Any Bay Area members know anything about Sunnyvale
 

My '64 GTO convertible yields from Larry Hopkins Pontiac in Sunnyvale. The dealership is still there, but is now Larry Hopkins Honda. Car was built up the road in Fremont.
When I got my car there were a few odds and ends in it from the Lamplighter Inn. Doing some research I found that the Lamplighter Inn was just down the street from Larry Hoplkins on Camino Real.
Does anyone know any history regarding the Lampligher Inn? It's no longer there, and now a relatively new building sits there.. Crazy Buffet or something like that.

It's been gone for at least a decade. Used to be a hangout for techies from Apple and other SV firms, and local pols.

Sunnyvale is a very expensive place to live now.

The Lamplighter is mentioned in many histories of Silicon Valley, as Bob said all the local engineers and programmers hung out there. I imagine a lot of secret plans were discussed after a few martinis. :)

Always was from what I remember. I lived there for 6 months in '92/'93 when going to an automotive trade school. Worker's comp put me up in a fancy hotel while I was there. Was driving my '67 ragtop then using a screwdriver to start it.

Even then it was very hard to find anyone that spoke English. Almost lost my mind when trying to get directions to the hotel for the first time, and had already went the wrong way from Santa Clara all the way down nearly to Gilroy before I realized it and turned back around.

What kind of place was the Lamplighter? I have a room key with a FOB that says reward for returning, a post card showing an aerial view of the compound, and a empty book of matches.
Was the food any good? Anyone old enough to remember it in the '60s or 70's?

I grew up in Santa Clara, which borders Sunnyvale. In the late 70's I served my automotive apprenticeship at Sunnyvale Lincoln Mercury which was the next block up from Hopkins Pontiac, so I passed it about 20 times a day while taking test drives. I had a 65 GTO at the time and would buy parts for it at Hopkins. The Hopkins family has been around forever, and I think the son, Steve Hopkins owns a Honda or Acura dealer in Fairfield. The Lamplighter sounds familiar, but I can't picture it in my mind. Too long ago I guess. Besides, back then I hung out at the De Anza Lounge.

Expensive, hell yes. My parents bought their house in Santa Clara in 1965 for 30K. Santa Clara and Sunnyvale were all cherry orchards back then. Those same houses sell for a million bucks now, and it will get worse now that Apple is building their world headquarters on the Santa Clara/Sunnyvale/Cupertino border. The new 49er stadium won't help with traffic either. Personally, I can't stand the place anymore, just a concrete jungle now, and too much traffic. Besides, I only speak English, so I don't fit in there.

Sequoia Automotive Institute in Mountain View, or De Anza Auto Tech in Cupertino?

When I worked for Firestone..... They offered me a store in Sunnyvale to manage. The problem was...is that they paid the same as managing a store in Antioch....Modesto...etc... Needless to say... I turned down the offer....and about 3 months later I went into business for myself.

71gp76ta did you know a Firestone guy by the name of Harold "Hal" Pique?
He worked that area from the mid 80's till ?

Highway 82
 

El Camino Real was a big cruise spot for a while. The turn around was just short of Sunnyvale, then back to Santa Clara. I believe its also Highway 82. I lived just off of Monterey Road in South San Jose, it also is part of HW82. It was the old and slow way from SF to southern cal.

This is all great information. Thanks all

My 70 Judge was also built at Fremont, sold at Larry Hopkins Pontiac in Sunnyvale. Been looking for information about the dealership and haven't found much, but did find this old hotrod picture.

I don't believe it is there anymore. ATCOA North - Automotive training corp of northern California

A friend of mine reported that the local Nissan dealer in Sunnyvale has 50 Leafs on the lot. That answers the "who the hell is buying those things?" question.

AGTO8U... that race car is BRUTUS. Was sponsored by Larry Hopkins raced / owned by Lew Arrington / "JUNGLE" Jim Lieberman

Cool............and thanks for the info.

This frame is like the ones I picked up for my '64-
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131056487156...84.m1423.l2649

Sorry to tease with this info, but I ran into a guy at Cars and Coffee this weekend who used to work at Larry Hopkins Pontiac back in the '70s. He said he's still in contact with the family and thinks he has some remaining memorabilia around. Sadly I got caught up chatting with some other folks and wasn't able to get his contact info. I believe he said he was restoring a '69 Grand Prix. I think he was with his brother - super nice guys. Hopefully I'll run into them again at the next Cars and Coffee.

I asked about the Lamplighter Inn and he didn't recall much except he said there were a bunch of "rough and tumble" bars around that area back in the day.

Incidentally, my coworker also grew up in Sunnyvale and didn't have much of a recollection of the place either. Based on the address she seemed to remember that it was a rougher side of town.

Ken- No tease! I'm leaps and bounds closer to finding a few items than when I started this. Would be excited to get a key fob from Larry Hopkins. Does the family still own the Honda dealership? I found a Larry Hopkins postcard from the early 70's that shows early imported Hondas on the lot.

The search for information continues.