The special appeal of this swap meeting is its size (probably the largest in California) and its specialisation, it caters mainly for corvettes, Porsches, pre '75 VWs, pre '57 street rods. But also there are lots of American cars from the 30's onwards.
Some basic statistics
Car parts and related items only
General admission $7.00
Information (714) 544 7004 or (714) 832 2041.
Hours 5am to 3pm
Swap space (20' x 20') $30
Cars for show or sale $15
Meetings are held every 2 months, dates for 1998 meets are March 8, April 26, June 7, July 19, August 30, October 18, and December 6.
"Pomona" is held at the LA. County fairgrounds at the "Fairplex" complex, similar to our Sydney show ground except that is about 10 times bigger.
To get there from LA airport first rent a car. You can ring from the airport and they will pick you up with a shuttle bus. After checking rental prices I decided to by pass the large rental companies because they were simply a" rip off." I found a good, reliable and reasonably priced (US $135 per week plus insurance and sales tax for an American version of the Toyota corolla: Chevrolet Prizm) the company's name is "u-save" Tel 1-800 343 4833 (toll free within USA), (310) 649 5806 and fax (310) 649 0879, ask for Zareh (he is the manager and comes to Australia very often). Once you have your car and free maps take freeway 105 east till 605 (take 605 north) till interstate 10 (take 10 east) till Fairplex exit and there you are
Because it starts so early and the airport is about 3 hours drive I recommend spending Friday night at the Pomona Hilton (just blocks away from the meet)
The meeting is organised in 2 main areas: the swap meeting and the car corrals. The swap meeting area is organised in streets and "suburbs" I visited VW-Porsche where all kinds of parts, sales literature, Models, wheels and cars etc are for sale.
|
#1 is a VW convertible with a sticker price of $3500 at 9am, by 2 p.m. the price came down to $2500 and still no takers. |
#2 a 924 Porsche asking $700 in the morning and $400 in the afternoon (notice the wheels) |
|
|
#3 a 1500 sedan asking $2000 |
#4 Cal Look beetle yours for $1300 |
|
|
#5 356 Porsche $11000 |
#6 Convertible with polished Empi wheels $3000 |
|
Other non-VW streets worth seeing are:
"Model Car Street" where all kinds of 1/24 scale old promotional plastic and new
die cast models was on sale.
" Old toy street" a lot of nice tin plate toys but unfortunately expensive for
our week dollar (pacific peso?)
"Automobilia street" were automobile art is king: car mascots, paintings,
sculptures, trophies, racing programs, pedal cars, motoring posters, books, magazines etc.
Being such a large meet you have to be prepared for a lot of walking, a good idea is to bring a small wheeled trolley to carry the wheels and other heavy goodies. Re prices and opportunities, my perception is that good stuff is sold early in the morning (before 7am) but cars are best to leave for the afternoon when prices drop dramatically because most people do not want the hassle to take their cars back. (A lot of stallholders come from interstate) The good stuff is sold early in the morning (before 7am) but cars are best to leave for the afternoon when prices drop.
