May 2022 • By Tony Thacker
Presented by MicksPaint.com & USAutomotive.co.uk

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Sacramento Autorama presented by Sacramento Vintage Ford is a very different show from its southern brother the Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS) but both got their start in the Bay Area 70-plus years ago in 1950. 

The coveted Dick Bertolucci Memorial Award went to Pat Gauntt’s ‘32 3W built by Troy Ladd’s Hollywood Hot Rods with body and paint by Mick’s Paint.

Jeffrey Hess won the Sam Barris memorial Award with his stunning ‘56 Oldsmobile.

The Autorama was started by Sacramento businessman Harold "Baggy" Bagdasarian, president of the Capitol City Auto Club Thunderbolts. Baggy talked the club into hosting a show at the Capitol Chevrolet Company dealership in downtown Sacramento. It attracted 22 entries and 500 spectators. "We took in $262 in two days at 74 cents a head," Baggy recalled. "We didn't charge 75 cents because we would have gotten involved in the Federal Amusement Tax."

From those humble beginnings the Autorama has grown to be the most important show in the San Francisco region. However, unlike the GNRS that attracts a lot of hot rods the Autorama attracts an impressive array of kustoms with a ‘k’ and in one of several buildings there were more than 250 lowriders.

This may have been our first time to Satco but it sure won’t be our last.

For a full list of winners and dates for next year’s Sacramento Autorama and the Grand National Roadster Show visit: HotRodShows.com