Bored with car shows.

[earthman]

Credit card cars and their owners don't add much to the atmosphere of passion and excitement we want to find at shows. When i was a kid it was mainly younger dudes that had built their own cars and brought along their hot GF's to the show. Lotsa beer drinkin' and Rock'n'roll. Crybaby dolls were 30 years away in the future.

 

[Rev Tex Devlle]

i like to got to stuff i aint never been to before,,, or if i got a new ride i like to hit the locals for the season,,, but other than that i rather go down town and cruze the strip watching people point!!!
salt flats ,, redneck rumble... are my goals for this year,,, then some else next year!

 

[Sam_Fear]

I go to see what's new in lawn chairs, crybaby dolls, and fake food trays. I really like it when it rains a little so I can watch the squeegee races - now that's excitement! [ddd

 

[Willowbilly3]

I'm with you Don...I enjoy the "Main Street Cruise" style more than a "Park-N-Sit" show. I would rather hear the engines running and the occasional tire chrip with Green Onions playing in the background. [ddd

Turkey Rod Run was so massive that it is in a class by itself which I'm sure there are others like that around the country...but the weekly parking lot stuff gets old quick.

-Troy

We have a pretty fun one here in the summer that is a lot of cruising and some park & sit. It's called Cool Deadwood Nights. Every parling spot is full and the streets are a-buzz with cool iron. Not much for rats except the fakey high dollar ones. I really like seeing the old street fighters from the 60s.

 

[motrhd]

Credit card cars and their owners don't add much to the atmosphere of passion and excitement we want to find at shows. When i was a kid it was mainly younger dudes that had built their own cars and brought along their hot GF's to the show. Lotsa beer drinkin' and Rock'n'roll. Crybaby dolls were 30 years away in the future.

Yeah, ever ask a guy about his engine and he doesn't even know what size it is ? Did that at street rod nats north once.... unfreakinbelievable !

 

[bob w]

If you do the same thing over and over and over it quite likely will get boring. That's why Viagra got invented.

In my younger years in the 50's, 60's and 70's a hot rod was an oddity, a novelty when seen alone on the road or in a parking lot. Now they're everywhere. Kinda takes the excitement out of it. Shows and other hot rod gatherings were infrequent so anticipation grew. I can recall not being able to sleep for a few nights before leaving for a Street Rod Nationals.

I think hot rodding, like many sports and other activities suffers from over exposure. Around here one trend is to have "garage nights" where groups of friends and acquaintances go to a different person's garage every week for some food & beverages while looking at the guy's project(s) and just plain bench rodding.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Yeah...the media hasn't done anything to enhance it..

If you do the same thing over and over and over it quite likely will get boring. That's why Viagra got invented.

In my younger years in the 50's, 60's and 70's a hot rod was an oddity, a novelty when seen alone on the road or in a parking lot. Now they're everywhere. Kinda takes the excitement out of it. Shows and other hot rod gatherings were infrequent so anticipation grew. I can recall not being able to sleep for a few nights before leaving for a Street Rod Nationals.

I think hot rodding, like many sports and other activities suffers from over exposure. Around here one trend is to have "garage nights" where groups of friends and acquaintances go to a different person's garage every week for some food & beverages while looking at the guy's project(s) and just plain bench rodding.

All the shows, auctions and car shows encourage the overly endowed with money people to get involved in things that they don't have a clue about the history of it and frankly, they don't really care...it's hip to own a rod so they buy one.....can't tell you anything about it other than how much it cost...Sad....

 

[bob w]

Too many of these guys???

 

[jmlcolorado]

I'm not very old (28) and found this out this weekend at the denver motorcycle show and swap. This time last year I was excited as I'll get out to go and spend a TON of time ther walking around looking at all the stuff. This year I was just as excited, made it about 1/3 through and gave up.
On the way home I thought I'd stop by this old "tool salvage" store I've seen 100 times but never stopped in. I was shocked when I opened the doors!! This family has been running this store for 65 years and they buy ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!! Motors, gears, old tools, plumbing parts, you name they have it!
I spent twice the time in this store the I did at the show n swap.

I told my buddy that was with me that I know I found a good store when I went in with clean hands and left with dirty hands

Once my rat is moving, I'll defiantly hit the local shows a few times, but if it's anything like the chopper I built, it'll be much more fun just to drive around and talk with the random people that chase me down from across the parking lot

Seems the small ones (staged at the local hot rod shops garage) is the best one mostly cause you can talk to the guys who have BUILT theirs. I like racking their brains for ideas and usually walk away with 1 or 2 guys I end up being friends with. And a guy can NEVER have enough hot rod friends

 

[sgtpontiac]

Yep!! Exactly...

How did the old Huey Lewis song go...."it's hip to be square"...lol love the toon....kinda says it all....

 

[mitchs66]

I'm with you Don, I'm 31 and have been interested in cars/trucks since I was 13. I've bought several projects that only seemed to eat money and never get finished, then in Nov. 2008 my wife and I made the best toy car move ever and bought our 1966 Plymouth Belvedere. I went to a lot of car shows before we bought the car and just a few after and as you said, it was boring. Our car isn't a show car but its a very solid car and a blast to drive ( wish I would have had something like this 10 years ago ) it gets looks every where we go and we drive it somewhere between 3000 and 4000 miles a summer. The summer of 2009 we meet some friends that had older cars and liked going on cruises, we share information and send e-mails back and forth all the time. We are not a car club just a group of gear heads, that started out with a hand full and has grown to a group of almost 100. Once a month we pick a cruise, or go on tours of garages and look at projects, even in the winter months we get together for supper somewhere. This has grown way bigger than we ever thought but most of us in the group feel the same as you and just want to get our cars out and use them.

This is our Belvedere and I've been gather parts for a Rat Rod pickup[

 

[jmlcolorado]

I'm with you Don, I'm 31 and have been interested in cars/trucks since I was 13. I've bought several projects that only seemed to eat money and never get finished, then in Nov. 2008 my wife and I made the best toy car move ever and bought our 1966 Plymouth Belvedere. I went to a lot of car shows before we bought the car and just a few after and as you said, it was boring. Our car isn't a show car but its a very solid car and a blast to drive ( wish I would have had something like this 10 years ago ) it gets looks every where we go and we drive it somewhere between 3000 and 4000 miles a summer. The summer of 2009 we meet some friends that had older cars and liked going on cruises, we share information and send e-mails back and forth all the time. We are not a car club just a group of gear heads, that started out with a hand full and has grown to a group of almost 100. Once a month we pick a cruise, or go on tours of garages and look at projects, even in the winter months we get together for supper somewhere. This has grown way bigger than we ever thought but most of us in the group feel the same as you and just want to get our cars out and use them.

This is our Belvedere and I've been gather parts for a Rat Rod pickup[

I think this "non-car-club" gear head group you have goin sounds like the coolest thing around! Thats something I would love to be a part of. Just a bunch of guys that seem to mesh well who can just talk and hang out. The garage tour is a great idea! Maybe have 3 or 4 guys each weekend where everyone stops by one Friday night, shoot the sh@t, talk cars and move on! Personally, I love it when they neighborhood comes by to see what I'm up to.
I just bought my 1st house in September and I've had a bunch of guys to see what I'm doing as they drive by. A few I wouldn't miss if they never came by again, but Ive met a couple older guys that stayed and talked on a Saturday for a couple hours each
I love it when guys are willing to offer their opinion and advice provide a piece of their knowledge. That's worth 100 car shows in my opinion!

 

[LilD]

I havent had the oppertunity to be in a show for quite awhile but when I used to I started getting bored of just sitting around. I liked the shows that had things to do. Games, runs, bands. I liked cruise ins alot because you parked, ate, talked a bit and split.

 

[BigIrish]

I just bought my 1st house in September and I've had a bunch of guys to see what I'm doing as they drive by. A few I wouldn't miss if they never came by again, but Ive met a couple older guys that stayed and talked...

That's my kind of thing too. I always leave the garage door open, which is only 10 feet from the sidewalk, so I get alot of neighbors coming by to chat. 95% know nothing about cars, but they generally think it's cool and like to see what I'm up to - and they don't stay long (perfect).

Occasionally I'll get a guy that stops by that actually knows something and then it's real cool. Alot more fun for me than a car show.

 

[sgtpontiac]

I always leave the garage door open, which is only 10 feet from the sidewalk, so I get alot of neighbors coming by to chat. 95% know nothing about cars, but they generally think it's cool and like to see what I'm up to - and they don't stay long (perfect).

QUOTE]

I only wish I could leave the doors open all the time....LOL....it was 17 degrees yesterday....today....47...??? All the 3 or 4" of snow we got over the weekend is GONE!.... Anyway....in the warmer weather, I get a ton of people stopping by.....most of them are car guys but some are kids wanting to know what I have hidden in here.....I'm glad to show em around and explain.....have even popped a few in the Bonne for a ride...Can't believe an "old" guy like me is into loud fast cars...LOL...."OLD"???[S...

 

[jmlcolorado]

..Can't believe an "old" guy like me is into loud fast cars...LOL...."OLD"???[S...

Even RRR seems to think your "old" judging by the slogan under your name
"Older, wiser, and still buildin"

 

[sgtpontiac]

Can't blame the RRR...

Even RRR seems to think your "old" judging by the slogan under your name
"Older, wiser, and still buildin"

That was mine.....by Older....it is a relative term....yes, I'm older, I'm wiser...(at least I'd like to think so) and yes I'm still building (albeit a bit slower)....but just being called "OLD" doesn't really set well with me...lol...

 

[jmlcolorado]

That was mine.....by Older....it is a relative term....yes, I'm older, I'm wiser...(at least I'd like to think so) and yes I'm still building (albeit a bit slower)....but just being called "OLD" doesn't really set well with me...lol...

I really want to reply to your last post with some smart as$ comment, but I don't want to offend. Some say I come off wrong unless you know me well enough. I'll leave it at that

Personally, I would take old as a compliment since every older car guy I know is a wealth of knowledge And I would MUCH rather hang out with down to earth, wise older guys then guys my age who are still trying to figure out how the world goes round

 

[sgtpontiac]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a

I really want to reply to your last post with some smart as$ comment, but I don't want to offend. Some say I come off wrong unless you know me well enough. I'll leave it at that

Personally, I would take old as a compliment since every older car guy I know is a wealth of knowledge And I would MUCH rather hang out with down to earth, wise older guys then guys my age who are still trying to figure out how the world goes round

smarta$$!! Matter of fact, I've been known to be one quite often....like when people say "what? you need to meet your ticket quota"? And I reply...."Nope, they allow me to write as many tickets as I want".... If I was offended, I'd ask if you were serious or joking.....no problem..I can take a joke....really.....well sometimes... Heck, I don't remember...lol

 

[boosh]

Car Shows

I have been on the PR team for our local club for several years now and one thing i will say is that if you really want to enjoy a car show ditch the chair. I try to spend my time at the front of my car greeting the passerbys, answering questions about the club, the cars and anything else they want to know. And I enjoy the kids too! Let them set behind the wheel, Blow the horn, I even use my camera and take their picture and e-mal it to them if they would like, you can't believe the Prom pictures, wedding pictures, had one just like it once-up-a-time pictures that people have on their walls at home that they will treasure for a long time to come. One day i expect to see them pull up in their own cool classic. Your car ain't cool if you ain't cool. I alway try to have something as a prop at the front of the car to make people slow down and invite comment. and no, I'm not talking about a stuffed little kid in a ball cap ! I hate those things. Anyway just my way of enjoying those shows. Thank you all for being part of a great hobby. Boosh