The old adage that seeing is believing was turned on its ear at LCOC’s Joint kIckoff event held Feb. 16 with the SoCal Cadillac & LaSalle Club at Clearman’s Northwoods Inn, San Gabriel, CA. While the calendar clearly proclaimed mid-winter and the “snow” covered inn looked like a frozen mountain hideaway, mild SoCal weather bathed participants in mid-70s sunshine at this unique car show event and luncheon!
For the past few years this event had been held at Lakewood Country Club and often punctuated by rain. It didn’t dampen our spirits, however, but maybe the change of venue caused the weather gods to smile on us for 2025.
Dozens of cherished vintage cars had a perfect weather day to shine at San Gabriel. In addition to our Lincolns, Cadillacs from the 1940s and up and a sprinkling of other makes added even more spice to this annual event. And a driveby of neighborhood low riders brought even more spectator grins.
The long distance prize goes to Marv Wendt, who trundled in with the Mark VII all the way from Ridgecrest!
Nothing says mid-century vehicles more than the gorgeous pastels that were characteristic of the era. Some beautiful examples wowed the visitors. But basic black and white are never out of style.
A pair of beautiful Packards, a Mercury Colony Park wagon, ’56 T’Bird and a gleaming ’58 Ford retractable hard top added variety to the display.
After all. what is there not to like when good friends and car buddies gather to show off their rides?
Even after donuts and coffee, viewing all these great cars and catching up on member news from 10 a.m. to noon certainly worked up an appetite and more than 60 of us headed indoors eager for lunch. Clearman’s has been a cherished local landmark for decades and is well known for its American comfort food and casual atmosphere. We had some of the best of it with a special banquet menu of steak chunks, ground beef or fried chicken served with cabbage and green salads, baked potato,, rice and garlic toast, with vegetarian options offered on request.
The Cadillac Club held their business meeting and announced new officers for the coming year, while LCOC’s Western Region Director Jim Ayres presented the region’s Member of the Year for 2024 award to Scott Balanda, for outstanding service as the membership secretary and for organizing and executing some successful events.
An exciting array of upcoming events was revealed and we will have more information about these social opportunities in the future. One thing is certain, a big thank you is due to Betsy Davenport and her team for inviting us to this year’s wonderful San Gabriel kickoff event.
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