many race guys didn’t know that 😮
My father seems to recall, that Dennis may have hit the 190 MPH barrier in 1963 before Mr.
Garlits, but it was unofficial, or that he had the Dover MPH record, before it was broken by
Mr. Garlits ❓ ❓ WAY BEFORE MY TIME 😐

Paul C

Joe Archire RIGHT …whered’ ya dig up that other name ?

Paul….should have figured your retention of details & wit ,would trip me up …..who but you would know EVERY character’s name in the GodFather…..Now after that brief commercial break….back to the B & L show….John Sachs should check in on this one.

Andy (Plain Busted),

Bonded (Tom Abruzese). The Pop was a nice guy. Roto-Matic jet-clean spray-wash units
were the fore-runners of the industry. I think just about every damn transmission shop in mid and lower Westchester had one. Tom ran the engine shop. Nice guy (to me).
Bought mucho equipment tooling, from me.
Did Bonded every sponsor a drag race car?? Had about 40 or so employee’s in the shop.
Agar Truck Sales, first guys in the area to carry IVECO trucks. Remember that.

B & L Automotive. Dennis (great guy and very sharp), and his son Scott (good kid who overcame some personnal issues). Somebody must remember when he ran his rail in the early 60’s and set some kind of record (MPH record, National or Dover???). Didn’t B & L put together the “Pied Piper’s” motor (The B/S wagon).

Crankshaft grinding shop over the GW Bridge; HeadMasters in Saddle Brook or,
American Crankshaft Grinders in Elizabeth, Universal Engine in Moonachie, or
Mack Boring in Union, or K & K in Passiac.
Now if you went in lower New Jersey, there was the famous Don’s Speed Shop in Metuchen.
Who remembers all the cars they sponsored??

OK. Dino, How about a JR. Stocker. The 1966 white Biscayne “BIS-KWIK”. I think it ran in
C/S. Ran against the 68′ GTX 440 cars. Was at Dover several times. Not sure if it was
sponsored by Don’s. Someone found that car recently, on the side of a garage in
NEWTOWN, CT.

OK FREDO (The Godfather)