car-show evolution

[lloyd3]

I was at the local Coffee & Cars event here in Parker, CO this morning and it will be my last.  When this started for me (early this Spring) the Car Vault folks provided good coffee (Starbucks!), bottled water, and even a few doughnuts for the folks that brought their cars early enough. Last month the coffee was bad (tasted burnt) and no doughnuts. This time there were food trucks charging big bucks for absolutely everything (for some reason this bugs me. It's not the money, it's the principal. I'm feeling like a "mark" now, something to be exploited.) The types of cars were different today as well. Far-fewer older cars, and a number of cars were just folks trying to sell their projects in various states of completion, & many (if not most) were just meh cars with very little collector interest. The diversity of cars types was way down as well, w/many more Type R Nissans and Mitsubishi Lancers, along with a serious glut of Corvettes.  I'm done.

[RECHRGD]

My oldest friend lives in Parker.  I was thinking of trailering the car down there someday to see him and also attend that event.  Guess I'll leave the car home.

[taxspeaker]

Lloyd I see the same thing at the few shows I attend. Last night I took (for the first time) my Daytona to a local well known cruise, and talked to the 4 other Mopars there about coming to our all-mopar show the first of August. One of their friends asked why all-Mopar, and I said well, it's not really all-Mopar, per se, we just prohibit Mustangs, Chevelles, Corvettes and anything with a 350, unless it's in a Mustang. He said why would you want to do that and I said that way we can keep attendance under 100, IQ over 100 and the tooth total averaging over 25 per mouth. He didn't understand what I said.

As for the Nissan group they would listen to the music at any Mopar show and leave immediately unless we turned up the bass to Iron Butterfly up so loud that their ornamental aluminum-foil wings would droop, their mis-cambered rear wheels would finally break an axle and their piercings would electro-shock them the rest of the way back to the stone age.

Vendor's don't attend Mopar events other than Nationals and we make good coffee-that's a Mopar tradition. Sadly it appears from the guys I know donuts are a tradition as well. And our proceeds go to the Navy-Marine relief fund instead of the "Return a Mitsubishi to the gates of Hell where it belongs fund"

[JR]

The saying "Be the change you want to see in this world" comes to mind.

I see alot of Mopar guys refuse to bring their cars out because there aren't enough Mopars being brought out. Irony.

That seems easy enough to solve.

[RECHRGD]

I just just love the shows that charge you to show your and then charge the public to look at the cars..

[lloyd3]

Is it unreasonable to want a little appreciation from the organizers? Another show I attend provides drinks and even food (nothing fancy, dogs & burgers, pop & water) and....they even call to invite you(!). Lots of nice cars at that one (many Mopars!). Cars & Coffee used to be fun, but they're not keeping up their end of the bargain (no coffee).

[Troy]

Are you paying to get in? Why do they provide anything? The "Cars and Coffee" here is at an actual coffee shop and it's more of a gathering of car people than a "show". (Similar to what I've seen elsewhere.) All cars are allowed (why do they have to be "special"?) and you purchase whatever makes you happy. To me it's just an early morning cruise-in... and I'm not much of a morning person! I do like the absence of trophies and competition. The old guy who has spent countless hours taking car of his car and is willing to tell me about it is way more interesting (to me) than some putz who bought a one-in-a-million gee whiz mobile and needs to show it off to the world.

Even the "shows" that I go to really don't provide anything but a venue, door prizes (which are donated), and trophies. I have never been to anything where refreshments were provided.

Troy

[lloyd3]

Troy: No, I didn't pay anything but..... a car show without cars isn't much of a show.  I've made the effort to acquire and then maintain a now "significantly" older vehicle. That acquisition was purely for my own enjoyment and entertainment and I use it accordingly.  These folks advertise this event and then entice me to attend which I did.  I enjoyed the event and attended again. That sets a level of expectation on my part I suppose, but....when they want me to now pay (& somewhat exorbitantly) for what was freely provided before, I guess I'm just not going to be excited about it. That's the long and short of it.

The Car Vault facility is a commercial enterprise. Amongst other things, they charge fees to attend their little museum. This event draws crowds to their facility and, I suppose they also get some folks to pay to see the museum.  If they make a little money by putting these shows on then.... more power to them.  I am now, sadly, starting to feel more like I'm just being used to enhance that revenue stream. Another warm body to sell food and coffee to (in addition to being part of the draw).  No thanks.

[Aero426]

The most fun events are the informal ones that the rest of the world hasn't found out about yet. 

[AKcharger]

Not sure where you are but in Florida there's so many car shows they compete to get cars...and don't charge

[Troy]

I see. I'd hate to be an organizer. You need to get the cars there so that car people will bring their cars. Very few do it just for the joy of it. They're in it to make money - even if it's just increased foot traffic from spectators.

Most of the local shows here charge participants - since they're getting something out of it (prizes, trophies, judging, etc.) but spectators are free. The big, national shows charge both. The cruise-ins that I enjoy are free to the world so their only incentive is advertising and/or walk-ins. In all cases, if you attract the wrong crowd, are completely disorganized, or don't have enough cool cars, people stop showing up.

Nothing against Corvettes (I love the old ones and the brand new ones but everything in between is meh), but it certainly does seem like they take over most of the "free" cruises around here. They show up at like 2 PM and block off entire rows for their friends. The entire rest of the show gets pushed to the edges around 40 stock C6 Corvettes. On the brighter side, I can just walk in a circle instead of up and down every aisle. But hey, at least they drive their cars. I always hear a bunch of Mopar guys bitching about it when their cars are sitting in the garage. If 50 Mopar guys got there at 1 PM we'd really have something. Not me, I'm always late.

Troy

[c00nhunterjoe]

The shows i attend are typically $1 donations to get in. Most are more like cruises. Im not a trophy hunter, i dont go to the "big shows" i enjoy the cruise to get there more then the show.

[lloyd3]

I've had some time to think about this. Old guys are easy to keep happy. Just don't surprise them and keep the restrooms open so they can pee when needed.

[303 Mopar]

I was at the local Coffee & Cars event here in Parker, CO this morning and it will be my last.  When this started for me (early this Spring) the Car Vault folks provided good coffee (Starbucks!), bottled water, and even a few doughnuts for the folks that brought their cars early enough. Last month the coffee was bad (tasted burnt) and no doughnuts. This time there were food trucks charging big bucks for absolutely everything (for some reason this bugs me. It's not the money, it's the principal. I'm feeling like a "mark" now, something to be exploited.) The types of cars were different today as well. Far-fewer older cars, and a number of cars were just folks trying to sell their projects in various states of completion, & many (if not most) were just meh cars with very little collector interest. The diversity of cars types was way down as well, w/many more Type R Nissans and Mitsubishi Lancers, along with a serious glut of Corvettes.  I'm done.

I agree, if I go I go early to arrive by 8:00 am and leave by 9:30 am when all the narcissistic silver spoon millennials show up.

Lloyd, I hope you can go to the Mopar show on 8/12 at Southglenn Mall.

[lloyd3]

303: what time? I promise to  bring my own coffee this time.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Coffee? Blech, who is bringing the beer?

[Lennard]

Coffee? Blech, who is bringing the beer?

Beer?  Blech! Root beer

[lloyd3]

Ice tea works pretty good too.  303 Mopar: Narcissistic Silver-spoon Millenials about covers it.

[John_Kunkel]

I'm too crippled to attend car shows anymore but I think it's easy to avoid disappointment by noting who's putting on the show. If it's old car/muscle car/hot rod orientated, you won't find the ricers and the low riders in attendance.

[303 Mopar]

303: what time? I promise to  bring my own coffee this time.

Move in between 7:00-9:00.  First round of coffee is on me!  http://coloradomopar.org/2017-car-show/

[Lighthorseman]

Coffee? Blech, who is bringing the beer?

Beer?  Blech! Root beer

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....Rooooooooooooooot beer. 

[lloyd3]

Is $35 a common fee to attend an all-Mopar show?

[Troy]

Is $35 a common fee to attend an all-Mopar show?

Participate or spectate?

Chryslers at Carlisle is $55 (I think) for a car and comes with 2 weekend passes. Spectators are $25 for the weekend or $12 Friday or Saturday and $7 Sunday.

Mopar Nationals are $65 for the Fun Field or $93 judged for a car and $100-150 for racers depending on class. Specatators are $20 for 1 day, $30 for 2 days, or $40 for all 3 days.

Chrysler Classics and Monster Mopar are a bit cheaper I believe.

Troy

[69wannabe]

The last few car show's I went to were ok I guess. I had one of four mopars there not counting the several new charger's and challenger's that were there. The later model car's just don't do anything for me, if your credit is fair enough you can go and purchase one and there you go. Nothing about them is built or restored they are just new car's. When somebody has an old car they put their heart and soul in and you can see it then I have respect for that, and I understand that there are guy's out there unable to do their own work on an old car and they purchase one still isn't the same as buying a new one. I do like the new challenger's and have every since they came out in 09 but unless I sold off the charger I could not afford one and even tho I have thought about it year's back i'm glad I kept the one I have. I like doing the little drive by and hang out at the local dairy queen and the sonic. No judging there you just drive by and hang out a little bit and leave when you get ready. The worse thing about a car show for me is sitting there all day usually in 90 degree heat. That's not for me, i'd rather be driving mine around instead of sitting and looking at it all day long. Haven't taken mine to a car show in over two years now, last time they charged me 30 buck for me to show my car, after all the money I have spent building this car they should be paying me to show up!! Just my feeling's on car show's these day's.......

[alfaitalia]

I'm too crippled to attend car shows anymore but I think it's easy to avoid disappointment by noting who's putting on the show. If it's old car/muscle car/hot rod orientated, you won't find the ricers and the low riders in attendance.

I like cars....full stop....old, new, muscle Brit US, Japanese and German.....although classic American are my favourite of course. I don't mind seeing a well build ricer or supertuned Merc.....and will free admit that some of the kids building hot ricers without massive cheque books have skills I could only of dreamt of at there age. I've stolen more than a few ideas from theirs cars for my 69 as well!

I did a thread on the monthly Goodwood breakfast club we have in the UK (until the bastards at Photobucket destroyed it!!) which is where they hold the World famous Festival of Speed and Circuit Revival.......free entry, no trophies, just park your car on the track and leave it while you look at the others.....or sit by your car and answer questions....up to you.....but you can leave it in pretty certain knowledge that there wont be so much as a finger print on it when you get back!. Several thousand attend each time. I loved seeing a 1914 ?? Star parked next to a big buck Nissan GTR build......the Star owner (flat cap and tweed jacket and pipe) enthusing about the Nissans handbuilt exhaust that was nothing short of a work of art and then later I saw the Nissans owner sat in the Star (backwards baseball cap, trainers and full arm ink) being taught the controls of the old beast!. Too me that summed up the whole event....car brothers together.....we fight the mindless laws they throw at us....not each other.


Obviously things might be different over there.....hope not by too much though.

[smithenhiven]

I remember my dad taking me to car shows as a kid, we'd park, walk around, look at all the cars, spend a few extra minutes looking up close at the ones we liked then leave.

And that's pretty much how I attend car shows today, even when I take my car there.  After I'm done seeing the other cars, I get in mine and go.  I don't get how people can bring chairs and sit next to their car for hours on end.  I mean, if that's what you like to do, God bless ya, but I cant do it.

[303 Mopar]

Is $35 a common fee to attend an all-Mopar show?

Edit: $15 if you register by 7/31.

[JR]

I'm too crippled to attend car shows anymore but I think it's easy to avoid disappointment by noting who's putting on the show. If it's old car/muscle car/hot rod orientated, you won't find the ricers and the low riders in attendance.

I like cars....full stop....old, new, muscle Brit US, Japanese and German.....although classic American are my favourite of course. I don't mind seeing a well build ricer or supertuned Merc.....and will free admit that some of the kids building hot ricers without massive cheque books have skills I could only of dreamt of at there age. I've stolen more than a few ideas from theirs cars for my 69 as well!

I did a thread on the monthly Goodwood breakfast club we have in the UK (until the bastards at Photobucket destroyed it!!) which is where they hold the World famous Festival of Speed and Circuit Revival.......free entry, no trophies, just park your car on the track and leave it while you look at the others.....or sit by your car and answer questions....up to you.....but you can leave it in pretty certain knowledge that there wont be so much as a finger print on it when you get back!. Several thousand attend each time. I loved seeing a 1914 ?? Star parked next to a big buck Nissan GTR build......the Star owner (flat cap and tweed jacket and pipe) enthusing about the Nissans handbuilt exhaust that was nothing short of a work of art and then later I saw the Nissans owner sat in the Star (backwards baseball cap, trainers and full arm ink) being taught the controls of the old beast!. Too me that summed up the whole event....car brothers together.....we fight the mindless laws they throw at us....not each other.


Obviously things might be different over there.....hope not by too much though.

I would LOVE to have something similar to the Goodwood Festival of Speed here in the U.S..

I can't think of any similar events here. Car events seem so segregated depending on type here. You can go to a show OR a driving event. You can go to an late model American car show OR a classic British roadster show.  A Mopar show OR a super Chevy show.

I enjoy seeing all types of cars together. And especially enjoy driving them. Sitting around for three days looking at the same makes or models of cars at an event bores the hell out of me.

I did recently go to an event that was put on by Summit Racing at Atlanta Motorsports Park. Anything with an engine was welcome, and they had autocross, and parade laps on the oval track at the end of the day. That was fun.

I typically don't do car shows, but if more events like that started I'd go to them.

[alfaitalia]

Goodwood FOS was a couple of weeks back.....check it out on youtube. I love to see people not scared  (and rich enough....hello Nick Mason!) to brush the side of their priceless Ferrari 250GTO against a twenty foot flint wall on the hill climb!! LOL! They used the even to help celebrate Ferraris 70th birthday....lots of their most famous drivers put a car up the hill.

Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKoIPEhF7sQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhFcNl9Y-ZY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EANM3DR56Gg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inSyXG8DpIM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkNtRF0WQFM

Just a taster of the dozens on the tube at the moment!!   Could not find many well filmed ones of the static cars shows.....but I'm supposed to be working!!!

[Charger_Fan]

This is always a fun car show to attend here in Utah, the first weekend in July... http://www.cachevalleycruisein.net/
There's usually tons of cars from across the spectrum to see, and they give away a car each year. One recent year it was a black '68 Charger! The slideshow at the top of the site shows the giveaway cars from over the years.

[JR]

That's awesome! I had no idea full broadcasts were on YouTube.

Now THAT'S a car show. Watching all makes and models, modern and historic being driven hard as they were intended. I'd go watch something like that every year if the U.S. had something like it.

Just to loop it back around since we're in the Charger specific part or the forum, here's a clip from when Richard Petty attended with his 67 GTX.

https://youtu.be/rDQukOJsTv0

[tcs69rt]

Loved that Richard Petty interview!!!

[lloyd3]

I just found out today that my usual event at Extreme Automotive falls on the same date as the all Mopar show at South Glenn (August 12th). Now I have to choose between one that calls every year with a personal invite, free food (and coffee!) tons of other freebies (shirts, hats, flashlights, key-chains, etc.) or one that charges you $35 at the gate ($25 if registered before the end of the month). Hmmm......

[Kern Dog]

Is $35 a common fee to attend an all-Mopar show?

To show your car at our Mopar show in Sacramento, the registration fee is $35 for pre reg and $40 on the day of the show. Spectators get in free though.

[Sublime/Sixpack]

In the valley where I live, there is and has been for many years an all Mopar car show that is free for participants as well as spectators. Participants receive a cool Mopar T-shirt and sometimes a goodie bag. They also present nice awards for the winning cars. Two different Dealerships have been involved in this Show through the years. I appreciate what the first dealership did for us, as well as the current dealership that continues to put the show on. It's good for us Mopar people, and it's good PR for Company. I attend each year.

There's also a big car show for all makes further up north that puts on a great car show for free. Seems like they have around seven or eight hundred vehicles show up each year. They do have a raffle to recoup funds so they can continue to put the show on. They give out some nice prizes and the Grand Raffle Prize is a complete rebuilt bored and stroked engine. I also make it to this one each year that I can.

As far as the shows that charge an entry fee I pretty much only participate in those that are tied in with a good cause. Charity type shows that help out the elderly, children in need, the less fortunate, animals, etc.

Car shows have changed since I first started participating in them back in the mid-1990's, but I still enjoy attending certain ones. For me, one of the best things about the shows is sitting around and visiting with good friends. The time goes too fast. Seems as though we just get there, start talking and it's time to leave.

There are also many evening Cruise-in's that don't charge a fee. Of course the surrounding businesses certainly appreciate and welcome any patrons.

[lloyd3]

Well,  nothing stays the same. The "free" show I was  bragging about earlier now asks $20 to participate. To be fair, they do provide a nice t-shirt,  coffee, brunch, lunch and soft drinks ( and....they still call to invite me).  It does, however put that $35 fee for the all-Mopar show in a different light for me.