Z356

The organizers write: 'Now in its 30th year, over 1,250 people attend the annual Porsche and Vintage V-W Literature, Toy/Model, & Memorabilia Swap Meet at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel'.

So this event has been going on since 1983 and the first two years were in Chicago. I have been coming to this in LA meet since 1987! The first years in California, the event was held at The Hacienda Hotel at El Segundo. It was moved to the LAX Hilton a few years later, where it has been ever since! This is the largest Porsche memorabilia meet in the country and attracts participants from all over the US, Europe & Asia! You need to see it to believe it!

http://www.lalitandtoyshow.com/index.htm

The informal 'open houses' started this morning at various Porsche-related business in the greater LA area. I spent the afternoon at Willhoit's in Long Beach. I was able to see there on display my old 1965 C Cabriolet which I sold in 2007. I owned this car for over 15 years. It had 35,000 miles when I bought it in 1991 from its first owner! The color is 'Signal Red'. It is one of the most original 356 in the US and perhaps the world! It has its original factory paint, interior, cabriolet top, tool kit, etc! It was one of the last 356's built (January 1965) in Zuffenhausen before production was terminated. Sold new by the Gus Mozart dealership in Palo Alto, Ca in May of 1965. After I bought in 1991, I drove it less than 1,500 miles during my years of ownership! To me, it was a piece of historic automotive sculpture! A beautiful example of the breed in its original form! It was terrific to see my old 'Signal Red' 356 Cab again!

In addition to the various client's 356's and early 911's in display, there was a portable dyno where one could verify the actual HP of your car at its rear wheels! Second photo shows the beautiful 'Olive' color 1972 911S Targa of Ray Crawford, surrounded by some of our 'R Gruppe' friends!

If you are in the LA area, you need to attend the Lit Meet on Saturday morning at the LAX Hilton and the swap meet & Porsche car show at The Phoenix Club in Anaheim on Sunday morning!

http://www.lalitandtoyshow.com/related_events.htm

Saludos.
Eduardo

Z356

Some photos from the LA Lit & Memorabilia Meet at the LAX Hilton this morning! As typical for this event, Jerry Seinfeld was in attendance looking & buying a few things from the many vendors in the hall. This was very well attended event. I arrived at 6:30 AM, when most folks were setting up in the large 'Ball Room'! 'Early Birds' like me paid $30@ to get into the hall before the $10 'General Admissions' at 9 AM! For serious collectors, the extra $20 is worth it as most 'deals of the day' are done in the early hours of the event! I bought just a few items. I will photograph them & post them tomorrow! By the way, the fourth shot is of the sales booth of Rennlister 'Mile2424' and the fabulous photographs taken by him at Rennsport IV!

http://www.aaronmiletichphotography.com/

Later in the afternoon, we went to several 'open houses' of Porsche-related shops in the Costa Mesa area of Orange County. First we went to Jim Liberty's shop, where we were greeted with a very nice food spread, beer & soft drinks! Next, just half-bock away, we went to 'European Collectables' (last photo). This operation has grown leaps & bound in the last 10 years! They have over 90 cars for sale, mostly 356 & early 911's! They also hosted a very reception with burgers, hotdogs & drinks.

http://www.europeancollectables.com/

Overall, an outstanding SECOND day for this unique LA Lit & Memorabilia Weekend in the LA area. Tomorrow is the third & final day at the Swap Meet & Porsche Car Show at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim!

http://www.thephoenixclub.com/

Saludos,
Eduardo

oldman40

very cool pictures eduardo! looks like a fantastic event for porschephiles, looking forward to seeing you post your purchases. perhaps that gorgeous '58 356A speedster outlaw i found in the inventory? just kidding, i didn't know that seinfeld was a porsche guy. wasn't he always driving a volvo on the show? enjoy the rest of your time there.

Z356

You must have missed the red 911 photo attached to his refrigerator on his TV set! Or the 'West Coast 356 Holiday' Steamboat Springs, CO poster, framed and hanging in his apartment wall (see attached)!

But yes, big time collector of Porsches. Attends almost every year the LA Lit & Memorabilia Meet. Was also present at Rennsport IV and the Porsche Race Car Classic in Carmel two years ago! Shows Porsches even at Pebble Beach's Concours d'Elegance.

http://www.9magazine.com/jerry-seinf...m-sonntag.html

Saludos,
Eduardo

Z356

Third and final day of the LA Lit & Memorabilia Weekend in the greater Los Angeles area. Today was the Swap Meet and Car Show at The Phoenix Club in Anaheim. This third day has evolved over the years. In the first years, nothing happened on the Sunday after the Saturday Lit Meet in Los Angeles. Then we had a minor swap meet on the TRW parking lot near our El Segundo event hotel. Finally, Peter Dunkel offered the use of his large business facility in Orange County and the event shot up in popularity and attendance!

After Dunkel sold that land in Anaheim and moved his business elsewhere, the organizers experimented with a few other venues until they found this German social club facility in Anaheim where they could host a large event of this type. Today, this Porsche swap meet & car show is as well regarded & attended as the Saturday Lit Meet in Los Angeles! The attached photos tell the story! Hope many more of you can make it next year. It is now scheduled always at the beginning of March!

Saludos,
Eduardo

oldman40

cool factoid! i knew about the "skip barber" fridge magnet on there, but did not know about the porsche pictures. great update on the event, thanks!

Comprador

He has recently built a $1.4 mil garage in NYC to house 25+ Porsches.. his neighbors went CRAZY as it was a rehab of a brownstone therein a very residential area.. one other fact as you see the pics of the P Cars above on his wall.. not one show went by when there wasn't a pic of a Porsche on the set.. we watch the reruns with contests to see who pics it out first

david

Eduardo, thanks for sharing this information and the pics! I sure would like to get down south for one of these upcoming events...

Z356

You welcome, David. I don't know how this thread got resurrected, but maybe it's a good thing. It's not to early to start planning to attend this year's event in just 60 day's time:

http://www.lalitandtoyshow.com/vendor_info.htm

It is so much more than Saturday's Porsche Memorabilia at the LAX Hilton. You have a lot other events going on that weekend that are related to this event (after some 30 plus years of tradition).

http://www.lalitandtoyshow.com/related_events.htm

I hope everyone here at Rennlist give some thought to attending - regardless whether you live in the 'SouthLand' of California or anywhere else on the planet. It is truly a worthwhile, wonderful & unique Porsche themed weekend!

Here is the link to a 2013 article in AutoWeek which describes well the weekend's activities:

http://www.lalitandtoyshow.com/Autoweek.html

Here are a few '356 Registry' articles to give you a 'taste' of the events:

http://www.lalitandtoyshow.com/Lit_Meet.pdf

http://www.lalitandtoyshow.com/Open_for_Pleasure.pdf

http://www.lalitandtoyshow.com/Anaheim_Swap.pdf

Hope to see you'll there!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

Z356

Rennlisters:

Don't forget these events are coming up NEXT WEEKEND in the Los Angeles & Orange County Area. It is a must-attend weekend for all Porsche enthusiasts at least once in your lifetime!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

PS: And if you see the guy holding the 'Lucas' Roof-Mounted Rallye light, come by, introduce yourself & say 'Hello'. That's me!

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2013...ws01/130209840

That photo (taken in March of 2012) was used on the Autoweek article above. The second photo is all the 'stuff' I ended up buying that day at the Lit Meet at the LA Hilton. It doesn't look like much. But it does adds up after picking things here & other in over 30 years of collecting automobile (mostly Porsche) memorabilia!

Elephant Chuck

Looking forward to it. Elephant Racing will be at both the Lit show and the Swapmeet.

Stop by and say hello.

chuck911

I've seen a few worthy shrines Eduardo, but yours....

And if you tell me you attended the 1st, 2nd, etc Parade....

Z356

No, I was just six & seven years old when Bill Sholar started putting those events together. That first Porsche Parade in Washington (actually held in Gaithersburgh, MD) was attended by only 64 members...so not many of these early plates were made! Unfortunately most of the oldtimers that attended (I met several over the years) have passed on!

I have all the early PCA Parade plates (last ones were carton), except for the 1964 Chicago Region Parade which was held in Nippersink Manor, Wisconsin!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

PS Compare to Mike Robbins (who has attended more Parades than anyone else in history), I am a slacker! I have only attended 17 National PCA Parades since my first - Smokey Mountain Region in Asheville, NC - in 1981!
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mtbscott

Man I was just in LA a couple weeks ago, I wish my visit had coincided with this.
I did get to go to Cars and Coffee Irvine while I was there, to me a must see for a car guy visiting SoCal.

Z356

That is a great event. http://irvine.carsandcoffee.info/

Unfortunately on Saturday, March 1st, C&C Irvine will coincide with our annual LA Lit Meet at the LAX Hilton! But it's also a must-attend event for anyone visiting Orange County on any Saturday of the year!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

One of the founders of this event is fellow R Gruppe member Freeman Thomas, a designer with the Ford Motor Company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Thomas

Thomas is also very knowledgeable about the 911 and has a great interest in the model:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/features...s-the-designer

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