{"id":279138,"date":"2026-04-21T21:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/279138\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:12:14","slug":"grand-prix-of-long-beachs-carnival-features-hundreds-of-exotic-cars-pasadena-star-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/279138\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Prix of Long Beach\u2019s CARnival features hundreds of exotic cars \u2013 Pasadena Star News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of exotic car owners drove their specialty cars to the Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday morning, April 19, to show off the vehicles they have put hours of hard work and hundreds of thousands of dollars into.<\/p>\n

This year, Mornings Car Club took over what used to be the Mothers Car Paddock, which had held an exotic car parade during the Grand Prix for 17 years.<\/p>\n

But on Sunday, attendees experienced the new \u201cCARnival,\u201d during which visitors could walk around and view a large array of cars \u2014 some older, classic cars with modifications, and some were newer \u201cexotic\u201d cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cMornings has always been about curating an experience \u2014 not just a car meet,\u201d Aldo Lihiang, who organizes Mornings events, said in a written statement. \u201cBeing part of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach allows us to bring that vision to a larger stage, with a carefully selected lineup that represents the best of automotive culture and community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Exotic<\/p>\n

Exotic cars ride down Shoreline Drive in the Mornings CARnival Car Parade as part of the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Motorsport<\/p>\n

Motorsport fans watch as sports cars roll past during the CARnival Car Parade for the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Race<\/p>\n

Race fans view the Exotic Car exhibit during the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Race<\/p>\n

Race fans view the Exotic Car exhibit during the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Race<\/p>\n

Race fans view the Exotic Car exhibit during the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

Exotic cars ride down Shoreline Drive in the Mornings CARnival Car Parade as part of the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Mothers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why it did not host the exotic car paddock and parade this year.<\/p>\n

The paddock, though, features exotic cars with \u201can extra dose of style, creativity and automotive enthusiasm to Southern California\u2019s biggest race weekend,\u201d according to a Grand Prix Association of Long Beach press release.<\/p>\n

Each vehicle was reviewed by Mornings Car Club and selected to reflect quality, design and overall presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to welcome the all-new Mornings CARnival to Sunday at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach,\u201d Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President and CEO Jim Liaw said in a written statement. \u201cThis is exactly the kind of high-energy, enthusiast-driven experience that complements our event so well. Mornings has built something truly special within the automotive community, and their CARnival will add even more excitement, personality and fan engagement to an already action-packed weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudy Celaya brought his 2019 Ferrari 488 GTV, which he enhanced to be representative of the \u201cold-school race cars\u201d he watched growing up. The car, which Celaya drives every day, is painted light green and white with \u201cMarlboro\u201d written across the hood.<\/p>\n

\"RudyRudy Celaya poses with his Marlboro Car during the Exotic Car exhibit during the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis really brings back that nostalgic feeling of Senna racing for Marlboro,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a kid, I was like, \u2018I\u2019m going to drive to definitely drive a car like that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Celaya said he has two other \u201cexotic\u201d cars and considers this a hobby \u2014 but is working toward becoming an influencer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a hobby right now, but I am going to start a YouTube channel pretty soon,\u201d he said. \u201cI really want to take this seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly 300 cars were in the Mornings paddock. But only 30 were selected to drive on the Grand Prix track during the CARnival Parade on Sunday afternoon to the cheers of family and friends.<\/p>\n

Lorenzo Strong, from Canyon Lake, has attended the Grand Prix of Long Beach for 30 years \u2014 and was one of those selected to do a lap around the track.<\/p>\n

Strong is a Porsche enthusiast and is vice president for West Coast Customs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do a lot of customizing and this,\u201d he said, pointing to his car, \u201cis my toy and I get to do whatever I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strong drove his 2001 Porsche 911\/996 along the Grand Prix of Long Beach track.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was inspiring to understand what these drivers do for many, many laps,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was once in a lifetime, but I hope I can do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of exotic car owners drove their specialty cars to the Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,131,28942,133,132,137,100],"class_list":["post-279138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-grand-prix","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}