Enthusiasts and car culture lovers unite at the LA Auto Show
As an early adopter of both automobiles and massive, interconnected highways, California and car culture are virtually synonymous. Motoring is imperative for almost every resident of the Golden State and customization has become the norm for driving enthusiasts who want to flaunt their individuality.
The LA Auto Show provides this quintessential car culture experience for motoring fans of all stripes at two locations -- The Garage Aftermarket and Galpin’s Hall of Customs.
Located below the South Hall (look for the big “Garage” banner) in a massive, 160,000-square foot showroom, The Garage offers California’s largest and most exciting collection of renowned tuners, customized exotics and celebrity cars, as well as aftermarket goods and services that can provide inspiration for your next build.
Featured exhibitors include Al & Ed’s Autosound, a company on the leading edge of vehicle restyling and personalization of cars, trucks and SUVs in southern California for more than six decades. As their slogan goes, “If you can dream it, we can make it happen. It’s what we do.”
The Dub Show -- an awesome custom car show from Dub Magazine -- is back with an
assortment of bespoke aftermarket vehicles. On tap for this year’s show is a Truck & Jeep Showcase with the latest in custom off-road vehicles.
Current or future electric-car owners can check out the portable EV charger from FLO, Canada’s largest electric vehicle charging network. FLO chargers enable EV drivers to extend their vehicle’s range to get where they need and never have to worry about access to public chargers.
And it’s not just about cars. At the Monster Energy Lounge, show-goers can sample different flavors of the popular energy drink and meet and greet with the Monster Energy calendar models.
The two sides of Yamaha -- Yamaha Motor Sports and Yamaha Music -- are joining forces at One Yamaha with a full line of products including motorcycles, ATVs and much more.
Just in time for the holidays, there are also toys for the car enthusiast, like the world’s only die-cast toy truck and over 4,000 cars from Burning Rubber Toy Company, and “Ready-To-Race” nitro electric radio-controlled vehicles from Traxxas, who make trucks, cars, speedboats and helicopters.
Details of other exciting Garage exhibits were still under wraps at press time. During the 2017 auto show, customized vehicles from McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Chevrolet, Bentley, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche and more were featured in the aftermarket area.
Galpin Motors -- a cornerstone of Southland autos since 1946 -- will have more than two dozen vehicles on display at the Galpin’s Hall of Customs. Tricked out by their customization division, Galpin Auto Sports, all of these cars are fast, furious or downright famous.
Among the customs that Galpin is bringing to the auto show this year are the original Mustang from the classic 1968 Steve McQueen movie “Bullitt,” a 2019 Aston Martin DBS, YouTube star Salomondrin’s Porsche Carrera GT, a Lotus Evora 400, the 725-horsepower Galpin Rocket Mustang, and a 2018 Ford Race Raptor pickup truck.
-Joe Yogerst, Custom Pubishing Writer