What better way to celebrate the end of the week, than with a car show on a Friday evening? Or for those of you like me ( my wife describes me as car obsessed), how about encountering a car show totally by accident?  Well, that’s exactly what occurred last Friday evening, as my wife and I were driving home after going out to dinner.

As we were exiting the mall, I spotted a coned off section of the parking lot that appeared to be full of custom cars, classic Chevrolets and hot rods, all in close proximity to the Ruby’s diner (http://rubyscruise.com) located towards the west side of the mall. Since my wife had some shopping to do for her mom, she dropped me off so I could check out the cars, and would return when she was done. So off I headed into the middle of this unexpected, surprise (at least for me) car show. As I made my way through the aisles of the parking lot, checking out the diversity of cars in attendance, I realized that I recognized several of these cars from other cars shows. And just when I was wishing I had my camera with me, my wife drove up. By the time we arrived home, I had decided to grab my camera and head back to the car show before I lost the remaining daylight. Within 15 minutes, I was back at the mall, with camera in hand, ready to capture the cars gathered for the evenings event.

My first subject for the evening was this beautiful matte green, 1932 Ford 5 window coupe as seen below…

One of the most unusual and obvious features on this car is the engine; in this case, the owner chose to install a 401 cubic inch Buick “nailhead” motor as seen below.

After walking around the car multiple times, shooting it from a variety of angles and focusing on specific details, the owner approached and we struck up a conversation.

I asked if he had shown this car down at Cars& Coffee in Irvine, since this was one of the cars that I recognized. It turned out that I was correct; the owner had shown this car only once at Cars&Coffee, back in March…

His car looked just as good on this night as it had the first time I saw it. The build quality and detailing found throughout this car is spectacular…

Next up was this beautiful, plum-colored 1932 Ford sedan…

Mounted up front ahead of the grill, and secured onto the period correct California license plate, was this vintage Olympic Games of Los Angeles, circa 1932 badge (as seen above and below)…

And located out back, applied onto the rear body work, was this design accent celebrating the artistry of pin stripping…

Parked just up the row at the opposite end, was this black 1963 Lincoln Continental, as noted by its license plate.

The black paint on this car was flawless; every surface smooth as glass and acting like a mirror, reflecting all of its immediate surroundings.

Located just across the row, was this stunning example of a true American classic; a flamed, chop top Merc. And what was even more amazing was that this car appeared to have been driven to the event, and not brought in by trailer.

Every surface and detail on this car was flawless, and obviously a lot of time and effort had gone into the building of this custom show car.

But even cooler was seeing that the owner actually drives this car, and had brought it to the show to share with others; a true celebration and tribute to the Southern California car culture.

Parked several rows over behind the Merc, was this black on black, 1950s vintage Ford F-100 custom truck…

complete with a Ford Motorsport  / SVO V8 engine tucked in between the front fenders…

and once again, another black paint job that shone like a mirror…

And parked over in front of the diner, amongst the other hod rods on display, was this raspberry colored coupe with polished aluminum velocity stacks rising skyward through its front hood…

Back over across the lot, and half way up the nearest row, was this black vintage Pontiac coupe with red interior…

complete with rear trunk badging as seen below…

Below are several of the classic Chevrolet sedans that were present; the first being this beautifully presented, pale green 1950 4 door Deluxe, parked next to the black Pontiac…

followed up by this spotless, late 1940s vintage blue 4 door, with period appropriate chrome front grill and accessories…

Another of the cars parked out in front of Ruby’s was one of the many 1960’s muscle cars in attendance; in this case a black, 1969 Camaro Z-28, showing off its spectacular paint finish…

As evidenced by the reflection above, parked immediately to the right of the Z-28, was this bright red hot rod; a 1932 Ford highboy roadster complete with flames…

And its ultra clean engine compartment.

Classic flames and stamped louvers…

complete down to the pinstriped accents…

As the sun set and the neon signs and architectural trim lit up, it was time for one last photo to capture the spirit of the event…

So should you find yourself in Whittier on a Friday night (from May through October) with some time to burn, just look for the Ruby’s Diner in the Whittwood Towne Center, and you will be rewarded with a local car show that weekly celebrates some of the nicest hot rods, classics and muscle cars from throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

(All photos by the author)