[howieb4]

I'll be visiting California with the family for spring break and just wondering are there any Alfa-specific sites(shops, museums, club events, etc.) that I should see? Home base will be Newport Beach(only there for a week) so Northern Cali is out of the picture.
Thanks

 

[araknd]

Welcome, Howie. It would be helpful if you could give a date range. There are usually events all over the calendar here in SoCal.

That being said, since you are going to be in Newport Beach, you will want to check out the weekly Cars and Coffee in nearby Irvine. This is not an Alfa specific event, but many SoCal Alfisti attend every week. It starts at around 7AM. There are specifics in the Car Events forum.

 

[fangio8c]

...so Northern Cali is out of the picture.

Too bad Howie, you're missing the best CA has to offer .

 

[planetmojo]

There are likely some car museums in LoCal, to check out. Maybe the locals on here know the better ones.

Also, not so ALFA specific... if you are around Pasadena, you may want to go visit the Art Center College of Design campus on Lida Drive (just above the Rose Bowl). They always have a great gallery of student work in the lobby. 85% of the world's car designers come from Art Center. So, you'd have a peek at what cars may look like 25 years from now. Drawings and models.

You'll also find examples of future Product Design, Packaging Design, Environmental Design, etc. If you want to see more than you find in the gallery, you can troll the halls peeking into the class rooms... best to do that at lunch break when class is not in session. Plenty of drawings lining the walls!

Doubt you'll be able to just walk into Jay Leno's property to check out his massive collection. That would be a hoot! Maybe someday he'll have a museum to house those, for the public?

 

[Aghevli]

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles will be holding an exhibit for Supercars from March 5 to October 16. Not sure if there will be any Alfas on display but there will still be plenty of Italian beauties to see.

Petersen Automotive Museum

 

[Nick S]

Sacramento CA...Towne Auto Museum

Too bad Howie, you're missing the best CA has to offer .

The Towne Automotive Museum in Sacramento CA:
"Automobllia Celebrating Italian Automotive Design".
Display runs through the summer, 2011.

Nick


77 Alfa Romeo Spider
88 Ford Mustang
00 Infinity QX4

 

[Pat Braden]

Visiting California -- What to See?

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles will be holding an exhibit for Supercars from March 5 to October 16. Not sure if there will be any Alfas on display but there will still be plenty of Italian beauties to see.

Petersen Automotive Museum

The AROSC group is touring the Peterson Museum on April 30th. The tour starts at 11:00 a.m. and is about 2 hours. In addition to the regular exhibits, shown here:

• The Streetscape --The Car and City in Southern California
• Hollywood Gallery -- Cars of Film and Television
• Alternative Power -- Lessons from the Past, Inspiration for the Future
• Hot Wheels Hall of Fame

There are two special exhibits:

• Supercars: When Too Much is Almost Enough
• NHRA: Sixty Years of Thunder

Excerpted from: Alfacionada, Newsletter of the Alfa Romeo Owners of Southern California, March 2011, p. 19.

 

[sidewaysalfa]

So Calif activities

For Alfa club events look at the So Cal calendar:
AROSC Calendar, 2011

What dates will you be in town?
Cars n Coffee, Saturday morning, EARLY. It starts clearing out by 7:30 ish. Should be #1, if it fits in your schedule.

 

[howieb4]

Too bad Howie, you're missing the best CA has to offer .

Northern Cali will be a future trip. I'm not so sure a 13 and 15 year-old would find a trip to wine country very much fun!

I've never been a fan of posting dates on the net of when I will not be at my home. Not that I'd be afraid of any members of alfabb ransacking my home(well maybe Rich). I think I'm safe on this site. I'll be out there 4/5 to 4/12.

I think with only a week to play, SoCal was the only choice to call home. A trip to the San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, all the touristy stuff. I told my wife that I want to go the Petersen and she just rolled her eyes.

 

[araknd]

Well, San Diego doesn't have anything specific on the calendar during that timeframe, but we are always open to an informal get together. As I had mentioned earlier, Cars and Coffee on Saturday morning. Irvine is only about 7-8 miles from Newport, depending on where you will be. And it's earlier enough that you can be back before the teenagers are even awake yet. As far as the Petersen is concerned, you can tell your wife that it's close to Rodeo Dr. and drop her off there for some window shopping while you window shop at the museum. The Nethercutt collection is another one you might want to see. Tours are free.

 

[VA_Alfa]

Hello Howie,
I visited SoCal in November last year and attended the Irvine CA Cars and Coffee. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND making this part of your trip. You will see some fantastic cars there amongst the nice Alfa's that show up.

I made contact with Randy (101/105guy) before attending and he provided excellent advice on parking, arrival time, etc. It is a definite must see for us east coast folks.

 

[VA_Alfa]

Howie,
Other non-car-related activities that we had a great time with: StarLine Movie Star Homes Tour sounds kinda cheezy, but we did it and it was great. Starts at the Chinese Theatre and runs 2 hours. Also recommend getting tickets to the Jay Leno Show, go on-line, get tickets, then get their early.

 

[sidewaysalfa]

Visit Hollywood

The Petersen is in in our Museum Row, and a few blocks away from the LaBrea Tar Pits and 3 other museums. There are places to eat from Johnny Rockets burgers to fancy schmancy rest a raunts. Also I saw a line of those "gormet food trucks" parked along Museum Row. Don't have to go inside, just browse the trucks and have lunch on the sidewalk.
The Petersen is not just a collections of cars but cars put in context with displays, etc. The idea is to show the auto and L.A. There is also a great gift shop there with my display of shirts and posters from RetroGear (shameless plug).
Hollywood Blvd is just a few blocks away with Graumans Chinese (the foot print place) And with the warm weather the "Character Street Performers" are out in force: Want a pic of your kids with Spider Man and Chewbacca??
You could make a long day and evening of just this area.