Over the years, I’ve attended thousands of “old car” shows. At the most prestigious of these events, eligibility rules are clear, consistent and cast in concrete. Meanwhile, at the bottom end, the cars on display have grown to include brand new Chevy trucks and late model imports. As long as it has four wheels, it’s in. What kind of twisted logic allows a post-millennium car or a brand new truck to qualify for a car show when some poor schmoe who put thousands of unpaid hours into his ’57 Ford has to park away from the show in a dusty parking lot? I know: times are tough. If you want to shoot ducks, go where the ducks are; the money’s in the mods. But once again, we’re looking at an auto-related industry where the relentless pursuit of short term gain threatens long term survival.
Commercially, the lack of temporal quality control is lethally short sighted. I know of one show that takes place in a small town of 5000 people that routinely brought hundreds of cars and tens of thousands of dollars into the community. Over the years, they had a few bad weather weekends. As classic car owners don’t like to risk their ragtops to the slings and arrows of outrageous hail, the weather “inspired” the organizers to lower the bar and raise the gate.
Suddenly, dramatically, you saw a shift in the show’s philosophy.
At first, the show dedicated a side street to newer mini-trucks and cars-with obscenely loud sound systems. The peaceful family affair was turned into a cheap carnival overnight with moronic, pounding crap loosely called music dominating the atmosphere. A formerly peaceful summer day, once a benign, positive celebration of the car, became yet another example of hi-tech audio torture.
Not to go all get off my lawn on you, but the change came complete with what’s called a punk-ass attitude. Hats were turned around or tipped to the side like Gomer Pyle’s at the gas station in Mayberry. We lost a car show and gained a hip-hop Woodstock.
Needless to say, the show fizzled. It’s now a fraction of its former size. The revenue dipped to catastrophic levels; turns out the“hats worn funny” guys with the hellish music turned up to 120 decibels don’t like to spend money on restaurants. Or hotels. The best they can do for the local economy: pick up a case of beer for the trip home.
The guys that used to go to this event set up show-and-shines closer to home where the greed factor isn’t an imperative. Something was lost at that point because the show in the small town was always unique. The town was full of old main street buildings that readily lent themselves to that trip down memory lane.
This trend continues to spread. And I’m not happy (in case you missed it). I don’t care if these new car drivers worked ten jobs and every holiday to pay for their tricked-out Accord or brand spanking new Silverado—they still have a bog standard vehicle, not a Boss 302. Come back when you restore a notchback ’66 Mustang with a three-speed manual and a six-cylinder motor. Or similar.
Enthusiasts who are living in new car world have shows every day of every week. They’re called dealer’s lots. Or parking lots outside the Higgly-Piggly. I know I speak for every car owner in the free world when I ask for a hard-line adherence to the 25-year rule. In other words, bring that 2009 Mustang back in 2034. Until then, leave it in the dusty parking lot outside the show because you haven’t paid any old car dues. You’ve simply taken on monthly payments for a soulless clone made out of 90 percent plastic. That hardly qualifies as earth-shaking (although the sound system might), and it leaves you outside the fence in the “real” old car world.
It’s an unarmed fence. But don’t be surprised if somebody snaps at some point and unloads a few rounds of 12-gauge buckshot into a Honda with a brutally loud sound system at a so-called old car show. I’m not advocating violence, but I am saying that when worlds collide, bad things happen. Alternatively, hopefully, a little dignity and respect go a long way.
[Read more of Mr. Sutherland’s work at mystarcollectorcar.com]
If you check out shows like:
– http://www.billetproof.com
– http://www.hunnertcarpileup.com
– http://www.lonestarroundup.com
You’ll see that there are some shows that are not ruined by new cars. Read their rules and see how strict they are. And let me tell you, they ARE strict when you get to the gate.
The great Woodward Cruise event (a.k.a.. The Redneck Traffic Jam) gets ruined every year not just by new cars, but minivans full families, tons of people piled in back of average pickup trucks, tons of rented late model V6 Mustangs, and the handful of people with bible verses painted on sheets of plywood screwed to their cars (just to name a few). It’s so bad that the cool cars refuse to cruise anywhere. You sit in your car, can’t move, and just wait for it to overheat. The cruise-worthy cars (new or old) are far and few.
I agree, I don’t care to see tricked out new cars mixed in with classics, and especially at classic car shows. I married into a family with a collection of original Mopars among others. I recall at one Mopar show and shine a guy that looked like he walked off the golf course parked his new Crossfire along with the classics to show it off, which as said we could all go to a new car lot to see one! The owner was rightly not welcomed by the other car owners that many had put countless hours into restoring their classics.
At another show of classic Mopars, the local Neon club showed up as well. No one, I mean no one was walking around the 20 plus Neons.
Then at the last World of Wheels I attended, they mostly had the classics separated from the tricked out whatever, but not well enough. Again the classics are really what received all of the interest. In fact my father-in-law has been invited for the last two years to show off several of his rare Mopars at new car shows, which IMHO says a lot.
Jim,
OK, this old fart will take your thoughts one step further: Get the street rods out of the antique car shows!
I started in the old car hobby at age 18 (1968), driving a 1937 Buick Special two-door my father gave me as a high school graduation gift. Helped begin the AACA chapter in my home town, and spent the next ten years doing every antique show in western PA I could manage.
Back then, things were really different. If you restored an old car, you restored it to factory original. Yeah, there were a few street rods out there, but they definitely weren’t welcome at the antique shows. The usual opinion back then was, “the car is worth what the engine’s worth, the rest is ruined junk.”
Somewhere in the mid-70’s that attitude started to change. Maybe there’s some correlation that “American Graffiti” came out at the same time, but suddenly nobody was willing to restore a car anymore to factory spec. At the very least, they had to have Cragar mags or Moon wheel covers or something that made them look like a fugitive from an idealized version of a 50’s cruise night fantasy.
And from there it got worse. OK, I could put up with hot-rodded Fords, I can appreciate a Little Deuce Coupe just as much as any other Beach Boys Fan. But suddenly you’re seeing a 33 Hupmobile with a 350 Chevy in it – no, I’m not joking, I remember one up for sale in a car publication. As if we’re exactly overrun with surviving Hupmobiles. Thank God Deusenbergs are way too valuable to drop in a Cleveland, because some idiot would try to do it.
Nowadays, the only place you find an antique show with cars restored to complete originality are the uber-buck places like Pebble Beach. And they’re not exactly restoring ’36 Plymouths.
I definitely agree with you on the 25 year limit, and if the modern crowd wants to show off their latest, let them go develop their own shows. After ten years of the car hobby, my allegiance shifted to vintage motorcycles, primarily British/European shows, with some playing in the vintage American scene. And here, we’re not talking raked out choppers, we’re talking what was built back then. Factory stock, cafe racers, early bobbers. No modern interpretations, please.
I will make one exception to the above: Vintage hot rods (I’ve already mentioned the bike equivalent). As in, a ’52 Ford with the original style flathead, restored to the original style of how a hot rod was built back then, including paint colors, wheels, etc.
Yeah, I’m old and cranky. And don’t get me started on issuing vintage plates, insurance, lessened restrictions to a hot rodded whatever with a completely modern drivetrain.
Oh yeah, I detest “American Graffiti”.
Speaking of 25 years, the government has recently introduced a program that will keep at least some less-than-25-year-old cars out of classic car shows.
Unfortunately the 18 mpg cut off isn’t going to get rid of the ricer civics.
By the way, thank god cars older than 25 years don’t qualify for cash for clunkers.
Bravo. Boy racer, leave your JDM Type-R Civic at home, or take it to Import Night at the local dragstrip. If I’m out to see somebody’s restored Starlight Coupe, I don’t give a damn about your Honda. Same goes for the guy in the 2002 WS6 Trans Am. I know it’s a musclecar show, and yes I’m there to see musclecars, but I want to see classic muscle. That bad ass ’70 455 SD is what I want to see, or maybe that ’65 Tri-Power GTO. Your 7 year old plastic-paneled car that looks like thousands of others on the street is not worth my price of admission. I could easily have seen your car at the used car lot down the street, or in the parking lot at the local tattoo parlor. Classic car shows are for classics. There are plenty of other car shows for everything else.
One other car show phenomenon that makes me insane is when I go to a lowrider show (yes, I rather enjoy them, thanks) and see the 4 color, primered ’84 Regal on buy one get 3 free wire wheels parked right next to the beautifully painted, chromed, upholstered, and detailed ’65 Impala sitting on 100 spoke Daytons. Please leave your car in the parking lot until it’s finished. Thanks.
Sorry, must disagree.
If you are in the NYC area, the best car show I have ever been to is every Wednesday night during the summer at Harriman State Park. A plus is that you have to drive on some of the Hudson Valley’s nicest roads to get there.
You’ll see everything, from a perfect new ZR-1 (I do wish I could buy a factory supercharged vette, but alas) to riced-out Hondas.
Every vintage musclecar, ranging from ratty and proud to perfect and undriven with mirrors so you can see the clean bottom.
Many of my personal favorites, the big two door convertibles of the 60’s. Fancy nameplate not required-seats six, everyone rides !
A row of Ferraris, new and old. The infamous Ford Pantera…next to a new Ford GT.
Rows and rows of motorcycles, RD 350 to Ducati, with cruisers, choppers and classics. Old and New.
The owners are all happy to talk about their cars. No stiffies, no anal-retents dissing anyone for having 1968 headlamps on a 1966 car. A very family crowd, all there for fun.
The show normally goes 6-8 pm. Bonus points are for those who sit on the picnic tables along the entrance road with a cold brew or other bev of choice and watch all of this stuff brap, burble and thrumm on the way in and out.
No, you don’t go here to get 100 points on your resto of a 1959 Corvette, and you won’t confuse the crowd with Pebble Beach, but if you want to have some high quality hang time with real enthusiasts, this is the place. The clean 427 vette with tri power. The almost perfect 59 caddy convert with the huge wings and dagmars.
A vintage CB750 with the OE four chrome pipes. The Benelli Sei, the copy of this bike with two extra cylinders. Harley based sport bikes that cost more than most of the cars. It just goes on and on like every car and cycle magazine I’d ever read tossed in a pile but real.
Agreed. I have no interest in seeing an ’02 Civic with a 10-kilowatt sound system and a big muffler.
I’d rather see an old MG, a restored Gremlin, a 6-pack Charger, a chromed Cougar, or a convertible Cadillac with a 502 big-block.
When does a car become worthy to be in a local car show?
Is a 1986 Grand National good enough?
What about a 1992 Chevrolet 454 SS?
1996 Corvette Grand Sport?
1975 Charger?
2002 Mercury Marauder?
What about a brand new kit car made to look like a classic Shelby?
Personally, I’d rather have some variety at a show than be stuck looking at the 2000th ’68 Mustang or fake ’69 Z/28 of the day.
If someone has got their music up too loud, why not simply ask the person to lower the volume or go complain to an organizer?
Yay, Jim. I’ve notice this trend too. It is less a problem at some of the bigger shows, but it’s creeping in. The last time I went to a big Mopar show there was a Dodge Stealth in the show. It’s main, and only, claim to fame was a metallic yellow paint job and polished engine bits.
But yes, the local cruise nights are taking a real beating. The one in Mississauga is slowly being overrun by late gen cars with some go fast bits slapped on.
The only pure show I know is a local show held every Monday in a nearby Church lot. The cars are no more recent than early 70s muscle, there are precious few hot rods. Just 100-200 impeccably restored classics (including some real rarities, like the black coffin-nosed Cord that showed up once).
The rule should be ’74 or older (that allows you to get the last E-bodies and Super Duty Trans Ams).
And, yes, please…no more 350 Chevies. Unless it’s a Chevy. And even then find a 327 or even a 283 for a change. I know they are harder to find but come on.
My tastes in cars are pretty eclectic, and I find it easy to simply walk by the relatively few cars that for whatever reason don’t interest me. And, to stay away from the section of the show where all the self-propelled portable stereos are.
I’ve seen interesting ideas for graphics or flames, new-to-me taillights or grilles on custom cars, weird engine swaps (try a rear-mounted Tempo V6 in a Civic hatchback), etc, etc.
And, when I go to an old-car swap meet, I park way out in the lot, so I can walk by as many interesting cars as possible on the way to the gate.
While I love just about everything with wheels, I APPRECIATE some cars much more than others.
Look; I had a 1962 1/2 Corvair Monza convertible (first 1/2 year of production). Driving the car around Michigan got to be so – literally – terrifying, that I sold it. Drivers here are imbeciles (and that is putting it politely). Almost nobody stops at stop signs on side roads any more – unless they see they’re liable to get squashed flat by a semi. For everyone else “BRAKE TEST!”
In a Corvair, the “collapsible steering column” is known – as a sternum. 9″ drum brakes, single circuit hydraulics, swing axles, rear weight bias, terrible engineering…. I could go on.
So instead, to protect my life and my wife, I got a 1993 BMW 740iL as my “new toy”.
Now, I don’t expect to actually take it to car shows for another 8 1/2 years, at least to show it. I’m going to do a light sympathetic restoration and repaint in about two or three years (when funds allow). I started out with hopefully good “bones” (a genuine Florida car, galvanized). It’s not “just what I wanted” but it’s at least something to enjoy and have fun with. I “could have” gotten the 1990’s BMW 850 vee twelve coupe I really wanted… but this would have meant going into debt for “a toy” on which I will be spending money later, anyway. Pass. Paid cash.
Buying early 1990’s oddball stuff (at the nadir of the depreciation curve) might be a good plan, especially given the cash for clunkers which is going to remove many similar cars from future consideration as collectibles (as in “removing them from existance” – though they may return as Chinese toasters, microwaves, or cars…)
At old car shows, what are my preferences, personally? I like 1950’s through 1970’s “independents” and foreign cars.
I’ve seen tens of thousands of Mustangs, tri-five Chevies, tricked out GTOs and “tribute” Malibu SS 396’s which started out as secretary’s six cylinder cars, etc.
I also enjoy pre-war stuff.
Virtually EVERY SINGLE “special” car you see at car shows, post-restoration, were “used clunkers” at some time between when you could have seen it brand new in the dealer, and the current day.
Pre-war Duesenbergs were dirt-cheap after World War II, as were Cords, Packards, Pierce-Arrows, etc.
Hemi-Cudas and other similar now-super-high dollar muscle cars from the 1960’s and early 1970’s were dirt cheap in the fuel crisis days of 1973-1980.
I think you are confusing two different types of shows here.
True classic car shows do have rules, requirements, and actual judging. These, unfortunately are few and far between.
More common (and what you appear to be decrying) is what I call the cruise-in. These are come all takers, and frequently do not even have the pretense of an actual show (e.g. no categories and judges).
Both types of shows have their place, and I personally enjoy them both. While I enjoy seeing meticulously restored AACA quality vintage rides, I also enjoy the eclectic mix and more relaxed atmosphere of the Saturday night cruise-in.
I’m an old school BMW enthusiast, I also like any old car, pre- 1970. Restored to original, hotrods not so much. Around here,MA, there are events every weekend. I can pick and choose what I want to see. Thanks to the internet, I can get details and directions to help me decide.
Cars are art, not every artwork is to my taste.
A certain amount of overlap keeps me exposed to wider possibilities. This is how I discovered pre-war Alfas. Bee-yoot-ti-full
There is nothing wrong with car shows that focus on either new, old, stock or modified cars. However, like film fans that insist that any worthwhile movie has to be in black and white, I invite everyone to extend their love of four and two wheeled transportation and feast from all parts of the automotive smorgasbord.
Syke: +1. If I go to another old car event and see one more hot-rodded non-Chevrolet with a Chevy small block engine I’m going to retch. This is going to make me a bulemic because they are all over. You wanna hot rod your 47 Dodge? Put a built LA in it. Not my cup of tea, but it’s your car. Ditto a 302 or 351 into that 39 Ford. But, if you don’t like Ford or Mopar engines enough to have one in your car, THEN HOT ROD A DAMNED CHEVY! Sorry to yell, but those kids have been on my lawn all morning.
My second grumble is the pack mentality that has infected the hobby. 20 yrs ago, it was 55-57 chevys everywhere. Ditto old Corvettes. Then Mustangs. Now Mopar B bodies. Now I like these cars as well as the next guys (the Mopars in particular) but why are there no Kaisers, Hupps, Auburns, Packards, or Lincoln Zephyrs out there. The last car show I went to, I fell in love with a drop dead original 56 Studebaker President sedan. It was not beautiful, but when was the last time you saw one at all, let alone one that had managed to largely avoid the aging process of normal use. I guess it is too many people re-living youth and not enough who really appreciate rare old machines.
I am going to be the second commenter, I think, to disagree with you folks.
I like to see a variety at my car shows. I like a 69 Camaro Z28. I like a 70s Countach or BMW 2002. I like an 80s 911 turbo, or a 90s Acura NSX. My preference is to not see 50 nearly identical cars at any gathering. I want to see what someone did with their Honda as well as their Mustang.
The reason that the old school shows are dying off is that their main audience is aging and dying off. The new generation of car enthusiasts, probably the majority of car enthusiasts now, likes the newer sheet metal.
Think about it – how often do you see a car show for Model T era cars?
This story is as old as the AACA definition of a Classic Car (capital “C”). It separated the haves from the have-nots in the collector car world.
I’ve been to Pebble Beach. Beautiful cars and stuffy people. There are strict standards there, and everybody knows and plays by the rules.
I also know the small local shows. Nice cars, you might see a 95-point car once in a while, but no 100 pointers.
Then there are the Ford Model A Club meets that have strict and published guidelines as well as an apprentice system for training judges. This is a very good system and their shows are well attended.
One solution that seems to work is dividing the field into a 25-or-older section and a newer section.
The reason the middle of the show scene has dropped out is because the fans are aging and shows are harder to do. I know many enthusiasts who simply don’t go to shows anymore. It’s too much effort when you’re in your seventies. These folks are collectors/restorers of Brass-era vehicles, 1930s-1950s Mercedes-Benzes, 1950s-1960s British sportscars, and many others. They still toy with their cars, but the shows are just too much work.
The question is whether the hobby survives the handoff from these collectors to the next generation. I’d love to have a Brass-Era car, but I’m loathe to sacrifice garage space to a vehicle I can’t take to the grocery story or for an dinner out.
I have to “sorta agree” with findude here, but I think it depends on the area of the country you are in. Our local AACA group just had a “steak fry” yesterday at one of the local parks. About 75 cars showed up …. including a ’06 Caddy, Ford Model N, a couple of 20’s Chevys, a ’23 Caddy plus the usual assortment of other interesting vehicles. This group tends to average about 65 years old … or older … but at the steak fry their younger kids seemed to be present. OK, maybe 40ish isn’t young, but it looks like their kids might just keep it going, and that’s an important aspect of the hobby. Get your kids (or grand kids … there were lots of them around too!!!) interested in your love of the older stock, and just maybe we’ll still be seeing and showing those ’06 Caddys in 2056. What was also fun about the event was that you could see the old stuff being driven with the grandparents and grandkids in them, grinning from ear to ear.
Now, I also attend our “Back to the 50’s” show that draws over 12,000 cars and around 150,000 spectators. Nothing newer than 1964. The number of young kids there, both as spectators and participants, has been growing every year. Nothing like seeing a 25 year old guy with his chopped and channeled ’50 Merc. So, I do believe that the hobby will survive into the next generation.
BTW, along with the ’63 Dodge, I also have a ’98 Firebird. I just don’t take them both to the same shows!!!
It’s kind of drag going to the Lotus club gathering and seeing so many Esprits and Elise.
The problem written about in the editorial above is not one of new vrs old cars. The problem is the clash of incompatible cultures.
Perhaps your car show isn’t clear enough communicating what it is trying to be if it is attracting such an eclectic crowd. If this mixture of crowd is actually killing the show then you have a serious branding problem.
Fortunately, some standards are being upheld. The Minnesota Street Rod Association (MSRA) holds their Back to the 50s weekend each June on the grounds of the Minnesota State Fair. The MSRA enforces a strict pre-1964 rule to keep the show from being overrun with muscle cars (even 1964 1/2 Mustangs are banned), and they’ve been drawing over 12,000 cars for a number of years now, including this year despite my own fears that attendance would be down due to the economy.
I would like to go to one classic car show where no muscle cars are present. Just old, big cars.
Jordan,
Mark your calendar for June 18-20 2010 and make your way up to the Twin Cities. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Addendum to my original comment:
Shortly after writing my missive, I took off to go look at a ’87 Porsche 924S – it’s within my price range, not too bad a shape, drives nice, and the negatives are easily fixable – assuming we can agree on a price. (If not, it’s back to hunting first generation Miatas.)
And if I do buy it, it’s sure not going to see a car/vintage show before 2012.
Yeah, I’m spoiled from the old days, when vintage was vintage. My first antique show was going to an Auburn-Cord-Dusenberg show in Harrisburg, driven down in an ex-employee of my father’s Cord 810, back in ’68.
And while at the show, a buddy of his allowed me behind the wheel of his Model J Dusenberg out on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. And chided me at first for not being willing to pass the general traffic flow. Of course I nailed it.
Yeah, I’ve been spoiled. And my standards are high.
jpcavanaugh:
Oh yeah, does anyone who builds a street rod nowadays have the ability to drive a manual transmission? I’m sick of all the automatics.
I try to support and be thankful for anyone that’s an auto enthusiast. There are a lot of different shows around my area in Massachusetts and you can pick your theme. Some of the best are at the Anderson Museum where they have a different theme or nationality for each of their shows.
I remember attending Ferrari gatherings as a kid and hearing a V-12 owner grumbling about the Dino owners being there. “They’re not Ferraris!” I don’t know if he was kidding or not. Those Dinos are probably worth more than some of their cars today. I wonder if the new America owners will run into the same issues. Come to think of it, I’ve think I remember the same sort of remarks about the 924 and the Boxster – although not at a show.
You know, I’ve been to a lot of shows and can say that it really falls into three categories. Those who love vintage cars, those who love showing what their money can do, and those who are a bit of both. I prefer the former group no matter the car. I will take a cherry ’89 911 or ’85 rx-7 over a fiberglass ’32 streetrod or a ricer anyday. The reason being is that in either case, while the car may be nice, I just don’t get the feeling that the owner really respects the car and is in it to own such a vehicle. It is more about having others see his/her bling. Whereas even an everyday classic that is less than 25 years old elicits a grin because the guy “get it.” Pebble beach is a bit of both. The cars are amazing, but many are there to have the most expensive whatever.
Recently, I was visiting my uncle of the beaten path in Stony Brook, NY and ran into a European Car show a few blocks away. The brief visit I had left me with a happier feeling than any of the hotrod/streetrod/ricer shows. Just people enjoying a bit of history as their own rather than trying to prove something. More charm in tha tshow than any high priced opulence mobile.
nathaniel +1
Also to address the editorial’s point about the spending habits of the old-car versus the newer car crowd…the family that can easily afford a well restored, low-mileage hobby car that is most likely their 3rd, 4th or even 5th vehicle in their household, usually has a lot more freed-up cash to spend going to an event than the guy or gal who has every extra penny they can afford into fixing up their daily driver…no matter how nice it may be. It’s not so much about the year of the cars, but about the wealth and spending habits of the different owners.
Corporate sponsors ruin carshows too.
I like the number and variety of cars at the Woodward Dream Cruise, even some of the oddly-modified newer cars. The last time I went, there was an official stage at the corner of Woodward and Maple for Saturn?! They were giving away 1:18 scale models of the Saturn Vue?! The whole Saturn presence really did not fit in among all the interesting older cars proudly displayed by their owners.
Saturn was not the only corporate parasite sucking the fun out of the show. Every manufacturer was trying to use nostalgia to advertise their new blandmobiles. Jaguar X-types next to Jaguar E-types?! The new Transformers Camaro next to a ’69 Camaro?! PT Cruiser?! FJ Cruiser?!
There was a Land Rover dealer with a setup across the street from the Saturns. They used new Land Rovers to smash some little Saturn Vue models.
I don’t go to the Dream Cruise anymore.
I don’t know if I can agree with the editorial or not.
I went to a low rider show in Grand Rapids a few months ago, and the music was so loud my bone marrow was vibrating (can’t be good) – but hell, it was a low rider show, so I guess I should have foreseen that.
OTOH, if I go to one more rod show, and hear “Rock around the clock” one more time, I’m going to puke on the nearest tuck and roll job. Show me the cars, but I don’t need hear ’50s R&R. Did that in the 70s. Still have the American Graffiti Tee Shirt.
’60s rock is a little better, but not much. We’re all getting really tired of that too.
I would like to go to a car show with a restored Citroen DS and crank up the Dave Brubeck. Or with a restored ’50s PU and crank up the Kitty Wells. There was more going on in the ’50s than just that moronic R&R crap.
IMO muscle cars should be segregated in their own shows. The last Oldsmobile show I went to had some CDOs, a Limited, a few models from the 30s and 40s, a dozen or so from the 50s and then acre after acre of Cutlas/442s. I didn’t feel like a car show, it felt like I’d died and gone to Lansing circa 1972. OK, just my own bias – don’t like muscle cars, not even if they are made by Olds.
Generally though, variety is good. I can appreciate a well restored Model A, and also appreciate a rat rod.
Syke: Agreed. And also all the late model steering wheels on tilt steering columns.
Dynamic 88: I agree with you on the music. Frank Sinatra sold more music in the 50s than nearly everyone but Elvis, but you never hear him at car shows. I know – lets put on a show where the rule is that the car had to cost $4000 or more new before 1965. Then its Basie and Sinatra on the PA, and we sell cigarettes and martinis at the concession stand :)
The one thing I’d like to see go away at the car shows I attend are the little stuffed “ragdoll children” that are placed against the car face first like they are playing hide and seek. WTF is that all about? Enough already – I saw the first one over 12 years ago and now everyone has copied it – come up with an original idea already. I’m also tired of all the GTOs with a tiger tail sticking out of the closed trunk…we get it…now stop it.
mcs
I remember attending Ferrari gatherings as a kid and hearing a V-12 owner grumbling about the Dino owners being there. “They’re not Ferraris!”
I was at the Rolls Royce Owners Club annual meet where there were over 1,200 RR & Bentleys in attendance and overheard a gentleman refer to the new Phantom as “a Hummer in a tux”.
I fully agree with the sentiment that new cars shouldn’t be allowed into classic car shows. There’s a huge two-day annual car show and swapmeet near where I live. One year they actually turned my car away because the showfield was full. They have since relocated to a new venue a bit further out of town with a larger field. If the weather is good, you can always guarantee a huge turnout.
When I arrived this year, I was parked next to a new Challenger which appeared to be bone-stock. My first thought was, “Who let this poser in?”. Then I remembered that they started letting new cars in for one of the days. Yawn.
The all-Mopar shows that I frequent allow all Mopar vehicles in, regardless of age. The biggest one requests that vehicles 1987 and newer must be customized in some way. I think they’re pretty lenient on that point, so I expect to see some new Challengers with a “custom pinetree air freshener” on the field. They also have some big doorprizes that are only open to entrants with 1986 and older vehicles.
Wheeljack: +1 !!! I don’t know what’s the point of those stuffed “crying children” or whatever they’re supposed to be doing. It’s a car show, not a craft show. I’ve always wondered how far one of those would fly if you kicked it.
If it’s a classic car show, I agree, it should be old cars. I much prefer things like Cars & Coffee, where I can get a mix of rare cars (real Cobra 427, ’50s Porsches, ’30s Rolls Royces) and new factory hot rods (ZR1, Carrera GTs, Bugatti Veyron, Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, latest Ferrari, etc.). I guess this Gen-Xer is too young for the get off my lawn stage.
FYI, I’m 35. Depending on whose definition you use, I’m either a late Gen-X’er or in between Gen-X any Gen-Y, but I don’t feel a strong association with either group.
Check out the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
http://www.pvgp.org/pvgp/site/default.asp
There are a ton of modern cars mixed in with the old ones, typically organized by country, but no one is blaring music. There are just a lot of cars and the oldies are the stars. The vintage racing is great, and it has to be the most family friendly event in the world.
This is going to make me seem very curmudgeonly, how about no fiberglass repros of any kind?
Ah yes, those darling stuffed children… Mike66Chryslers if you go to Moparfest, there’s plenty of opportunity to see how far you can punt one. I will be your lookout.
Not as common, but equally annoying…everyone with a 57-59 Plymouth has a vanity plate that is some variation of ‘Christine’ and usually has a copy of Stephen King’s book on their dash. Hmm what else…anything having to do with Garfield (and this coming from a cat lover). I could go on.
I date to say this but this sounds like generational whining to me. Its that boomer versus gen X versus gen Y thing regurgitated again.
Everything after 19XX is not worthy of being a cool car. I enjoy seeing cars of all different years. I appreciated custom street rods of the Chip Foose variet, restored muscle cars and current cars that have been customized.
Realize that for gen X & Y muscle cars where just old beat up cars you bought for a pittance to drive to death. We never saw nor remember these cars in their hey day so do not have the scentimental attachment to them that the boomers have.
A Chevelle SS 396 was just a big old sedan that slurped lots of gas ;) .
This same attitude is the reason that Classic Rock stations survive. You mean music stopped being played after 1975? :) – rock died. Of course not than lets just adopt and accept that some new things are good too.
@tincanman99: I’m guessing from your comments that you don’t actually attend car shows. I must disagree with you. I see people of all ages driving into car shows with their classic cars, although younger people are much more likely to show-up in a custom, hotrod, ponycar or muscle car than a fully restored vehicle from the mid-50s or prior.
I don’t know how old Mr.Sutherland is, but I’m no Boomer and I don’t want to have to step around a bunch of new cars to see the good stuff at a show. One of my coworkers, who’s even younger than I am, is currently shopping for a 1st gen Riviera to park in his garage. Another picked-up a nice Cutlass last year.
If you look to the west coast, it’s young guys that are driving the “old skool” and rat rod scene. As someone already commented, some of their shows have strict year rules (1964 and prior) to stop cars from the muscle car era from entering. My guess is that they were specifically looking to exclude the Mustang***, since the first year for the GTO was 1964.
***Based on their VINs, the first model year for the Mustang was 1965. Mustang was unveiled to the public before the official start of MY1965, so Mustang enthusiasts refer to the early ones as MY1964 1/2.