Camille Anderson is only one reason out of many to go to Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank California. The other reasons aren’t so much the great burgers and shakes, but the shaker hoods and the burning tires. Since 1949, the Bob’s has been the host of classic muscle and drag race challenges. By just walking through the parking lot, you are immediately flashed into the past to the age of Converse shoes, hot rods and The Fonz. Grab your leather jackets, hair gel and combs, some of these rides are insane.
Most notably is Jon Shirin’s beautiful 67’ Ford Mustang. This thing is a spot-on classic with shiny chrome engine parts, and an even shiner paint job, but this ride wasn’t always that way. Jon goes on to say that this was actually a true wrecker project car that he and his dad worked on for four years. This ride gets 450 hp and torque, and this guy actually had the nerve to call that beauty a work in progress. I want to know where he is going to stop, because this thing is cherry!
Paul Glosser’s 71’ Couda is so restored that it looks like the original paint was sprayed no more than a couple days ago. The original restoration didn’t stop him from cloning a 440 with raw drag-racing power (and don’t forget the massive slicks on the back). Paul is extrememly proud of his car’s ability to run an unaided 12 second quarter mile, but he is quickly put to shame by Armando Salfaro’s 57’ Chevy, which runs 9’s. This baby came all the way from Texas, was gutted, restored and rodded, and now sits with 750 horsepower under the hood. Both Armando and Paul commented on the fact that there’s no place quite like Bob’s Big Boy anywhere else, because it’s pretty much a constant car show, with entire communities of people sitting around in front of their sweet rides, basking in all the deserved reverence of onlookers. A lot of this automotive history also comes from the history of Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant of Burbank, California.
The Bob's Big Boy Restaurant at 4211 Riverside Drive in Burbank, California is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in the United States. Built in 1949 by local residents Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert, it was designed by noted Los Angeles architect Wayne McAllister, "incorporating the 1940s transitional design of streamline modern style, while anticipating the freeform 50's coffee shop architecture. The towering Bob's sign is an integral part of the building design and its most prominent feature." The restaurant was designated a California Point of Historical Interest in 1993. McAllister worked to preserve the structure as a historic landmark. McAllister was the architect for the original Lawry's restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills and the original Sands and Desert Inn casinos in Las Vegas. He designed more than 40 coffee shops in the Los Angeles area in the late 1940s, and gave each an individual look.
The Bob's Big Boy building represents a distinct period in the region's architectural history. Creative coffee shop designs started in Los Angeles because of the popularity of automobiles, and then spread across the nation. The building features curving windows and oversized roof overhangs with 1950s.
