California's central coast was fertile ground for hot rodding, and all motor sports in general, during the 1940s and 1950s. Hot Rodding in Santa Barbara County takes the reader back in time with a collection of remarkable photographs from the earliest days of the hot rod movement. This book includes images of the first drag strips in the country, rough-and-tumble jalopy racing, early road-racing action, and lots of great hot rods and customs. Follow local hot-rodders as they take trips to El Mirage dry lake and the world-famous salt flats at Bonneville, Utah, and visit a long-lost world as seen through photographs taken from the personal albums of people who contributed to the birth of a culture that would spread across the nation.

Stretching from Ventura to Santa Maria, California, a vibrant and colorful community of hot rod clubs bloomed throughout the middle of the 20th century. Hot Rodding in Ventura County takes a look at the people, places, and, above all, the cars that made up this historic period in automotive culture. Take a look into the golden years of hot rodding through vintage images of the first national championship drag races; visit long-lost drag strips such as Goleta, Saugus, and Santa Maria; and gain access to hot rodding's paramount clubs like the Motor Monarchs, the Kustomeers, and the Pharaohs.

Spokane, located just 20 miles from the Idaho border, is the largest city in Eastern Washington, and during the 1940s, it became a center point of an evolving postwar hot rod community. Auto sports were expanding at this time from stock car and midget racing to street cars and drag racing. Local car enthusiasts joined together with an influx of military personnel and college students who were just as passionate for hot rodding, and it was during this time that the Spokane hot rodding culture started flourishing. Together, they pushed the boundaries of hot rodding and created lifelong bonds in the process. This book explores that evolution of inland northwest hot rodding from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s, starting with the jalopy-styled hot rods that began popping up on local streets to the formation of new clubs and organized racing.

Starting in the early 1900s, Santa Barbara County became home to over a dozen motorcycle racecourses. Not one of those battlegrounds survives today. Pershing Park once had a stadium, Elings Park on Las Positas Road was Veronica Springs Hill Climb Course, and before that, La Conchita was home to hill climbing and TT events. Motorcycling in Santa Barbara County will take the readers back in time to the glory days of two wheels on city streets and engage them in competition at its racetracks. Preserved in these pages are the firsthand stories of the men that competed on these courses as far back as 1924.

Between 1910 and 1921, the American Film Company was one of the fledgling movie industry’s most successful studios, with production facilities in Santa Barbara and business offices in Chicago. Nicknamed for its distinctive winged “A” logo, the “Flying A” produced nearly 1,200 films, starring such favorites of the day as Mary Miles Minter, J. Warren Kerrigan, Wallace Reid, and King Baggot. The company’s rather patriotic motto invited patrons to “See Americans first.” The studio’s films also documented the picturesque and developing Pacific seaside community of Santa Barbara and served as a training ground for some of Hollywood’s greatest directors, including Allan Dwan, Henry King, Victor Fleming, Frank Borzage, George Marshall, William Desmond Taylor, and Marshall Neilan.

Your Travel Destination. Your Home. Your Home-To-Be. Santa Barbara Grab a bite at a gourmet restaurant. Explore Channel Islands National Park. Relax, take a sip, and savor Santa Barbara’s wine country. • A personal, practical perspective for travelers and residents alike • Comprehensive listings of attractions, restaurants, and accommodations • How to live & thrive in the area—from recreation to relocation • Countless details on shopping, arts & entertainment, and children’s activities

Located in the heart of California's central coast, the Santa Maria Valley covers an area of mountains and hills that reaches the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara County. The valley's early history dates back to the Portola Expedition, which passed through Santa Maria on the California Mission Trail--called El Camino Real--and ended near Monterey Bay. When early settlers arrived, the valley was dry and desolate. Nearby water sources, however, helped transform the land into one of the most fertile and beautiful valleys in California. The valley became a leader in innovative agriculture transport, a depot on the busiest short-line railroad system in the country, and a training ground for many World War II pilots at its renowned aeronautic college. Today, its landscape of richly colored agricultural fields is framed by rolling hills and scenic miles of grapevines that produce some of the world's most coveted wines. The valley is also famous for its Santa Maria-style barbecue.