The '08 San Francisco Rod, Custom & Motorcycle Show rolled into the Cow Palace up in the Bay Area January 11-13. But since we run a truck magazine and the show's headline doesn't mention trucks, we were a bit torn. On the one hand it sounded like it wasn't a truck show, yet on the other hand the building is called the Cow Palace, famous for its rodeos, horse shows, and more since 1941. It's only fitting that a building of that nature would be surrounded by vintage trucks. So we took our chances and headed up.
As it turned out, it didn't take but 50 paces from the front door into the main arena to notice haulers blended in between roadsters, customs, and commercial spaces. And when we say noticed, it wasn't like we found a few sparingly placed throughout the show--we found trucks by the dozens scattered throughout the nine buildings of show space. From restos, to customs, to hot rods, traditional, and even all-out show trucks, the Cow Palace had all breeds of trucks housed under its roof. It even had an old hot rod semitruck with its roof hacked off to form a roadster semi. Definitely the first time we've ever seen anything like that.
The San Francisco Rod, Custom & Motorcycle Show is as unique as its host city. For those left in the dark, San Francisco is a town like no other, much like the show. The only complaint we have is that we feel left out because it doesn't say truck in the show's title. But who knows, there's always next year. For more info on this year's show and next year's, visit www.sfcustomshow.com. CCT