Event Coverage Cars that you never look at at shows

Should I fire up the “why is our hobby dying” thread now?

If no one goes to car shoes either to look or with a car then there will be no more shows, I guess then we can complain there are no shows anymore…

I have respect for any car people put effort into, the new cars don’t hurt my feelings either, it’s all just car people having fun.

 

I go to less shows now days, i don't like the new cars with hoods up comparing who has what plastic cover option and the same ones turn up to Hot Rod specific shows and the ones with big build card right in front, i usually tell the owner nice car but i can't photograph it. Walk past Blingie Street Rods and all Rat Rods.... I'm getting old and my likes are getting more defined . I like focused show as apposed to the everything goes type. So yes i walk past many....Oh i look at 55 Chevs BUT sick to death of belly ****on 56-57 Chevs and LS swaps. Old school all the way. JW

 

LOL!
Bravo, man. Bravo.

Ben

 

some real cookie-cutter grumpyness here.

Looking at the Portugeuse Cars-n-Coffee's is fascinating as most of the cars are pre-1990 and almost never seen in America.

Portugal does not allow changes to cars, but of course owners are pretty crafty doing them anyway.

 

Late models, I have never understood why someone would purchase a new car or truck and take it to a car show, I've actually seen cars with window stickers from the dealer still in the window. HRP

 

I think I know why. For many years I worked with guys who always wanted to own an old car. They had the money to get one but the problem was they lacked the skills to maintain them. The very idea of being stranded on the side of the road with an old car, which anyone involved with these vehicles knows that feeling was not something they wanted to deal with or to have to wait till a part comes in the mail. So they would go out and buy a late model car that they could take to a dealership to be serviced and convince themselves this is the same as having a vintage car. I'm always of the opinion that any car that I can go to a shopping mall or food store and see ten or more of the same late model car there on any day of the week has no place at a car show.

 

Or marina blue

 

You know, as I read through all the comments here, I’m glad there is some differences in what people like. We are definitely a minority in the car world liking what we do. Just because we may not look at some kinds of cars doesn’t mean that others don’t appreciate them. Anyway, if we all drove 32 roadsters or chopped Mercs, that might be boring too. I’m just thankful that we can still play with this stuff.

 

Thank you, sir!

Ben

 

What fun is there, in not being a snob...?

 

Actually, any color or year.

 

Shows are few and far between around here. I avoid the ones with heavy OEM promotion. I don't like to fix my attention too strongly on new cars. It'll only depress and/or enrage me for the next few days.

I avoid rich people's pointy cars. To be honest the kind of thing which draws me most is pre-1930ish stuff. A stock late-'20s 3-litre Sunbeam will stimulate my hot-rod brain more than most actual hot rods. I can spend time drinking in the details.

One of the most inspiring cars I've ever seen at a show was a little red trials-esque special based on a '40s Jowett Bradford van ch***is.

There are a few digestible C3s but that'd be splitting hairs.

But I'd go further: everyone should know by now that the international motor industry stopped producing automobiles after about 1995.

Trinkets and trash are traditional here, only it doesn't get removed from the car after the show. Underhood badge collections are a thing. It was at one time customary to have "Ford FORD Cortina 3.0S Ford Ford V6 FORD" emblazoned across the back of a Cortina in refractive tape, and that hasn't quite worn off.

That's what allows me to have my wife's company at car shows. She's also in the Nikon camp.

And then wander off. My wife has the habit of hiding shopping carts left unattended like that three aisles away and watching the ensuing confusion (and sometimes panic) from a safe distance.

 

Semi-grumpy 81 year old man here. At this moment, there is an annual car show in Warren (a district of Bisbee), AZ. That is only 27 miles from here. I just don't want to deal with the heat.

My at***ude is somewhat "colored" by having to replace a ball valve that is buried 18" below the surface.

Last September, I drove 1,140 miles to Dewey, OK to the Lead Ain't Dead Kustom Kar show. Driving a few sections of RT-66 in an almost new Toyota pickup truck is not the same as driving an old modified vehicle that I built with my own hands. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is... Maybe I an getting increasing erratic in my old age .

Russ

 

A picture - It really did happen in 2020.

Russ

 

My wife and I really enjoy cars and coffee, gets us out of the house early to start the day and over by 11 to enjoy the rest of the day. I always walk by the newer stuff, no interest looking at **** Pack Challengers, new Vettes and BMWs. I usually pay attention to anything older, especially muscle cars.

 

Good points here on both sides of the spectrum, new , old , stock , whatever. I am am just glad to be here with my old beast, going to shows, enjoying the car culture. Carry on!

 

Went to a car show today. Had a good laugh as I saw most to the things that people here said that cause them to walk right by a car. Model cars on the air cleaner with the hood open, crying kids on the left front tire, big professional made sign in front of the car, people sitting in front of their car in lawn chairs. But it was a fun show, talked to a lot of nice people, and some friends. I did walk by many tri five Chevs, and a few two seat Thunderbirds. And as usual the tri five Chev's won the trophy's. They were very nice though. And of co**** there were new and late model Corvettes for no apparent reason.

 

I went to a memorial lunch yesterday for a car friend that p***ed last year. Unfortunately I was the only person that drove a specialty car, including his son who inherited his 442 but hasn't driven it yet.

I feel like in Alberta we have to learn to appreciate all kinds of stuff if we want to enjoy car shows, because the shows have a mix and mostly muscle cars, not nearly as many pre-50 cars.

I agree with you that people need to attend shows for them to stay alive. Currently, that's not me. I spent many years going to multiple car events per week. Now with a toddler, I have to pick and choose where my energy goes, and it goes to driving and shop time rather than car events. That will change over time, as it does for everyone else. As long as people enjoy the hobby in whatever way works and is sustainable for them, it will survive.

 

They will survive, just with a different crowd and focus. JW

 

I walk by the cars with crying dolls leaned up against them.

 

I’ll walk right past the new stuff, most muscle cars, Mustangs, Corvettes after 67, rats, foreign stuff, but after that, it’s wheel and tire combination, stance, and paint that will draw me in, no matter the vehicle. I could look at a wildly painted lowrider all day, and marvel at the time and talent it took to create that canvas. Plus, a lot of their raw material is also in my wheelhouse. And the owner that is out in front of their car just waiting for someone to ask him or her about it, also gets a walk by from me. Cry baby dolls, stuffed animals? Naaaa.

 

Any show that says "all years makes and models welcome" should just say " we are holding the show in the car park of the local Kmart on a Tuesday morning at 11 a.m." I just love looking at the latest Toyota SUV or some overpriced shiny late model Eurotrash. I have driven to some of these shows and driven out again after seeing the cars there, my car being the oldest by at least 50 years. And I still can't figure out why someone with a 2000 Holden gets offended when told they can't enter a (pre-'48) Hot rod and custom show. It's like bringing a TV to a pet show.

 

Where on the car is the proper place for these dolls...?

 

I’m thinking under one of the tires? That would at least give them something to cry about.

 

Jeeze, I'm out of the loop. Gotta go search crying dolls.

 

We don't seem thave them in NZ, but saw this one in Kingman AZ.... i found it very creepy!! JW

 

WTH never saw one don’t need to What’s the point?
Dan

 

That's waiting for a size 9 straight over the fence!

 

WTF could that be about?

Edit: Went and googled crying dolls. Found some hideous looking ****, but no cars.

 

Don't forget the big stuffed animal on the roof or riding shotgun