Super spotter, Steve Hastings, was smooth, smooth, smooth. A driver in his own right, he spent a lot of his career as Jason Bunch’s spotter. OG rockcrawler who got started in the 60’s behind the wheel of his dad’s CJ5, Steve has seen a lot of rock. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
5:44 – Two pillows behind and two pillows underneath and low, low, low gear
15:23 – I’m one of Craig’s disciples, one of those rigs he bought high and sold low
29:12 – More like a lot of tequila and a lot of tacos
35:40 – Jason’s wife called and said, “Jason was a basket case, don’t you ever leave him behind again!”
42:36 – We’d look at an obstacle and find the hardest spot, then work backwards to get the right line
51:04 –we weren’t looking for fast, we didn’t care if we finished in nine minutes and 59 seconds, as long as we finished. Smooth, smooth, smooth was our battle cry
Special thanks to Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:13.520] – Big Rich Klein
On this episode of Conversations with Big Rich. Be talking to an old-time wheeler, a guy that’s spent most of his life off road, either with family, wheeling himself or as a competitor, a spotter, a racer, And a good friend, a lot of guys out there, especially in the old days, Steve Hastings. Good morning, Steve Hastings. So glad to have you here on the podcast, especially following up Jason Bunch, your partner in crime for years. This is going to be fun. I’m looking forward to it.
[00:01:50.720] – Steve Hastings
Good morning, Rich. I listened to the podcast last night about what Jason was rambling on, and he can get He can get going, but we had a lot of fun together. That’s for sure.
[00:02:03.510] – Big Rich Klein
Well, great. We’re going to get into all of that, plus a little bit about your history. So let’s start off there. Where were you born and raised?
[00:02:13.790] – Steve Hastings
Right here in Southern California. Born in Glendale, grew up in T’Hunga, and went to school in Tahanga, Sunland area, high school, and lived with my parents. I was 24 before I moved out.
[00:02:36.340] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. And when you were going to school there, would you consider yourself a good student, an average student or one of those that looked out the window waiting to get out there?
[00:02:50.460] – Steve Hastings
Yeah. Well, maybe between the average and looking out the window.
[00:02:55.560] – Big Rich Klein
Okay.
[00:02:56.430] – Steve Hastings
I passed my classes, but there was probably a lot left on the table.
[00:03:01.840] – Big Rich Klein
Right. That seems to be a common thread for a lot of us in this industry. So when you were in school, did you play sports or what activities did you do?
[00:03:12.810] – Steve Hastings
Well, my off-roading got in the way of the sports. Okay. I grew up going camping and stuff with my parents, and that was on weekends. And a lot of sports were on Friday nights and Saturdays. And I did play Kouana’s baseball in the summer, but we would miss some of the games because we were going jeeping.
[00:03:39.790] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. What areas were you guys jeeping at there in the high desert?
[00:03:46.380] – Steve Hastings
Yeah, everywhere. I mean, we used to go to Pismo and Red Rock Canyon and Schrockel Summit, Glamis. I mean, any place, a lot of places in Southern California that are now closed. We used to go down to Palm Springs and run the sand dunes, and a lot of people go, Sand dunes? Yeah, right there at Bob Hope Drive, there was some sand dunes, and we used to go down there and play.
[00:04:14.790] – Big Rich Klein
Yeah, now that’s all resorts and houses and stuff.
[00:04:19.760] – Steve Hastings
Exactly. They leveled it all off, and I don’t know how they haul the sand out or build on top of it. I’m not sure, but yeah, they’re all gone.
[00:04:31.460] – Big Rich Klein
Those early days, I know you’re a product of the ’50s. And how young was it that you guys were jeeping? Were you guys out in a flat fendor? Or what was the vehicle of choice Our first Jeep was a 1960 CJ5.
[00:04:49.750] – Steve Hastings
Okay. And four-cylinder. And my two sisters and I, it’s sitting in the back, mom and dad, and and the dog, and off we’d go. And that’s where it started. Before that, we camped. We had an international travelall, but it was two-wheel drive. And my uncle had a Landrover. And so we’d go down a lot of time down in Anza-Berrego area, and we were getting stuck all the time, and he’d have to pull us out. So we ended up buying… My dad bought the Jeep, and we We started in ’61 jeeping, and we’ve had Jeeps ever since.
[00:05:39.070] – Big Rich Klein
And your first opportunity to drive, was that in that ’60 CJ5?
[00:05:44.930] – Steve Hastings
Oh, yeah. Two pillows behind and two pillows underneath me and low, low, low gear. And I was seven or eight when I drove for the first time. READ MORE
