Text and Photos by Steve Temple

Some say Socal is the center of car culture. Well, maybe they haven’t been to Norcal lately, because the Sacramento Autorama rivals the best that Socal has to offer. Held for 65 years now, making it one of the longest-running car shows in the world, the event is scheduled every February at the sprawling Cal Expo exhibit complex. During a three-day weekend, it becomes more like the Emerald City of Oz, displaying some of the best custom cars and rods from around the country, with hundreds of hot rods, custom cars, trucks and motorcycles exhibited by the nation’s top builders. This event is dedicated to all those craftsmen who spend long hours and considerable resources to bring their automotive vision to reality. They fashion with metal, fiberglass, fabric and chrome the automotive and motorcycle objects of art that enthusiasts of every age can gaze at with wonder.

All of them are vying for the dozens of trophies, such as the World’s Most Beautiful Custom trophy that stands eight and a half feet tall. This year’s winner was John D’Agostino’s Pantheon, a metallic blue ’68 Buick Riviera.

Space doesn’t allow naming all the winners, since there are more than 50 different trophy classes in all, ranging from classics to customs, convertibles to hardtops, lowriders to rat rods, and just about any other wheeled conveyances—and a few without wheels (there are even awards for custom and competition boats). And even if they don’t take home a trophy, there’s still a wealth of automotive wizardy at this magical event.