Santa Maria, California is a quaint agriculture town tucked away up the coast and is home to world renowned BBQ, hot rod shops, and of course the West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals Car Show. This year marked the 34th Annual event where Santa Maria hosts some of the West coast’s hottest pre-‘66 American customs and the entire Central Coast is overrun with hot rods, cruises, and car club shenanigans throughout the weekend.
Photos & Words: Mike Alexander | Video: Scrapyard Creative
Hosted by the West Coast Kustoms car club, Cruisin’ Nats is held on Memorial Day Weekend at the Santa Maria Fairpark. Some of you may remember the old “Paso” show, and yes this is the same show from yesteryear, it’s just outgrown the previous year’s venues and the Fairpark has allowed for quite a bit of growth over the last few years. One of the highlights each year is the traditional Santa Maria “City Cruise” which takes place down Broadway Street Friday night from 7-9 P.M. and goes from Cook Street, to Morrison Street and back. Something that sets this cruise apart a bit is that it’s held for registered show participants only so it helps to keep the “riff raff” out – allowing for a solid two plus hours of killer customs crusin’ down Broadway. The sight of so many badass hot rods instantly takes you back to simpler times pre-wifi and selfie-sticks to when cruises took place year round down these main streets of small towns across the country.
This year’s show brought out rides from all over the west with some venturing as far as Texas, Utah, and even a few long haulers from Iowa. Not to mention, folks fly in from Japan, Australia, Norway, Sweeden, Canada, and more to check out the massive swap and collections on display. This year also debuted a Skate Board Art Show where you could show your customized Skate Board Art with like-minded artists from across the country. There was also a full model car show and custom awards and trophies for both of these events along with the show car participants. There were a ton of vendors on hand with everything form the latest custom gear to Image Street Rods and SR Headers with their new line of low-profile mufflers, the perfect addition for those Slam’d rides needing extra ground clearance where space is an issue.
There’s tons to do for everyone in the family, including the pinstriping “Panel Jam” sponsored by PPG along with a setup booth indoors to meet the “Legends of Kustomizing” with Barris and many others on hand to take pictures with and sign posters. The original Bat Mobile was also on hand, which recently sold for $4,000,000. All kinds of kustom vendors, music and plenty of food and fun for all ages – this is definitely one show you don’t want to miss! We had a blast hanging out and checking out the rides and can’t wait to do it again next year. Mark your calendars for Memorial Day Weekend 2016 and we’ll see you there. For more info on upcoming events make sure to visit the West Coast Kustoms website at: www.WestCoastKustoms.com.
