Well, you know what they say – “some things get better with age.” I can think of just a few: fine wine, avocados and oh yes . . . classic cars!
This year’s L.A.F.D. car show went off on a beautiful October Sunday in West Hills. The entry’s started arriving around 7:00 am and we were loaded with bright and shiny sheet metal by nine. On hand this year were some beautifully restored fire apparatus from around the Los Angeles area along with cars ranging from turn of the century models to ones made yesterday! They came in all shapes, colors and sizes, stock or highly modified, more than 100 entries – just check out the photos.
We had “Horsepower for an Hour” handling the DJ duties and keeping things lively. Light Force 105 was on hand and provided demonstrations for the larger then normal crowd. The guys from Fire Station 87 were our chefs for the day, providing Tri Tip sandwiches and hot dogs by the dozen. Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors volunteers were running the raffle and giving away all the loot. Pinewood derby cars were racing for their trophies.
All in all things went off without a hitch and we were just about ready to start giving away the trophies when it sounded like an F18 Hornet was taxing up the driveway. A closer look revealed that it was the one and only Jay Leno stopping by for a visit in his latest ride, a turbine powered Cadillac. Jay got out and took about a thousand pictures with everyone in attendance, drove the 1921 steamer pumper around the show and chatted with the Horse Power for an Hour guys at the DJ tent.
After that, we made the day for all the trophy winners by presenting them with their hard earned awards! The “Best of Show” winner again took home a fire axe trophy courtesy of Jason Knight.
A big THANK YOU goes out to all the helpers – without you guys and gals we could not even put the show on.
By Don Cascio, LAFD retired
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View photos from this event. CHECK OUT THE NICE RIDES!
