The Pomona Swap Meet and Classic Car Show is one of those iconic southern California events that every car enthusiast needs to attend at some point in their life. Being a recent transplant to the area, when the opportunity presented itself there was no way I could pass it up.

Like most other good things, the swap meet arose from necessity. George W. Cross III needed car parts to complete restoration of his 1922 Model T. It took him three years to source the few unique parts but thought to himself that there must be an easier way to find parts.

As a result, in 1975 George set to work and organized the first automotive-specific swap meet with just $100 to advertise and a handful of vendors read to commit. He used flyers to get the word out and was met with overwhelming success as 4,200 people showed up to the parking lot at the Los Angeles Fair Grounds where it was to be held.

The second show was set for January 1976 and was an indoor setting which he outgrew within the event. The third swap meet was moved to a parking lot he felt was large enough to give the event some room to grow. He added a Porsche section to the car show area of the event as well as “sale” areas that already included antique cars, hot rods and corvettes.

In order to accommodate the growing demand of the show, George added more show dates and what began as one-show-per-year swap meet, quickly grew into five shows per year by 1981.

Since then the show has added more events per year, many of which were filled to capacity with people turned away. Today, automobile enthusiasts from around the globe visit Pomona each year to walk up and down the 15 miles of cars and parts. Events frequently have over 2,500 classic cars, and 2,700 vendors.