Most people remember the Pickwick Drive in Theater, but lesser known on the opposite end of town was the San Val Drive in.

Located on the triangular corner where Winona & Naomi meet San Fernando Road. In the early days of the 1930’s and 40’s this theater used bullhorns instead of speakers to get the sound near your car meaning you had to leave the windows down.

During WWII the theater was painted in camouflage colors to disguise it from the air. It was also very close to Lockheed and the Airport, hence the need for the camouflage  paint scheme.

This was a very popular drive in as it had people from north Hollywood & Sun Valley attend also making it packed on most weekends.

Sadly, as with most drive in theaters, the San Val went the way of the Pickwick but we have many photos of this once great Burbank Drive in.

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Get your Copy of Lost Burbank Now!
Slowly fading with the city’s ever-changing landscape, the places and people of Burbank’s past tell a vibrant story. Before the arrival of Warner Bros. and Walt Disney, First National Pictures built  its original studio lot on Olive Ave in 1926. For over sixty years, Lockheed Aircraft Company produced some of the nation’s best airplanes where the massive Empire Shopping Center now stands. Heavyweight champion James Jeffries turned his Burbank ranch home and barn into a beloved landmark and boxing venue. Inventor Joseph Wesley Fawkes’s scheme to build a monorail to Los Angeles became a local laughingstock.  Diehard Burbankers Wes Clark and Michael McDaniel collect these and many more forgotten local stories where they can finally be found.

and their new book, Growing Up in Burbank, just out!!