CABCC took a rather inverted route to it's founding. In 1988, the ne'er-do-wells hanging about Economy Foreign Car Parts (Jim, John & Tony) decided a British car show would be fun. Naturally, the first spot they thought of was the Red & Gray Pub. And so, the First Annual Chico Area British Car Show was born in the parking lot of the pub. Soon thereafter, an irate student decided to torch the pub. Not long after that, the boys decided the charcoal taste in their pints was not going to go away, so perhaps, it was time to find a new location for both themselves and The Show.

The boys (thinking free venue) asked the city of Chico if they could have the show in the jewel of Chico - Bidwell Park. The city (thinking to put these brits well out of sight and they'll never find it anyway) said sure, "you can use Cedar Grove". Well the city hadn't reckoned with the extensive rally experience of this band of British car enthusiasts and we not only found the location but also filled it up for the second, third and forth annual Chico Area British Car Show.

About this time (1990), the boys are thinking that perhaps forming a club might be fun and have the added advantage of providing workers for The Show which, by this time, is getting rather large. Of course, this twisted logic totally ignored the huge amount of work involved in running the club. But hey, they were getting a little help one day a year for the show. And so, the Chico Area British Car Club was born. Little by little, the boys have found other people to aid in all the work involved in running the club and show.

For the Fifth Annual Chico Area British Car Show, it was obvious that Cedar Grove was no longer large enough. With a bit of money in the till from previous years entrance fees, a deal was struck for the area behind the Elks Club. All subsequent shows have been at this location.