SF Old Car Picnic – A Day in Golden Gate Park

Hundreds of classics made the trek to San Francisco for the 29th annual SF Old Car Picnic. Held in Hellman Hollow, deep in Golden Gate Park, the show blew us away. The show benefits programs for the developmentally disabled. Not only that – the flier screams “Bring your BBQ! Bring your camera! Everyone is welcome!” This is our kind of party.

Cars were spread across the grassy meadow for just about as far as your eyes could see. The farther we walked, the more great cars we found.

Maybe it’s just because the show was held in San Francisco, but it seemed to have a certain charisma that many meets lack — it really was a gigantic picnic with everyone hanging out having a good time.

Everything from early twenties vintage iron to late eighties muscle was present. Pickup trucks, bikes, and wild customs could be found. To top it off it was a rare warm and sunny day in the Bay; what more could you ask for?

There were hundreds of passerby, owners, friends, and family soaking up the sun and taking it all in. It’s great to see show environments like this, and to see classic car culture moving on to the next generation.

We even saw a couple old-school JDM cars made it out to the Old Car Picnic, like this Datsun 510. It was really cool to see this many classic cars and such a great variety show up in San Francisco.

Of course, it’s ultimately the people involved that are what make events like this worth coming to. Car buddies reuniting, sometimes after not seeing each other’s rides for years. Some rides have changed, while others stayed the same. Families were barbequing on the warm fall day in San Francisco, and there was even a couple playing Dominos.

As a show that’s been around for nearly three decades, we’re sure this meet will be here next year for its thirtieth time. It’s no small feat to organize something this big for that long, either! It’s really a celebration of classic automotive car culture, and you don’t want to miss it.

Located right between The Haight and Ocean Beach, the annual SF Old Car Picnic at Golden Gate Park is a perfect excuse to come to the city for the day. We’re already looking forward to what next year will bring.

As it was, there really were too many amazingly built and perfectly restored cars for us to even get to them all this time. But as always, we had to share our favorites with you here.