The 2018 Huntington Beach Cruise-In almost didn’t happen! We’ve got so many things going on back at the factory that I reluctantly made the decision to cancel this year’s event. That was before Dave Hodgkins and the Factory Five community stepped up and said, “We can help!” This year’s event was a huge success, and while Factory Five paid for the sign and some incidentals, it was the customers and The Factory Five Forum who stepped up to carry the bulk of the work. So the event that almost didn’t happen became one of the best events of all. Here’s the report from the 11th annual Huntington Beach Cruise-In! Photos by Grant Hodgkins and Deane Beck.




Factory Five guys were lined up and ready before 7 AM. About 100 cars would attend this year’s event.


Factory Five customer Karen Salvaggio brought here #28 Type 65 Coupe and was in charge of registration. Here with Jeff Kleiner who was rocking a vintage Factory Five shirt. Jeff had come from the mid-west (Indiana), and was awarded the 2018 Robert Fedderson Award.


DJ Mike Brassfield has provided music and play-by-play announcing over the years, and always does a great job!


Most cars had arrived by 9 AM, and the first three blocks of Main Street became a pedestrian mall filled with Factory Fives for the entire day.


Factory Five Steve V. drove his newly built 818 all the way down from northern California with a caravan of Factory Five customers. The trip would be his very first in the car. Talk about a shake-down run!