Customs Can anyone ID this photo's location/date? (indoor car show 1960's?)

I looked up Brooks Hall in San Francisco and it appears to mostly be a ba*****t style building under the civic center. The few pictures of the inside looks like it had a low flat ceiling

 

Hello,

In the early days of Los Angeles area car shows, after the Pan Pacific Auditorium usage, the hot rod/custom cars moved to the early structures available nearby. One was the L.A. Exposition Park National Guard Armory Building near the Coliseum. That would have been very local for all of the LA based hot rod customs and builders and easy access to So Cal in general.

The arched roof supports are about the same and the hot rod photo could have been taken from the balcony above all of the action.

The other is the Great Western Exhibit Center in the old City Of Industry. It was located just off of the area of 4 criss-crossing freeways going into/out of the Los Angeles industrial areas East of the downtown area. It was popular in the very early 60s.

City of industry information:

With a prime location strategically located near 4 major freeways and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and easy access to rail lines, coupled with beneficial tax incentives and benefits, the City of Industry is home to over 2,500 businesses. Our city is dedicated to making it easy to operate and grow your business.
Business Benefits:

• No city business license fees
• No wholesale or retail fees
• No manufacturing fees
• No professional tax
• No utility tax
• No hours of operation restrictions
• Proximity to a widely-diversified labor pool
• Foreign trade zone
• Close proximity to 4 major freeways, 2 transcontinental rail lines, 2 international airports and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
• Space for industrial expansion with 92% of the City zoned for Industrial uses and 8% zoned for commercial uses
• Centrally located in Los Angeles County with a population of over 10 million people
• A**** the lowest rates in LA County for truck, employee health and accident insurance.
• High-quality of life with close proximity to excellent schools, parks, and greenbelts as well as a low crime rate
• Conference center and exposition space
• Resort facilities, hotels, golf courses and more than 50 restaurants
• An active business organization

Jnaki

As far as the old structure in the car show photos, it is a specific mystery, but could have been a So Cal local show. Agreed with @gimpyshotrods about the Oakland Roadster Show venues or the old Cow Palace in S.F. different interiors... not there... The So Cal custom cars scene was as active as the photos show in various magazines.

But, how many of them were daily drivers or went over 500 miles one way? 500 miles North to the SF Bay Area and back to So Cal for a weekend car show? Perhaps from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles is a probable distance, but 1000 miles on a weekend, for a car show? probably not in the itinerary...

Not a high school gym or a community center, although, most of the monthly shows were outdoors in the local school’s athletic fields or stadiums. Some were in So Cal’s community parking lots in the varied areas, too. YRMV

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Thanks for the replies so far. My thought, and I could be wrong, is that this is most likely a Bay Area show, or somewhere pretty close.

The reason is, while the more notable cars like Winfield's Pickup and The Outlaw were toured all around the West Coast and beyond, promoting the businesses of the guys that created them, my Phaeton was just a tidy mild custom, owned by a S.F. native that liked to show it off. To Jnaki and other's points talking about travel distance for a car show, it seems less likely to me that my small-time car would be travelling large distances to be shown. I would think that it's more likely that the "bigger" guys came to the Bay Area for this show.

Again, I could be wrong. As I'm typing this, I'm reminded that I myself have made the more than 2,000-mile round trip to Pomona and back multiple times to show cars... and of course I know lots of guys did similar things back then as well. So who knows-maybe I am wrong about it being a Bay Area show.

So far I can place my car at these shows, which all kind of back up my theory:

-1960 San Francisco
-1960 Sacramento
-1960 San Mateo
-1960 Oakland
-1961 San Mateo

ironandsteele.com​

 

I came across this post while searching for some Oakland Roadster Show posts. I have the answers! In 1959 and 1960 my club The Satans Angels put on car shows. These were held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton , Calif. The photo is from the 1960 show. The cars in the front are Jerry Sahagons 51 Chevy(Satans Angels) and Lauralee Dobbels 57 Chevy (Hayward Rod Benderettes) The building still exists at the Fairgrounds and is used at all the Good guys shows. The club photo was taken outside the building in 1959 by George Barris.

 

WOW! Thanks so much for that information. It looks like my hunch was correct about the general area, I just didn't know exactly where it was. Thank you!

ironandsteele.com​

 

Here is the program page with your Phaetons listing.

 

Just for fun here is what Brooks Hall looked like.

 

I was going to say, "ask R&C RON, he'll know" and here he is.