Father’s day weekend usually filled many dad-centric activities hosted at a variety of venues, but Fairplex in Pomona, CA was home to the iconic LA Roadster show. This event is hosted by the L.A. Roadsters Car Club, which was founded in 1957. Every year this group organizes one of the largest roadster shows in the United States featuring amazing cars, vendors and a swap meet. Despite the downturn in the economy there was plenty of automotive bling to behold or purchase for the “right” price.

Proceeds from this event are dispensed to a variety of worthy charities for over four decades. In 2011 the L.A. Roadster’s Car Club and the LA Roadster Show will assist charities like: Beacon House, CDC Fairplex, Dr. George Foundation, Drags Against Drugs, Grants Pass Museum, Learning Center, Marine Corp Scholarship Foundation, My Stuff Bag Foundation, Petersen Automotive Museum, Semper Fi Fund, Senior Resources of Broomfield, St. Jude Apostle Church, Susan Komen For the Cure, Toys 4 Tots and the Victoria High School Technology Fund. It seems as though the family formed by the common bond/love of hot rodding brings goes hand-in-hand with giving to the community.

Lee Titus, a lifetime member of the L.A. Roadsters Car Club passed away on May 25th, 2011. His fellow club members chose to honor his memory and dedication to hot rodding by having a memorial service for his friends and family. Titus' roadster was on display as you entered the show.

This event was the first held under the new layout at Fairplex, providing the members of the club and their 1936-and older vehicles additional shade and the benefit of an air-conditioned 100,000 sq ft warehouse.  Upon entering the show attendee’s were welcomed by the walkway created by rows of member’s roadsters, with one very special vehicle parked at the end of the walkway. A lifetime member of the club, Lee Titus had passed away on May 23^rd, 2011 due to complications from an illness. His fellow club members felt it necessary to honor his passing and hot rodder’s spirit at this event.

Great Scott! Barris Kustoms brought out the Batmobile.

Each alleyway was packed full of beautiful classic restorations and to wild variants with amazing paint and creative details. Despite the general public’s love/hate relationship with “rat rods,” the roadster show banished this automotive sector to the hinterlands of Fairplex. The main section of the event was reserved for some of the brightest, glossiest epic paint jobs seen on cars outside of the SEMA show.

Not to say that this event only featured the craziest colors, wild pearls or other chameleonic hues. Overall, red and black seemed to be the dominant colors for this event.  With the anything goes attitude toward paint schemes, ranging from classic hot rod styling to modern takes on the classic standards, it seemed like every combination was on display.

Taking a break from the sun and heat, the commercial vendors building offered a little something for the entire family. From automotive artwork, which is consequentially focused on street rods, offered by Tomas Nichols of galleryinndetail.com, roadster shops to the “Batmobile,” this section really had a wide appeal.

Barris Kustoms set up a booth selling memorabilia and proudly displaying the illustrious Batmobile. Barris’ booth drew quite a crowd, fathers, sons and grandfathers gathered around the Batmobile for the perfect family photo op.

For those with deep pockets, this '32 Dearborn Deuce could be all yours. This sweet roadster features an all steel body and a convertible top that folds flat into the body.

Outside of the air-conditioned more roadsters surrounded the area, seeing a variety of 1920’s and 1930’s era Chevrolets, Fords and even Mercury. Of course the dominant vehicle was the well known and much loved, ’32 Ford. Flathead V-8s were predominately the favored power plant for the original style hot rods, although many builders elected to use more modern V8 engines. For instance, one all steel body ‘32 deuce featured a 396 Chevy engine stroked out to a 409 cubic inch monster topped with aluminum heads.

Another section of Fairplex was sectioned off the hold the vast array of pre-75 hot rods, muscle cars and even a few of the “rat rods.” This was the area where many other car clubs parked together to display countless takes on what hot rodding means to them.

Many of these groups were not comprised of local southern California residents, a vast number of these participants traveled from other states to take part in the Father’s Day Weekend LA Roadster Show.

Walking through the countless classics, this was where you could see a tri-five Chevy parked next to a couple of rat rods and a couple Corvettes, parked further down the aisle.

Regardless of automotive preference, the L.A. Roadsters Car Club puts on an incredible show. Winding through the fairgrounds surprises wait at your every turn and step. Like any classic car event worth it’s salt, the LA Roadster Show featured a cacklefest with some beautifully restored historic dragsters.

Essentially, there was a little something for everyone at this event; it is very hard to find fault while spending beautiful summer day with friends, family and some amazing customized classics.