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For the 32nd time, small-town Seal Beach, Calif., located next to the Pacific Ocean, held a car show. There were at least 500 vintage car and motorcycle entries as Main Street, Ocean Avenue and portions of other intersections, as well as parking lots, were filled with static vehicular art.
Vintage cars of all marques lined the streets, as did sports cars, some race cars and nameplates that have been consigned to history books. On Ocean Ave., nearly a full block of Pontiac cars - plenty of GTOs - took over one side of the street, while a grassy verge on the other side held vintage motorcycles and a band that kept people entertained.
It’s easy to guess that thousands attended, many bringing young children and dogs to the festivities. Storefronts along Seal Beach’s Main Street opened their doors to welcome shoppers and those looking for a little refreshment under the mostly cloudy, cool skies.
Organizers had said they’d be judging the entrants and, with 32 categories, there were bound to be plenty of winners. Entries included hot rods with engine swaps - even vintage Mercedes-Benz classics with American iron under the hood - plenty of 1930s Fords and Chevys, Dodges, Desotos, Chryslers, even a few Studebaker cars from American history.
Among the foreign-built contingent were MGs, Lotus cars, Land Rovers, Jaguars, Mercedes, DeTomaso Mangustas, Panteras and even a Vallelunga, a bug-eye Sprite whose owner said he rebuilt it from boxes of parts and only showed it because he lived a couple of blocks from the show, and one very special 1937 Ford coupe whose chassis and engine were shipped to Germany, where the car was coach-built.
Rather than talk about all the cars and motorcycles on-hand, here’s a photo gallery of some of the vehicles that caught my eye.
MB 170S drophead.
1964 Lotus Super 7 with Cosworth engine.
1937 Ford coupe.
DeTomaso Mangusta.
A row of Triumph motorcycles.
Tiny Honda N600.
1947 Cadillac convertible.
1937 Ford engine is highly upgraded.
1937 Ford original gauges.
1937 Ford with handmade wheels.
1950 Chevy delivery.
1954 VW Bug.
1959 Porsche 356A.
Another cool Woody.
Bug-eye Sprite was built from boxes of parts.
DeTomaso Pantera owner installed a mirror for his engine.
