Blackie Hosses

Most of the kids in Clean Gene's gang were Armenians, and they all followed a charismatic WWII veteran widely known around town as Blackie. Gene met Richard at Roosevelt High School in 1950. "He was full of energy and worked very hard at his father Ed's packing house." Taken circa 1951, this photo from Richard's Collection shows a group of Blackie Hosses in front of Richard's yellow Mercury Convertible. According to Gene, Richard was the only one in the gang with a camera back then. Photo from The Clean Gene Sadoian Collection.

In 1950 Gene "Clean Gene" Sadoian started driving his 1934 Ford to school to show it off. "A senior named Tom Riccardo had a green, fenderless 34-4 door, but his was chopped 6", coolest car at school. Babe Obradovich had a black fenderless 32 3 window, aluminum heads, cam, two 97 Stromberg's. He was the fastest car in school until my best friend, Richard Shirinian, built a channeled fenderless 29 Ford roadster with a 59A block. Richard was Blackie Gejeian's cousin and his father owned a truck garage named United Automotive Works. Richard introduced me to Blackie (and Blackie's now-famous roadster) at age 14 in 1948. This influenced our becoming Hot Rodder's with Blackie being our leader."