The fourth annual Sunset Cliffs Auto Show is roaring to the coast Saturday, Sept. 12, for a community celebration and fundraiser.
Built around a vehicle exhibition, this family-friendly free event, presented by The Inn at Sunset Cliffs and Hodads OB, will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Point Loma Avenue and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.
Festivities will kick off with a pancake breakfast from 8-11 a.m. at Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Point Loma Avenue, sponsored by Ocean Beach Community Foundation.
Breakfast tickets cost $20 for adults and $12 for kids and include pancakes hot off the griddle, sausage, fruit, orange juice, and coffee.
This year’s auto show will showcase 115 vehicles of all types. The event includes live music, food trucks, merchandise vendors, raffle prizes, a 3-Point Competition, after-parties, and exciting activities for all ages, transforming the neighborhood into a festive outdoor get-together.
“I came up with the idea about 10 years ago. It was always something I wanted to do,” said Gavin Fleming, owner-manager of The Inn At Sunset Cliffs, about the event’s origin. “The first time we said, ‘Let’s just try it.’ After that it’s just been a success.”
This year’s roster of more than 100 vehicles, separated into 12 judged categories, will include second- and third-place winners for vehicles as early as the 1900s to 2026. Hodad’s unmistakably decal-covered van will be one of the more unorthodox vehicles displayed.
New this year is Ocean Beach Community Foundation’s annual breakfast, a longtime community tradition which got displaced from Ocean Beach Pier after its permanent closure due to structural damage from age and winter storms.
Fleming said last year’s auto show drew some 2,000 guests, adding that the event has been growing in notoriety each year. Live music at this year’s car show will be supplied by The juke$ Blues Group from Oceanside and beach rock/reggae band Sandollar.
There will also be some surprises at the show. “We’ll have a few vehicles that have been in the movies,” Fleming added.
As for the future of the Sunset Cliffs Auto Show, Fleming said: “It’s only going to get bigger. But we want to keep the focus on the community. We want people to come on out and have a good time.”
Fleming added, “This year’s vehicles are jaw-dropping,”
Event proceeds are donated back into the community, including groups like Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, the community’s business improvement district.
