2023 CLASSICS WITH THE CARDINALS SHOW

Posted on July 5, 2023 by MartynL

Inaugural 2023 CLASSICS WITH THE CARDINALS SHOW in Santa Barbara, CA met and beat all expectations. CGC’s Jim Palam showcases the highlights. Local car shows sure took a hit when Covid kicked-in back in 2020. Already a challenge to organize and produce with limited resources, the future for these Car Guy celebrations was looking somewhat bleak – even for shows in famous destination cities like Santa Barbara, CA. When I got an invitation to attend a new car show there, I almost took a pass – and...

NOJOQUI FALLS FUN RUN 2022

Posted on November 12, 2022November 13, 2022 by MartynL

50-Year car club tradition brings hot rods, classics, customs and cruisers to scenic Nojoqui Falls County Park in California for the NOJOQUI FALLS FUN RUN 2022. Our man Jim Palam captures the fun for Car Guy Chronicles' viewers. Nojoqui Falls was originally named for a Chumash village named Naxuwi, which means meadow. It is a Santa Barbara County Park located on Alisal Road, 2.6 miles southwest from Solvang, CA. An old legend has it that a Chumash Indian chief held an all-night prayer...

1960-1961 ROD & CUSTOM CAR SHOWS

Posted on February 23, 2022 by MartynL

Historian Pat Ganahl shares highlights of 1960-1961 ROD & CUSTOM CAR SHOWS from his extensive historical archives. I’ve got a lot of stuff in my “archive.” I mean a whole lotta stuff. Just in terms of photos–color, black-and-white, prints, negatives, slides, proof sheets, digital–there are 30,000-some images. No way I can count them. It’s just an estimate, and it’s probably way low. But besides those, there are magazines (most from Vol 1, No. 1), books, racing and show programs, audio tapes...

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: CENTRAL COAST WHEELING WEEKEND

Posted on October 27, 2021October 28, 2021 by MartynL

Who doesn't love a special deal? Perhaps it's CGC’s Jim Palam's years in advertising that was behind his idea to give our readers two-reports-in-one, combining two of the Central Coast's popular car shows – The Solvang Fall Classic & The Montecito Motor Classic – into one feature. It’s a great idea, so here's CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: CENTRAL COAST WHEELING WEEKEND. Covid changed the 2020 Car Show scene significantly – pretty much eliminating many if not all of the popular gatherings not only in...

VENTURA NATIONALS: RODS, CUSTOMS, BIKES & GUITARS!

Posted on September 17, 2021September 17, 2021 by MartynL

While he wasn't ready to spike-up his hair and tattoo a car club logo on his chest, Car Guy Chronicle's contributor, Jim Palam, was more than willing to motor South on Highway 101 and immerse himself in the cuffed-denim and octane-fueled culture of the 18th annual VENTURA NATIONALS: RODS, CUSTOMS, BIKES & GUITARS! There are lots of things that go together well – like bows & arrows, macaroni & cheese, Batman & Robin. But for those of us with octane in our veins, the rhyth...

TALL TAILS, LOW RIDES & KOOL KATS!

Posted on May 30, 2018 by MartynL

Map your course for a Concours d’Elegance then head 180° in the opposite direction. That’s how you get to a car show like 35th Annual West Coast Kustoms’ Cruisin' Nationals, blogs Jim Palam. It’s the multifariousness of Car Culture that makes it so appealing to so many people. And it’s the people as much as the cars that make the 2018 Cruisin Nationals such a fun three-day event. There’s the Santa Maria City Cruise on Friday night, the Show-n-Shine on Saturday and Sunday – plus a swap meet, ven...