Falling into automotive without a plan, Gary Haugley has made a career of buggies, cars, and off-road. From building to appraising, car show judging and building stories. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
7:52 – I had no clue, no clue what was going on…
13:33 – I walked into B&R Buggy, the guy who owns it says, “you’ve got to buy this place;” he goes, I got in trouble with a little side job, I’m leaving.
21:22 – I need to know what I need to do to be an appraiser, Tony was real quiet, then he goes, “no, you don’t have questions for me, I got questions for you.”
27:12 – I thought this guy was going to take me out, he goes, “I own a lot of cars. I have a lot of money. I pay a lot of people a lot of money to make sure it’s perfect. You’re the first one to notice it’s not.” He put out his hand and said, thank you.
35:41 – We got him a brand new car, big four-seater, and donated it to him, that’s how I got involved with Warfighter Made
41:18 – The Sergeant Major hated me because I was non-military, he called me out of the blue one day, “I need some help.”
54:39 – they busted their butts with side jobs, and got to keep the buggy, it’s a great story
Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:40.250] – Big Rich Klein
My next guest went from a tire store employee to a buggy shop owner, Driving Skills Trainer, Vehicle Appraiser, Car Show Judge, and is now an ORMHOF board member, Gary Haugley. Gary Haugley, it’s so good to have you here on on the podcast. I just want to say thank you for taking the time and doing this. We’re going to talk about your life. We’re going to talk about your role on the ORMHOF Board of Directors. And we let everybody know, Gary and I came on to the Board of Directors at the same time, and Gary’s a really cool dude. And so for all of you that don’t know the off-road racing side and have come across Gary, he’s got a pretty rich history, and we’re going to get into that.
[00:02:31.520] – Big Rich Klein
But Gary, thank you so much for spending the time.
[00:02:35.340] – Gary Haugley
Well, thank you, Rich. I appreciate the call. That’s interesting.
[00:02:39.080] – Big Rich Klein
Okay, well, so let’s get started with the easiest question there is, and that is where were you born and raised?
[00:02:48.740] – Gary Haugley
It’s interesting. I was born in Paris, France.
[00:02:52.090] – Big Rich Klein
Oh, wow.
[00:02:53.600] – Gary Haugley
My mom was in the army, and come to find out after she passed a few years ago that got in all her paperwork and stuff, found out she was an encryptor, and she was working with Eisenhower staff during the war. It’s interesting. Then I came over here and basically, long story short, settled in in the University of California, and I’ve pretty much been here ever since.
[00:03:19.620] – Big Rich Klein
So your mom was in the military, but she was a US citizen?
[00:03:23.850] – Gary Haugley
She was in the army, yeah. I had dual citizenship till ’69.
[00:03:28.790] – Big Rich Klein
Oh, wow. Okay. That’s really cool. Do you speak French?
[00:03:34.940] – Gary Haugley
I did when I was a little guy.
[00:03:36.320] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. Yeah, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Right. That’s my Spanish. I took three years of Spanish and two years of German, and all I can do is find a bathroom and order a beer.
[00:03:52.730] – Gary Haugley
Well, at least you got this stuff right.
[00:03:55.220] – Big Rich Klein
This is the most important, at least.
[00:03:57.320] – Gary Haugley
You got that right, yeah.
[00:03:59.050] – Big Rich Klein
So then When you move over, how old were you when you came back to the States?
[00:04:06.330] – Gary Haugley
I think it was like three or four, something around in there. Okay.
[00:04:11.040] – Big Rich Klein
So you don’t really remember that transition?
[00:04:13.870] – Gary Haugley
No, not whatsoever.
[00:04:15.150] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. You said you moved back into what city?
[00:04:19.900] – Gary Haugley
Vista, California. Vista.
[00:04:20.630] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. What was it like growing up in Vista?
[00:04:27.960] – Gary Haugley
It was a town. In fact, it is still small, just getting a little bigger. We’re about 25 miles north of San Diego and inland a few miles. There’s a lot of hot rods at that time, cruising to drive-ins and all that stuff, which has somewhat gone away over the years.
[00:04:48.180] – Big Rich Klein
Cruising everywhere has.
[00:04:51.270] – Gary Haugley
Cruising Escondido, cruising over the Coast, cruising Vista, staying out of trouble, going to Carlsbad Raceway, racing over there, the drag races and stuff like that. READ MORE
