Event Coverage Official Vintage Torque Fest Thread May 3-4, 2013

This was my first year to attend Torque Fest 13 and had heard so many good thing about the event held the year before in Maquoketa, Iowa. I am all for the charities but I felt bad for the way I heard John Wells talk to the volunteers and customers. There's a way to run an event and still be professional versus degrading and belittling in your tone and words. I plan on attending and supporting this event next year but hope this post gives second thought on how to treat people.

 

I was sad more people didn't show up for the drags. It was a lot of fun. Dan's Corvair Gasser ran a 12.04 his second time out there. first time ever on a track in his life!

 

I would have liked to have gone, but my one year old had other plans. That corvair sounded MEAN cruising the lot on Saturday .

 

Your first post on HAMB and it is to bash the promoter of an event that is for charity? Before you even do an introduction?

I have no idea what you refer to. But I can tell you that there is an army of volunteers that helps John. Certainly they do so to support his efforts. And consider that John is pushing himself well above the rev limit.

 

I did see some asshole throw his drink and pull down one of the flat trackers on his little Honda because he was "too close" to his children.

That was sure a dick move....

 

I agree! John puts on great shows,and puts a load on his shoulders!!!! I think Mr 123 should retract his post! I always hear "thanks for coming/helping" from him!

 

Had a blast, drank more beer than any one man should in a weekend, and looked at some beautiful cars. Thanks to John and all of the volunteers.

 

Yep, too bad more people didn't come out. We met and hung out with some of the cool cars. Did you get the smile off of the corvair drivers face yet?

 

Awesome time like always!

 

I posted a video in the picture thread. He was pretty happy!

I think it might have been the best thing he has ever done.

 

I had a great time! Friday was a little sketchy with the rain, but still went on the cruise to The Field of Dreams. Saturday was a near perfect day. Think we got to see everything that was going on at some point. Made some new friends that I'd only seen on here or The Czar Board in the past. Volunteered and never had any issues. Didn't make the Drags, but did visit the Mississippi Aquarium. Great place. It was my 3rd Torque Fest and won't be my last! Thanks to John Wells and his helpers for putting it all together.

 

Glad to hear that everyone (except apparently CamaroK1500) had a good time at the show. A lot of time, blood, sweat & tears go into this show every year. I was astonished as to how many cars showed up Friday in the cold rain. I was really worried about the car and spectator count for Saturday but the weatherman came through and the cars and people came. The vendors I talked to were having decent to good sales and that is important. Without happy vendors that continue to return each year, the show would go the way of the dodo bird. And we need returning cars and spectators for the same reason. The Dubuque fairgrounds staff were absolutely wonderful to work with.

I apologize for missing the HAMB Meet & Greet that I helped schedule / organize. At 11 AM I was helping to move the stage (because of the weather) before the first band was scheduled and I missed the Meet & Greet. I was glad to meet and talk with daddy_o's_diner, bobwop, racer-x and iarodder. And of course it is always a pleasure seeing Bob K (my favorite HAMBer). And also seeing the usual bunch of Iowa hot rod juvenile delinquents that I know (love ya Plowboy13, good luck on the move to California, hope you do not miss the snow too much!). I do regret not meeting and talking to verno30 as I had hoped but am sure we will meet up somewhere.

A big thank you Voodoo Larry and his crew for pushing my car when it would not start (very embarrassing). The old flathead does not like cold weather starting and it plain refused to start after sitting out in the cold all day on Friday. A push inside and a night on the trickle charger and the old flatty was happy again.

And a big thank you to John Wells for having a vision of starting a traditional show in the corn-belt and to the support of Kim, Maddy and Hannah to help him make it come true. You will never meet nicer people.

So... hopefully Dubuque will have us back again and with some minor adjustments the show should be even better in 2014. Hope to see you all there!

CamaroK1500- I would be happy to send you a $10 bill if you really think you did not get $20 value out of even just one day of the show.

 

Steve...it was my pleasure to meet you. The story of your car is wonderful. In fact, I hope we can sit down over a cold one so you can tell it to me in length. I just gave me a warm feeling to hear it. The warmth was very welcome, too!

 

That's what I missed. The meet and greet Saturday. Got so involved in everything else that I forgot to go to the stage at 11. Bummer!

 

Hi everyone.Just wanted to let John and all his Staff know that my buddy and I had a great time Fri. and Sat at the show.This was our first time. Loved all the Great music ,cars and people. The music was worth the 20 bucks alone!
We were lucky to make it to Viva Las Vegas this year and I told John that his show made us feel like we were there all over again! We can't wait til next year now. Sure alot closer and cheaper ! Again, Thanks for a great time

 

I regret that I never made it out to your booth but I gotta say that Jeff's interior looked awesome, good job!

 

Likewise: glad we did breakfast on Friday that was a good idea, met a lot of hambers this weekend its good to put faces with the names.

 

First off, I'd like to thank John Wells for putting on another great show, and for inviting me to bring flyers up for the upcoming Route 6 River to River Classic Car and Retro Road Trip. We met a lot of cool HAMBers and saw some great pin-ups!

Here are a few photos I took, and I'll post a link to the rest. We'll be looking forward to seeing a few of you on our classic car cruise across Iowa this August!















While I'm at it, Props to all you kats who braved the rain and mud to show off your rides!





can't fit 'em all in one post. You can see the rest here...

http://public.fotki.com/DWDarby/pas...orque-fest-1/vintage-torque-fest-iv/?show=all

 

No sorry that kid on that bike was wrong and not saying that guy was rite throw his beer but that kid on the bike was riding way beyond the width of the track he was riding behind the stage with a flat and going way to fast and didn't listen to anybody. the guy on the bigger bike was Kool and not getting outta control .

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36cab...(Steve) it was a pleasure to meet you and so many others this weekend, the wife and I had such a good time. Thanks for helping guide me inside, that doorway was mighty narrow from inside the car...lol. Again kuddos to John, and everyone else involved in making this weekend a success.

 

Hotroded...pleasure to meet you this weekend, safe travels on the rest of your journey.

 

Beautiful ride iarodder good talking to you and your wife 1 hour left take care

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Had an awesome time! Funny about some thinking price was too high. I actually had a conversation with my buddies on Saturday how I wouldn't be surprised if John didn't raise the price in the future. There is so much going on and top quality entertainment it's nuts that it only cost $10 per day! It was awesome to meet everyone at breakfast Friday! Thanks for getting it set up Verno30! See you all next year and I hope to meet more of you next year!

 

A very small price for so much fun! Whoever complains is nuts!

 

Can't wait to get the Nash down to get it stitched!

Stevie

 

Just thought I would let everyone know its 18 hours from debuque Iowa to just. East of nyc that's with the time change and 1 hour nap 3 gas stops too and.
GOOD NITE!

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That "kid" was the guy that won the flat track races two years ago. He was well within his limits. Sorry. You are wrong.

 

Dude I'm not gonna arugue but think about this we weren't even suppose to be racing since the kid won 2 years ago that's Kool but then he should have had the smarts to stay away from the crowd of people and not get crazy behind the stage but he was way to close to the crowd for comfort let's hope next time we are on the the track! Have a good nite my friend!

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Had a great time! It was a miserable drive there, but worth it when the weather turned out ok and I had my car at the show. Great to see my other car club buddies from all over. See everyone at the next show

 

Just wanted to thank everyone that stopped by my booth and said hi or bought some artwork. I appreciate it. I met a lot of great people this weekend and some new friends. It was great to see some old ones also. I have always had a good time at this show. John puts a lot of time into his shows and the people came through despite the rain on friday.