Mopars at the strip is no more

[cbrestorations]

Mopars at the strip (mats) is now referred to muscle cars at the strip as its open to ford and gm aswell to boost more revenue. the mopar community is much smaller than ford and gm as they produced a ton of their cars vs mopar. the speedway here in vegas is extremely greedy and is also why i refuse to race there anymore on the circle track. in order to keep paying the rental on the facility they have expanded to ford and gm. even the after party at the cannery which also is a mopar car show will now be littered with ford and gm cars...sucks
http://view.motorheadmedia.com/?j=fe5a15737c6702747411&m=fe9315707d6505747d&ls=fdfd17707060007c76117975&l=feb916797d63027b&s=fe2517777d64027b7d1573&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe2c167177670179721778&r=0

[fc7_plumcrazy]

yes, that is not good at all.
A lot of "mopar only" guys won't show up anymore

Carsten

[RallyeMike]

"MAMCATS"?  

Doesnt work for me.

[1974dodgecharger]

just how it is...not many mopars vs the other 2....we maybe the most beautiful cars in general, but big numbers speak louder than one pretty car.

[sdweatherman]

While the move to include the other brands will probably work out in the long run - they will likely find less and less Mopars showing up to the show. Very sad - scratch this one of my bucket list.

[Troy]

To be honest... the one time I got to go to the show I wasn't super impressed. I guess I've been spoiled by Carlisle and the Mopar Nationals. Didn't Monster Mopar start allowing other makes into the drags? I can't imagine that renting a track for a weekend is necessarily cheap so if you don't have the participants you either need to find a way to bring in more or shut it down.

Troy

[Dodge Don]

Never understood why that show got so much magazine coverage. Not a particularly large show as far as I could tell.

[sixty-niner]

been to the show twice and was never impressed by anything.  After going to SEMA, good guys and the grand roadster show, MATTS didnt hold up.  It may be better now that other builders can show their GM and Ford cars.   

[myk]

been to the show twice and was never impressed by anything.  After going to SEMA, good guys and the grand roadster show, MATTS didnt hold up.  It may be better now that other builders can show their GM and Ford cars.   

That's exactly what I'm thinking.  Imagine Hugh Hefner's life if he chose to only bury his flag pole inside of brunette Playmates?  Variety is spice, and this should liven things up nicely...

[Ponch ®]

Never understood why that show got so much magazine coverage. Not a particularly large show as far as I could tell.

Two reasons:

1 - There aren't many MOPAR-only shows in the west coast that also feature racing, so it was kind of a big deal. Now that it'll be taken over by the GM/Ford guys, it'll be no different than every other show where those makes get all the attention.

2 - It's an excuse to go to Vegas and get drunk. But if you're like me and don't particular enjoy partying with drunk 50 year old guys who still rock out to "Rollin down the Highway" at the Cannery...I mean, really, there are many other better things to do in Vegas, year round, without getting reamed on hotel rates.

Beyond that, the show field itself was really nothing to write home about. If you want a large mopar only show field, the CPW Spring Fling in Van Nuys (shameless plug for my car club's show   ) has always had the edge on that.

[1974dodgecharger]

Its VEGAS!!!

Going to Cali is HELL getting in and out, lmao....

It got press coverage because well like most have said it used to be a big VENUE for MOPARs, but like I said earlier MOPAR sales are not that big compared to the other 2 car guys.....

That's why Goodguys and Sema is always and will be big because they include all CARS!!!!!  This means more money.......

Mopar aint no different than it was in the 60s, 70s, 80s etc...we maybe top dog in HP but it still does not sale....look at the sales of mustang vs a say a challenger or challenger currently.....im gonna guess a mustang still outsells both of them...let me google 

[chargerbr549]

I will be going at least Friday and possibly Saturday this year and see how the show goes, I have always enjoyed Mopars at the Strip although I haven't been to any of the other Mopar car shows to compare it to, maybe someday though. I have been going most years since 2007 and met some interesting people and ran into old friends and hopefully this year won't disappoint. I hope it doesn't turn into most car shows and car gatherings I go too where you see every form of Chevelle, Mustang or 57 Chevy and just a couple of Mopars to check out. I like all the Musclecars from many different manufacturers and era's but it's sure nice to see just Mopars only from time to time!

[Ponch ®]

Its VEGAS!!!

but as I alluded in my previous post...there's nothing special about the show, and if its "because it's Vegas", you can basically go any time, when the weather is nicer than mid March (I got rained and hailed on the last couple of times I've gone), and hang around the Strip.

[Scaregrabber]

Pretty much over for me: We are all flying down but the Vegas thing ticked me off last year. Resort fees on the Hotel and high prices on mediocre food was bugging me. Now the swap meet will be a mixed bag with probably scads of 350 and LS parts that we will have to wade through. The show is a bit early in the year which stops me from bringing one of my cars down so we might just as well fly back east and see some different iron and a much better Mopar only swap meet.

Sheldon

[69bronzeT5]

Pretty much over for me: We are all flying down but the Vegas thing ticked me off last year. Resort fees on the Hotel and high prices on mediocre food was bugging me. Now the swap meet will be a mixed bag with probably scads of 350 and LS parts that we will have to wade through. The show is a bit early in the year which stops me from bringing one of my cars down so we might just as well fly back east and see some different iron and a much better Mopar only swap meet.

Sheldon

Yep- I agree Sheldon.


I flew down in 2010 from Vancouver. I think I enjoyed Vegas more than I actually enjoyed the show. I got to meet a few members here which was great but the show itself was nothing to write home about. I ended up getting completely wind burnt from being out in the open in the wind at the track that weekend. It wasn't very enjoyable With the Canadian dollar the way it has been lately, I definitely won't be going down any time soon.

[maxwellwedge]

Well.....on the other side of the coin - the Chicago MCACN (Muscle car and Corvette Nationals) show used to be a Chevy/Corvette deal......It was opened up to all musclecars. The Mopars have had a VERY strong showing there the last couple of years....awesome show.

[Kern Dog]

To be honest... the one time I got to go to the show I wasn't super impressed. I guess I've been spoiled by Carlisle and the Mopar Nationals. Didn't Monster Mopar start allowing other makes into the drags? I can't imagine that renting a track for a weekend is necessarily cheap so if you don't have the participants you either need to find a way to bring in more or shut it down.

Troy

True on all accounts. The show is mediocre compared to the big 2 shows back East. The swap meet was pathetic too. Hard to believe with all everyone talks about "rust free West coast cars" that our shows and swap meets out here are so small.

[Ponch ®]

True on all accounts. The show is mediocre compared to the big 2 shows back East. The swap meet was pathetic too. Hard to believe with all everyone talks about "rust free West coast cars" that our shows and swap meets out here are so small.

Sellers also want crazy prices for some parts - maybe they think bc its Vegas people want to spend more, or theyre trying to recoup their travel/gambling expenses, but damn.

[cbrestorations]

of course the swap meet in vegas is smaller, go back 40 years...how big was vegas and all the surrounding towns, not many mopars were here lol. i made out pretty good on the last one, got a complete 69 grill assembly with frame and actuators, a pair of 69 tail lights and a fender for 1k

[Paul G]

I still plan to go again this year. I too was surprised at how few attendees this show had in the previous years I have gone. You cant keep doing the show if it doesn't pay financially, just cant.

I plan to do the autocross this year. I just hope I am not waiting behind a long line of Chevys to get on the course. And they raised the price to autocross too.   

[cbrestorations]

i guess i could trailer out all my hoopties just to help attendance lol

[TexasStroker]

Wow, glad I saw this as we had considered heading out.  I'd be pretty ticked had I entered one of the cars and had the trip planned out.

The appeal for MATS was that it was in Vegas and the calendar date (early Spring) kind of set it apart from the other big Mopar shows which are typically June-August.

The press coverage was, as mentioned, primarily because it was in Vegas and at the earlier date.  

When I attended I assumed the show would be heavily populated with California Mopars...that was far from the case.  I think I saw more Canadian cars, presumably from loaded dudes escaping winter, than I saw California plates.  Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho etc. seemed to be the main attendees.  The groups that set up their dedicated cruises were WAY off schedule.  It is sad when a few guys 12 hours east of Vegas make and adhere to another group's schedule better than themselves.  I remember being at one of the dealership mid-points for the Phoenix group and no one present having a clue what we were talking about.

I noticed the staff was also pretty short with folks...that never sets well with guests, especially out-of-towners.  I went in as an attendee only and they made me pay the full $75, or whatever ungodly fee it was.  Oh...and it snowed that year, lol.  I40 was actually shut down on the way back home at Flagstaff.

However, I will say, it was a nice mix of Mopars and there were several DC members in attendance and Chargers I recognized.  Most things west of the Mississippi are just left to fend for themselves outside of a few corporate events...Spring Fest and Bandimere come to mind.

Don't ford and chevy still have their stand alone shows at LVMS?  I was always told that the date for MATS was so early because it was cheaper...It is very sad to see brand x included in the mix, I can only guess that the price won't drop to reflect the increased participant count?

I hope it will all pan out for the best, but "All Mopar" was the biggest selling point to me.  I pen in shows that fall into that criteria and do what I can to make them.  Imo opening up to ford and gm takes away a lot of the appeal...even if it is in Vegas.

[Ponch ®]

Imo opening up to ford and gm takes away a lot of the appeal...even if it is in Vegas.

that's basically it. itll be just like every other show where you gotta wade through 15 mustangs, 22 camaros, 17 chevelles, and 2,345,974 '57 Chevys just to get to the one cool mopar.

It was "our thing", its not anymore.

[rick@laysons]

MCATS is still a predominately MOPAR show.

If Mopar folks choose not to attend or support the show, the show might just go away alltogether and this conversation would become pointless.

I'm sure the Painter family goes thru a lot of time, money, and effort to keep this show going....especially after losing their Chrysler dealership.

To quote the Rolling Stones....You can't always get what you want, but if you try real hard, you can get what you need.

[tcs69rt]

I was there for the very first MOPARS at the strip in 1996 when the old track was still open. All the cars from the Vanishing Point remake movie were there. I should scan and post some pics. I know I have an hour of video footage. The cars for sale would make you guys SICK! I filmed a brown 69 RT Hemi Charger for 25 grand and convertible cudas for 10 grand, ugh! If I only had the money back then, haha! They were in good shape and turn key cars. There was also a white 69 Charger 500 with red interior, might be a members car here?