Old Town Monrovia is the perfect place for Street Rods Forever’s Car Show

By Roy Nakano

Framing the Artwork

Many of the best car shows are held in venues where the surroundings matter as much as the cars on display.

Such is the case with the automotive events associated with Luftgekühlt, where Porsche models are displayed against unique architectural and industrial backdrops (see Christopher Carreiro's photographs in LA Car's Pictures at a Porsche Air and Water Exhibition and Love is in the Air and Water).

The Goodwood events held in the United Kingdom’s West Sussex is famous for being held in a historic, manicured parkland of a grand English stately home. Held at Goodwood House (the estate of the Duke of Richmond), the venues are centered around a track that cuts through the front yard of the mansion. Attendees watch historic cars and modern supercars race past the estate's iconic architecture and rolling chalk ridges (see Don Taylor's story and photographs in LA Car’s Goodwood Revival 2026).

Another example are the car shows held at the Lyon Air Museum. Car shows at the Lyon automatically include massive, historic airplanes as the backdrop for motor vehicles on display (see the author's photographs in LA Car’s Microcars at the Lyon Air Museum and Christopher Carreiro's photographs in 7th Annual Carroll Shelby Tribute)

Of course, Monterey is famous for its spectacular surroundings which complement the multi-million-dollar hardware on display.

You can add Street Rods Forever’s Monrovia Car Show to the list. That's not to say it's on the same level as Monterey or Goodwood. On the other hand, this show encompasses virtually every block of Old Town Monrovia (specifically Myrtle Avenue between Walnut Avenue and Palm Avenue, plus portions of the side streets in between).

This means just about every car on display is surrounded by the city’s unique old town architecture. And show goers have the benefit of crossing over to the numerous restaurants, ice cream and yogurt parlors, coffee and tea houses, and other retail operations in the town without any moving automotive traffic to get in the way.

Prelude to the Show

This year’s car show was preceded by the premier of The History of Monrovia's Route 66, produced by KGEM and created by the Monrovia Historical Society.

A standing room-only crowd at the Monrovia Community Center saw a 50-minute documentary jam packed with clips of local icons such as the Aztec Hotel, the McDonald brothers' early food stands with backgrounds showing early aviation at the Monrovia Flying Field, and historic fruit stands (see LA Car’s Sleeper In Civic Clothing, featuring scenes and information about Satoru Tsuneishi Park).

100 Years of Route 66

As the story goes, Monrovia City Council and Mayor Pro Tem Sergio Jimenez approached Street Rods Forever with the idea of tying in this year’s car show with the 100th anniversary of Route 66 (Jimenez is a self-confessed gearhead and can be seen driving his orange Dodge Challenger muscle car on occasion).

Even if the Council member hadn’t mentioned it, chances are the Route 66 anniversary would have eventually found its way into the Monrovia Car Show. Monrovia had already held a Route 66 event earlier in the year (see Ami Pascual's story in LA Car’s 100 Years of Route 66 in Monrovia) and there are 100th anniversary Route 66 celebrations being planned all the way to the end of the year.

The Artwork

Aside from the dream venue and this year’s theme, Street Rods Forever brings in a superb collection of pre-1980 hot rods, classic muscle cars, custom builds, lowriders, trucks, rare vintage cruisers, vintage imports, and the other occasional category defying car.

This year, the organizers managed to lure four-time world record holder Jimmy “Jet” Neilson and his 400+ mph 44-foot-long, 50,000-horsepower jet car powered by an F4 Phantom General Electric J79 engine. It was the most outrageous car I’m ever seen displayed at the Monrovia Car Show.

Show-goers were treated to rock and roll hits played throughout the day by a Street Rods Forever favorite, Jukebox Memories. Exhibitors and spectators alike were offered free ice cream, courtesy of Seven Gables. A number of booths were set up, which featured community favorites relevant to the show like the Monrovia Historical Museum.

The 35th annual Monrovia Car Show concluded with the presentation of official car show trophies across multiple judging categories. I don’t want to sound Pollyannaish, but there were no losers at this show. Every exhibitor had his or her heavy metal on display and the blood, sweat and tears to get the cars there was fully evident.

Next Year

For those who missed this year’s show, surely the 2027 show is already a buzzing. No dates or times have been publicly announced, but you can keep an eye out for Street Rods Forever activities at their website, which includes information on registration, being a vendor, and even how to join the organization (and we’re pretty sure you won’t need a rocketmobile to join).

The author is the editor of LA Car/LACar.com. For those with Facebook access, a gallery of photographs from Street Rod Forever's Monrovia Car Show can be viewed here.