Officially named “Lefty’s P-38 Lightning Fast Service”, Lefty’s Garage may be the most famous building in Oasis Palms. Lefty was the great-grandson of Cameron Smith and flew a P-38 Lightning in Africa during WWII. After the war, Lefty returned home and was trying to promote tourism in Oasis Palms so he purchased a decommissioned P-38 and mounted it as a canopy above his gas pumps.
Heavily promoted by billboards on Route 66, Lefty’s P-38 Lightning Fast Service became a mid-century “selfie” spot for tourists. Later artist Larry Grossman immortalized Lefty’s in a popular Lowbrow painting.
Lefty is credited with building the Oasis Palms Scenic Railroad and was a prolific entrepreneur and promoter. When Mobil refused to allow him to become a distributor, he started getting bulk fuel from Texaco delivered on rail cars and Lefty then began supplying fuel to service stations along Route 66. No one was ever sure what brand of gas Lefty was selling, but Lefty always had gas.
There are multiple iconic Oasis Palms stories attributed to Lefty.
- Lefty added the mid-town railroad loop (essentially cutting the town in half) just to make it less expensive for him to take delivery of bulk fuel to the back of his service station.
- Lefty stopped the building permits of the A&W as a year-round structure to prevent competition with his wife’s Hotrod Diner.
- Lefty blew up the Barco Distillery still and subsequently burned the Oasis Palms Resort Hotel to the ground to make room for the track to be laid to access his Oasis Palms Scenic Railroad loop over Oasis Palms.
- Lefty got into a fight with the owner of the Flamingo Motel and erected the huge Mobilgas neon sign on his roof simply as spite to block the Flamingo guests’ view of the plateau and downtown.
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