I landed in So Cal (LA) last night on a last minute business trip...never been here but I've always thought of it as Mecca. I'll be grinding it out for the man during the day however I will have evenings and possibly a whole day on Thursday to take in as much Southern California old school car culture as possible. I'm alone and have a rental car and freedom to go anywhere/do anything during my off time...what's a Midwestern hot rod boy to do??? Thanks!!!
1. NHRA Museum in Pomona (I could easily spend a whole day here). http://www.museum.nhra.com/ 2. Peterson museum, LA http://petersen.org/ 3. Hot Rod Shops; SoCal Speed Shop, Hollywood Hot Rods, Circle City Hot Rods, etc...
When do you head back home? There is a nice Poker Run on Saturday down in Orange County: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/aces-poker-run-2015-pre-1965-rods-customs-and-cycles-tickets-17141369297 You're rental car may be OT, but it's a public park, I think anyone can enter the park, you'll probably just have to park away from the rods and walk over. My wife and I will be there. Also, check the So Cal Car Culture site that Jalop Koker posted, there are a lot of gatherings most nights of the week. Early Saturday mornings there is the Donut Derelicts gathering in Huntington Beach, several hundred cars (lot's of billet). We're expecting grey skies, maybe a bit of light rain early part of the week, but clearing and hot by mid week.
Petersen is closed until mid December. There is a small automotive museum behind the airport.. http://www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org/ As far as Socal Scene, you are right by the So-cal Speed Shop and a few others, in the area. If you are here through the weekend, you can try the Doughnut Derelicts meetup.
Thanks all for the replies so far. I am flying out Friday so unfortunately I can't do any weekend awesomeness. I'm thinking I might try the Wednesday cruise-in at Bob's Big Boy in Downey, unless somebody tells me it's lame. It's looking more like Thursday off will be a real thing so I may try to hit some local Hot Rod shops. Definitely open to more input.
This place is pretty cool ... http://www.earlyfordstore.com/ I see Rice & Beans already suggested it. I'll leave it up though, as I included a link.
NHRA Finals in Pomona if you might be interested in the drag racing end of things. Friday is a good day to go. Mike
Stopped in So-Cal Speed Shop after work today...got a killer taildragger t-shirt for my daughter and some blue dots for my Harley They were rodding a nice stocker A sport coupe...classy.
The Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, about 1-mile South of LAX Airport. The museum is located on a street called Lairport (correct spelling), and if you go, don't be turned off by the plain drab brick facade that greats you. This is a World-Class museum that is non-profit. A donation is asked at the front door. This is a good place to visit on your last day.