The Walk of Fame
By Chris Murphy
When I approached George Lucas a few years ago about getting involved in the Modesto Historic Cruise Route, I explained that our mission was to tell the stories behind the story that he told. Our efforts here in ModestoUSA are to share the people and places that inspired Lucas’ milestone film, making Modesto USA a popular part of pop culture. You can walk the Cruise Route and watch videos from the Legends of the Cruise and see our Walk of Fame markers in 10th Street Plaza. Let’s meet the 2016 inductees into the Modesto Historic Cruise Route, Legends of the Cruise Walk of Fame. Www.modestocruiseroute.com www.graffitisummer.com
Don Monaco
American Graffiti Festival Cruise Parade 2016 Grand Marshall
Don Monaco is one of the fastest men in Modesto. Don Monaco has been racing fast all of his life. Don’s first car was a Model T that he bought when he was 12 for $ 7. Son of a peach farmer, Don was a self-starter all of his life, and after a stint in the Navy, founded Don’s Mobile Glass, taking the car glass service out of the shop and on the streets. Don was a racer and a cruiser and knew all of the best Modesto hangouts like the Bamboo Room, Jack’s, the Patio, and others, and had a ring-side seat to some of the cruise excitement. During the early 60s, Don Monaco, along with the late Chuck Billington and late Jack McCoy, would set up a racing partnership that would ultimately win a land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Don is also an acrobatic pilot and has been seen doing spirals and loops in the Modesto sky.
Friends with 2015 Cruise Parade Grand Marshall and fellow legend Bart Bartoni, Don was part of Bart’s Godfathers crew in the 70s, named for the restaurant over Bartoni Jewelers.
Don is still an active racer and is currently tuning up his “High-Boy” land speed record car to head off to do the Hot Rod Hillclimb race in Colorado. He will pull it all the way there behind his ’49 Cadillac. Don has been married to his wife Gloria for 28 years, and they have been known to get in his plane, pick a direction, and just fly and stay wherever they land, where they now have friends all over the USA.
