CRUISIN’ NATIONALS

The 43rd Annual West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals rolls cool rides and party vibes into Santa Maria for a moto-fun Memorial Day weekend!

For its first 25 years the West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals was held in Paso Robles, CA. But then an elixir of politics and pride forced a move of the popular car show from “Paso” down the coast to the city of Santa Maria’s Fairpark event center. With West Coast Kustoms founders Rich and Penny Pichette’s indefatigable energy and dedication, the show has continued its legacy and remains a big draw – pulling car clubs, lone wolves, exhibitors and fans from near and far – even after Rich’s passing in 2010.

The three-day Memorial Day weekend Cruisin’ Nationals was always meant to be a family-friendly community event. The show shifted into gear on Friday night, May 24th, with a jam-packed City Cruise on Broadway in the heart of Santa Maria. The fun rolled-on into Saturday and Sunday at the Fairpark with indoor and outdoor displays of pre-1965 American-made customs, classics and hot rods, plus the Brush Bash, a model car show, live music, vendor booths, celebrity meet-ups, roller skating and the presentation of awards.

One of the impossible-to-miss entries in the exhibition hall was Bo Swan’s lime/gold, impossibly long (over 20 feet) ‘60 Pontiac Safari Wagon that earned the lead image position above for this report. This nine-passenger gang hauler was originally purchased by Bo’s grandfather and has been re-imagined at least two times since Bo took ownership in 2002.

Tattoo artist Robert Atkinson’s low and clean ’40 Chevy Special Deluxe Coupe appears to be at lead position in this delta wing gathering of custom cruisers and hot rods. Kudos to Robert for not inking this low and lovely classic with supersized renderings of body art. His Beatniks of Koolsville coupe rides comfortably on a four-link air ride suspension and is powered by a Chevy 350 mated to a 700R4 transmission.

OK, I’ll admit it – I wanted to take a bite of this custom roadster – metaphorically speaking. Growing up in NYC I lived just a few blocks from a bakery in where I would occasionally watch pastry chefs slather frosting onto sheet cakes. I’m going to take a wild guess that the customizer of this frosty Ford roadster also grew up near a bakery. Yum!

Perhaps the quintessential example of a Lead Sled is a chopped and slammed ’49, ’50 or ’51 Mercury – like this Candy Blue ’51 Merc that was on display at the 43rd Cruisin’ Nationals in Santa Maria at The Fairpark. A sophisticated air ride suspension from Cruise Industries of Ventura helps gives this sled its sexy stance and smooth ride.

The Lemon Drop is a somewhat understated custom ’50 Ford. And that’s surprising because it was built and painted by Mark “The Woz” Woznichak who painted some of the top alcohol funny cars setting records in the 2000s. Mark didn’t want to go too radical on his custom, opting to not chop the roof, but rather, keep everything on and in the car tight and tasty.

I love it when all I need to do is look a car’s vanity plate to get a summation of the car’s zeitgeist. Owner Ka Harris from Hollister, CA decided that the letters “JAWDRPN” on his plate would provide admirers of his custom ’36 Ford Model 48 5-Window Coupe with a takeaway adjective for this bodacious build.

One of the big fans of West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals is Victor Cacho. He is the owner of Cacho Customs in Sylmar, CA. Car Guys may recognize Victor’s name from his many appearances on Full Custom Garage with car builder Ian Roussel. Each year Victor brings two or more of his creations to the Cruisin’ Nationals. Featured here is Victor’s mashed-up custom called One Piece at a Time. The build combines a ’60 Chrysler with parts and components from a Caddy, a Buick, a DeSoto and a Ford.

Lined up behind the Critics Car Club double-wide show tent was this beautifully executed ’37 Ford Deluxe Touring Sedan Low Rider. With its extended body and low-to-the-road roll, this car embodies the Low Rider esthetic and philosophy – to express social and cultural identities. Historically, low riders were Latino men from Texas, the Southwest and California, but today you will find both men and women from around the world riding low and slow!

Two words came to mind when I first spotted this ’33 Ford 5-Window Coupe: ” Sweet” and “Zoom!” With its broad candy-stripe cross-body paint scheme and the ’33 Ford’s signature laid-back grille and firewall, this Cruisin’ Nationals hot rod was built to get attention and go fast. A nice contrast to the candy-stripe paint are the flat grey velocity stacks popping up through the hood, and flat grey header pipes snaking out from under the fenders.

This gorgeous ‘40 Ford Coupe has a rich history in California custom culture. It was originally owned by Tom Hocker of Oakland, CA who along with his brother Joe made extensive modifications beginning in 1948. Years later the car ended up in the creative hands of Sam and George Barris who made further aesthetic enhancements. Along the way the car made its way into the movie American Graffiti and then in 2018, new owner Rich Hubbard enlisted John Canepa of Canepa Customs to tear it down and rebuild it to its 1957 custom specs. The frame-off Canepa restoration and repaint was completed in 2023.

OK Car Guys, I’m going to need your help in identifying this slammed coupe. It’s profile, hood cowl louvers and dipping body accent lines suggests to me that it’s 1937 vintage, perhaps a Chevy. A nose shot I have shows a waterfall-style grille, perhaps from a ’41 Packard. The headlight buckets are set low on the insides of the fenders. The front windshield is split, the rear window is not. This is a Kustom, so anything goes. Leave a comment with your guess!

If you’ve been reading my reports, you know by now that one of the big draws for me to attend automotive and motorsports events is the opportunity it provides to meet the people behind the wheels of these special rides. If you’re attending a Low Rider or Hot Rod event you are going to run into car clubs. These ten members of the Critics Car Club from the Central Coast area of California brought their kool cars, their logo-emblazed double-wide tent and their low n’ slow swagger to the Cruisin’ Nationals.

I lived for 35 years in Santa Barbara where I would from time to time run into Shoeless Car Guy Rusty. So, it was a pleasant surprise to run into him again at the Cruisin’ Nationals where I asked him to pose in front of a custom ’55 Chevy Nomad. As I was shooting, a cute little 2 ½ -year-old girl walked up to Rusty and handed him a flower. They became instant friends and a spontaneous side show hit – getting smiles, laughs and even applause from many of the attendees passing by!

I’m ending my West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals report with a shot from the beginning of my show day where a lone low rider was parked by the entry gates of the Santa Maria Fairpark. Our American flag was the centerpiece for this Memorial Day weekend special event. It’s a reminder to me of how special the people of our great nation are – even with all our political and social divides. Thanks to all who have served – and thanks again to everyone who worked hard to bring us three special days of Moto-Fun!

Words & Photos ©Jim Palam, https://www.jimpalam.com/

For more information on West Coast Kustoms events, please visit https://www.westcoastkustoms.com/

WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS!

42nd Annual WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS! slams another ‘homerun’ at the Fairpark in Santa Maria, CA.

Over the decades that I’ve been traveling the highways and byways of America to participate in or report on motorsports events and gatherings, it’s become more and more obvious that us Car Guys are all on a seemingly endless and sometimes unpredictable journey. Whether it’s setting the clock for 4 AM so you can beat the show traffic to an event, or building a Best of Show custom from a rusty frame you discovered out in a field, our obsession and passion for motorized machines keeps us in perpetual motion as we chase our dreams.

So, I had to chuckle when one of the first cars that caught my eye at the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS! in Santa Maria, CA was South Bay car guy legend Ronnie Ogas’ luggage-laden ‘56 Chevy Sedan Delivery, Above. On its roof rack you’ll find vintage items, including a surfboard, water skis, Coca-Cola cooler, guitar amp, and a suitcase with “Tijuana Or Bust 1956″ hand-painted on the side. I’m rooting for Ronnie to finally reach his destination in Mexico. By my calculations he’s only got 298 more miles from Santa Maria to finish his excellent adventure.

2023 WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS! was a fun, 3-day event that kicked-off on May 26th with the always-popular Friday night “City Cruise” along Broadway in Santa Maria. Saturday and Sunday’s events are held at the Santa Maria Fairpark. They include the outdoor car show, vendor tents, a swap meet, and live music on the performance stage – and indoors – a model car show, vendor booths, Hall of Fame autograph sessions and the Santa Maria Brush Bash. Guest appearances included CHIPs TV co-star Erik Estrada who gifted me one of the better “Hairy Eyeball” poses I’ve seen!

For any journey, a good place to start is behind the wheel. For an excellent adventure it would help if you had a special car with a snazzy wheel – like this clear rim, chrome and gold-plated “Banjo” wheel in Adam Porrino’s beautiful ’39 Cadillac LaSalle Model 50 Opera Coupe. Other tasty touches on Adam’s bare steel body custom are its hand-crafted, bead-rolled dash, door and trunk panels, a 4-inch roof chop, air ride suspension, and power from a modified ’69 Pontiac 350 engine.

West Coast Kustoms was founded by Rich and Penny Pichette in 1981 basically as a California car club that would cruise to places like Palm Springs and Los Angeles. Today West Coast Kustoms has chapters throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington/Oregon and even in New England. While the focus of their well-attended shows is still Kustoms and Sleds from the 1940s and 1950s, you will always find a wide variety of magnificent machines to droll over – like Tom Branch’s Studebaker-powered ’32 Ford roadster. Its 304-inch V8 features four two-barrel Strombergs topped with backdraft scoops, a polished intake manifold and Weiand finned valve covers.

Sometimes a journey is more interesting without a road map, more daring when embarked upon with limited funds. That’s the vibe I got when I took a closer look at this rusty ’35 Dodge 2-Door Sedan. Its hood ornament is from a Plymouth; headlight buckets possibly too long to be ’35 Dodge. And it’s quite likely that the wheelbase of this sedan has been shortened. That I can’t immediately identify this work-in-progress is part of its “What have we got here” appeal. I want to spend more time with it exploring its nuances, its imperfections, it’s raison d être!

Just around the corner, but miles away from the weathered grit of the ’35 Dodge was this finished-to-perfection ’42 Chevrolet Fleetline Special Deluxe Aerosedan. The significance of this fully-loaded Chevy can’t be overstated. It was one of Chevrolet’s best selling premium models before U.S. auto production was redefined and redirected when war was declared on December 7, 1941. Pre-war auto production in 1941 was around 3 million units. During the course of the war only 139 automobiles rolled of the assembly lines. During the war years automakers were tasked with building trucks, tanks, guns and aircraft engines.

Speaking of numbers, total Buick production for 1936 was 168,596 units. Only 1,390 of these Buicks were 2-door Sport Coupes – so it’s always exciting to get a chance to inspect one up-close. The owner of this pale-yellow example struggled with the idea of modifying it in any way – but as we know, once the wheels of creativity start spinning it’s almost impossible to not break away from the norm. Astute readers will quickly notice the roof chop and low stance. Power is from its original 223-inch inline 8 which produces 93 horsepower @ 3200 rpm.

One of the nicer guys and Kooler Kustoms on California’s Central Coast is Steve Bowron and his “Ready for Any Journey,” radically customized ’64 International Metro Mite step van. This bad-ass treasure box is a joy to behold both on the show field and rippin’ down the freeway. Its Chevy 350/400 motor/transmission combo easily smokes the tires and transports Steve between his custom cars and custom tile work businesses. The 805 Kustoms Metro made a trip to the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS! stage over the weekend to pick up an award from Japan’s ONE LOW Magazine. Congrats Steve!

It’s something of a paradox that for all the cruising, racing and traveling that Car Guys do, it’s an absolute necessity that their rides look kool when just parked. Case in point is this sublime ’52 Chevy DeLuxe Hardtop Coupe that was resting comfortably near the outer perimeter of the Santa Maria Fairpark. It sports all the right details like an eleven-tooth custom grill, fabulous chrome and stainless shiny bits, long and low windshield visor, and its gorgeous, metallic teal paint.

Chop ’39 is a classic custom built by owner and designer Richard Zocchi over 30 years ago. He started with a stock ’39 Dodge Deluxe Coupe, channeled the body, integrated the cowl and nose, built a custom grill, chopped the roof, shaved the doors and, after hundreds of other tasty modifications, painted it in a pastel flesh tone with ivory uppers and subtle pinstriped accents. When revealed in 1992 it won the first George Barris Custom D’Elegance Award.

There’s an Irish blessing that begins with these words: “May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.” Since all of us here are on a journey of sorts, I see no reason to not accept this blessing. And,while we’re at it, let’s invoke Zephyr, The Greek God of the West Wind by asking Carly Brogren if we can borrow her awesome ’39 Lincoln Zephyr named Aftershock for at least part of our adventure. Many will recognize this stretched and chopped beauty by its regal, Gene Winfield Fade candy paint job.

There are no rules when it comes to hot rodding. It’s always been depicted as an outlaw culture with a mantra of “Strip it down, soup it up and Go Man Go!” Many of the early hot rods were built on a budget using Model T parts with lots of elbow grease and imagination thrown in. When Norm Grabowski’s redesigned T-bucket the Kookie Kar became one of the stars of the 1958 to 1964 hit TV show, 77 Sunset Strip, original Model T pickup-roadsters with the turtle deck pickup box became harder and harder to find. So, it was a pleasant surprise to discover David and Kim Anaya’s Corona Bucket, an all-metal, GM 350-powered custom ’23 T at the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS! David credits his wife and kids for the T-bucket’s creation, built in his home garage.

There weren’t that many trucks or pickups at the 42ND ANNUAL WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUSIN’ NATIONALS!, so unique, vintage work trucks like the ’23 T-bucket pickup-roadster definitely stood out. But none more so than Scott Castagna’s ’35 Ford Diesel-Dually Rat Rod. Four massive, mud‑battling, BF Goodrich truck tires out-rig the rear bed of this Mad Max mauler. These, along with two nasty 255/70R 22.5 Navitracs up front, boost this muddy maverick to an untraditional lofty stance for a Rat Rod. Power is delivered all-day and all-night from a modified Cummins 6CT diesel engine.

While the automotive media these days is heavily focused on EV’s and “street-legal” Hypercars, the popularity of car shows like the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS! is proof that there is still plenty of interest in, and love for, Old School Hot Rods and Kustoms. This award-winning ’48 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Coupe was recently shipped to the States from the builders at Old Iron Kustoms in Sweden, and is now a part of legendary car customizer John D’Agostino’s Celebrity Kustoms car collection in Discovery Bay, CA.

You know the feeling you got as a kid opening a Christmas present? It’s pretty much the same to me as opening the hood on a custom or purpose-built car. This is a shot of the understated and pristine Chevy 350 motor in the Old Iron ’48 Chevy Fleetmaster. It’s performance-built specs include, four-bolt mains, Scat crank, Comp Cams Extreme Energy camshaft, Edelbrock heads and intake, Holley Sniper EFI and an MSD Street Fire distributor. Output is 385 horsepower. I love the gold, black and polished silver color scheme.

These two sharp-looking California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers took time to chat with me about their favorite cars at the show – and the nuances about their demanding days on the job and on the highways of California. I learned that yes, they do sometimes get cold, particularly when they leave for early morning assignments on misty and chilly mornings, and that yes, they will ticket you if you’re 10 mph over the limit – but there’s sometimes some wiggle-room. Their advice: keep it under 72 in a 65 zone. As a parting question I asked them if there are any perks being a CHP Motor Officer. “Well, we get to escort some important people now and then, and we get to ride our Harleys home each night.” Vroom-vroom!

For more information about the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS! Please visit, https://www.westcoastkustoms.com

WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS

Classics and customs flaunt fins and flames at Santa Maria Fairpark for 40th annual WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS, one of the premier California carguy shows.

Despite a 2021 Covid-19 rescheduling of its popular Cruisin’ Nationals from May to October – and then a pending storm moving in on the Santa Maria Fairpark location – the resilient folks at West Coast Kustoms still managed to rev-up West Coast car enthusiasts and host their 40th Annual show with a flamboyant flash of fins, flames and customizing finesse. Car Guy Chronicle’s photojournalist Jim Palam caught the action.

The WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS is a three-day event that kicked-off on Friday night, October 22nd with a Show Car Cruise along Broadway in Santa Maria. Despite a sprinkle of rain and more of the parade taking place in the early darkness of Fall, some 300 cars participated and wowed the fans and families who lined the sidewalks along the route.

While the number of car entries fell short from the 800 range from previous years, approximately 600 classics and customs filled the Fairpark’s outdoor and indoor display areas. In addition to the head-turning cars, there were vendors, a model car show, a Pin-Striping Party hosted by PPG, an automotive parts swap meet and live music by the Belmont Kings both Saturday and Sunday.

A portion of the proceeds from the event support Alzheimer’s research and the Wounded Warrior Project. West Coast Kustom’s Penny Pichette let us know that the 2022 show will kick into gear as it traditionally has, over the Memorial Day Weekend. Mark your calendars!

As I crisscrossed my way through the showgrounds, I met a number of Car Culture celebrities including legendary 94-year-old customizer and fabricator Gene Winfield, still manipulating metal and spraying paint in his Mojave Rod & Custom shop, and American Graffiti movie star, Candy Clark who graciously posed for a photo. As some movie-buffs will remember, Candy was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in this iconic 1973 American classic.

I apologize to Car Guy Chronicles fans for presenting this 2021 report in 2022, but as they say “Life Happens”– and as my mom use to say – you have to “Go with the flow.” So “streaming” here and now are some of the cars that grabbed my attention at the Fairpark – like Voodoo Larry’s audacious ’54 Kaiser Manhattan Voodoo Sahara.

For more information about the sponsors of the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS, please visit https://www.westcoastkustoms.com/