Event Coverage Thinking of Starting a HotRod event, What do I need to know?

5 years ago or so I organized a reliability run in the Kansas City area. Mainly club members but opened it up to HAMB friendly cars. I put it on for 2 years , then other things got in the way. I got the basics down with those two events but they were rather simple and small.
I would like to turn my new idea into something a little bigger that people would travel to attend.

 

'59 and older,there were some pretty damn cool looking cars up to that point in my opinion.No original cars,must have 2-3 or more mods.Where you located?I aint afraid to drive my 31 any distance,I like your idea.

 

If you don't outlaw my ride, I would be game for another cruise. Let me know when and where, and if it fits into my schedule, I'm ready. Gene

 

Me too! It’s kind of dead around here. I too do not like the “sit and stare California duster” shows.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Sounds like you have decided on the type of event and type of vehicle you want to have at the event.
It's your event you can be as selective as you want. You will not please everybody, don't try. I have been down this road and others.

• traditional, period correct are all argumentative terms based on who is doing the interpretation or arguing. I suggest stay away from that.
• have a year cut off.
• if you want a specific build style then use the equipment criteria, flathead, 4 banger, ohv pre 51 or?, steel wheels only, hubcaps ok, aluminum wheels?, axles, fenders, painted etc.
• invitation only?

Driving events are less complicated. Start point and finish points can be in public locations, parking lots, restaurants etc.

• scenic cruise
• poker run
• timed rally
• reliability run
• or?

I like no participant charge not much is no charge today, hope you can do it. Sponsors are good.

An event can never have enough help. Things come up that one didn't think of.

Yes, your liability as organizer is a concern, protect you, your family and business regardless of how big or small your vision. The proper attorney and your insurance agent should be able to help you or get you to someone that can.

Decide now if you want the event to grow. Most successful events begin planning for the next event the day after an event ends. Promotion, planning, promotion, planning, promotion.

There are small driving events, garage gatherings etc thru out Wisconsin. They don't show up on the HAMB because these events have a wider vision than the HAMB. Although their vision is wider, they are part of the rodder network and can spread info about your event, consider alerting these groups.

Contact HAMBer da dodge brother. He is a serious custom car guy and has been involved in central Wisconsin car events.

Your comment "the history of the Rodder's before us" is interesting. Do you mean the Rodders everywhere before us, locally or just a general reference?

Your local experienced source for events organization would be the organizers of Iola, Jefferson, Iron Invasion, HAMBer Rusty1, Cheaterama.

Personally, I prefer driving events that end up with enough time to park em and visit, meet new people etc.

Good luck with your efforts!!

Curt R

 

A few thoughts:
Expectations rise exponentially the further people travel to an event.
Someone mentioned sponsors. One of the 1st things a potential sponsor will want to see is your liability coverage.
Coffee (or cold drinks during the summer) and an abundance of facilities once the beverages have been 'processed.'
Destination: beyond enough room for everyone to park together, the destination should be attractive to family/significant others to make the day 'worthwhile' to non-car people.

 

This is similar to the All Deuce Run, the flyers were sent out and we all met on Saturday morning and a lot of guys were traveling long distances for a one day driving event.

We got up a 5 AM to drive to Charlotte. N.C. to met up at the starting destination and then started the run,before the day was over we had traveled a little over 600 miles and some had driven much further.

When Bill ask me to help with the run I used the opportunity to get all the early arrivals on Friday together for dinner at a local restaurant and find a motel headquarters, not living in the area I had a lot of help but our first Friday dinner and subsequent parking lot tire kicking has now become the norm.

Many local guys show up for the dinner on Friday also.

2019 will be our 19 year. HRP

 

Please do not let this post DIE!

 

I just took part in the annual poker run put on by the Aces CC is So Cal, so thought I would post with that fresh in mind.

First off, make sure the guy in front of the pack knows where he is going! At this poker run, the guy in front, in a 1st generation T-Bird, who I ***umed was with the club but apparently he is not, I guess he's just the guy who pulled up to the start line first, he didn't know where he was going and took off out of the park where we all met in the morning, going the wrong way! I thought it was strange, but figured they just wanted to lengthen the drive a little, so a couple dozen cars all followed this guy the wrong way for about a mile, when he finally figured out he was going the wrong way and had to make a 3 point u-turn. Nice. Everyone in line did the same thing. ****! OK, no big deal, it's just a mile or so, and it's a poker run, not a rally, so no biggie. We got back on the right route behind the 2nd half of the group.

Second, that same dude running in front was sssslllllooooooowwwwwwwwwwww............ ****. Boring. WTF????

What is a "realistic speed"? ****, these are hot rods, come on man, kick that thing in the *** and let's go. Finally, after about half of the run on 2-lane roads we hit a hill with a p***ing lane, I pulled into the p***ing lane and put my foot in it, and most everyone followed me as we blew past that t-bird. Enough is enough.

After we picked up our 4th card and started heading back to the meet up point for the 5th and final card I hooked up with a 32 roadster that wanted to run, and we made tracks. As I picked up speed he stuck right on my tail, even tried to p*** a couple of times, uh -uh, that aint gonna happen. We got back to the park and had some good laughs and shared a brew. We both had had enough of the parade speed and wanted to let the cars stretch their legs a little. Nothing crazy or foolish, just a good up tempo speed.

Lesson learned - let people run whatever speed they want. Have set meeting points, and then let the folks sort themselves out. The fast guys will hook up and run together, as will the slow cars. At the end of the run everyone has had their fun and it's all good. Don't try to enforce a speed limit. We're all adults.

 

???

 

I like the idea, I don't do many car shows or events that aren't swap meets, because Sunday morning lawn chair shows are pretty boring and I'm not interested in shows that are basically binge drinking with preferred parking either.

I feel like a little bit of compe***ion would be more fun than just a "cruise", keep it good natured but I can just go drive around anytime. I love the idea of not just being there, but doing something.

Also, I don't know that F&J and I would agree on a whole lot of things, but I fully agree 100% with what he posted here, really hit the nail on the head. The tighter the criteria rules are, the more special it is just to be a part of it. That's important when you want people to come from a great distance.

People ***** hard and loud about the TROG rules, but they get people from all around the world when your local parking lot show has a hard time pulling in 40 cars. That's because participating is more than just parking, and the barriers to entry make it a badge of honor to be in.

 

"Malcolm" on hamb puts one together in Omaha thats always great, everyone meet somewhere to start & get a map then you go at your own pace stopping at 4-5 different spots, then meeting at the end for a beer at a spot near the starting point.

 

This sounds about right to me.

 

I won’t let it die.
Thanks for all the input and ideas.

 

In between my day job and my kids activities I’ve continued to work through ideas and legal advice.
I just returned from the HotRod Hill Climb in Central City, Colorado (which I consider the best hot rod event in the US) and it really has me thinking the northern Midwest really needs an event that pulls from the history of the area and the pre-1955 era.

Curious if anyone knows if some of the abandoned drag strips mention in the link below are still recognizable?. (Not the obvious ones that are still operating every weekend in the summer).

https://dragstriplist.com/wisconsin







I have a couple ideas other than drag racing but we all know drag racing is at roots of hotrodding.