Also published on 9 January 2026 on Hey SoCal

Peter Eastwood’s 1910 Stevens Duryea

For residents of the Michillinda Park neighborhood in East Pasadena, an ostentation of peacocks promenading on the boulevard is an everyday sight. But on a recent Sunday morning, we are pleasantly surprised to observe dozens of antique and vintage automobiles driving past our house.

It is a fascinating spectacle that invites further investigation. I take a break from pruning my roses and walk about 200 feet to Michillinda Park where I see several antique cars on the road while people chat by tables laden with pots of hot cocoa and coffee. I learn that this car show is an annual event and someone points out the organizers, Jean and Peter Eastwood, who are siblings and lifelong Pasadena residents.

I approach the Eastwoods and Peter proudly says that this is the 69^th year they’ve been holding this annual antique car show. He proceeds to give me the history of the event, which is known as the Holiday Motor Excursion (HME), but interrupts himself to inform me that he actually has the history written down somewhere.

Indeed for the 40^th anniversary of HME, Peter authored a write-up about how the event originated on behalf of the Eastwood family.            

December 25th in Southern California is, more often than not, sunny and clear. It was on one of those Christmas days back in the early 1950s when the seed was planted that eventually grew into the Holiday Motor Excursion.

In Pasadena that Christmas morning, Doug and June Eastwood suggested to their five children, after opening their presents,“Let’s go to Uncle Warwick and Aunt Millie’s to see what (cousins) Joyce and Elaine got.”

It did not take long for Richard, Sharon, Jean, Peter, and David to squeeze into Dad’s Model T Ford for the ride over there. After the cousins compared gifts, Warwick’s 1905 Buick was cranked up and a short trip around the corner took the families to Bill and Lola Collier’s house for a look at Nancy’s presents. This prompted Bill to take out his 1910 Maxwell and the three families went for a short ride. Then to Ward and Betty Kimballs’s house for Christmas cookies and tea.    

It only took a year or two for the spontaneous Christmas Day itinerary to expand and visits were made to the homes of John Walgamott, Bob Coombes, Louis Cook, Dick Mendelson, and other Pasadena area Horseless Carriage Club friends.

The sight of a small caravan of antique cars crisscrossing Pasadena only hours after Santa had been there was always greeted with cheers from the neighborhood residents.

Before long, club members from outside the area were feeling left out. The explanation that the Eastwoods were just out having some fun and that it really wasn’t an organized club event was not what they wanted to hear.

It was at this time in the mid-1950s when families in their antique cars started showing up at Doug or Warwick’s house on Christmas morning, not wanting to miss out on “the fun.” Over the years, homemade cookies had to be supplemented with store bought doughnuts and the first of several 100-cup coffee pots were put into service.

Sometime in the late 1960s the event date was changed to the weekend between the holidays and the departure point was moved to the Pancake House located between Doug’s and Warwick’s homes. As the event grew in popularity, the Model T Club and other clubs with newer cars joined in. In the late 1980s, to maintain the flavor of early day motoring and to keep the event to a manageable size, participants were invited to bring vehicles built before 1933.

Over the years the HME has been fortunate to be invited to visit many wonderful family homes, collections, and businesses in the area. Many visits have been made to the Dean Hensley, Burton Burton, and Don Ricardo Collections, just to name a few.

Somewhere along the line the HME. was adopted as a Horseless Carriage Club of Southern California event but the Eastwood family still handles all the event planning. For over 30 years Warwick and Millie hosted the dessert stop at their home at the event’s conclusion. In 1994 they decided to take it easy and Gary and Sheryl Hunter eagerly volunteered to take over and host the party at their home in nearby Arcadia.

The popularity of the event can be gauged by the 450 nametags and 150 copies of driving instructions given out last year – not to mention 30 dozen doughnuts, 400 cups of coffee, and 200 cups of orange juice.

At some later time, the Arcadia County Park became the Holiday Motor Excursion’s departure point. Cars arrive as early as 6:30 but the event officially commences at 7:30 and the tour begins promptly at 9:30.

“This year there are 110 participating cars,” discloses Eastwood. “I believe the oldest car this year is a 1909 Stanley (steam powered!). A few arrived on trailers but most are driven to the event. I know that two of the cars that came by trailer were from Arroyo Grand and Hanford, California.”

Continues Eastwood, “The tour route is usually around 30 miles. We drive about 10 miles winding through the picturesque neighborhoods of Arcadia and Pasadena. Then we stop at a different park for coffee and donuts provided by our club – the donut stop is part of the event’s annual traditions.”

“Then we carry on for another 20 miles through more scenic Pasadena neighborhoods along the arroyo and other areas,” Eastwood adds. “We then circle back for lunch at Clearman’s North Woods Inn or  Clearman’s Galley on Huntington Drive and Rosemead Blvd. From there we take a short drive to a nearby club member’s house for dessert. The route changes every year because we want to keep people guessing. But we come to Michillinda Park every two or three years”

The Horseless Carriage Club (HCC) doesn’t promote the event to the public according to Eastwood. The information is posted on the club’s website for the car owners. HME shirts – the artwork for which was created by Disney animator and HCC member Ward Kimball – are available at the event and they are discussing selling them through the club website.      

Unlike other antique car shows, HME is not a fundraising affair. Eastwood clarifies, “The event is merely an opportunity for the car owners and their families to have some holiday fun. The emphasis is on the driving aspect. We are fortunate that we can enjoy our cars this time of year – many clubs in other areas don’t have the weather we have.”                             

After a while, the tables of drinks and donuts are cleared and club members get in their cars to resume the tour. The drivers and passengers of the antique cars happily wave to people who happen to see them making their way to their scheduled stop on the route. And at every stop bystanders and onlookers marvel at the exquisite automobiles.  

What started for the Eastwood family as a fun Christmas day jaunt around the neighborhood has grown into an eagerly anticipated annual tradition for hundreds of car enthusiasts and even those who might know next to nothing about antique cars. Watching the beautiful rare cars we don’t normally see on our streets certainly puts a smile on our face. What a delightful treat!