Ventura Nationals Hotrod and Customs show
Ventura Nationals
It's that time of year when Ventura Nationals kicks off their much-anticipated car show event in SoCal. Ventura Nationals is a little different from other large car shows. Ventura Nationals is like a huge family and friends get-together that happens to be into hotrods and custom cars.
Ventura Nationals is not only one of California's best car show events; they like to stretch the fun with events before and after the fantastic car show. The weekend started Friday with Ventura Nationals and Spirits cc Sunset Social with a meet-up and open house at JG Design & Fab until about 5 pm. Then everyone headed out on a short cruise to the coast.
Early Saturday, I rolled over to the fairgrounds where the Ventura Nationals car show will be. The lineup of cool cars waiting to get in was incredible; you just knew it would be a great day.
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The participants quickly filled up the Ventura Fair Grounds with their fantastic rides. As the gates opened for the show, an incredible live band was rocking the stage. Wenzdaze was first up playing, I'd say, punk music, but with their unique sound, they are a young band. On the way up to Ventura, I listened to Dave Grohl's The storyteller. Dave was the drummer for Nirvana, and this band fit right into Dave's story when he was starting out.
Right after Wenzdaze, SoCal's The Hula Girls played their brand of beach rockabilly music; they were very entertaining. You would be lucky to get one live band at a car show, but at Ventura Nationals, one or two live bands were not enough. After The Hula Girls' band finished playing, Lil' Mo & The Dynaflows rocked the stage with their smooth 50's Doo Wop music. But, not even three bands were enough for Ventura Nationals this year.
Stopmin' Riffrafs from Japan took the stage playing their unique 50's early 60's version of rockabilly. Stompin' Rifftrafs started playing on the Tokyo underground music scene in 2006; Stompin' Riffrafts call themselves "a man and three chicks." They were a blast to watch, and they were having just as much fun playing their music as the we were watching them.
There was something for everyone at Ventura Nationals. Along with the live music playing all day, vendors were selling their wares and crafts. One of the two indoor buildings not only had cool custom cars on display but also had a wall of artwork for sale from local artists. The Hopup building, the other indoor display of cool cars, was my favorite. The Hopup building always has some of the best hotrods on display. It would be hard to pick a favorite out of this bunch; all the cars and trucks were spectacular.
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One of the hotrods that caught my attention was a 1928 ford roadster that the owner believes was first built in the 50s: the Roadster sports an Oldsmobile 324 engine and an automatic transmission. However, the car had a stick at one time. Tom, the roadster's owner, said at some point, hopefully soon, he will put a standard transmission back in the hotrod. The hotrod that was found in a garage in the Bay Area about five years ago, now here in SoCal, is a favorite of many, including myself.
1928 Ford Roadster - Ventura Nationals
After the trophy handouts, The Lost Angels Children's Project had a drawing to win a 1962 C10 Chevy truck. The Lost Angels Children's Project is a non-profit program that serves disadvantaged youth and families. The Lost Angels members build these cool cars not just to have a drawing to raise funds for the program. More importantly, the members are learning valuable skills they bring to the workforce. It's a great program in SoCal. Joann from Ojai, Ca, was the winner of this nicely done C10.
The Lost Angels Childrens Project - Joann, this years winner of the project truck and Aaron Valencia the founder of the The Lost Angels Children’s Project. Holly and Aaron Stein the proprietors of Ventura Nationals are very passionate and supportive for what The Lost Angels Children’s Project is doing for the community
The Lost Angels Children’s Project
The fun continued on Sunday with a cruise along the coast and thru the scenic SoCal foothills up around Lake Casitas, with a meet-up and open house at Noble Fabrication.
Ventura Nationals is a fun, family-friendly event; the participant and spectator turnout was fantastic, and everyone looks forward to this one.
Ventura Nationals - Sunday Cruise
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