The automobile may be the most precious...

The automobile may be the most precious possession in Southern California, but the L.A. Cultural Heritage Board still voted last year against designating Pat Galati’s carwash a cultural monument.

The outcome paved the way for developer Ira Smedra to demolish the 28-year-old structure, whose distinctive boomerang-shaped girders won it the unofficial title of Gateway to Studio City.

The site is temporarily vacant--Smedra is building a much-needed mini-mall there--but the 55-foot-tall beams are standing again.

The Gateway to Studio City has become . . . the Gateway to U-Pick Parts.

The beams are parked in a Sun Valley wrecking yard, and they aren’t up for sale, either.

“They’re a landmark and a work of art,” said Milt Hoffman, U-Pick’s general manager. “We’ve painted them yellow--we have our trucks and most everything here painted yellow. That’s our trademark.”

So, the gateway is back where it belongs, among cars--even if these models aren’t nearly as shiny as the ones exiting from the Galati carwash. Ah, the cultural life.

Where was Mayor Tom Bradley on the day that Raiders owner Al Davis said bye-bye to L.A.?

He was at an NFL owners meeting in Florida, lobbying for the Rose Bowl as the site of the 1993 Super Bowl. Yes, the stadium in Pasadena. This hasn’t been a great week for the L.A. Coliseum.

Anyway, while Bradley was there, he chatted by phone with KLOS-FM disc jockeys Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, who have plans for another landmark. They asked His Honor if they could paint the Hollywood sign green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and Al ($600 million) Davis’ favorite color. Bradley promised to get back to them.

Alas, M & B will not get a green light.

“We have been trying to use the sign as a symbol, or an icon, like the Statue of Liberty,” said Larry Kaplan of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. “It would be like dressing the Statue of Liberty to advertise a new line of clothes.”

“The residents are very opposed to temporary alterations (of the sign),” said Tom LaBonge, a spokesman for Councilman John Ferraro, who is a member of the Hollywood Sign Advisory Committee. “If they (Mark and Brian) want green, let them plant some trees in the city.”

Maybe they could work out a compromise and paint the Gateway to U-Pick Parts green, instead.

The recent revelation that the new no-smoking regulations on airline flights will not apply to pilots calls to mind last year’s historic unveiling of L.A.’s federal Metropolitan Detention Center. The center, you may recall, was introduced as the world’s first no-smoking prison. There were exceptions to that policy, too--guards and other personnel were exempt. The inmates erupted into several melees, forcing the prison to drop the ban all together. It will be interesting to see if the airlines are forced to install a No Rioting light.

It was the 287th day before Christmas and what should appear in the mail but . . . a press release from the Holiday Fantasies Christmas Time Fair, reminding everyone that it opens Dec. 13 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Still a few tickets available.