It's hard to believe that almost every important example of America's first roadside architecture is gone. The beautiful fantasy structures like the Mother Goose Pantry, Pup Cafe and the Brown Derby. The last remaining and I think best example of the Modern Look went up in smoke with the torching of the Pan Pacific Auditorium. 

The Roberts Drive-In Restaurant is gone. Bob's Drive-In Restaurant In Van Nuys was demolished after the 1994 earth quake. Not to be exempt from the wrecking ball, the Victory Reseda, Elmonty, and Van Nuys Drive-In theatres met similar fates. No doubt the bean counters have been at work finding cheaper ways to use the same space. Filling the same grid with strip malls and hordes of pathetic unmemorable predigested cookie cutter cheese boxes. 

For me The Van Nuys Drive-In represents a time when America seemed less complicated and a trip to the drive-In was an event shared by all who loved their cars and the curb service era of architecture (oil on canvas 1984)