2003 California Classic AutoFest - Corvettes, Corvettes Everywhere

I had the recent pleasure of attending the California Classic at the California Speedway in Fontana. Situated near Team VETTE's headquarters, it was an easy drive to "California's largest auto show," which was held on the 8th and 9th of September. Like a lot of car shows in SoCal, I expected the standard Corvette representation from the locals I've gotten to know over the years and somewhere around a few hundred Vettes. Boy was I wrong!

Without getting into the standard repartee of most event coverage, I'll just say, "Okay, were there any other vehicles at the event besides the Corvettes?" I'm far from complaining-don't get me wrong. But there was more plastic at the Speedway than on a woman who just spent her husband's savings at a Beverly Hill's plastic surgeon. You couldn't find a vehicle of any make or model without one of GM's finest parked within two car lengths. The word from several club goers offered some clarification. It seems the Speedway event staff visited as many of the local clubs as they could well in advance to offer a 50th anniversary celebration of their own-and the results were tremendous. But our favorite means of transportation wasn't the only thing that had a good turnout. Although the California Classic AutoFest is a private corporation, it donates some of it's earning each year to charities of its choice. The main choice for 2003 was the Make-A-Wish foundation (with a bulk of the proceeds going to it), and the rest split between several other charities. In total, the California Classic AutoFest raised $92,124 for all of its charities. So if you can't think of a better way to spend a weekend than to look at cars while helping out a charitable cause, you may want to head to the California Speedway for their next California Classic to be held later this year. Keep an eye on www.thecaliforniaclassic.com for more information.