The replacement for the Hunnert Car Pileup

I'm looking to find any car clubs or persons that may be interested in doing a show at progress city in Decatur, Illinois in the fashion of the Hunnert Car Pileup. I have just started the Bootleggers car club and we are interested in making a show as big or bigger for traditional style rodders who are looking to continue on with the good times in a perfect place for a show. Please respond to this post or e-mail me at Bootlegger23@gmail.com. Thanks and hope to hear from all of you!

 

I've never been to the pile up, but it sounds like a great event. Does it really need a replacement?

 

I would be interested to see where this goes!

 

Let it go man----do your own thing

 

"Hardonsky" . . . . . . . "Peckerheads"?

Good luck

 

I do not like that venue. Way to "sterile" for my taste. If others choose to reply with honesty, my sentiments will be echoed

 

Thanks to Decatur for your hospitality, but the Pile-Up can never be replaced.

 

You must not go to many events huh? Lack of ANY trees does not make for a "perfect place for a show".

I had a GREAT time at the PileUp but probably would not attend another car show there in the future as I was not thrilled with the ambiance of Progress City. I attended this year because of the people that were going to be there.

You want a cool location in that area? Just do the event in the downtown Clinton square. That place kinda had the look of Paso Robles and could easily be a great venue.

 

There will NEVER be another Hunnert Car Pileup. Some jokers in Morris tried and that got them laughed off of many traditional forums. You should talk with Ron Kellog as he has already secured Progress City and the first weekend of October for his anti NSRA streetrod show.

 

Go pick a park or old town type of location and go with it. But that place always felt like a Goodguys type of place, a big show with no charm.

 

Reminds me of a guy I know telling people his new show was 'replacing' the Goodguys Nostalgia Nationals in Bowling Green. I think there were about 60 cars there.

 

I say go for it ..... Never try to duplicate , always be looking to improve . The HCPU is something ill never forget and will always have the memories i made there ,
There is probably a better place to do it at but to be honest progress city never bothered me , i wasnt there for dendrology, I was there for the cars. and man there sure are some great ones there .

 

Good Luck, your gonna need it!

 

That would be like trying to duplicate your first pc of ass " PRICELESS "

 

I do not like where this is going.......

 

I may be wrong, but I thought I read a post a month or two back for a new event starting next year and that weekend in Woodstock,Il. Souned similar,and had some big music lined up too.

 

What makes a "great" venue? Trees? Ambiance? Access? Room for expansion? Facilities? Nearby hotels, restaurants, nightlife?
There aren't many places in central Illinois that can offer all of those things for a show the size of the HCPU.
Few places (in central IL) have the access that Progress City has. I-72, US 36, US 51, IL 48, IL 121 all converge in Decatur. Progress City easily accommodated 1000 + show cars, and several thousand spectator cars with plenty of room for more.
I never gave the venue much thought. I really liked the cars and the people, and of course the unseasonably gorgeous weather.

 

iron invasion ! not sure how to post the link but yeah sounds like its gonna be a good one ! woodstock illinois

 

I shouldn't have used the term "replacement" of the pileup. There will never be such a thing, but all im interested in doing is having another show at the same venue (may not have trees but has tons of room for expansion), and a ton of guys looking to bring their hot rods out and have a good time. I was raised in the south and some, not all, of the attitudes of the car clubs from Chicago area are ridiculous, like they're too cool for central Illinois or their cars are untouchable. I think there is a will of many that says there can be a new show with alot of people having a good ol time just loving bringing their rides out to cruise and show and enjoy the company of fellow rodders. I will continue to say, there will not ever be a replacement yet this show was great for this town and it is very much needed. I really do appreciate all your inputs, bad or good. There is room to build and make one helluva show. No disrespect to anyone I just don't want to see this show go to the wayside. Oh and FlatHeadGuy, Peckerheads was already taken! Haha and KooDaddy what is the point of your comment just to try and make yourself feel that much cooler? Thanks for your comment bud, but grow up and get a life.

 

Thanks Dirtbag, I knew I wasn't totally crazy yet.

 

Where is Woodstock? Sounds like that also could be a very cool show.

 

I would love to make it to a traditional hot rod show with my '55 as it's maiden voyage

 

Woodstock? Will the hippies be cool about it?

 

Woodstock,il is maybe 45 miles east of Rockford.

 

The one that's gonna be in Woodstock next year is called Iron Invasion. I wouldn't call it a "replacement" but it seems to have the makings for a good show.

 

There won't be a "replacement" for the Pile Up. If you want to replace what it became by Number 10, you're in for a sorry disappointment. With that mindset in place, you might as well just make another Goodguys show and call it cured.

What your objective SHOULD be, and I should be preaching to the choir here, is a show that the best features of the Hunnert Car Pile Up INSPIRED, as the Iron Invasion, Symco Shakedown, and other shows were also INSPIRED by the Pile Up. We don't need a clone of the Pile Up; take the best things, the ideas that worked consistently for ten years for the Chrome Czars as both they and the show have grown, and apply those to whatever you want to do, big or small. Ask the Czars for advice, they'll gladly give it.

As regards the venue choice for Progress City; this has been hashed out over and over on a number of boards including this one. I was once told that the basic requirements were A] Ready interstate access. This allows attendance from long distances quite easily and B] a goodly supply of hotels. There are other considerations, namely space, which Progress City has in abundance. It also has more than ample parking for spectators (which is actually FAR more important than space for cars in the show) and a dialed-in police force capable and accustomed to handling the traffic that such an event can bring. Again, if you contact any of the Czars and ask them the reasoning and criteria that they applied to searching out both Morris and Decatur, they'll be willing to tell you.

Uniquecoaches is right, another organization tried to put on another show at the Grundy County Speedway and it was met with a lot of resistance. Numerous comments were made over the last year about the small turnout of cars and people but it should be remembered that the first year of the Pile Up, at Marty & Sons, which a few of us were at (I was NOT, my first Pile Up was the Third, first year at Morris) had only 80 cars in attendance.

These shows.....the reason so many of you and I like them, it's because they weren't started by some huge corporation or collection of same looking to get rich off your bucks. Not all of them are non-profit organizations, but that's not a bad thing. After you're done racking some club for making a buck putting on a show, remember that they're probably not making a living at it (yet) and if they are, then they're making a living providing something for car people BY car people and I challenge any of 143,897 people to come up with something honestly negative about home-grown shows built from within and with support FROM a community like ours.

So, Hardonsky, you want to do a show, do it for the right reasons. Do it because the Pile Up filled a niche that needs to be maintained, and do it so that you can work your ever-livin' ass off for MONTHS scrambling around your family and day job for one day or two of unpredictable weather, 250 confirmed volunteers that dwindles down to less than 200 on the day(s) of the event, publicizing, talking to sponsors, dealing with bands and mercurial tempers and personalities, getting permits and local governments to come on board, chambers of commerce that don't necessarily see how 10,000 rodders, customizers, and their followers are going to help the local economy besides produce speeding tickets and noise violations, a bar or two that will see that bottom line and think only of it and not necessarily of the "free" promotion they're going to get for hosting your shindig..........

......AND: Then, think of the cars you didn't see at the Tenth Pile Up (or the other nine), or the Shakedown, or Torquefest, or any other show who make their maiden appearance at your gig. Think of the photos, the sights, the general feeling of walking around with fifteen people asking you twenty things and your back and legs and feet ache and still...you get to look around and maybe see a kid with his dad mooning over a Deuce or '60 Merc Monterey and you overhear that kid ask "Can WE do that?", and then the people you'll meet, the stories they'll share with you, the experience of talking to a bunch of Canadians who drove over 500 miles for your show, the feeling you'll get when some guy you never heard of PMs you and asks "How can I do something LIKE what you do (or did)?"....think of all that and then make the decision as to whether or not you want to put on a show INSPIRED by the Chrome Czars Hunnert Car Pile Up.

There have been a lot of guys over the past few years that smack talk the Pile Up and other shows and some of the clubs or groups that put them on. Some of you reading this are on that list. You whine and complain about some stupid little thing and make it huge....or worse, you don't wait to do it on the HAMB or the other boards, you take out whatever frustration you had on a show VOLUNTEER, a guy like YOU, who's GIVEN his or her time to GIVE you some extra validation for the hours in your garage pounding metal and busting knuckles. Instead of flapping your (virtual or real) wastegate about how something sucks, offer some decent constructive criticism and help out, do your bit to help yourself and your fellow car-junkies. There are governments and organizations all over the country trying to either inhibit or outright shut down our hobbies with classic cars (talk to Wisconsinites about that); we don't need division from within over "There aren't any trees" or "The show's so popular that I couldn't get in because I waited until 2:00 in the afternoon to show up."

Don't look at doing a show because you want to re-invent the wheel. Do it because you've got something to offer and you want to share it with the rest of us gear-heads, pedestrian or otherwise, and you want to give the community of car people one more place in the neighborhood to sit down and drink a beer with like minded people on a Saturday, do it because you were INSPIRED, as the Chrome Czars INSPIRED me personally to get into the community and the hobby and because of that INSPIRATION you want to give a little back.

Nothing else to say other than let the flaming begin....because on THIS board...someone has a blowtorch they're just itching to light me up with. Which is really frickin' sad.

 

Well said, Badkarma!

 

well said BadKarma....well said.
The Czars have put in ten years and want to "relax" a while and only do 1 event a year - The Hunnert Car Heads Up
REAL vintage drag racing at Union Grove WI in June.
So if you want a replacement show and wanna support the Czars - go to the Heads up.
Something tells me that they will be doing something else down the road.....
perhaps they will take a couple of years off - but these guys love this stuff and no matter what they come up with in the future we will be there to support it.
In the meantime -
why dont you go and support other events that were going on before the Pile Up like....The Cheaters show....or events that were obviously inspired by the Pile Up
like:
The Road Block
The Scrap Drive
Relix Riot
etc (you can see an entire season of independent shows/drag events in the midwest listed at www.independentsyndicate.com)

I heard it all weekend "Now there are no more good shows"
well - if you are only interested in high car count numbers - go to a good guys show.
If you want to drive your car to an event....hang out....have fun....meet new friends - catch up with old friends....
go to some of these other shows.
NO ONE will ever replace the Pile Up.
Czars rule and their Red Shirt Army have kicked ass and taken names.

 

I agree.

 

You want a cool location in that area? Just do the event in the downtown Clinton square. That place kinda had the look of Paso Robles and could easily be a great venue.[/QUOTE]


I agree