It’s been a good couple decades since I’ve traveled north up Interstate 5 (via the skies above…) in February, destination Cal Expo, in the heart of the state capitol, Sacramento. Home of the California State Fair for as long as I’ve inhabited this earth (1968), Cal Expo is also home to the Sacramento Autorama for the past 47 years, a tradition kept alive and well courtesy John Buck/Rod Shows et al involved.
While Cal Expo has the center of attraction since 1970, the Sacramento Autorama goes back 20 years further, back to its pre-Autorama moniker origins when founder Harold Bagdasarian persuaded fellow Thunderbolt club members to hold a custom car show at the Capitol Chevrolet dealership downtown in 1950. Over the next few years, the show continued to grow, and “Baggy”, as he was known, took the once-innocent gathering he started for his car club to show off its unique customs to what is now THE indoor custom car show in The Custom Car Capitol of the World.
And to honor outstanding custom car achievements, the Sacramento Autorama has not one, but four top honors given out to the most distinguished of the contention. First and foremost is the Custom D’Elegance Award (chosen by a panel of judges), followed by the honorary H.A. Bagdasarian Memorial World’s Most Beautiful Custom Award (presented last year to Jack Kiely’s stunning Rob Ida-built 1940 Merc), the King of Kustoms, and finally, the Sam Barris Memorial Award (established by Baggy after Sam’s passing in 1967, now presented by the Barris family).
So, along with the stiff custom car competition vying for the above honorary awards, we’ll be delivering daily coverage from the 67th O’Reilly Auto Parts Sacramento Autorama straight through Sunday, when those awards are finally handed out (which can be seen as it all goes down via our live Facebook video feed!). Stay tuned…plenty more to come.
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