I recently purchased this (guessing) 70s era single fin. The only identifying mark on it is ‘Space Vehicles’. Wondering if anybody has any info on this label, who shaped for them, where they were sold, etc etc. Thanks all.
My older brother used to ride those boards. The guy was based out of Los Angeles and I’m pretty sure he did his own glassing as well as being the shaper. I met him once or twice but don’t remember his name. Here is a pic of my brother with one of the boards… also a pic of my brother installing the sign at the County Line Shack on the point at County Line. (from ‘the brother’ files…)
PS - those diagonal stripes are just the sunlight shining through the palm fronds… the board had colored stripes going lengthwise.
Yeah those 70’s board shorts. Bronzed Aussie style.
Momma don’t allow no pot smokin’ around here.
I do remember the guy having a brand new stringerless shortboard he had made. He referred to it as a “Popout.”
Hand shaped and glassed by the same guy. A slightly different version of what we might call a popout today.
On the Stanly’s web site it shows a board with the space vehicles decal and the address as PO box 11 Solana Beach Ca 92075 .
His name is Gary Baker from Solana Beach. The magazine that Larry Gordon (G&S) published back in 1971-72ish had an interview with him and a couple of others where they thought board design was evolving to.
Back in the late 6o’s and 70’s there was a surfboard line called “Space Vehicles”. What about that guy? Well, I’m him, Gary Baker: always signed my boards ‘G. Baker’ on or to the side of the stringer. I’m listed in the 70’s North San Diego County Shaper’s Tree. In the last 2 years I’ve designed three new lines of boards and will be back in sales mode shortly (all U.S.A. materials).
“Space Vehicles” started in 1967. a named suggested by my mom! Between then and now I’ve shaped approximately 5 -8,000 boards but, with “modern technologies”, I’m now able to produce a full spectrum of: short to long, retro-designs and “vintage boutique longboards”. ‘Back in the day, I was one of the 1st (along with Tommy Lewis, Cardiff CA) to introduce: “under-edge box rails, flat decks, stringer-less boards, fish twin fins and tri-fins, at the time, all avant-guard designs! I introduced “airbrushing” with my own graphics and re-introduced lengthwise competition stripes from the 60’s in bright primary colors on shortboards.
I started making surfboards 1962 while in junior high woodshop, because the teacher said we could make whatever interested us ‘related to wood’.
By 1970 I opened a surfboard factory in Solana Beach. I had a couple of guys working with me but, I always designed, shaped and glassed my own productions as well as supervising other portions of the building process. My boards were carried in retail locales from Malibu, L.A., Santa Monica/Venice (Jeff Ho’s “Zephyr Surfshop”) to North San Diego County. In 1971-73 I had my own retail shop on PCH across from “Cardiff Reef”.
Please wait for new boards & t-shirts to be available soon! Email: spacevehicles@yahoo.com or ‘text’ me at: 805.701.5690 Thanks mucho, Baker
Back in the late 6o’s and 70’s there was a surfboard line called “Space Vehicles”. What about that guy? Well, I’m him, Gary Baker: always signed my boards ‘G. Baker’ on or to the side of the stringer. I’m listed in the 70’s North San Diego County Shaper’s Tree. In the last 2 years I’ve designed three new lines of boards and will be back in sales mode shortly (all U.S.A. materials).
“Space Vehicles” started in 1967. a named suggested by my mom! Between then and now I’ve shaped approximately 5 -8,000 boards but, with “modern technologies”, I’m now able to produce a full spectrum of: short to long, retro-designs and “vintage boutique longboards”. ‘Back in the day, I was one of the 1st (along with Tommy Lewis, Cardiff CA) to introduce: “under-edge box rails, flat decks, stringer-less boards, fish twin fins and tri-fins, at the time, all avant-guard designs! I introduced “airbrushing” with my own graphics and re-introduced lengthwise competition stripes from the 60’s in bright primary colors on shortboards.
I started making surfboards 1962 while in junior high woodshop, because the teacher said we could make whatever interested us ‘related to wood’.
By 1970 I opened a surfboard factory in Solana Beach. I had a couple of guys working with me but, I always designed, shaped and glassed my own productions as well as supervising other portions of the building process. My boards were carried in retail locales from Malibu, L.A., Santa Monica/Venice (Jeff Ho’s “Zephyr Surfshop”) to North San Diego County. In 1971-73 I had my own retail shop on PCH across from “Cardiff Reef”.
Please wait for new boards & t-shirts to be available soon! Email: spacevehicles@yahoo.com or ‘text’ me at: 805.701.5690 Thanks mucho, Baker
Hey Gary thank you so much for commenting! Super cool to find and hear from the shaper and get the history. Believe it or not I got PMed from the original owner of the board as well (he is on this site), who bought it directly from you. We are working out a way for me to get it down to So Cal so that he can be reunited with it. I love it that it is going back to the original owner after 50 years. Very cool.
John