1975 - Bonzer Vehicles We had a great year and learned a tremendous amount about the surfboard business. In 1974, Bing sold his company to Gordon and Smith. Mike and the Bonzer were part of the package. Bing personally explained to us his reasons for selling and sincerely hoped that the change would work out well for us. We were impressed with his concern and grateful for the opportunity our relationship with him had provided. Unfortunately, the transition to Gordon and Smith did not work out very well. The combination of idealistic outsiders and seasoned industry big timers didn’t go so well this time. We decided to bail out and head back to the garage. Shortly after that, Mike Kelly of Emotion Surfboards, the inventor of the flow fin, asked us to build some Bonzers for his company. He lent us a power planer. It was the first time we had ever used one. This was the first toward getting ourselves into the ‘surfboard business’. Then, in 1975 Bill “Blinky” Hubina, of William Dennis Surfboards and Surf Shop, invited us to work with him. Blinky had been building boards in Ventura for quite some time. He worked at Morey Pope Surfboards with Dennis Ryder before he and Dennis went on to form William Dennis surfboards. Blinky had taken over the W.A.V.E. Hollow board factory in the farming town of Saticoy. W.A.V.E. Hollow, owned by Karl Pope, was a pioneer in alternative construction methods for surfboards. They had shut down and Blinky turned it into a traditional surfboard factory and combined it with “Blinky’s Bargain Basement”. He sold all kinds of wild stuff. It was quite a scene. This was our first opportunity to actually work in a real surfboard factory, and it turned into the professional beginnings of Bonzer Vehicles and in turn Campbell Brothers Surfboards.
Bill Hubina
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