The Drifters
The Drifters
Car club of southern california
Welcome to the Drifters Car Club information page!
We are family centered Southern California Classic Car Club where our members enjoy an enthusiastic passion for classic automobiles and welcome anyone with like interests to come join us.
How We Formed
The late Pat Vesey — former Winchester resident, Ford-lover and co-founder of the Temecula Rod Run and founder of the Murrieta Rod Run — created the Drifters of Southern California in the early 1990s. Back then, it was mostly a coffee shop group with members sharing car tips and recommendations for good mechanics. Pat’s dream was to help youths who face challenges and learn to overcome them. Today, the club has grown to over 700 members of men and women. We engage with many communities in Southern California, particularly the cities of Murrieta, Temecula, Wildomar, Menifee, Canyon Lake, Hemet, Lake Elsinore and North San Diego County towns.
Where & When do we Meet?
The Drifters Car Club meet on a regular “bi-monthly” basis, On the 2 nd Saturday you can find us meeting in Temecula on Jefferson Ave @ Rosa’s Café and Tortilla Factory @ 8 am and again on the 4 th Saturday @ The Cove Bar & Grill @ 8am in Murrieta on Murrieta Hot Springs Road. Our meetings tend to attract pass-by viewers, somewhat similar to a Car Show.
Drifters in the Community
As a club member you may find yourself Participating & Engaging in many charitable and community minded events throughout the calendar year. The Drifters support Children, Veterans, The Elderly, Health stricken shut-ins, Food-Drives and provide Leadership and Volunteers for Murrieta’s Annual Rod Run Car Show.
Murrieta Rod Run
Over the past 10 years The Drifters Car club has been the driving “Host” force of this beloved charitable car show. The Drifters provide Planning and Logistics, Leadership and “Day of” execution to a single recipient charity, Murrieta’s “Oak Grove Center”. This two-day participant event takes a year of planning where the Drifters membership are behind the scenes preparing to put on the Best Classic Car Show possible. No Drifter is EVER paid for their services. All event tasks are performed within the membership Volunteerism, and we donate all the proceeds of Show revenue to Oak Grove Center. The Murrieta Rod Run will generate over $60K of net proceeds for Oak Grove Center for their work with children.
A place to Volunteer, Participate and be Involved.
The 2024 Murrieta Rod Run is always looking for ways to connect you and our community. We have openings for Murrieta Rod Run aka MRR “Ambassadors”. As you can imagine the amount of “like minded” folks like yourselves to help the Drifter Car Club make the event Successful.
We have slots available for you to get involved. Whether it’s a couple of hours or the whole day, the MRR seeks help with Parking, Vendors, Registration, Day of Booth assistance, set-up and post-show clean-up. We have over 15 positions that are a “must-have” volunteer slots we seek to fill.
If you would like to get on board with this Great Community Event Please Contact by email to the Event Directors:
Drifter Craig Shelly - craigrodrun@gmail.com
Drifter Ted Carli - tedcarlirodrun@gmail.com
Drifter Wayne Powell - info@wawayne.com