Bigger and better Sunset Cliffs Classic Car Show set for Sept. 7

Bigger and better. That’s what the free, second annual Sunset Cliffs Classic Car Show to be held Saturday, Sept. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Point Loma Avenue is shaping up to be.

This year’s auto show, according to founder Gavin Fleming of Ocean Beach, will be in a significantly larger footprint. There will also be more vehicles on display than there were in 2023’s inaugural event.

“We host the show to benefit the community,” said car enthusiast Fleming of the point of the event. He implored car aficionados to “Come on out and help us fundraise, bring awareness to Sunset Cliffs. This is the only event hosted right there.”

You don’t have to own a nice car to participate in the car show. “They all come to us,” pointed out Fleming.

Staging, planning, and promoting a classic car show is a lot of work but Fleming said it’s all worth it. “Every time we get an entry we get real excited,” he admitted adding he’s taking this year’s show to the next level. “We’ll be taking over Point Loma Avenue, the entire street not just the parking lots.”

Fleming anticipates having 80 to 100 vehicles displayed, more than last year’s start-up exhibit of about 50 vehicles. “We’ve got everything from vehicles from 1910 to a 2024 Dodge Charger as well as trucks, motorcycles, and cars of all types,” noted Fleming. “We’ve added more cars and a kid’s zone with Hot Wheels racing this year, and we’ll also be having food trucks, some merchandise vendors, and live music.”

Added Fleming, “You name the vehicle – we’ll probably have it there.”

Vehicles on display for the Sept. 7 show will also be judged according to categories.

Fleming expects that as many as 2,000 car lovers will visit this year’s event, which he said will also feature a raffle and some “giveaways of fun stuff.”

The first Sunset Cliffs Car Show and Grill Master Competition was held Sept. 9, 2023, at the corner of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Point Loma Boulevard in the church parking lot, as well as in Trinidad Motor’s parking lot and the parking area of Inn at Sunset Cliffs, 1370 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

The plan was to have nice, special cars in parking lots in the Point Loma area to get some exposure to help local businesses, and for people to come by and check them out, noted Fleming, who is hotel manager at Inn at Sunset Cliffs.