John Corno, an L.A. Roadsters member, owns this 1929 Ford highboy roadster, originally sculpted by Lil’ John Buttera. (Resonant with John’s own white 1929 highboy, which was also present at the show.) Built in 1976-1977, it was featured in Hot Rod in 1977 and won the AMBR trophy in 1980.
The L.A. Roadsters Father’s Day Show & Swap has been a staple of the hot rod community for 60 years and has seen nearly every trend in the rodding world. It has also seen our hobby grow—and change. Such was the case for the L.A. Roadsters Show, or Father’s Day Show, as it’s been frequently called over the decades.
It was a show that was held each year on Father’s Day, which was always a Sunday and typically the third Sunday of every year. It had its early start back in 1960. From 1961-62, attendees were directed from a card table set up in front of the Hollywood Bowl to the Great Western Exhibit Center in the county, outside the Los Angeles city limits. At the time, hosting a “swap meet” within the city limits was illegal, so the Great Western served as the venue. This continued until 1980 when the Great Western was earmarked for repurpose, and the show moved to the Pomona Fairplex, where it is still held today. (I believe the show missed one year at the Great Western in 1967 but returned the following year.)
This year brought new sponsorship from Peter Chapouris IV of SO-CAL Speed Shop. With this fresh influx of ideas, the awards and the layout of the grounds proved to be a winner.
The show has evolved from a single-day event (Sunday) to a two-day event (Saturday and Sunday) to a modified two-day event now held on Friday and Saturday, yielding Sunday (Father’s Day) for the grandpa hot rodders to spend time with their families and all those grandchildren, whom we like to call future hot rodders. Of course, the show, because of its impressive swap meet area, starts in the wee hours of the day before, as swappers line up to be first to their spaces, set up, and be ready to sell and swap. And for those early birds who realize it’s best to be there early and poke around to see what’s waiting in line for those “gems” you just must have for your hot rod project, some of the most serious “action” begins late Thursday night and early (very early) Friday morning at the L.A. Roadsters Show.
One of this year’s competitors for the coveted AMBR award was this 1932 Ford highboy roadster, brought to the L.A. Roadsters Show by SoCal’s own Stan Chavik, featuring a strong race car influence. The car took home the AMBR Outstanding Engineering Award. (Look for an upcoming Modern Rodding feature on this great roadster.)
As for the show itself, it has grown and matured, too. Of course, there is the traditional show section set aside for roadsters—this year, 400-plus prewar roadsters were present. Because of growth across all aspects of hot rodding, the Specialty Parking section has expanded and is as popular as the roadster section itself. The Specialty Parking aspect of the show featured 500-plus cars and trucks, highlighting what makes the show great. As for the swap meet section, it was as large as it has been in years, with 800-plus vendor spaces filled with everything imaginable from our world of rodding. The L.A. Roadsters Show has undergone its ups and downs, but this year has shown a resurgence—a welcome change for the show. The layout of the show was significantly changed this year, and the 40-plus vendors were arranged in an easy-to-walk-and-see layout. The show itself, set in the Pomona Fair complex, did not use the buildings inside; instead, it used the space between them to feature lots of roadsters to see as you walked from vendor to vendor.
Earlier this year, Brandie Laird competed at the Pomona Fairplex for the AMBR in her 1932 Ford Brookville Roadster highboy phaeton. The phaeton was displayed within the Brookville booth. The chassis features Alan Johnson radius rods and ladder braces, a Posies transverse leaf spring, a 9-inch Ford rearend, Advanced Plating nickel brightwork, and Billet Specialties wheels.
First, the layout was completely changed in recent years. The show was held back among the exhibition buildings in the heart of the Fairplex, with a diverse Vendor Row running down the center of Palm Avenue, flanked by 100s of roadsters, street rods, and display cars parked alongside the buildings. A total of 16 awards for outstanding cars were presented by L.A. Roadsters, SO-CAL Speed Shop, and Rodding USA. Numerous California roadster clubs were featured in Building 10 (GNRS attendees will recognize this building as the Suede Palace), including L.A. Roadsters, Bay Area Roadsters, California Roadsters, Valley Roadsters, San Jose Roadsters, San Luis Roadsters, and The Jokers. Bob Beck returned as the show’s emcee, presented the national anthem, and participated in the award presentations. Numerous 60th anniversary swag items were available for sale, along with items from previous years’ show swag.
SO-CAL Speed Shop’s participation, guided by Peter Chapouris IV, was key to the show’s “new feeling.” A younger, more exuberant group of hot rodders has breathed new life into the event, making it much more exciting than in recent years. The new awards were greatly appreciated and well received. For instance, the L.A. Roadsters handed out three awards for the first time. There was the Dick Scritchfield “Founders Award,” presented by L.A. Roadsters Lifetime Member Doyle Gammell to Mark Herz for his 1932 Ford highboy roadster. Then there was the Jack Stewart Memorial Award, presented by Jack’s grandkids and family to Ron Burris, followed by the Bobby Barnes Award, presented by show co-chairman and L.A. Roadsters Vice President Richard Cohn to Mark Varni for his 1934 Ford roadster.
Pete Eastwood (right) presented his P-Wood Award (the third custom metal cooler) to Scott Nixon (left), from Washington, for restoring one of Andy Brizio’s original VolksRods. (Look for a feature in a future issue of Modern Rodding.)
Other first-time awards that were well received and appreciated included the Fat Jack Memorial Award, presented by John Robinson, Jack’s son, to Andy Volni for his 1940 Ford. Up next was the Award of Excellence, presented by Chapouris IV to Bryant Tarumoto for his 1932 Ford five-window. Then Pete Eastwood presented the P-Wood Award to Scott Nixon’s Andy Brizio–built VolksRod. (Yes, one of the original cars from back in the day.) There were also three first-time raffle awards handed out through the courtesy of Chapouris IV on behalf of SO-CAL Speed Shop: a SO-CAL Speed Shop custom surfboard, a SO-CAL Speed Shop $500 gift certificate, and a SO-CAL Speed Shop swag pack. All very cool.
The L.A. Roadsters Show celebrated its 60th anniversary with a fresh look and great excitement about what will be coming next year and in years to come. MR
The original “Tweedy Pie” (shown at the 1960 L.A. Roadsters Show) was owned by Bob Johnson and Ed “Big Daddy Roth.” It has been meticulously recreated by Piero DeLuca, with fabrication by Lucky Burton, painting by Harison Towle and Alex Gambino, upholstery by Willie Sopher, and stripping by Dave Shuten.
This should look familiar to many hot rodders, as it is a “Muroc Lakes” (#2) roadster owned by Fred Warren and built by Kugel Komponents. Now owned by Kevin Svarda of Opposing Cylinders, it is great to see it back on the road. It appeared on the cover of Street Rodder in October 2001.
This is one of the original Andy Brizio’s VolksRods built for Steve Archer. When Scott Nixon found it, it was red and needed extensive “fixing,” he did so after conversations with Roy Brizio. The car was repainted red again, while Art Himsl painted the flames and Darryl Hollenbeck cleared the color.
Jason Scuderalli of HB Hot Rods was on hand with his very well-built 1929 Ford highboy roadster, based on a Brookville Roadster body and sitting on Deuce ’rails. In the FiTech booth, it was a true “eye-catcher.” (Several build stories about this roadster have appeared in Modern Rodding.)
The Fat Jack Memorial Award was presented by John Robinson (left), Fat Jack’s son, to Andy Volni (right) for his black-and-flamed 1940 Ford. The award is a very cool, custom-painted, pinstriped vintage-style metal cooler. It was one of three customized “coolers” introduced this year as new awards.
The Award of Excellence, presented by Chapouris IV (left) to Bryant Tarumoto (right) for his black, full-fendered 1932 Ford five-window coupe, replete with five-spoke Americans, is another of the customized metal coolers. Richard Cohn, the L.A. Roadsters vice president and show co-chairman, is to the far right.
John Corno, an L.A. Roadsters member, owns this 1929 Ford highboy roadster, originally sculpted by Lil’ John Buttera. (Resonant with John’s own white 1929 highboy, which was also present at the show.) Built in 1976-1977, it was featured in Hot Rod in 1977 and won the AMBR trophy in 1980.
This 1967 Nova comes complete with a potent BluePrint-built small-block fed by a complement of Inglese eight-stack injection. Additional accessories include Billet Specialties serpentine belt system, Hooker headers, M/T valve covers, and Summit plug wires.
This This 1930-31 Model A highboy coupe is a regular on the Donut Derelict Saturday morning cruise, complete with a Chrysler Hemi, Rocket wheels wrapped with Firestone by Coker 165R15 rubber in front and Firestone Deluxe Champion by Coker grooved 8.20×15 also on Rocket wheels in the rear. Inside, a Gennie shifter and Stewart-Warner gauges are mounted within an Auburn-style engine-turned panel. is a regular on the Donut Derelict Saturday morning cruise, complete with a Chrysler Hemi, Rocket wheels wrapped with Firestone by Coker 165R15 rubber in front and Firestone Deluxe Champion by Coker grooved 8.20×15 also on Rocket wheels in the rear. Inside, a Gennie shifter and Stewart-Warner gauges are mounted within an Auburn-style engine-turned panel.
Another Model A highboy, this time a two-door sedan with a Weiand blower-equipped small-block Chevy outfitted with a pair of Magneti Marelli (Weber America) four-barrels (these would become Edelbrock, early versions of the Carter Aluminum Four Barrel “AFB”).
If you like 1959 Chevys, and who doesn’t, you might as well have an El Camino and a two-door—and they should both ride on five-spoke Americans.
Manuel Reyes once again had his well-done 1936 Ford custom on hand for all of us just to stand in amazement.
Also, in the swap area there are plenty of wheels and tires for your ’60s- or ’70s-era project.
We all love a great starting point, and this 1955 Chevy two-door post car is just such a project. It is an all-original, matching 265ci small-block with “three-on-the-tree,” original paint, and interior—90K original miles. Asking price: $36,500.
Complete projects, such as this 1971 Chevy C20 with a 454 big-block, a TH400, and factory instruments can be found in the swap meet. The A/C and wood bed are in good condition, and the owner says the truck is a “good driver.” Asking price: $32,000.
Also available in the swap meet area are an assortment of Ford Flathead intakes: Edelbrock, Offenhauser, Sharp, Fenton, Evans, and M&S.
Vintage Stromberg carbs, intakes, and bellhousings are there for the discerning eye, including the six-carb Edelbrock intake and the Cyclone bellhousing.
Speaking of Kugel Komponents, there are roadsters, and then there are roadsters! Based on a limited-edition Muroc roadster, it has run 225 mph at the Salt and has been driven to and from Bonneville; yep, it is street-legal (sort of). It runs an LS with a Magnuson supercharger.
A 1932 Ford highboy roadster is a distinctive-looking hot rod, and it’s one that can be built in many subtly different styles. Such is the case for this black highboy roadster. Viewing one means you have only looked at one—there are lots more to go.
Another AMBR-contending roadster was on hand, a full-fendered 1932 Ford belonging to Steve Schmidt and built at Kugel Komponents. He is a longtime Porsche collector and builder, and his roadster featured several Porsche details.
Paint is cool but not necessary for driving around in a kool hot rod such as this 1932 Ford highboy roadster belonging to Ralph Castor.
Coming down from Utah was Frank Knapp with his 1927 Ford roadster, based on a Poli-Form body, with a 355-inch Chevy, TH350, Ford 9-inch, Wilwood disc brakes, and a custom chassis by Knapp, with contributions from Performance Fabrication. Note the Super Bell-drilled I-beam axle with cantilever coilover shocks—interesting.
Well, here it is: a 1946 Triumph 1800 roadster complete with a 289 Ford, a C4 transmission, an 8-inch rearend, a Mustang II IFS, four-wheel power disc brakes, and the obligatory 1951 Pontiac taillights.
Matt Hajimomen was on hand with this bare-metal highboy 1929 Ford roadster, resting on a Model A frame. It features an eclectic collection of gauges. A fun roadster.
Proving you will find the most unexpected at the L.A. Roadsters Swap & Show is JF Kustoms’ 1964 Buick Riviera (twin-turbocharged 6.2L LS), which went on to win the 2014 Ridler Award at the Detroit Autorama.
The L.A. Roadsters Show is a great place to find a future project, such as this restored 1956 Buick Special; asking price was $47,500.
Skip Ringo was on hand with his 1938 Ford Deluxe, which looks good in “Arrest Me Red,” coupled with the chromed wheels and caps and the wide whitewalls.
Earlier this year, Brandie Laird competed at the Pomona Fairplex for the AMBR in her Brookville Roadster 1932 Ford highboy phaeton. The phaeton was displayed within the Brookville booth. The chassis features Alan Johnson radius rods and ladder braces, a Posies transverse leaf spring, a 9-inch Ford rearend, Advanced Plating nickel brightwork, and Billet Specialties wheels.
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