Orange County Car Show Season Shifts Into High Gear For Summer

With the start of summer around the corner, OC begins to shift into high gear for car show season with the first ever, VW Revival car show kicking things off last weekend at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park. 

Event organizer Andy Kimball said they wanted to “bring back a classic VW show” to Orange County. 

The occasion brought down about 500 classic VWs from all across the country, some from as far out as Texas, Roseville and Salinas with others more local around Oceanside, Yorba Linda and Murrieta.

These kinds of events attract so many due to the rich history Volkswagens carry for many car enthusiasts.

“I’m just trying to bring back nostalgia,” said Stanley Escolano who ventured to OC from Salinas to show off his 1958 Oval Window Beetle.

The event had much to offer for car lovers as there were many stands selling car parts, Volkswagen memorabilia and clothing.

Some especially unique Volkswagens were singled out for recognition in different categories based on the type of car: Bus-1968 and later, Manx, Beetle 1968-and later, Vanagon and more.

Yorba Linda resident Jon Winter was recognized for his fully custom 1969 Bandit Beetle.

Having built it around 2000, the buggy was one of Winters’ many custom builds.

It has a custom built bumper, custom back-lit dashboard, leather interior and even custom needles on the dashboard gauges.

“Building a buggy is like building a hot rod, you can do whatever you want” said Winters.

Valley Center resident Sonya Kieslich also took home an award for her 1987 Mk1 Rabbit.

On top of being a Volkswagen dune buggy enthusiast, Kieslich is also a professional racecar driver.

OC is very saturated with car culture as the county hosts countless car shows every summer.

[Read: Meet the People Behind America’s Biggest Weekly Car Show]

Whether it’s hot rods, low riders or custom cars, Orange County has always been at the forefront of Southern California car culture, said Dave Lindsay, a Mission Viejo resident who in 2002 founded SoCalCarCulture, a website that’s become a go-to site for keeping track of the dates, times and locations of Southern California’s car shows.

There’s several car shows taking place today across Orange County, 

In Huntington Beach, there’s the Cruisin’ at the Beach Car Show from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

In San Clemente, there’s South OC Cars and Coffee from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. 

In Yorba Linda, there’s the Summer Festival and Car Show from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

In Placentia, there’s the Donuts and Dipsticks car show from 7 a.m. – 9 a.m.

In Santa Ana there’s Cars and Coffee from 7:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.

If you don’t get a chance to head out to any of these shows, there’s plenty more this summer across Orange County. 

June

On June 14 from 9am-2pm there’s the 5th Annual Knights of Columbus Car Show in Huntington Beach

On June 21 from 10am-2pm there’s the Classic Car Show in Costa Mesa

On June 22 from 7-9am there’s the Quarantine Cruise in Costa Mesa

July

On July 11 from 4 – 7 p.m. there’s the Classics Under the Antlers car show in Buena Park

On July 13 from 9am-3pm there’s the Buses by the Beach car show in San Juan Capistrano

On July 19 from 10am-1pm there’s the Hot Rods on the Tarmac car show in Santa Ana

August

On August 10 from 9 a.m – 2 p.m. there’s the American Legion Veterans Car show in Huntington Beach.

On August 16 from 9 a.m. -2 p.m. there’s the All Corvette Car Show in Buena Park.

On August 21 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. there’s the Pistons and Brunch Car Show in Anaheim

Here’s a complete listing for some of the shows that will be heating up in the coming months.