automobile club of southern california headquarters los angeles california region served southern california parent organization american automobile association website http www.calif.aaa.com the automobile club of southern california is the southern california affiliate of the american automobile association aaa federation of motor clubs . the auto club was founded on december 13 1900 in los angeles as one of the nation s first motor clubs dedicated to improving roads proposing traffic laws and improvement of overall driving conditions . today it is the single largest member of the aaa federation with 6.2 million members in its home territory of southern california a total of 13.6 million members across all subsidiaries in 20 states and an annual budget in excess of 4 billion . citation needed contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 recent years 1.2.1 aaa expansion program 1.2.2 other affiliated programs 2 see also 3 references 4 external links history edit early years edit counties covered by the automobile club of southern california red and california state automobile association blue the auto club was an early advocate for the construction of the ridge route the first highway through the tehachapi mountains and san gabriel mountains which directly linked los angeles to bakersfield and the central valley . the completion of the ridge route greatly facilitated automobile travel through this significant mountain barrier . starting around 1910 the auto club sent teams of cartographers to survey the state s roads for the production of maps and to create a uniform signing system . the auto club posted thousands of porcelain on steel traffic signs throughout the state and continued to do so until the state of california took over the task in the mid 1950s . the signs were produced by a local company that manufactured porcelain on steel bathtubs . a few of these signs remain in service today though they are extremely rare . the year 1923 marked the completion of the auto club s main office on the corner of figueroa street and adams boulevard in downtown los angeles . designed by architects sumner p. hunt and silas r. burns and built in the spanish colonial revival style the building now serves as the los angeles branch office . the club s headquarters are still in los angeles but its administrative offices are in costa mesa . from 1934 through 1941 the building s courtyard served as the site of the auto club s annual outing show which promoted motor vacations and camping . these events were halted after the start of the war and were never revived . during the course of the war the auto club played a leadership role in scrap rubber and metal drives and printed numerous posters for the war effort including the give them a lift campaign which encouraged motorists to give rides to hitchhiking servicemen . the auto club has also experienced its share of scandals . in 1970 the auto club incurred the wrath of los angeles city councilman marvin braude when it opposed an initiative that would have authorized diversion of state fuel tax revenues away from road construction to reducing smog and expanding mass transit . braude ran for the auto club s board the next year and lost then promptly sued the auto club over alleged unfairness in its election procedures that enabled the incumbent board to make itself self perpetuating . his lawsuit dragged on for over 15 years and involved two trials and three appeals all of which braude ultimately won . in the end the auto club was forced to revise its election procedures to give board outsiders a better chance of actually winning seats and it was ordered to pay braude s attorney s fees . furthermore the braude case revealed that the auto club had been exploiting several loopholes in california corporate law which caused the state legislature to enact a comprehensive revision of the california nonprofit corporation law in 1978 . 1 recent years edit today the automobile club of southern california s affiliated insurance company the interinsurance exchange of the auto club is one of california s largest insurers citation needed . it provides coverage for automobiles homes recreational vehicles motorcycles and watercrafts . it also provides umbrella liability insurance . unusually it is organized as a reciprocal inter insurance exchange rather than as a conventional insurance company . the auto club is the largest member of the aaa federation . the auto club is still a membership organization and provides as a member benefit maps travel planning emergency roadside service and dmv services . members also receive westways a magazine published eight times a year and devoted to travel and automotive subjects . branch offices stretch from chula vista near the international border with mexico to the small town of bishop in california s eastern sierra mountains . aaa expansion program edit in 1996 the auto club began an expansion program that involved the purchase of or affiliation with several other aaa motor clubs across the country by acquiring aaa hawaii aaa new mexico and aaa texas . 2 it went on to affiliate with aaa northern new england serving new hampshire vermont and maine in 2003 and aaa missouri serving louisiana arkansas mississippi missouri and portions of illinois and indiana in 2006 . 3 4 5 aaa alabama was acquired in 2007 . 6 the auto club later affiliated with aaa east central serving portions of kentucky new york ohio pennsylvania and west virginia ; it affiliated with aaa tidewater in 2012 . 7 other affiliated programs edit from central california northward the california state automobile association now called aaa northern california nevada & utah provides services to acsc members who travel north . aaa northern california and acsc are both members of the aaa federation of motor clubs . while membership is not interchangeable among aaa clubs each club provides certain services to all aaa members on a reciprocal basis notably roadside assistance . in recent years the auto club has returned to its roots with involvement in auto racing sponsoring the annual auto club 400 nascar sprint cup series race fontana and nhra auto club finals pomona . the tracks where both events are held auto club speedway and auto club raceway at pomona respectively along with a drag strip in bakersfield auto club famoso raceway all have naming rights held by the auto club . the auto club also sponsors the nhra funny car team john force racing and its driver robert hight . the auto club sponsors driver joey logano in the team penske no. 22 ford at the race at auto club speedway in the nascar sprint cup series . see also edit john w. baumgartner los angeles city council member 1933 35 opposed auto club signs on city streets references edit braude v. auto . club of s. calif. 178 cal . app . 3d 994 1986 . auto club is acquiring sister affiliates in texas hawaii n.m. auto club expands reach to east coast aaa northern new england affiliates with california club ; strategic business move designed to expand business lines and member service for both clubs . press release . business wire . december 18 2002 . retrieved july 8 2012 . auto club of southern california and aaa missouri reach agreement to affiliate auto club thinks it is stronger with affiliation automobile club of southern california assumes responsibility for aaa alabama aaa tidewater virginia announces plan to provide new and expanded benefits for club members external links edit official automobile club of southern california website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title automobile club of southern california & oldid 743518276 categories american automobile associationautomobile associations in the united stateshistory of californiahistory of los angelessouthern californiatransportation in californiamap companies of the united statescompanies based in los angelesnon profit organizations based in californiaorganizations established in 19001900 establishments in california20th century in los angelesauto club speedwayhidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from april 2013articles with unsourced statements from june 2011 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 01 08 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy 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