On December 13, 1900, the Automobile Club of Southern California is founded in Los Angeles. It’s one of the country’s first motor clubs. although the California State Automobile Association is established in Northern California the same year by 11 “automobilists” nine months earlier at a March 3 meeting at the Cliff House, whose owner, J.M. Wilkins, is the club’s secretary.
Both clubs champion improving driving conditions through stricter traffic safety laws and better roadways. California builds its first paved highway in 1912. One of the Southern California auto club’s first activities is posting signs to help Los Angeles motorists. Five years after the club’s founding, the state creates uniform auto registration and licensing laws. Previously, each county set their own.
As early as 1906, the auto club begins charting the state’s roads and creating strip maps, the forerunner of the club’s familiar TripTiks, now digital formerly fold-out maps. The Southern California auto club also contributes to California’s growth by working with other auto clubs to post signs not just throughout California but as far east as Chicago, helping direct travelers west.
The club’s “Highway Patrol Service,” whose drivers offer free aid to any stranded motorist — auto club member or not — begins on July 1, 1924 in 13 Southern California counties. “The Good Samaritan of the Highway,” is the auto club’s slogan for its roadside service.
In 1900, dues for the Southern California club are a pricey $5, but cars are still a luxury item and anyone who can afford one can easily afford a $5 auto club membership.
Mass production of automobiles quickly changes that. The club cuts dues to $1 in 1905 to fit the budgets of the growing number of new car owners.
In 1900, there are an estimated 7,500 to 8,000 automobiles in the United States, about 25 percent of them electric. Within 20 years, there are 8 million cars nationwide.
In Los Angeles County alone, state records show 43,099 registered vehicles in 1914. Registrations total 172,313 in 1922. The state Department of Motor Vehicles estimates that in 2019 there are 8.2 million vehicles registered in Los Angeles County, 6.6 million of them autos.
California has 36 million registered vehicles in 2019, 26.3 million of them automobiles. In 1940, car registrations statewide total almost 2.8 million. Sixty years later, at the start of a new century, there are 28 million registered vehicles in California.
TOP PHOTO: Auto Club of Southern California Headquarters, 1912; AAA Collection, University of Southern California