Finish Line
In February 1971, the official club publication of the California Sport Car Club, aka 'Cal Club' or CSCC, changed its title from Post Grid to 'Finish Line', still using a folded newspaper format similar to Post Grid - and also very similar to Competition Press & Autoweek. Bob Schilling, editor of CSCC official publications since 1968, continued as editor and also in at the start were Competition Editor Peggy Hammond, ubiquitous west coast reporter Ed Pitz, and "the notorius Natalie Rice-Krispies".
A year later, in March 1972, Finish Line was revamped in a very impressive magazine format, published by John T. McArthur of Valley Wide Publications Inc who was the latest in a series of publishers to attempt to publish a monthly publication free of charge to the CSCC in return for whatever advertising income he could generate. Schilling again remained as editor, with Pitz and Rice both listed as Associate Editors. In early 1973, this arangement unravelled when McArthur realised he could not make the deal profitable and from August 1973, the club published the magazine themselves. At the end of 1974, Schilling noted that 1974 was the first year that the Cal Club had been published 12 times in a year since 1968. In February 1976, Schilling was still Editor with Peg Hammond and Natalie Rice still Associate Editors.
Since a purchase of 30 copies of Finish Lane in November 2017, ORC now has 17 spare copies available for exchange. We still need many editions from early 1975 onwards.
Anyone who can help us offset the cost of building a complete collection of Finish Line by loaning copies or scanning reports would be most appreciated. Contact Allen if you can help.
| Edition | Comment |
|---|---|
| Newspaper format | |
| Vol 1, No 1 - February 1971 | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 2 - March 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 3 - April 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 4 - May 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 5 - June 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 6 - July 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 7 - August 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 8 - September 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 9 - October 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 10 - November 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 11 - December 1971? | NEEDED |
| Vol 1, No 12 - January 1971? | NEEDED |
| Magazine format | |
| Vol 1, No 1 - March 1972 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| Vol 1, No 2 - April 1972 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| Vol 1, No 3 - May 1972 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| Vol 1, No 4 - June 1972 | ORC |
| Vol 1, No 5 - July 1972 | ORC |
| Vol 1, No 6 - August 1972 | ORC |
| Vol 1, No 7 - September 1972 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| Vol 1, No 8 - October 1972 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| Vol 1, No 9 - November 1972 | ORC |
| Vol 1, No 10 - December 1972 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| Vol 1, No 11 - January 1973 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| February 1973 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| March 1973 (Believed to be the last edition published by John T. McArthur) |
ORC (have spare copy) |
| April - July 1973 | Not published |
| August 1973 (First self-published edition) | ORC (have spare copy) |
| September 1973 | ORC |
| October 1973 | ORC |
| November 1973 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| December 1973 | ORC |
| January 1974 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| February 1974 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| March 1974 | Needed |
| April 1974 | ORC |
| May 1974 | ORC |
| June 1974 | ORC |
| July 1974 | ORC |
| August 1974 | ORC |
| September 1974 | ORC |
| October 1974 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| November 1974 | ORC |
| December 1974 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| January 1975 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| February 1975 | ORC (have spare copy) |
| March 1975 | ORC |
| April 1975 | Needed |
| May 1975 | Needed |
| June 1975 | ORC |
| July 1975 | Needed |
| August 1975 | ORC |
| September 1975 | Needed |
| October 1975 | Needed |
| November 1975 | Needed |
| December 1975 | Needed |
| January 1976 | Needed |
| February 1976 | ORC |
| March 1976 (start of Volume 5?) | Needed |
| April 1976 | Needed |
| May 1976 | Needed |
| June 1976 | Needed |
| July 1976 | Needed |
| August 1976 | Needed |
| September 1976 | Needed |
| October 1976 | Needed |
| November 1976 | Needed |
| December 1976 | Needed |
| 1977 onwards - all editions needed |
We don't currently know how long this self-publication arrangement existed. By early 1981, Paul Pfanner had taken over as publisher of Finish Line through his company Pfanner, Catheron & Brown (Santa Ana, CA). Natalie Rice had risen to the post of Editor of Finish Line and Pfanner's partner Suzette Catheron was Art Director. Volume numbering had disappeared quite early on, replaced by just the month and year, but would later be restarted with effect from the beginning of 1980. Schilling was listed as Editor Emeritus in 1981 and as Senior Editor in 1983. By 1984, Finish Line was renamed California SportsCar Club News and Bill Sparks, a long-time partner of Pfanner and future founder editor of Racer, had taken over the Editor's chair from Rice. Stability had finally arrived at the Cal Club publication because by 1989, Pfanner was still publisher, Sparks still Editor and, to reinforce the continuity, former editors Rice and Schilling were the two Feature Editors. Rice had also been appointed to the Board of Governors as Secretary and remained in this role until 1999.
Pfanner, Catheron & Brown took on other club magazines, such as the Alfa Romeo Owners Club magazine, and would later start Racer magazine in 1992.
Key:
ORC - with OldRacingCars.com, acquired on eBay
This list was last updated on 22 November, 2020 .