Event serves as lead-in for club’s showcase at L.A. Auto Show
The Road Kings car club of Burbank held its annual picnic at Don Redding’s on Saturday, to celebrate another year of the car club surrounded by community, camaraderie, and the love of cars.
Founded 75 years ago, the club has more than 70 active members — including some who live in the Santa Clarita Valley — and originally began as a racing club. In 2016, it expanded its membership to welcome women car enthusiasts, further growing a community centered on the appreciation of hot rods and other modified vehicles.
“We’ve both been around cars all of our lives. We love cars so it kind of just fits into what we’re doing but it’s different in the fact that they’ve always had guys running things,” said club President Karen Arellano, who proudly owns a few cars including a 1956 Chevy Nomad.
The picnic served as a kickstart to the Los Angeles Auto Show scheduled to be held at the L.A. Convention Center where the car club will be showcasing a number of cars.
Ninety-two-year-old Jim Miles, an original member of the car club since its inception, which was started by six original members, was present during Saturday’s picnic.
He began to fall in love with cars “because everybody else did,” he said as he laughed, but throughout the years he developed an appreciation for them and even owned one of his own.
As the only living member from the original group, Miles said that car scene has changed a lot over the last 30 years, which included changing the club from a drag racing club to a hot rod club.
“It’s a great community. Everybody appreciates each other’s cars, and remembering these cars because these cars have memory and history,” Arellano said.
“And the camaraderie, that’s the best part. I look forward to hanging out with these people,” added Rochelle Sfetku, vice president of the club. “It’s like a family reunion once a month.”
Dave Maher joined the club about 12 years ago, but his love of cars came from a very early age. He brought his 1941 Wheelys, which was a dream car he had wanted since he was a child.
Joining the club has allowed him to connect with fellow car enthusiasts and build friendships through their shared appreciation for automobiles, he said.
As members spent the morning admiring one another’s vehicles and catching up, the club was also looking ahead to its next opportunity to share that passion with a wider audience.
The Burbank Road Kings will showcase 23 vehicles at the annual L.A. Auto Show, one of the world’s largest-attended auto shows, which celebrates automotive culture and provides an industry networking platform, according to the event’s official website. This year’s show is scheduled to take place Nov. 20-29 at the L.A. Convention Center.
