Hot Rods at SBCC

August 14, 2024, 8:02 am 1.2k Views 5 Comments

Hot rods were on display at City College last weekend for a cause: To get kids to put down their phones and use their hands to make things. The Community Hot Rod Project is seeking to take over unused hangar space at the Santa Barbara Airport. To give young people (and those who are young at heart) a hands-on chance to “build, restore, fabricate classic cars and off-road race vehicles here in Santa Barbara”.

Here are my photos from this Santa Barbara County Auto Expo.

Here are a few shots I got as I arrived:

I arrived just as they were explaining their mission and as they were about to give out their awards. Here is my short video.

This father Pete Steinfeld and son Griffin Steinfeld won an award for their 1932 Ford Model B Rat Rod. The body had been sitting in a field in Massachusetts and they brought it back to California and built a Rat Rod out of it. The father was quick to give most of the credit to son Griffin for the project. I asked where the engine came from. I expected it to have come from some other car. No. Griffin built the engine from scratch. Wow. Here they posed with their Rat Rod.

This gives a full view of the car:

The Best of Show award went to another father/son team. Stanley Chavik and Stanley Junior of Orange. For their 1933 Buick Speedster. Not only does it look cool at shows. They drive it around town for actual transportation.

Here they posed with the award:

And here with the car:

This really is a hot rod. We could not figure out how the driver managed to squeeze in behind the engine!

Steve McCarthy was proud of his “Worst of Show” award from another car show! For his 1968 Citroen. It had been stored out in the desert and amazingly was able to drive out onto a trailer under its own power. The main restoration needed was to the famed hydraulic leveling and suspension system. He also uses it for everyday transportation. They recently made a 2800 mile round trip from Monrovia (Los Angeles) to Olympia, Washington. It gets a bit over 20 miles per gallon. Notice the Yellow Submarine accessories! Yes, it is yellow. But he told me it is not amphibious!

This gentleman recognized me from a recent Woodies at the Beach show at the same location. I see that I never wrote up that event, despite having lots of photos!

Here are a few more of my photos and you can see more if you view my full set.

My grandfather had a Cadillac like this when I was a kid. We kids thought he must be very wealthy, but I think it was just how he chose to spend his money. He was in the wholesale food business and I think he just wanted a symbol of his hard work.

Of course, the West Campus of City College is a beautiful place every day, even with no exhibition.

And this particular day coincided with a sailing regatta.

Here you can find out more information about The Community Hot Rod Project and how you can help and get involved! https://www.thecommunityhotrodproject.com/pages/about-us

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Written by sbrobert

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    • @SBsurferlife Thank you for the kind words. It is surprising how many of these auto shows there are. Especially considering that most of them (not this one) have free admission and it is the car owners who have to pay. I guess they just like showing off their cars and mingling with other car enthusiasts.

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  2. Thanks Robert – couple of questions? Viewing the “1932 Ford Model B Rat Rod”, how exactly does the driver see where he’s going past the massive engine? secondly (not really a question…) the plate on it says “7X 47 77” suicide doors & all, really cool (including only one wiper), oh yeah don’t forget the headlights…
    I’m thinking “1937 Ford Model 78”?

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