I went last year and the year before. To be honest, I didnt enjoy it at all. Bunch of rat rods, bad rockabilly bands (and I enjoy good rockabilly) and silly events.. I wouldnt drive more than 15 miles to go to it... Maybe it will be better this year?
anyone going? if so, be sure to take some pics and post here - if H.A.M.B. friendly. Grand Sierra good casino/hotel.
It's turned out to be a nice little show. Don't let the poster fool you, there are more cars like the red rat rod on the postcard than the Bel Air on the poster. All kinds of cars though, all makes, really nice people, great music, a really nice show. I definitely plan to make this a regular. I don't have a public page, I'll post photos in my album tomorrow after I make a Sunday morning visit.
Leo- are they charging? I was about to go, especially after hearing they were planning a swap area, but after years of disappointment at the lack of variety at Hot August Nights I'm reluctant to pay for a Reno show of any sort. Drove by a few times. In between burn outs once. Looked like 40 of so cars in the show area and lots of vendors.
Drove the '57 Fury up to the show last year, it was fun, but a tad on the expensive side. Charging admission for entries AND spectators seemed a bit excessive, IMHO. ---John
different,good varity of cars,kulture girls,enjoyable show,little spendy.but a good way to spend the day.will go agian in OCT.new location...take shade
$10 to walk in, $35 for the weekend for your car. I agree charging a spouse/gf extra is excessive, but I don't think $35 for 3 days is expensive. Not around here anyway. $3 beers, food was on the lower range of festival prices, several vendors onsite, the damn casino with a buffet is 100' from the parking lot and the rest of the town can be accessed without a re-entry fee, PLUS you can bring in your own coolers or bbq onsite. I don't know about what you all are used to, but I don't find those expensive, boot-on-the-neck rules for going to a show. It was smaller than I expected after Friday night, but then I went Saturday night and apparently whoever showed up during the day Saturday bailed by Saturday night. The bands were good that I heard, I didn't see the pin up contest and I didn't go to the burlesque show, so I can't say about that. The Swap Meet, was pretty meh, but that wasn't why I went. There is room, it wouldn't hurt to have more parts, but there was a guy with a huge new parts/tools set up that I thought was impressive. He had a LOT of stuff! The range of cars there was pretty wide, wider than I expected and as a local, I'm bored with the typical Hot August Night cars. There were a few, but you can't get away from them unless you refuse them entry. Maybe I'm old, but I had a good time, the several people I talked to local and out of the area, Oregon and many Californians, were all cool and happy to be there. It could be bigger, but people have got to show up, so it's in the participants' court. It's only the 3rd year, I'm not going to chuck the baby out with the bath water on the idea.
Here are some pics I took. I plan to upload more on an album in my profile tomorrow if anyone's still interested. The license plate I loved, it says, "I like IKE". Too cool!
What I meant by the last caption is, I'm uploading more photos to an album, you're welcome to check them out, but I'm still uploading the photos anyway.
Since there seems to be a group of locals who aren't happy with the show arrangements, there's nothing stopping them from getting together and putting on an event to put this one to shame and show everyone how it's done. It's not a killer show; I can say the people I spoke to from north of Baker, OR driving a recently purchased Pinto powered Model A pickup and another V8 powered, rear radiator rat rod drove 600 miles and didn't complain any that I heard and I parked next to them the 3 days. The family from the Bay Area who drove up in a 62 Chev lowered longroof enjoyed their first time to the show when I talked to him as he was going over his car before driving back home. The couple from Elk Grove who had a ratted 30's p/u and a drive in movie speaker mounted sound system and an old Shure Modern 55sh series microphone and stand as his floor shifter, this was his Father's Day present from his wife, coming up from Elk Grove and it was their 3rd time to the show. They had a good time Friday night at least when I spoke to him about his truck. I spoke to a guy in a larger group of Sac car owners, he was driving up a buddy's bagged '55 Packard Clipper Constellation. He didn't seem to mind coming up over the hill with someone else's ride to the show. A guy my age drove his daughter's '59 Dodge Coronet (that was a cool ride, I'll post photos of that one in the album), he had a good time he said. I spoke to a few people who had been to the show all three times, they seemed to keep coming back. It can be better it's not a perfect show, but it was fun, it was different and it's worth trying to grow or tell the promoters how to do it better. IMO.
Things would be different for me if I had a car to take, and had this not been my first Father's Day, as a father. Maybe next year. At the same time, next year might be my first for LARS. I struggled to reason the cost as we wouldn't be going for the music, pinups, burlesque, burnouts, etc., and I'll be working HAN all week this year, so I'll have my fill of other peoples cars in a hurry. Dropped out of the show scene after discouragement at the VW shows, and just getting back into it after a few years, so moderation is key.
The Jalopy Journal
