Art & Inspiration Indoor car shows: the golden years

Man that Tommy the Greek story is fantastic stuff!

 

Absolutely!

 

Sure there was even a trailer? I have the R&C where they showed the roll over, both the Dream Truck and the 58 lying on their side in a ditch. At that time they said they were towing the Dream Truck with a tow bar.
Yeah, great Tommy the Greek story. That was another thing about the shows, there was other "side shows" as well. Always stripers and t shirt airbrushers with their antics, celebrity appearances, ******* bunnys, Starbird even would have a concert Saturday night. Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon played one year, spent almost the whole set *****ing on how Elton John stole his music when he did Crocodile Rock.

 

Mike
"Setup night", wow, those are two words that always got (still do) my attention, especially if they include the words "do you want to go", well duh, if there is anything that makes a kid feel like they are "one of the boys" its being able to see all the behind the scenes activity involved and rubbing elbows with the movers and shakers of the local car scene.
I went to my first Portland Roadster Show at 15 and a few years later was going with people and their cars on setup night, thinking back, I was probably being used, but who wouldn't be willing to be a "gopher" to have this kind of experience.

 

A****er Mike, you are giving new meaning to born with a silver s**** in your mouth ! I am so envious. Right Place Right Time ! I could listen to these experiences all day long .

 

George....PNE 1959 courtesy of my inlaws

 

There's something about the indoor show experience back in the fifties and sixties that you can't duplicate at a Goodguys event. Like A****er Mike, I had the pleasure of talking to guys like Barris and Roth as we stood around and looked at a car on display and traded comments. Whether we were brash and didn't know any better or the guys with the big reputations were interested in feedback from the peanut gallery, it was a different time. The big names in the rod and custom business were promoted through shows and magazines in that timeframe. Now, reality TV shows can turn a guy from Bum****, Utah into an instant celebrity and when he walks through a show with his posse, chances are pretty good he got paid to show up and he really isn't interested in your opinion.

 

Bob, I think you were correct at the $ 25,000 figure for the original California Kid purchase. Chris then added N.O.S. 1934 running boards as well as some other necessary stuff to make the car more roadworthy. I remember Chris and I going like the bats of hell down the Berlin Turnpike to a small car show in the coupe. I think it was held at B & B Auto in Kensington, Connecticut. For anyone that didn't know Chris Carrier, he owned several significant cars at one time or another, including the Sam Barris chopped 50's Buick fastback that he got fro the Worcester, M***. area. Chris was a serious 1932 Ford collector, cars, pick-up truck, as well as an unbelievable amount of N.O.S. 1932 Ford parts. I remember seeing 11, or 12 pair of N.O.S. 1932 Ford running boards hanging in his closet. He was quite a character.

 

1971 LA Sports Arena
Hello,

When I was little, my dad used to take us to the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles in the 50’s to see car shows. He was not a hot rodder or custom car guy, but he loved his long line of Buick coupes and sedans, so he was a car enthusiast. This was the start of a number of car shows for this little kid. In 57-59, my brother would go to the shows at the Great Western Expo Center, the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium before it got squashed and removed, the Long Beach Sports Arena, and the LA Sports Arena. I was fortunate enough to go hang out with the big teenagers at these shows.

Later on between 66-68, we drove up to the Bay Area just to see the Oakland Roadster Show as well as the Haight Ashbury District across the Bay Bridge. Then these trips continued into the 70’s when I was shooting photos for the street rod/chopper mags.

The first was pure show, but the second one was the new style coming out of the Bay Area’s hot builders.
The cars were always very cool with a ton of street cruisers/customs being the most popular. But, as the years went on, there were more hot rods and trucks. In the early 70’s the VWs took up a lot of space in the shows as well as a street choppers section. The multi-level auditorium shows were fun because there were more spaces for cars/people to show off their displays.

(one of my friend’s early So Cal Harley street chopper. LB arena)
In the early years, we went on Friday or Saturday. But, after I started shooting photographs and writing stories, I discovered Thursday set up days, and nights for the weekend shows. It was fun going to those “early days” (fri-sat)shows with all of the excitement, people, and glamour, but the later years, “set up days” were the best for me. Why? I got to talk with a ton of different people about their cars and bikes. Some recognized me, some did not. But, the neat thing was “no general public” to block the prelim shots of the set ups. If you noticed the shots above, there are very few people in them.

After talking with the owners/builders, I made an appointment for individual photo shoots in various locations around So Cal and also up in the Bay Area. My favorites were on the cliffs at Santa Cruz in Nor Cal. The So Cal location: at the beach/Queen Mary in Long Beach.

How did I get into those early Thursday set up days? Why a press p*** that I made with credentials from the local magazines and editor’s signatures. But, places like the early SEMA shows were fun because they were the equipment makers and shops. Now, the new SEMA is so overworked and crowded that it looks like a nightmare to attend.

Jnaki

1970 Long Beach Sport Arena outer circle row
The big arena car shows seemed to have disappeared in the last years. These have been replaced by the outdoor shows, rod runs, and picnics. The big local one in Pomona is publicized nation/worldwide. But, they all started with the neighborhood green park picnics, pancake breakfasts, and small venue shows before they became big time.

The early car shows were what started the long years of involvement in hot rods and customs. No one can forget those early influences towards design and colors.

 

In the 60's and 70's we always had a nice local indoor show at our Rochester War Memorial Arena. The event featured out of town as well as local vehicles. They also usually had guests like a ******* Playmate. I still have my autographed picture from the late Claudia Jennings in an old s****book. We helped a friend with his mid Engine Hemi Custom Van build and had that in the show one year.
Other favorites were the smaller weekend shows when we joined and toured with WASCO (World ***ociation of Show Car Owners). They had shows in places like Elmira, Niagara Falls, Syracuse and more. There were no trailered cars in our group. We drove them with our young Families to these weekend events where we sometimes encountered snow and other weather related obstacles. My Wife and I along with our under 2 year old Son drove our 37 Chevy Rumble seat Coupe Streetrod to participate in several of these shows.
The birth of our Daughter in 1978 slowed us down a little and I must admit, we learned to prefer more of the outdoor events. We do have a local car club that has a yearly Spring Dust Off display of cars in one of our local Malls that I have participated in a few times. Nice event that my Grandsons enjoyed and we get to see everyone and catch up with Friends after a long Winter.

 

Mike, George

Everybody that had any contact with Tommy The Greek have a story. I have a few but I will tell a friends story.

My friend was a long time San Francisco fireman. In their spare time (which was a lot) the firemen worked out with weights. Tommy had a habit of ******* people off. On purpose. He had to get you before you got him. The "little guy" thing. My friend and two of his fireman friends were at Oakland in probably the late '50s .These guys knew Tommy and all the **** he dished out. My friend said in those days I was BIG but my two friends were REALLY BIG meaning muscled and tall. Anyway The Greek said something off key to them and the two guys picked him up kicking and screaming and carried him across the stadium and stuck him in a garbage can. He was really pissed as he was always dressed sharp in new Levies turned up on the outside about four inches and a nice starched shirt.

Gary

 

Jnaki raymay and Jethro, great photos! Raymay and Jnaki those are the era when I was attending every year, late sixties on through my teens in the early to mid seventies. Man great stuff, all the wild paint jobs with endless lines and freak drops and stuff, lots of pearls candies and flakes.
The local PNE shows were laid out in three buildings that were interconnected by enclosed ramps. The main entrance was in the centre building, and it and the building to the north side would be pretty densely packed. The third building on the north side was predominately race cars, although there would be quite a few sprinkled throughout the other two buildings as well.

 

Hi there George ---- read this thread with a big smile ---we did the same out of New Westminster by bus or pedaled our bikes Would spend all Saturday there when we got a little older and wiser we would go over on set up night and hang around out side till we saw someone struggling to push a car in then help push and this would get us in the buildings with a chance to talk to the owners and check out the cars up close while being set up all for free Favorite car at the time was the Treasure owned by Fred Welsh We always looked for the U. S. cars they had all the latest trends think that was the first place we saw the Orange Crate looked at that car for hours Those old buildings were great for a show and had a lot of history (and angle hair ) Ray

 

My early Car Show were the same as George's. At the PNE. I grew up on an island in the Fraser River. Almost impossible to get to East Vancouver. My Dad had no interest. I was one of the younger boys in the area, so when the older boys got drivers licence's I'd go with them. 1962 was likely the first. I'd be 15. My interest quickly switched form Customs to Drag Racing.

 

Ray, man great stuff! Thats what I really wanted to do with this thread, is bring back the thrill of a young kid in the fifties or sixties going to that annual rod and custom show! Boyd, did you grow up on Barnstrom Island?

 

George ,I grew up on Lulu Island [Richmond to most people] a child of the 50's. Never went to Vancouver more than twice a year, Bus system ****ed. Steveston and Brighouse were "Going to town".

 

Sabers of Denver show, 1962.

 

I grew up calling it Lulu Island too. That was when I lived in "Haney".

 

Angel Hair! Who on earth invented that stuff?
I got a part time gig in the late 70's working for some producers as a judge and also the floor set up guy. Was pretty cool, got paid time plus travel to go to the out of town shows plus I got to step over the ropes and see the cars up close and personal.
Anyway, I was judging a car, the owner must of had stock in angel hair, he had the car "floating" on a cloud. I'm talking 10x20 feet of the stuff. Was pissed, wanted to know why he didn't get any undercarriage points, duh, I'm not lying down in the stuff to see under the car! Heck, I hardly got close enough to see it at all, every judge I knew hated the itchy stuff.
Another show a guy was setting up a display around his van. I was busy so it was awhile before I got back over by him. He had just spent hours setting up this really elaborate "western" display, bales of really dry hay stacked and spread around and old wooden fence posts with barb wire as stantions. He wasn't very happy with me when I made him take it all out. He never thought of spectators cutting themselves on the barb wire (especially kids) and the extreme fire hazard the hay made, after all you could still smoke in the building. I could just see the results if a stray **** landed in that display!
I use to be amazed at some of the displays, I swear some guys put more effort into them then their car.

 

Great thread George! I was also captivated by those indoor car shows. As a youngster, my Dad took me to the Pan Pacific, L.A. Sports Arena, Long Beach, and The Great Western Exhibit Center shows (thanks Jnaki!) without even having to nag him. I guess he liked going to the shows more than the drags - he would drop me and a friend off at Lions Drag Strip but didn't usually stay.
I really liked the Winternationals. The Tridents shows had lots of street rods, boats and choppers but the Winternationals Car Show had a lot of the race cars that would be competing at the Winternationals Drags in Pomona which my Dad and I attended several years in a row ('61-64). I remember Paul Revere and the Raiders playing at one show and my Dad couldn't get away fast enough while I wanted to stay close to the bandstand.
My Dad tried to get me to enter my models in the shows but I was sure they weren't good enough. I did display my models in the ongoing model car show that Karl's Toys, our big local hobby shop, used to have. What a great idea - sell kids models and then give them a place to show them off to the public! What a time and place to grow up, I feel sorry for my kids..........

 

It just dawned on me what this actually is. The PNE cars shows I am refering to weren't actually part of the Pacific National Exhibition, they were just held on the PNE grounds in the off-season, and commonly referred to as "the PNE car show".
But I think this is different, this is a display of hot rods as part of the actual Pacific National Exhibition itself. It would be very interesting to know the history behind this, I would bet it must have been organized by one of the clubs at the time.very interesting photo.

 

Great thread! I started going to Carl Caspers Custom Auto Show in Louisville Ky as a kid in the late 70s or early 80s with my dad and younger brother, Man! I couldnt get enough, It was like a dream land, (enter magical music wind chime sound track) Sparkly metal flake paint jobs everywhere,under car mirrors, cars up on stands,even displays that turned the cars continuously, displays that looked like white clouds underneath the cars and chrome,chrome and more chrome. Wow!
I think I got in on at least the tail end of those great shows from back then.

 

Yeah, this is indeed a fun thread. Low budget, that was my era as well. The world of wheels, when it was still held on both floors of the Big Four building here in Calgary. Probably fully a third of the show in those days were vans. Vans with fireplaces, waterfalls, the ubiquitous naked chick with a sword fighting a dragon murals and all the usual van nonsense. Which, were plenty cool to a ten year old kid. But, there were also a ton of local street rods, a group of cars that I would become very familiar with over the following 5 or 6 years. Little did I know, by 12 I talked the old man into dragging home a '37 Ford I'd spotted in the boonies during a trail ride while at camp.

 

Here's a good friend's '31 Chevy roadster from Detroit Autorama, late 60's. Here's him in the same car driving out to the L.A. Roadster Show two yrs. ago. He's owned it since '65.

 

Yea, that's it! If I ever get so jaded that I lose touch with how this felt, it's time to look for a new hobby! I wish I could go home again...

 

AMAZING!! Gary

 

My first participation to a indoor show was in 1974. The '54 Chevy you see below was my first attempt at displaying it. Our car club was asked by the show promoter to help put on the World of Wheels show at the Exhibition Center in Seattle. During the show I was asked if I would hand out trophies on Sunday and I said sure. One plaque in particular got my attention. It was sponsored by NSRA for "Best Street Machine". When it came time to hand it out, I thought some lucky ******* is going to have a nice plaque to hang on their wall. And then my name was announced. The crowd just roared. When I looked back at Ben (who hosted the show), he just smiled. I couldn't believe it! Special times for sure.

 

I think I have now seen my favorite 54 chevy Congrats too by the way.

 

George,
My inlaws were probably taking a picture of the mobile homes behind the cars.
Some of the old time Vancouver guys recognised the 38 Buick Sedan. It had a straight 8 with 5 carbs. Someone said Ed Bressler?

 

Gotta say, this Corvette really gets me. NICE.