I’m up in China Lake for work and as luck would have it the equipment didn’t show up so I’m headed back home on the redeye tomorrow night. I need something to do tomorrow to kill time. It’s a 3 Hour drive from here down to the airport and I’ll leave in the morning. Other than the Petersen auto museum, whats their cool to look at for hot rods in the area to kill a few hours?
Ford dealership in Van Nuys has some cool stuff Galpin Ford Jay Leno’s shop over by the Burbank Airport however I don’t think they do on the spur tours.
Early Ford Store in San Dimas, lots of cool old Ford stuff, and it's not far across to LAX from there. China Lake, California, USA to Los Angeles International Airport - Google Maps
Im retired Army and have access to military facilities but never made over there. Been to Edwards several times and even got a tour of flightline. A member of the B body site worked there for over30 years and got us in before he retired.
I like it out here, I was stationed in Twentynine Palms for a while and we loved it, this place looks exactly the same except as a bigger town and I’m envious of the amount of old iron that still exists in Southern California compared to the eastcoast.
Philippe’s https://philippes.com/ The Apple Pan https://theapplepan.com/ With only a couple of hours to kill, why not hit some Original vintage eats.
Yeah, when heading up to WA I p*** by the turnoff off the CA58. Always wanted to check out the 395. May down the road take a detour to check it out
Hello, We have all seen the photos of the cars in the museums and local speed shops. BTDT… So, since you are in dry land so deep in So Cal, why not drive to the coast and enjoy the most fabulous ocean-side drive in all of So Cal? As a teenager, when the swell hits, we usually drove up the coast to malibu point. When the different winter swell hits, the drive up the same coast provided many different surf spots all the way up to Santa Barbara. When my wife and I drove north for our long coastal drives, this was always a good starting point and finishing coastal drive back home. We last drove on it as we came home from a long Westcoast drive from the PNW and British Columbia area. The Malibu coastline is just recovering from the m***ive fire and the road is open for a coastal cruise we used to do most of the spring and summer months. The first stop was Malibu Point, just past the pier. Just last week, a m***ive swell hit and it was shown as almost perfect... It is one of those special places that brings history and high intensity activity all in one big south swell that usually rolls up the coast from deep down in the southern hemisphere. By the time it hits the So Cal coastline, the great waves only hit the south facing beaches and point breaks. A lot of the L.A. coast line does not get the south swell waves. But, when it is coming up the coast, Malibu it the perfect place. For surfing and viewing. Surfing these days requires a 5 a.m. paddle out. Viewing necessitates a good parking spot, which is a rarity in the summer. This is March and if another south swell comes rolling up the coast, you are in luck. Jnaki Malibu brings memories of ritzy movie stars, fancy cars, and all of the other things ***ociated with the California movie lifestyle that everyone sees when they hear of So Cal. But, to us young surfers with hot rods and VW vans, the drive to Malibu was not to see movie stars or cars, but to ride some of the most pristine waves of the world famous, Surfrider Beach at Malibu Point. We have taken this road as our main road trip course. No freeways, as the coastline is one of the best along the So Cal area. This old song + video portrays one of the best locally and it is right up your alley. Why? After visiting the highway and all it offers, the huge LAX is right next door past the Malibu/Santa Monica Beach location. So, it is something not to be missed on any West coast visit. YRMV
Just pulled up a map to pinpoint where you are. Since you have already been working on a dry plain and there are SO MANY other things to do as others have mentioned, this might seem pointless. However, between you and the airport are the dry lake beds that really launched So Cal Hot Rodding. https://gregwapling.com/hotrod/land-speed-racing-history/land-speed-racing-before-the-war.html I'm including this in case others are in the area and want to see the sights.
The NHRA museum in Pomona and the Justice Bros in Duarte are fairly close together and worth your time
Thanks for all the input! I spent my early 20s at Camp Pendleton and definitely miss the weather out here. I’m going to hit up the Ford store and see if I can get the NHRA museum done too. I had In-N-Out on the way up here and I will definitely grab it again on the way back even though their fries are horrible.
The early Ford store kicks ***, that was cool just to walk around and I got a early 41 headlight bezel and the tail light lens for the special. Well worth the drive down here.
You are probably already in airport purgatory, but you owe it to yourself to try a good local Mexican place while in LA. Here's one list. https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/guides/best-mexican-food-in-los-angeles
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