The Automobile Driving Museum is one of the lesser-known museums of Southern California, yet in the past few years has been adding more cars to the collection and hosting more visiting automobile and racecars shows than most SoCal museums.

For another year, Gassers 3 spills out of the Museum’s parking lot and sidewalks onto the street in front. Gassers 3 brings together an estimated eighty Gasser-like vehicles, larger than the previous two shows combined!

The gassers were a huge part of 50’s drag racing fitting big, high horsepower engines into lightweight bodies of the 30’s and 40’s and ran as an NHRA class into the mid-70’s. Transplanted junkyard truck straight axles, saving weight and hiking the front end giving early gassers a nose high stance not often seen on the highways.

Today’s gasser classes at events like the legendary March Meet might include Camaros and Mustangs lining up against period Willys and Anglias. Back in the day it took gasser pioneers like Ohio George Montgomery to stuff a big, blown engine into a lightweight Mustang, setting the gasser world on its ear by winning multiple divisional and national drag meets.

Fortunately I’ve covered the previous two Gassers at ADM events and won’t miss this Saturday’s gathering. Again this year, there’s an opportunity to talk gassers and listen to the war stories at two panel discussions with some of the legends who lived the gasser wars of the past. Two panels are planned with “Isky” Ed Iskenderian, “Bones” Balogh, former Lions Drag Strip starter Larry Sutton, Ted Radoumas, Scott Dapron and Tommy Thompson. The stories at last year’s panel were priceless and worth the $10 buck donation to the Museum.

The event is open from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday August 27^th, but getting there early is not an issue, you can park in some of the adjacent parking lots or on the street.

The Automobile Driving Museum, located at 610 Lairport Street in El Segundo, CA, is well worth a visit. The ADM also brings out some of their cars on weekends to take enthusiasts on rides in period classics.  On Sunday Aug 28th you can ride in a 1961 Corvair, a 1932 Buick Convertible and 1915 Ford Model T or a 1937 Packard V-12.