Cars and Cowboys a down-home fundraiser for Santa Maria Valley Outreach
By Mike Chaldu · Thu Oct 08 2026
Visitors get to look at over 80 cars on display at Rancho San Marcos Golf Course, as well as enjoy live music, barbecue and a silent auction.
In planning the Cars and Cowboys car show, which held it fifth edition on Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Rancho San Marcos Golf Course, Santa Maria Valley Outreach CEO Pam Gnekow and other event organizers are always looking to get interesting and sometimes very unique vehicles for people to see.
In this year's show, they might have gotten the most unique and rare yet, a blue and silver 1953 Cadillac Ghia, which is claimed to be one of just two of its kind, and may or may not have belonged to the famous actress Rita Hayworth.
While that fact may be debatable, what isn't is that rare vehicle is owned by the aptly named Lee Carr, who's actually the owner of Rancho Santa Barbara in Santa Ynez.
Presiding over the Cadillac by the small lake at the golf course, Carr explained why the 1953 Ghia Cadillac is so rare.
"In 1953, Ghia was a body manufacturer in Italy, and they wanted to curry favor with American car companies," Carr said. "They bought a rolling chassis, shipped it to Italy and made a car around it."
Hence the Ghia Cadillac.
"They built the first one and they showed it in various places in Europe, and then someone asked to build a second one," Carr continued. "So they did a second one, but after that, they didn't have a demand for it, so those were the only two."
Which brings us to the debate of whether the car once belonged to the famed screen siren Rita Hayworth.
"What is known is that Rita Hayworth was married to Prince Aly Khan, son of the Sultan of Brunei," Carr said. "He was kind of a philanderer and Hayworth was upset about him being seen with other women, so the prince bought the Cadillac as a way to win her back.
"What's under debate is whether her car was this one, or the other one that's at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The museum claims theirs is the Hayworth car; maybe it is, but I look at it as a fun little mystery."
What is known about Carr's Cadillac is that it was part of the automotive collection at the former Imperial Palace on the Las Vegas Strip before he bought, and it was recently featured in and an episode of "Jay Leno's Garage" on YouTube.
Carr said his, um, car being on display is rare, but he was happy to do it for the Cars and Cowboys show, which benefits Santa Ynez Valley Outreach's Meals on Wheels program.
"I don't do a lot of these with the car," he said. "I just like to keep it in the garage and take it out for a drive occasionally."
The Ghia Cadillac was one of dozens of cars to be on display, all laid out on the green by the clubhouse with the small course lake as a backdrop. They varied from classics from the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, to modern U.S. and European sports cars, to even a few trucks.
Gnekow was happy to see the show, now in its fifth year, becoming a success.
"I'm so excited about it this year," she said, standing next to a teal-colored 1959 Chevrolet Corvette owned by Jim Bryden of Santa Barbara. "We have, I believe, 84 cars this year, and we've sold 504 tickets to the event, which is our most ever. It's all very exciting."
In addition to all the vehicles, attendees also got to enjoy delicious barbecue, live music by Jonathan Firey, the Agin Brothers & Territorial Law, and DJ Scott Topper. Another big part of the event, as always, is the live auction of numerous dining, entertainment, and vacation packages offered by local merchants.
Started in 2022 at Al and Denise Frink's Red River Ranch in Los Olivos, the Cars and Cowboys show has slowly became a staple in the late summer for local car enthusiasts.
"It took a while, but we were able to keep this going, and now it never stops," Gnekow said. "As soon as it's over, we start preparing for the next one the very next day. We work to get new cars and some to come back and talk to people. It's hard work, but very fun."
The event proceeds go to Santa Ynez Valley Community Outreach’s largest program, Meals on Wheels, which is a proud member of the national Meals on Wheels America network. Every weekday, its dedicated staff and volunteers deliver more than 400 hot, nutritious meals to seniors — including many veterans — helping them maintain their independence and dignity at home for as long as possible.
One hundred percent of the funds raised at Cars & Cowboys go directly to supporting Meals on Wheels and our mission to serve seniors, veterans, and those in need across Santa Ynez, Solvang, Ballard, Buellton, Los Olivos, and Los Alamos.
