Featured Event Coverage LARS 2025

LARS was advertised on social media and on radio here in So Cal. Not only by the event organizers, but by multiple hot rod shops like Stokers and So Cal Speed who held open house's on Thursday. Besides, everyone knows the event is Father's Day weekend, has been forever. A fully invested gear head would know that. Put it on next years calendar, but really, if you know Father's Day is coming up, you know that LARS is too.

 

I wonder how guys from New Zealand and Australia and Europe were able to know about it and arrange travel in time to make it????

 

Another thing to consider is Insurance cost. Our club's event insurance for our annual car show went up $1200 this year for no reason.

 

Ah yes, so guys who can afford to pay someone to build their car heard all about it. Now the turnout completely makes sense.

I have built 3 cars, and that actually makes me less accomplished than some of my friends. Out of the group I only think one of us even knows where a hot rod shop is. The scene is a bubble, and it ain’t a big one.

 

Blue
us Aussies had no problem with attending LARS, come the start of the year your mates would all be talking about the next LARS in June, all looking to see who could the cheapest flights over (remember we are 13 hours flying time from USA) with return tickets A$1000 to A$2000 plus. add insurance A$1000 plus depending on age and health. Hotel/Motels were snapped up around Pomona, Open house shows, book a container to freight back home cars and parts, rental vehicles were arranged also it depended on the exchange rate at the time Aus$ to US$, trips could be expensive, we did not live 85 miles away like some negative guy went on about . The Roadster Club members always
made us feel welcomed, even getting an invited to the free meals

 

@Blues4U love the pic!

As far as advertising, the big issue I see is the fracturing of traditional reach. Many people don't read the local paper, listen to local radio or visit the local speed shop (which is gone!). There are a dozen different websites that will try to list events, but they are often either too broad or narrow.
FB has become the de facto common connection for the worse, because it's also very fractured and not used by some, especially older folks.
To offer a solution rather than just belly aching, I could suggest that everyone use a tool that already exists.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/forums/other-events.96/
With more engagement, this could be used to let everyone know of upcoming events even outside the local area. I sort of was aware of this being here, but had to go looking for it. If each of us refer to this section every time a question is asked about shows, it should gain more eyes and more postings.

 

That was a very fair price for a car of that quality in the in the early eighties. I bought my 32 3-window
Nov. of 82 for $3000 less than that nice 33. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when the resto-rod trend came along in 2000 or so was when the prices on primo 32,33,34 fords began to skyrocket. The Coddington
gold chainer crowd. There was a black 32 3-window (a builder) at LARS around then that SOLD for
$100,000. But in 1980 to I would say 1985 the economy was really in the doldrums and people just weren't spending any money.

 

In late 1982 I built a high end 32 Ford tudor sedan. It had it all. In 83? I took it to the NSRA show in OK and then out to the one and only I believe Street Rodder Nationals at maybe the Tropicana? Drove it all the way. Shortly after that I was contacted by a man from Sacramento about buying the car. I shot him a price of $38K and to my surprise he took it. I thought that was an outlandish price for the times. He flew into Lincoln NE., we met at the airport, counted the money out on a bench inside the airport. He left for CA. never to be heard of again or was the car ever seen again?

 

He knocked 50G'S off of that?! That's already a 100k car minimum, for 35k??? I'm shocked, that is up there with 50 mercs and A400's, and he has one for 35k is insane. When me and my dad saw it, it was still at 85K.

 

Along with a partner I produce an annual blues festival here in Orange County, CA. The first year we advertised the hell out of it on facebook for months prior to the event, we printed flyers and distributed them at other shows, we posted large flyers at liquor stores and at the venue where the festival takes place, and we bought air time on a local public radio station that has a weekend blues show, 4 hours on Saturdays and 5 hours on Sunday, they promoted the hell out of the festival for two weekends leading up to the festival. That first year we did OK, we lost money but not too bad. I expected to lose money on it, so I was OK with it. But afterwards my partner asked a question on facebook that if you didn't attend, why not. Was it a conflict with the date, was it the bands, was it the ticket price, etc. We got several people responded that they hadn't heard about it. What do you do? We've held several other festivals since then and have sold enough tickets to cover our costs, and we have one coming up this Sept, great lineup, and we've been promoting it on facebook for months already. We stopped using the radio station because we couldn't tell if it was doing any good and it was a huge cost. We believe that with no way to measure whether it was worth the cost or not we can't spend that kind of money. It's a small festival and that 1 outlay alone can make or break the finances on it. We'd rather spend the money on the bands, that's why we do it, to support the local blues bands that give so much to a small community of blues lovers. It seems to us that word of mouth from people who have attended past festivals and come back each year is the best form of advertising, but it's obviously limited in reach. If I had a better answer I'd recommend it to the club, but I don't. Wish I did. One thing Oldsmobum could do is now that he knows that Father's Day weekend is the weekend of the show, he can spread the word around to his crew. Every little bit helps.

 

@Blues4U , yeah radio is going the way of print. Anyone who is trying to sell advertising should be able to supply a ROI figure, or the company itself will have metrics designed to confirm it. Since the station was just trying to generate income, they probably didn't offer or discuss this.
One page discussing the measures.
https://www.adresultsmedia.com/news-insights/is-radio-advertising-effective/
All the best to you in your efforts. I was a long time regular patron at a beach club that had Blues Sundays.
https://sandiegotroubadour.com/a-love-letter-to-blonde-bruce-1953-2020/

 

I can't remember exactly when I started my Cornhusker Rod & Custom ads in Street Rodder, Rod & Custom & Street Scene. I felt at that time they were all reaching the audience I was seeking. I also did as really good up to date website with all my products and current prices, That probably did more than the magazine ads, I could print media fading away right before my eyes. Even back then. I also did 8-9 NSRA shows a year starting with the Nat's in Louisville in 94. All that combined did a really good job of exposing my little company to my customers. Today print advertising is really expensive and maybe reaches less than a quarter of what I was reaching back then. Thankfully I've retired from the chassis business and am only doing the small parts. I sell most of the T5 & water pump kits by word of mouth. My only ads these days are on the HAMB & FORD BARN which is also a limited exposure. Trying to advertise the LARS to the local audience is tough and media is expensive. They need local exposure for spectator's. Nationally most rodders by this time know about the show always being fathers day weekend. Enjoy the 60th, you never know what the future brings?

 

And then on the other end of the spectrum is the annual 'picnic' put on by the oldest hot-rod club still in existence. It's in the early fall at a beautiful setting located just south of Los Angeles, and it's limited because it's by invitation only and if you don't have a ticket you are turned away at the 'gate'. No ads, no radio, no flyers, no internet presence and zero promotion whatsoever and it's been thriving for many, many decades. They print x-amount of tickets, and that's all she wrote. Live music, tri-tip barbeque, T-shirt silkscreener, and serve yourself cold drinks (including beer).
I wish I had an answer for the fellows that 'didn't know' about the LA Roadster Show, but maybe they need to get out more and chat up some of those greybeards lurking around the perimeter that are in the know? Broaden your horizon a little bit.

 

One thing I have learned is that no matter how hard you try you aren’t going to make everyone happy, just work hard and do your best. You can hand out $100 bills and you will always get that person who complains that they really wanted 5 x $20 bills. If you aren’t happy with things, you can always offer to help. We are all here to have fun and hopefully spread the word and help others follow our passion

 

What water pump kit do you sell?

 

I've been manufacturing the 348-409 Chevy water pump to flathead kit for 30 years.