Hoods Up One Last Time: Redondo Beach Classic Car Show Ends 25-Year Tradition

REDONDO BEACH, CA — For Darryl Boyd, the love of cars runs in his veins.

From his grandfather — a dirt track racer in the 1920s — to his father — a 1950s hot rodder — cars were the fabric of his family.

Boyd carried on that legacy.

After he got his first car, a 1970 1/2 Chevrolet Camaro, Boyd said he took it to cruise from Hermosa Avenue to Harbor Drive in Redondo Beach, “a big cruising spot.”

“That was Friday and Saturday nights,” Boyd said. “You know, high school kids and young people would come down there with hot rods and custom cars and muscle cars and everything
and cruise down there. It was a big deal, and it was always packed.”

King Harbor also had a “big live music scene” in the 1970s, Boyd said.

“Probably the biggest band you would hear of is Van Halen. You know Van Halen? Right?” Boyd said.

It was that 1970s atmosphere that Boyd has tried to capture again and again at his Cruise at the Beach classic car shows on Harbor Drive over the past 25 years.

Every Friday from June to mid-September, aside from a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cruise at the Beach show has served as a subtle reminder of the city’s nostalgic car culture.

“It was a big deal in the 70s and 80s,” Boyd said. “I've kept that alive.”

But now, “Redondo Beach's Legacy Car Show” is coming to an end with its final show this Saturday.

While Boyd said he’s not happy to see the show go, it’s time. Conflict with a local business owner made the event too stressful to continue, he said. The show itself, though, isn’t necessarily what he’s going to miss.

“I'm going to get teared up right now just thinking about it, because that's what I'm going to miss: our group, the friendships, the camaraderie,” Boyd said. “I see people who have met down there, and they become good friends, and it's just spread. We bring good vibes.”

Bill Kidman, who's been participating in the shows since 2010, shares Boyd’s sentiment.

“There are other car shows. We can go to other car shows, so it's not that,” Kidman said. “It's the people, you know. I'm gonna miss the people.”

Since 2002, the shows have been Jim Newell’s “social event,” so his wife says.

“I'm gonna miss my Friday nights,” Newell said. “I’m really gonna miss the gathering.”

‘A Boyd Family Tradition’

Of all the memories over the past two decades, Boyd said his fondest are of opening night on July 28, 2000.

Boyd had the idea to create a vintage car show in May 2000 to keep the city’s history alive.

He approached Ruby’s Diner on Harbor Drive about using the parking lot to house the show.

“They loved the idea, and so we put it together right away,” Boyd said.

But it wasn’t like today, where you can blast a message over social media or send mass emails, Boyd said.

“It was all word of mouth and going out to car shows, handing out printed flyers and doing old school promotion,” Boyd said.

And, to his surprise, the inaugural event was much larger than he had anticipated.

“That first night was a success with like 150 to 175 cars,” Boyd said. “And then it just started growing. Every Friday, people were coming back and coming back. That was huge.”

Again, the love of cars brought his family together; Boyd’s father, mom, sister, her children and even his own children attended the shows.

“My kids were little and grew up with it. It was a Boyd family tradition, and that's why I always recognize my grandfather and my dad in this,” Boyd said. “Because this was not only something that we made happen together, but it was our family time together.”

The car show’s legacy lived on until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

With the woes of the pandemic, Ruby’s Diner shuttered, and Boyd thought the show had seen its final days.

Even still, Boyd pushed on.

“We were able to rescue it and bring it back in June 2021,” Boyd said. “And we had a good five-year run with it.”

Since its recent resurgence, Boyd said the event has had massive turnouts. On a closing night last year, it drew 600 cars.

“It was just something that was a major accomplishment, to bring this thing back, even bigger and better than it ever was,” Boyd said.

‘He Just Cares’

Beyond the summer shows, Boyd has added three special annual shows, each benefitting different members of the community.

“The Halloween show benefits kids. (Boyd) encourages everyone to decorate their trunks and bring candy,” Kidman said. “For Thanksgiving, he emphasizes bringing canned foods. It’s a food drive. For Christmas, he emphasizes bringing toys. It’s a toy drive.”

For Kidman, it’s how Boyd does things that speaks to his character more than anything.

“I was helping put away the show after Thanksgiving, and I couldn't believe all the countless ornaments and decorations he put up there,” Kidman said.

He could have easily set up tables and a tent, but that’s not Boyd’s style.

“It was like you go to somebody's house for dinner and, you know, they've set the table very nice,” Kidman said. “Darryl sets the table very nice for these shows.”

It’s Boyd’s passion that drives him.

“He just cares,” Kidman said.

Newell, a longtime participant turned close friend of Boyd, also recognizes Boyd’s compassion, and it starts with his efforts to get to know everyone at the shows.

“He knows everybody's name. He remembers everybody, and he's got a nickname for everybody,” Newell said. "‘This is Billy the Kid,” and I'm Jim Bobberino, … And he's got all these nicknames, but he knows everybody.”

The Final Show

As for the last show this Saturday on Harbor Drive from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Boyd said, “It's gonna be big.”

“It's gonna be a lot of fun,” he said.

Boyd said it’s hard to tell just how many cars will show.

“It'll be a good-sized turnout. A 200-car show easily,” Boyd said. “But it could end up being 400, 500, 600. Who knows?”

The event will feature live music by the Michael Forbes Explosion Band.

“They've been regulars down there,” Boyd said. “They're just a lot of fun, and they're great people.”

Boyd also plans to hand out 25 awards to participants.

There will also be plenty of photo ops, including a 10-foot backdrop with the final show graphics, Boyd said.

Since it’s the Christmas show, it will also be a toy drive, so guests are encouraged to bring an unwrapped toy to benefit Toys for Tots.

“We have a really good group of people who all get it, and that's how I was brought up in it with my dad and our family,” Boyd said. “With these car culture people, … it's the sense of camaraderie, friendship, giving, helping each other. That's what we're about.”