ANOTHER INFREQUENT NOTE FROM THE CAR SHOW (TCS):
if you're new, this will sort of let you know who we are; if you're not so new, it will come as no shock.

by Len Frank

TCS still concentrates on drive reports of new cars--we try for one a week. The most frequently asked listener question is still "what should I buy?".

We broadcast reportage on everything from the industry to club events, calls from races (last year Indy, Le Mans, and others), all manner of consumer stuff, anything automotive. We welcome guests.

One big difference between TCS and print is that when our callers ask for new car information on cars already covered, we more-or-less cheerfully supply it again and again over the years.

John Retsek started TCS on KPFK (90.7fm/Pacifica Network) in1975, which makes it, we figure, the longest running auto radio show in the U.S. In 1977 Len Frank joined the show.

KPFK has a 112,000 watt signal and can be heard north of Santa Barbara, south of San Diego, east of Riverside, and west of the Moon, if anyone out there is listening. Several hundred thousand are. Currently ninety minutes, we are looking forward to a full two hours. [Note: TCS went to a two hour format prior to Len’s passing]

Art Gould, starting with TCS as an industry observer and motorsports insider, has worked in as a host over the last three years. Art worked for a major manufacturer for a dozen years and then managed one of the larger dealerships in the L.A. area for about ten more. While John's automotive approach was that of a more-or-less typical enthusiast, and Len's a bizarre mixture (ex-dealership owner, Art Center College of Design dropout, and sort-of racer), Art's is, well...ask him about dealership franchise agreements, motorsports commerce, collectibles, street racing...

Len (ex-Motor Trend, etc.) writes frequently for European Car, often for Popular Science, Road & Track, Popular Mechanics, Others Too Numerous to Mention, and now a weekly column for The L.A. Reader.

John, who wrote regularly for Sports Car International, has taken a short hiatus from print journalism.

WHAT ELSE? Len teaches driving at Willow Springs a few times a year and races whatever he can whenever he can. John won his third Emmy last year for his work at KCET. Art has been building (forever) an LT-1-powered S10 Blazer street machine to go with his (nearly finished) 502 cu.in 66 Corvette.

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