WHEELS IN MOTION

PETE CHAPOURIS . October 25, 2022 . All Feature Vehicles

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SO-CAL’s 19th Open House

I usually start the column with “I can’t believe it’s been 19 years etc.”, but in all sincerity I really can’t believe that on the next Father’s Day Weekend we’ll not only be celebrating our 20th open house but Alex Xydias’ 70th anniversary of the founding of the SO-Cal Speed Shop brand! As you can imagine we’re already in the planning stages—but I’m getting way ahead of myself, let me get back to the 19th as planned!

We who live and work in the southern California area share a tremendous car culture mainly because we are blessed with unbelievable weather, There are literally events every weekend and in between 300 days a year, if not more. Two of the majors we are involved with are the Father’s Day L.A. Roadster Show (LARS) and John Buck’s mid-winter Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS). Like I said we have been piggy-backing on the LARS for 19 years with our open house and I’m proud to say thanks to LARS guys for allowing us to be part of “their weekend”. It sure as hell has worked so far, so kudos, guys!

Alex Xydias and lifelong friend Gene Winfield ham it up for the camera. Photo Courtesy of Tom Shorett

We had a hot time at shop this year, really hot, and not just in terms of cars, as the thermometer climbed to 97 degrees. It’s been hotter, but not much. The temperature heat did not deter too many folks from making the trip east (and west) to our Pomona Shop—last count was about 125 hot rods on the property, and another 300 or so in the street and too many guest to count!

We had a lot of help from Wally Berry and the Pomona City Police Department in handling the crowd and street parking, and, of course, our pals from the Palm Springs Cruising Association for taking care of the hot rod parking on the property.

SO-CAL Car Shop Honcho Peter4, bottom left, being interviewed (L to R) by Aaron Hagar, Brad Fanshaw and Matt D’ Andria for the SO-CAL episode of Shift and Steer’s iTunes Pod Cast. Photo Courtesy of Shift and Steer

Barry Meguiar and the entire Car Crazy crew were on hand also, and filmed the whole event, paying special attention to industry legend Alex Xydias and custom car guru Gene Winfield. Also Brad Fanshaw and the Shift and Steer Podcast crew including Aaron Hagar and Matt D’Andria were there in force, interviewing car stars and fans as only they can. You can find Car Crazy on Velocity, and Shift and Steer on ITunes as well as Facebook.

Bubby Wilton was on hand with the Wilton and Doss Big Block Chevy powered Top Fuel Dragster, and did a cackle session for the fans in attendance, not to mention the neighbors for miles around. You gotta love those top fuelers!

That’s about it for 2015…but keep Father’s Day weekend at SO-CAL in mind for 2016…it’s going to be a “barn-burner”!!!