Zuver plates - has anybody ever seen these in person?

[_bruce_]

I worked out at Zuver's a couple of times while stationed at Camp Pendleton.

Here's how I recall it.

We'd drive the 80 or so miles up to Costa Mesa and find Zuver's in a residential neighborhood which was somewhat strange back in those days.

I kind of recall that it was a huge structure built on the north side of his property with his home on the south side.

You'd park in any vacant spot on this residential street and then walk down a short dirveway towards the back of his property and see a huge structure guarded by a huge ape and a huge 'iron' door with a sign "If you cannot open this door, you are too weak to enter" or something like that.

Once inside it was like entering an iron museum. Everything was "the biggest this and the biggest that" and "the heaviest this and the heaviest that" and some parts of the floor were actual 45 pound olympic plates.

Most new-comers would spend about 30 minutes looking at all the equipment until Rev Zuver would walk over and introduce himself. No high pressure sales .... Just a hearty welcome and an invite to "Go ahead and use the equipment. Have a good workout!"

Back in those good old days you were always welcome to work in with anyone who happened to be using the same equipment you were planning to use, so I ended up benching with some UCLA shot-putters who were pretty famous back them.

Not sure about this but I think that the local community got a bit upset about Zuver's Gym being located in a residential neighborhood and all the resulting traffic. That may be the main reason why it closed down.

And I don't recall if Rev Zuver reopened in another location.

PS That's Zuver's son "Rhino" in that bench press shot.

 

[ManBearPig...]

ironcompany.com is one such company.

i think only us meatheads here would think about having weights engraved with our names on it for the home gym.


*seriously debates it*

[BB]

More Zuver memories-

http://davedraper.com/blog/2008/01/23/dr-ken-leistner-memories-zuver%E2%80%99s-hall-of-fame-gym/ .

http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/204/tp/1/ - long thread with lots of pictures including the Ape, look at all 3 pages.

[HTexan]

Zuver was involved with some of the early WSM television, designing equiptment, etc...., in the 1977 or 78 show you can see Zuver's plates being loaded on to things. Dr. Ken Leistner mentioned that after Franco Columbu broke his leg in the refridgerator carry, he sued everyone including Zuver. This soured Zuver on the whole scene, so he just dumped everything and retired to Idaho.

Zuver plates do show up once and a while, a pair was sold to Richard Sorin (Sorinex Equiptment and a big time collector of weights) by a member of Ironhistory, a few months back. Price was undisclosed, but I bet it was hefty.

.

How was the culter carry related to zuver?

[BB]

From the way I heard it, Zuver made the Cutler racing apparatus. Columbu sued everyone involved that might of had some cash, even if they were at fault or not. Made just over a million bucks from that lawsuit.

[_bruce_]

From the way I heard it, Zuver made the Cutler racing apparatus. Columbu sued everyone involved that might of had some cash, even if they were at fault or not. Made just over a million bucks from that lawsuit.

Short asshole 

Maybe he should have dated Lou.

[Reeves]

I worked out at Zuver's a couple of times while stationed at Camp Pendleton.

Here's how I recall it.

We'd drive the 80 or so miles up to Costa Mesa and find Zuver's in a residential neighborhood which was somewhat strange back in those days.

I kind of recall that it was a huge structure built on the north side of his property with his home on the south side.

You'd park in any vacant spot on this residential street and then walk down a short dirveway towards the back of his property and see a huge structure guarded by a huge ape and a huge 'iron' door with a sign "If you cannot open this door, you are too weak to enter" or something like that.

Once inside it was like entering an iron museum. Everything was "the biggest this and the biggest that" and "the heaviest this and the heaviest that" and some parts of the floor were actual 45 pound olympic plates.

Most new-comers would spend about 30 minutes looking at all the equipment until Rev Zuver would walk over and introduce himself. No high pressure sales .... Just a hearty welcome and an invite to "Go ahead and use the equipment. Have a good workout!"

Back in those good old days you were always welcome to work in with anyone who happened to be using the same equipment you were planning to use, so I ended up benching with some UCLA shot-putters who were pretty famous back them.

Not sure about this but I think that the local community got a bit upset about Zuver's Gym being located in a residential neighborhood and all the resulting traffic. That may be the main reason why it closed down.

And I don't recall if Rev Zuver reopened in another location.

PS That's Zuver's son "Rhino" in that bench press shot.

Lucky you.  I never made it there.

[funk51]

More Zuver memories-

http://davedraper.com/blog/2008/01/23/dr-ken-leistner-memories-zuver%E2%80%99s-hall-of-fame-gym/ .

http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/204/tp/1/ - long thread with lots of pictures including the Ape, look at all 3 pages.

thanks that's a great article.

[Powerlift66]

Both Bob Zuver and I'm pretty sure his son "Rhino" have passed away.
Weider and Zuver tried to go into business to open gyms (I remember the ads from old muscle mags).
It pretty much failed from the start, and Bob went on to live a life away from the Iron Game.
Franco prolly stole all his money.

[funk51]

Both Bob Zuver and I'm pretty sure his son "Rhino" have passed away.
Weider and Zuver tried to go into business to open gyms (I remember the ads from old muscle mags).
It pretty much failed from the start, and Bob went on to live a life away from the Iron Game.
Franco prolly stole all his money.

i always got a kick out of the story how abe goldberg used to rip off Joeseph E. Weider. and how weider used to sue everyone and encourage his guys like sergio o arnold s and big louie to sue dan lurie.

[funk51]

dan lurie used to help out and mentor young louie than ferrigno at the urging of weider sued lurie.

[funk51]

big louie

[funk51]

final zuver image.

[_bruce_]

final zuver image.

 

[DroppingPlates]

final zuver image.

That seems not the easiest way to 'rack' a +100 pound dumbbell

[stuntmovie]

BB, I just read this in its entirety and did not know the Zuver/Columbo info.

I knew most of all the parties that have been mentioned here including Franco, Dan, Lou, Zuver, Weider, etc. and also the likes of Hoffman, Terpak. and dozens of other BB "dignitaries" and can confirm that there was no friendship between Joe aand Bob and Dan .

And that animosity went way beyond anything mentioned here.

But I'm surprised that Franco made a million suffering the consequences of his own choosing and I'm a bit surprised that that incident contributed to Zuver's decision to leave the business. I thought that he shut down in COSTA MESA long before Columbo got hurt.

Not positive with some of the above though.

[Radical Plato]

zuver plates

That reminds me of my Missus after a hard night on the nest, he he

[_bruce_]

BB, I just read this in its entirety and did not know the Zuver/Columbo info.

I knew most of all the parties that have been mentioned here including Franco, Dan, Lou, Zuver, Weider, etc. and also the likes of Hoffman, Terpak. and dozens of other BB "dignitaries" and can confirm that there was no friendship between Joe aand Bob and Dan .

And that animosity went way beyond anything mentioned here.

But I'm surprised that Franco made a million suffering the consequences of his own choosing and I'm a bit surprised that that incident contributed to Zuver's decision to leave the business. I thought that he shut down in COSTA MESA long before Columbo got hurt.

Not positive with some of the above though.

x10

[BB]

Yeah, the Franco thing always bothered me too, but Dr. Ken swore to it causing Zuver to leave the weight business, and someone once did post the court stuff from long ago. I can't find it now, but in this old Sports Illustrated article it does mention some of the lawsuit on page 2-

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1017374/1/index.htm .

"An American has not won the title of world's strongest man since '82, and there are several theories as to why. During the first WSM, at Universal Studios in Los Angeles in '77, Franco Columbu of Southern California, who at one time held the bodybuilding titles of Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia, dislocated his knee during the refrigerator race and sued TWI and CBS, among other defendants, claiming that he fell because the apparatus that held the refrigerator to his back had not been properly tested. Columbu, who was subsequently used as a poster boy for tort reform, was awarded just over $1 million by a jury in 1982. The first six WSMs were held in the U.S., but after losing the suit, Frank moved the event to various exotic locales where liability suits are rare, and U.S. competitors have not thrived."

Remember that was '82 dollars, it would be around $5,000,000 in today's money.

[funk51]

oops last one bill peanuts west training with zuver hof  plates.

[POTA]

Thanks for the scan, funk51. Do you also happen to have a scan of the verso (left-hand) page?

[Robert Zuver]

[nefario]

Cool. Thanks for posting, Robert.

Btw, what was the address of the original gym? I know that it's long gone, but IIRC it was on Hamilton Ave...I'm only a few miles away so I'd be curious to see what sort of slum dwelling has gone up in its wake.

[funk51]

  ken l..... 12 th man to press the big barrel. ad for zuver gym franchise. i read that weider was trying to buy into zuver's  to compete with gold's and world's but it fell through.

[funk51]

there's a whole chapter on zuber's in one of david yarnell's book about gyms.