And that includes the little Cars and Coffees near you.
What is interesting to do, is to find some that are outside your normal circle. A great place to start is, of course, http://www.socalcarculture.com. If you're in SoCal, of course. This site covers a huge area, from San Diego as far north as Paso Robles.
Most of the listings are for weekend morning C&Cs and most are pretty small affairs. Some though, are bigger than some full on, all day Car Shows.
This past weekend, we hit four of them (THREE in one day, Saturday) and had fun at each one.
The first was a regular haunt, the Early Rodders' C&C in Montrose at the UA/Regal 8 Cinema. http://www.socalcarculture.com/Images/CruiseNight_Saturday_EarlyRodders.pdf. This is a big one, usually over 100 cars of all types. Everything from VWs to Porsches, Fiats to Ferraris, lots of British, and of course, Hot Rods of all types. There's also a GotBucks coffee place to get your java jolt. Most guys are pretty friendly, if a bit clannish. Hot Rodders hang with Hot Rodders, Muscle Car guys with their own ilk. There are a few oddities that show up--A couple of Rolls, Fauxbras, Broncos, and such. Yes, I'm usually one of a couple of Citroens (the other is Chuck of Autobooks--of course). This past weekend a guy showed with a SAAB Sonnet! The "powerful" V4 version. no less. Always neat.
The next stop on Saturday was a newer one I've frankly been avoiding. It's at Lake Ave. and Altadena Dr. in Altadena. Yes, THAT Altadena. The cars and people were great but the overwhelming blanket of sadness that hangs over that poor, benighted community is palpable. Growing up, I knew a lot of kids in high school that lived there. Pretty much, all of their family homes are flat gone. Back in '72 I went to East Berlin. This reminded me of that. Burned out shells of buildings, piles of rubble. It indeed looked like the 8th Air Force had done a flyover. What REALLY struck me was the randomness of it all! You'd see a house standing, looking normal and all around it, rubble. This is gonna take a good 10 years to return to some kind of normalcy, but all the "Dena Strong" signs and shirts won't change the economics of it all. A lot of Altadena was where African-Americans were "allowed" to rent or buy houses. They were the maids, cleaning women, laborers of wealthy Pasadena. My high school, John Muir was right in the middle of it all. It was a serious lesson on class and racial divisions. The one positive thing, however, is that the SPIRIT is still there, even if the bank accounts and insurance payouts aren't what are needed. This little C&C proved that. It's always been an area with a strong identity and this gathering of maybe two dozen cars proved that.
An aside, one guy was talking to Chuck and I, and he looked at me and asked "Aren't you a writer?" I was stunned. I've been recognized in various way, but this was a first. Seemed he'd attended my signing at a shop in Altadena (now gone) called "Hoopla" and bought a couple of my books!
From there, using Trusty SoCalCarCulture, I'd looked for a possible third show on Saturday, one that started later. Most of you know that Car Shows usually start about 9am and to get in, you have to line up well before that. If you've got a ways to go, that means leaving well before the butt-crack of dawn. Like when we went to the one in Paso Robles or the one in Amboy. Unless you fork out for a motel room as well as the usual $50 entry fee!
I found one. In Jurupa. WHERE? It's a former wide spot in the dirt before you get to Riverside. This one was for All Custom Cars, and was billed as a show for "Life Size Hot Wheels." How could I resist? THIS is what I mean when I say find one that's 40 or 50 miles away. Especially if you've got something as weird as my Yellow Submarine.
It was held in the parking lot of a place called "Birrieria Gonzalez." It promised a lot of one of my secret pleasures, Low Riders. I don't know why, but I love 'em!
And it didn't disappoint. Naturally, as I was about to turn into the parking lot, I set the Citroen up to its highest level, and when I parked, I could see people walking over with that "WTF IS THAT?" look on their faces. That's of course when I set the height lever to its lowest. Lots of slack jaws! As usual!
"Man, that's the quietest air bags I've ever seen!"
"Didju do that to that old car?"
"What is it?"
It's so much fun. My next lines are:
"It's a Citroen, from France, and the suspension is hydraulic, FROM THE FACTORY!"
The usual response is a stunned "NO SHIT!"
THIS is why I say go out of your area. You'll meet new people and reaffirm the notion that Car Guys (and Gals) are Nice People. No matter WHAT kind of car they, or you have.
I even got interviewed by a local guy for their Instagram. www.headtwisterz.com Look for it! They loved my BS...uh, I mean DS!
And by the way, the tacos at Birrieria Gonzalez are FANTASTIC. Here's some pix:
The other great thing about this show was it was pretty warm out in Jurupa. Warm enough that ice couldn't form...if you get my drift?
On Sunday, we got up and went to Marianne's favorite C&C, Carcadia. http://www.socalcarculture.com/Images/CruiseNight_Sunday_Carcadia.pdf
It's once a month (last Sunday of the month) and has about 100 cars and really nice people. Marianne likes the people and the vibe. Everyone is friendly, chatting, lots of people know the car and come up.
In between all this, the F1 race at Spa was on, so it's been a serious Car Weekend. Hope you have many in your future!
Thanx Steve ! I can use the links, I way out of the loop these days but still want to go and gawp at others cars, trucks and Motocycles .
ReplyDeleteI had _NO_IDEA_ Altadena had a car show ! I live maybe 2 miles away and will soon go there .
Happy roads to all .
-Nate
GLad to be helpful! The Altadena one is fairly new.
ReplyDelete