Fathers Day 2012: The LA Roadster Show

Although I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I was one of those kids that had the good fortune to grow up in Southern California in the 1950’s and 60’s. I also didn’t really appreciate what a cool dad I had. He loved going to the beach, he built me my first surfboard, and when the rest of the world considering it slacking, he encouraged my brother and me to go surfing.

Dad was also a lifelong hot rodder. He ran at the lakes in the late 30’s, always had project cars in his shop, and was partners in a D Gas roadster when he passed. He also made sure my brother and I had cool rides and, when Fathers Day came around, he took us to the LA Roadster Show.

When the siren song of Santa Cruz drew my brother and I north, dad continued to go to LARS on his own. One of my standout memories is driving down with my own son to see him one Fathers Day, then rolling out to Pomona; three generations of us trolling the swap meet and checking out the cars. At the time dad was building a tidy little full-fendered ’29 roadster. It’s what the cool, older guys in town drove when I was in high school. He’d only put a handful of miles on it when cancer took him. It seemed like it happened overnight. The roadster is now sitting in my garage. I wish he was, too.

A couple of years ago my brother and I drove our own cars down to LARS. I took my roadster pick-up, Mike drove his ’34 three window. It was a long day, especially in my little Model A. This year we decided to travel in air-conditioned comfort. We had a great time, scored parts in the swap meet, visited with friends we love (and don’t see enough) and even surfed some fun little waves on the way home. But when it comes down to it, Father’s Day weekend at LA Roadsters is really about the iron. Here’s some of the stuff we liked.

This little survivor was sitting outside the Ford Store in San Dimas:

Eleven hundred and fifty bucks for s Deuce firewall? Yeah, but it includes the throttle linkage…

Need a flathead oil pan? How about a streamliner?

This real-deal A roadster was a great package of usable parts for $11.5K

We saw this ’36 last year, but didn’t see the motor:

The Boners were there with the DeLuna coupe and their ’40 chase truck:

Bitchen little three window with a Rolling Bones vibe:

Pat Ganahl’s absolutely period-perfect roadster:

Check the windshield frame. It’s a one-off the owner is considering manufacturing.

At first glance it was just another rat, but the fab work was nice — and check that Caddy flathead!

More nice fab work. Really nice fab work. We spotted Steve Moal behind the wheel of this Vicky.

Caption Contest…

Finally, in closing, we came across this vendor in Building 4.

I hope you all had a great Fathers Day.