So Where Were You Guys?

[Aero426]

Well, another wing car national meet is in the books.   Everything went really smooth.    I will let the participants speak for the quality of the event.  

From my perspective, it seems to be the same old story.     It is usually the same core group of people in the two clubs attending.    This is great because we have long friendships and we enjoy hanging with these folks all weekend late into the nights.   The group this year was small with about 15 cars each day and some comers and goers from the locals depending on what was happening.   To be fair, we would have been closer to 20 cars had local cars not been down with mechanical issues.  

The elephant in the room is,   Other than "Alabama" every five years, all the meets generally run pretty small.    To me, this is frustrating.    I don't care whether it is the Nats or Carlisle, or a club meet.    The participation level is quite small relative to the number of cars out there.   For the wing car meets,  we try and pick locations that have people who can put on the event.   And it helps when there are a lot of cars in lets say, a five hour radius.    That's certainly the case in 2022.  

This year, we had a good hotel at $109 a night.
We have no registration fee (Are you freaking kidding me?)
We did not even require that you be a DSAC or WW/NBOA member.  If you could fog a mirror and had an aero car, you were welcome.
We had cheap, but fun daily things to do ($75 budget per person for the weekend) including two large cruise nights where frankly, we blew people's minds.  
We sponsored a no cost farewell picnic that went WAY beyond a "hot dogs and chips" kind of deal.  

Over the weekend, I saw a comment on Facebook which was "looks like fun, maybe next time".     My reaction is, "Well, what if there is no next time?    These things just don't happen by themselves.   It seems like there is little urgency to get to the club events.  

Next year for 2023, the meet will be in Cleveland with Doug and Carol Croxford as hosts, with the date TBA.  Doug has different activities and destinations than the last time we went to Cleveland over 10 years ago.   We are probably 11 months away.   So what do we need to do to get people to attend?    

[held1823]

Looked like a great time from the photos I've seen. Thank you to everyone who has shared them.

I'd love to have mine back together for Cleveland but suspect it will likely be the following year.

[1970Moparmann]

Doug, great seeing you and the others on Saturday night.   Starting next year I plan to attend as my car will be on the road.   Thank you for everything you do to keep this group together!

[light man]

Another fantastic aero car event is in the history books. Doug and his other half Sue worked very hard to put this all together and they did an awesome job! Everything we did was great fun and came off with no problems. The finale was the picnic with a great variety of really good food and drink. A mix of beautiful cars were on display. As Doug says wherever a meet is held the hosts work so very hard to put it all together and it is a shame more people don't take advantage of this and come to the meets. We are all getting older and really should participate while we still can. We have racked our brains wondering what more can we do to get people to attend. Hopefully it will get better in the near future.

[gtx6970]

This is just my 2 cents

But,


The age demographic is much much older now. few people want to drive 50 year old cars .
I see it all the time at local events near me. More and more of the older crowd now bring new challengers or chargers leaving the vintage iron at home.

Plus add in the value of some of these cars now it makes if scary to bring them out as much as in times past

Factor in fuel prices at the MPGs these cars get.
It can be expensive to go very far .

A buddy of mine decided if he has to go more than maybe 2 hours away , its cheaper to load his hemi cuda and haul it enclosed behind his diesel ram 3500


Im an oddball I guess. I dont own a trailer and I take my car just about everywhere.  Feeding a street hemi, auto and 3.54s  aint cheap. BUT,,,,,,,  I drove it all back roads up thru into north eastern AZ last year. Even spent the afternoon in Winslow AZ .
LOVED every minute of it.  And will do it again I assure you here soon
But the fun factor is well worth it , To me anyway

[Pinballjim]

Hey Doug.  I'd love to do my part as a member of the club but to date, I haven't been able to land a car.  I have a 'Wanted" ad in the classified section of the newsletter (thank-you for that), but nothing yet.

I have a friend who is big into Shelby's.  He has pointed out similar concerns with his club.  The value of the cars, the distance to be traveled, busy schedules.  The national meets and club events are more attended by the newer cars.  A/C, Cruise control, factory warranty, etc. are all good reasons to leave the vintage steel in the garage and bring the new stuff.  It doesn't matter if it's a Shelby, a Corvette or a Superbird.  I understand but I believe WHEN I get a 'bird, I'll get it out there for the public to see!

A note to those who who have 'em and don't use 'em.   Ya might as well sell 'em.  Call me!!
 

[hemi-hampton]

I know some Guys when they get a nice new Muscle car they go to all the local shows for a few Years. Bake in the Sun for awhile. Then get burnt out, tired & bored with it all. LEON.

[69_500]

I have no excuse other than having to work this weekend. Then again, my non aero car didn't hurt turn out lol.

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

I had no idea it was going on.  I also don't own an aero warrior.  But was there any promotion of the event?  I follow this page and the the FB group and didn't see anything posted.

I did see Elmer's Charger 500 before it goes to auction.

[held1823]

But was there any promotion of the event?  I follow this page and the the FB group and didn't see anything posted.

it's pinned to the top of this page as well as the wing car group on Facebook.

[69F8C500]

Looked like a fun time, I couldn't make it because of cost issues. My 2 cents is that lots of aero cars are being bought by collectors who don't drive them. They are collectors items now, not cars. That's kind of a sad statement to make. Collections like the Brothers collection in Oregon and countless other people are putting the cars away in a museum or private collection never to be driven again.

Another point is the rising cost of these cars. The younger generations like myself can't afford to buy them anymore. It's 100 grand minimum for a driver quality Superbird, and more for a driver Daytona. The fords and Mercurys and cheaper, as well as the Charger 500s, but still not affordable.

One other point is that physical car club events are starting to decline in popularity with younger people. The internet makes it easier to connect with people for across the world, so there is a lesser need for a physical in person event.

These are just some thoughts, hope the reunion next year will be successful.

[loudmouthaussie]

40 wing cars attending this in nov apparently.

http://www.mcacn.com

[Moparmatty]

Here's my take on things.

I just finished looking at all the pictures Doug Croxford posted online from the event before seeing this post.

My first thought was all the people that were there were of the older demographic. Short of a lucky few younger people such as myself that own an Aero car, all the people that own them are either old people that have had them forever, wealthy collectors or both.

Most people around here that have any kind of old car, let alone an Aero car, think that driving their car to a cruise night less than an hour away is an all day adventure that requires days of planning ahead of time.

Now factor in what the current value of these cars is plus the gray hair factor and you have people that are afraid to even roll them out of the garage let alone drive them or haul them anywhere.

This brings me to the second thought I had while looking at Doug's pictures.

What going to happen in 10-15 years when the gray hairs are even grayer? Will the current ownership be transfered down to younger family members or current owners? Will guys like myself that will be 55-60 be able to afford to buy an Aero car to enjoy for the rest of their days?

For myself the whole car show thing does nothing for me. Sitting out in the hot sun all day is not my idea of a good time unless there's some drag racing or something going on at the event. For me the driving of the car that day is where the enjoyment and satisfaction of ownership comes from. I own cars because I like them not for other people's enjoyment. If I don't drive the crap out of my car of choice for the day multiple time I might as well have just taken my daily drive out for the day. Cars were meant to be driven. But I can fully appreciate those that do enjoy showing their car. Everyone has their preferences.

I do also realize that if we don't go to any events of any kind that there won't be any events to go to.

As for the Aero reunions. I think that most plan to go to Alabama event every five years because they know there will be a lot of cars there compared to the yearly events. Maybe I'm just speaking for myself. Unfortunately I haven't been to an Aero car event since 1999 in Alabama. And with the current state of worldly affairs, I may never be to another one due to border crossing restrictions. But that's not stopping me from hopefully having my Daytona finally out in the next couple of years. So we'll see what time brings.

[Dave Kanofsky]

My son and I were only able to be there Saturday afternoon through Sunday, and we had a terrific time! 
The hardcore group that was there are mostly regulars at these types of events, and they have a ton of fun with their cars and each other.  This is the way these cars and the clubs should be enjoyed.
Thanks so much to both clubs for your efforts.

See you in Cleveland next year!

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

But was there any promotion of the event?  I follow this page and the the FB group and didn't see anything posted.

it's pinned to the top of this page as well as the wing car group on Facebook.

Yup, totally missed it.