Chasing Dreams and Speed Records The Story of Samo Wheel & Brake Service
The story of the little automotive shop at 1310 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica begins more than 60 years ago.
It begins in Santa Barbara, California in 1920, when Masanaga (Mas) Okumura was born. From a young age, Mas would be recognized as having an engineering mindset with capable hands to boot. At 18 years of age he joined the United States Army to serve his country and to financially assist his family. Some time after enlisting, Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii… and while all citizens of Japanese descent along the west coast were being ushered into internment camps (including his own family), Mas and other Japanese American soldiers were transferred to Army bases in the Midwest United States, where he remained in active duty until 1945.
Longing to be back along the coast of California, Mas decided to return to Santa Barbara, where he found work at the local Lincoln Mercury dealership as a mechanic. His success working in the automotive industry would also cultivate a wonderful marriage and eventually provide for a growing family of his own.
Mas and family would eventually leave Santa Barbara and move to the Downtown Los Angeles area. His wife was hired as a school teacher in a nearby suburb, and Mas easily found work as a mechanic at several gas stations… one most notedly for Bagge & Son Automotive. There he would repair customer’s cars and learn about modifying everything about a vehicle. This would lead to him developing a vehicle which set speed records at El Mirage Dry Lake Bed in 1957.
Around this time, Bagge & Son relocated from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City, California. As Downtown began to grow and expand, Mas moved his wife and kids close to Culver City to escape the bustle. Seeing how skilled and capable Mas had become as a mechanic, “Pop” Bagge told Mas it was time he broke off from Bagge & Son to start his own automotive repair shop. He began exploring neighboring areas and was drawn to Santa Monica, where he rooted his first shop on 10th Street near Pico Boulevard.
Mas' Signal Gas Station
It wasn’t long until Mas realized he needed a larger shop and was intent on remaining in Santa Monica for the proximity to the ocean and friendly nature of the surrounding community. He would eventually find his second shop on 14th Street where he opened Mas Okumura Brakes, Tune-Up, & Repair, maintaining his speciality in wheel alignment and brakes. Incidentally, this move also happened just as ground was being broken for a new Interstate Highway which would eventually become known as the Santa Monica Freeway. Within the next few years, Mas would have to move his shop once again… only for good this time!
The Shop on 14th Street in Santa Monica
He found a modest strip of property on Pico Boulevard, just down from the 14th Street shop. This shop would not only become his final location, but the location whereby his legacy would be embedded in Santa Monica history as Samo Wheel and Brake Service.
From 1959, Mas worked diligently as a business owner at the Pico location, providing strong automotive service specializing in front end alignments and brake services. The business afforded him the ability to proudly raise his family locally, and his youngest son Howard would eventually become his protege soon after he graduated from University of Southern California in 1980.
In May of 1982, and much like his own journey, Mas told Howard it was time for him to take the reins of the business. Howard would purchase the business from his father, with interest, which would fortify his own determination to sustain and build the business into its own legacy in Santa Monica. Howard understood the commitment his father applied to his businesses, and it wouldn’t take long for Howard to forge his own recognition of being a prominent automotive shop owner in Santa Monica.
