Folks Of Interest Car show participants

Ok. I took the Drag coupe to a show today as I posted I would . The show was very well run, lots of cars . all types, years, makes and models. I got to hang out with some of my friends saw some old fiends and made some new ones. I t was a fantastic day. I even won a bucket full of what is approximately 100 dollars of car care products. Yea, a few ass h$%s here and there, but they were spectators. Great time at a show, and I do not do many because I mostly drag race. 9-11 NEVER FORGET!

 

Yes, had a great time. All types of Birds even 2- 57 “F’s”. A small group of 40 Fords were invited getting ready for their show in 2 weeks.

 

I’ve had a few experiences at car shows that made me go - WTF? My basic ‘56 Chevy won a Best Tri-Five plaque at a car show over some billet-laden beauties and the guy next to me with a beautiful 98 point restored ‘65 GTO that didn’t win anything, just blew up. After the presentation he was loading his chairs and stuff in the trunk while cussing and saying how the judges were dumb shits giving an award to a POS Chevy like that (mine) and neglecting his $100k restoration. Truthfully, his GTO didn’t look like anything. It was very clean, bone stock, boring colors, and plain as can be. I’ve never seen anyone so pissed about not winning a plaque at a small town car show.
Even HAMBers can be kinda unfriendly. At one event a group of HAMB guys were gathered chatting about whatever, near their little group of cars. Recognizing the cars as belonging to HAMB guys I walked up, admired the cars and asked politely, without interrupting, when they might run again. I got the stink-eye and was promptly ignored. I didn’t immediately identify myself as a HAMBer, I figured that I’d work that into the conversation that never materialized. Even the wife commented, “Gee, friendly aren’t they?”. I just chalked it up to, “they’re here to have fun with their group”. I’m not exactly a gregarious, commanding presence, I’m a little quite and polite until I get to know you.
Mostly I’ve met nice folks, and some I could have stayed and chatted with for hours but not if I hope to have the wife come along again. And I learned the hard way as a young guy not to make disparaging remarks about anyone’s car out loud.

 

Come to think of it... I think I was one of those 'Car Show A$$h@les' y'all are talking about.

I went to one of those 'Cars and Coffee' deals in my town and there was a '49 half ton Chevrolet Truck, same year as mine that looked like an honest-to-goodness barn find. Upon closer inspection it really was just that, an unadulterated vehicle. The guy isn't around and when he does show it turns out he was at my truck, waiting for me to show up. We laugh. I ask him what his plans are. He is going to keep the finish as is, warts and all since it won't be a year-rounder. He then tells me he is going to do the S-10 thing, vee-ate, ac, power steering, essentially, lift the cab up and plop it down on a (for me) brand new truck. I don't know what to say so in fact I say nothing as I patiently listen to his excitement in revealing the plans. I listen to the full story, I think I smiled, shook hands and was on my way.

Many of you have said in so many words, "It's not your canvas, you didn't by the art supplies and it's not your vision." those words give me considerable comfort and I thank y'all for it.

 

Sad ,i finally have had enough of the bull shit , i have severed a friendship with several of what i have considered a 20 year hot rod friend ship with because of holy as they attitude towards other hot rodders . Childage behavior from older grown hot rodders , only there way is the way to go ...

 

I agree whole-heartedly with the "passing fancy" statement. On the rare occasions when I watch the high dollar car auctions, I usually sit in total disbelief as Joe Slick and Leroy B. Cool bid against each other in a blatant display of dick measuring. No matter who gets the car, I'm 99% positive that neither have any intention of actually driving it or knowing what is involved with the mechanical parts. On the other hand, there's the occasional guy, call him Johnny Lobuck, who goes for the lower priced offerings who actually wants a daily driver or wants a solid platform to build from. He, or she, doesn't get all the air time that Joe or Leroy do but the little smile Johnny has on his face tells me he has plans for that car. That makes it worth watching for me.

 

I believe I would take advantage of that conversation and try to buy his frame and running gear as cheaply as possible. I did just that with a guy wanting to drop an F1 onto a Crown Vic frame. Frame, suspension, steering and four good 16's for $100. One of my rare good deals.

 

I don't need a group of people i don't know to tell me if my car is cool or not. All that matters is what i think about it. Not many of us have the same thoughts on what is cool, we all have different tastes in cars. But what Robert Palmer said just keeps ringing in my head, those dickhead pricks at the car show, probably doesn't even change the oil in their car, let alone build them. They just bought it.

 

But we do know that when your wife takes HER truck to a car show she'll know all about it because she was 100% involved in the build. As far as changing the oil she'll probably do that as well unless she can con you into doing it for her. Haha.

 

Just Clam's Larry.. There are all over the world ! Don't let them spoil your day!!
PS: I like your car

 

Only time I got a cold shoulder at a car show was in the late 70’s. My uncle had a ‘50 or so Stude pu he wanted me to buy.
My truck club goes to a “truck run” show, and a fella has a real nice fixed up shiny Stude PU about the same year.
Anyways, I’m 16 or 17 and spot the truck and the owner who was an old guy (in his 30’s). . Bastige wouldn’t give me the time of day. I walked off wondering what I did wrong.

Maybe he’s on here, Hollister ring a bell asshole?

 

Nah she takes care of me, i change the oil

 

You get Bumnuts everywhere, just the location changes. I had left my car at a show and walked off to see other stuff (I hate hanging around, I go to see other cars and catch up with friends), when I returned there was a pair, looked like "No car Nick & his son" picking crap out of my car. I just walked up and stood beside them , (they didn't know it was my car), and then added more like "yeah, check this out, it's not even painted right, ", etc., and they were agreeing with all my comments, and adding more of their own. I then said "See you later", got in my car, started it up, and watched them both walk away at speed, looking very confused, probably back to their Kia.

 

I got to chime in here. We just returned from Shades of the Past in Pigeon Forge. I didn’t run into any asshats the three days we were there.And had many friendly conversations with all kinds of people. Just lucky I guess. Snowman

 

This is the reason I gotten back into oval dirt track racing with true vintage cars. (Our class rules require the use of stock frame rails and true vintage parts)

Yes, you can still buy a car and power in this class. However unlike a modern car where you can just call the chassis builder for the latest chassis set-up, with a vintage car you have to make your own adjustments to make the chassis handle as well as work on a car between races just to keep it on the track. It doesn't take long for the wannabes to find a new hobby.

I would like to point out there are rich car guys too, they are not all just rich guys with car. Jay Leno and Reggie Jackson are two rich car guys who come to mind.

We have a man in the the tube chassis class, who owns (and for worked) a multi-million dollar company. He was a 2nd generation racer, his son is now a 3rd generation racer.

He is a down to earth guy and he built the body for his car, when I say he built it he sheared the aluminum, bent it on the sheet metal brake and hung it on the chassis himself!

 

One of my first car shows was a small town show. They had extra trophy's because a few of the classes did not have entry's. They scored my car and another in my class the same so gave out 2 second place trophy's. I tell the other entrant you have a really nice car. He says it guys like you that make it rough on me, My car has never had any paint work. I look at him and said yeah I see a lot of 63 fords with no paint chips that have never had any paint work. I now go to car shows, tell them I want to be display only. Donate to the charity they are raising money for, and usually leave before the judging.

 

Last show I went to an original 1969 copo L-88 Camaro pulls in. The owner gets out of the car, pops the hood while I commented on his rare Camaro, as I had never seen one before. I asked him a couple questions on the air cleaner assembly, then he kind of of just blew me off and walked away. I thought to myself, what a prick. No wonder I cant stand Camaros and now even more so.

 

His other car is probably a Corvette (one of the those fancy new one - not a HAMB friendly one).

 

How's about when you stroll thru a car show and you hear some asshat spouting his bullshit to the general public about how he'd just finished building the car, and to keep that in mind (when voting for peoples choice) because most of the cars in the show were just owned by people who wrote a check. He'd answer any questions since he knew every nut, bolt, and weld on the damn thing (not like those check writers). Now, I took umbrage to these statements because I had tightened all those nuts and bolts, and had laid every weld. This guy had just bought this car from my buddy a week earlier. I built the frame and suspension, and my buddy did everything else, then sold it, to start another. So to shut this guy down, I wander around to the rear and ask about the torsion bar suspension and the jacobs ladder set up. You'd have thought I'd just spoken to him in Martian. The look on his face was priceless. Kinda one of those 'Oh shit' moments. Don't think he hung around for that trophy.

 

How does someone hate a car, unless he owns one and it gives him constant grief.
I've always been a Chevy guy and have owned a '67 Camaro RS/SS350 and a '69 Z-28.
It's not the car but the dipshit owner that puts out the bad vibe. You can't escape
them, they don't have a sign around their necks that say "Don't Approach Me". You
take your chance and get rewarded with a good conversation or a kick in the nuts.

There's a guy in the Joliet, Illinois area who recreated the '70-72 Nova super stock
he raced back in the day. It might even be the original car. I took a group of pretty
good photos of it and made sure he got them. While I really didn't expect it, I received
a thank you note and an invitation to stop by and see him at the track sometime. So
my wife and I are at Rt66 Raceway and run across the car which was being shown, not
raced. I told her she's got to see the car and meet the owner (I'm doing my best not to
divulge his name), a good fella. He came up and within the 45 seconds we spent with
him I wanted to clock him. He made me feel like a chump, in front of her, no less. I'm
sure she was worried I'd star a scene. Instead, I walked. Now when I look at those pics
I'm reminded not of what the car is like but the way he acted.

I have to smile when I think of the pro drag racers who were generous with their time
and posed for a photo, autograph or question. Then there are the fools who are just to
kool for school while they're at their little car show or drive-in kingdom.

 

That says it all Lloyd. I could not possibly say it any better myself.

 

I gave up going to car shows years ago because of ass hat owners. Especially in the Corvette world. Then when a I got a vette I thought no restored race car.

 

I had a guy looking at my 40 coupe this weekend at Shades. Blah, blah, blah. Lots of BS, but didn’t know a Deluxe from a Standard.
Couldn’t quit talking about one he just bought for $30K. LS engine, M-II, air, power windows, you know., all the street rod bells and whistles.
He then tried to get me to low ball sell him mine. “Too bad it has a flathead.” “Wait, it doesn’t have air?” “Come on, $20K cash is plenty for it.”
Maybe, maybe not.
Get lost, prick.

 

I'll jump in from the club perspective. I'm a VP in the Pharoahs Car Club and manage the Tennessee chapter so I have a bit of experience. We're quickly becoming one of the biggest car clubs on the planet with chapters in nearly all 50 states and we didn't get that way by being rude to people. My chapter started with 4 guys in my basement almost 2 years ago and we currently have around 150 members. We set up a table at the local shows and have info to hand out about the club and once a year we do a totally free show to give thanks to our local area for participating. Free admission, free food, etc. That being said there are also small clubs that have very small numbers of guys who have probably known each other since dirt was new and they can be real dickheads. And I wasn't there so I can't speak to how you might have presented yourself. Just please understand that all car clubs don't act that way. We didn't get to be as big as we are by snubbing people.

 

I take it as a challenge. I'm nice to everybody but I also can out-asshole just about anyone

 

I'm with you DB, I consider my self to be a defensive dickhead. I'm a great guy, until it's time to not be a great guy then my redneck bad attitude kicks in. George Carlin said that when you're in the middle of a job interview and you know you're not gonna get the job, point to the picture on the desk and ask "hey, who's the cunt?" So yeah, when you are dealt the attitude, hammer it right back at them! I honestly feel like it's a street rod thing lol. Or the guys that have their brand spanking new Camaro or something like that entered in the show. I'm not a trophy person, if I register my car, it's always because I want the tshirt that comes with registering. You can't buy a cool shirt for the $10 it costs to register. Then, on MULTIPLE occasions, if i was given a trophy, i walked over to a car i liked that didn't get a trophy, and handed them mine, and told them they deserved it more than me. Always look at it this way, being cool is traditional

 

I wouldn't know a Standard '40 Ford from a Deluxe if you ran me over with
both of them. Does that make me a bad guy or a fool? I could learn by asking
a friendly, patient person at a show. Are you that person?

We try to help our kids educate themselves by telling them there are no stupid
questions. Apparently, in the car world that doesn't hold true.

 

That "luck" comes from looking for the good stuff... not the drama. Both are actually easy to find.

Ever since I got my driver's license, I have been going on road trips. Many/most of them turned out to be incredible adventures... but I was looking for adventure, so traveling across Canada in the dead of winter white-knuckled on a snowy, closed highway with my trans stuck in 2nd turned out to be a fantastic story. I was helped on multiple occasions by kind strangers. Situations I ran into would have been the worst life experience for many.

I find incredible folks all over the country. Especially when I am in the right mind to find them.

I have found the crankiest a-holes too... of course, in some way, I was looking for them.

One of the best bosses I ever had, Joe, said this to me after I was sprayed by a skunk (which I went looking for on a jobsite) - "If you go looking for skunks, you will find them." How true is that in life?

 

Most of us have seen both ends of the spectrum at car shows, but its worth being snubbed occasionally because the interesting people far outnumber the rude people. Personally I try to use the interactions as learning experiences and enjoy both the friendly people and the rude people. Obviously the things I learn from the friendly people are usually technically oriented and helpful. The thing I like to take from the rude people is.........."Iguess I'm not so bad after all." I know thats debateable, but I always like to to look at it from the standpoint of "there but for the grace of God go I".
Yep, to me its just another learning experience, and my signature line fits this thread perfectly.

 

There are people who are just like that... I met one guy from a local Model A club here, outgoing etc. upbeat and positive and very engaging... Guy next to him, same club wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire...

Differences in some people come with social experiences, some people with money think they have to act a certain way or as if everyone is trying to get after their pot of gold... I know some people with good 7 and 8 figure accounts, you would never know they were that well off...

SIDE NOTE... People who build their car themselves tend to be a bit more engaging for some reason.

SIDE SIDE NOTE: People who bought their car, normally are very engaging also, they just want to be accepted into social circles etc...

Rare Case... person who bought a car claimed all my work was his and got business from it, should catch ghonasiphilaids.

Moral of the story is good people are good people, some people just plain suck the others just have their head up their own a$$ too far to see the light.