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If there is one event I love to attend each year, it’s the Blast from the Past Car show, or the Chula Vista car show as I like to call it, held every Tuesday night. Classic car owners from all over San Diego County line up along Third Avenue. The South Bay Cruisers, along with the Third Avenue Village Association, host the car show from 5pm to 8pm. This year the show kicked off on June 2nd and will run until August 18th. Each year the event has been getting bigger and bigger, with more cars and even more people.
Last Tuesday I decided to head on down there and check out some classic rides. The event starts at around five, but I know it gets going a little earlier than that because I have gotten stuck in traffic through Downtown Chula Vista around 4pm on most Tuesdays. Each night there is a different spotlight on a car club or even or car brand. The King Pins were the featured car club on the night I attended. One of the things I noticed right off the bat was the crowd. I pulled into the parking garage next to Parkway Park and it was extremely busy. Fuddruckers must’ve been serving up plenty of burgers that night. I remember coming here a few years back and you were lucky to get a crowd of these numbers. Now it seems like every night they draw a huge crowd of people, all coming to look at the cars of yesteryear. Parking, even in the garage, was at a premium. If you have a business along Third Avenue, then you have gotta love Tuesdays; plenty of people to pump a few bucks into your bottom line. Once I secured a sacred park spot in the garage, second level mind you, I was off to get a look at some of the cars. The show covers about two or so blocks on Third Ave, mainly from Davidson to about the Chula Vista Downtown sign on Parkway. The featured cars are parked next to the fountain right across from Fuddruckers. There were some beautiful Chevrolet Bel Air’s that night. The beauty of a classic car just makes you stop for a minute and remember how cars were built before emissions rules and fuel economy. These are real American cars built with two things in mind; power and comfort. There is no talk about miles-to-the-gallon here, don’t even utter the words; these cars burn a gallon of fuel just starting up their huge V8 engines. Another thing you won’t find is fiberglass body flanges. Everything here is pure metal and a lot of chrome. The bumper on some of these classics is enough to dent a concrete wall and look good doing it. Another thing you see more of lately is motorcycles. Most of them are lined up in front of the 24-hour Fitness and these bikes are just a thing of beauty. Better keep an eye on the little ones around here, because one tip and they could fall like dominos, not going to be pretty for you. Just like the cars they too have plenty of chrome parts and engines that could wake the dead once fired up. Along with the usual Harleys, you will see a few custom built choppers with paint jobs that are amazing. The amount of time put into these machines is astounding. I truly have to give it up to the owners of these bikes and cars. It takes a dedication to your hobby like no other. A lot of the owners I spoke with simply put it as a passion for the car. The long nights and busted knuckles are all a badge of honor to these folks, and they enjoy watching the people ooh and ah over their prized possession. This is an event that you have to attend at least once, maybe even twice. Bring the family and make a night of it for all of you. Along with the cars, they also have plenty of music. The main setup is on F Street and Third Avenue, the South Bay Cruisers also have raffles running all night and a 50/50 raffle at the end of the night around 8pm. I bought a few tickets, but came up empty handed. I will be sure to return on another night, I would love to see Corvette night on August 4th. Another show I have my eye on is Classic Chevy night on July 14th, which should be great. No matter what night you go you are sure to see something that will make you go ooohhhhh! Be sure to check out my photo gallery of the event. Click Here!
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