This was our first Roundup, and just another reason why we are glad we moved to Texas. Thanks to everyone who came by our booth and said hi to the wife and I. ................and Ryan thanks for giving us a opportunity to take care of buisness
This was my first show and I saw the rain Friday, I thought ahh hell, my first roundup and its going to rain. Much to my surprise, the show was awesome. Friday was great dispite the rain and Saturday was absolutely kick ass. The whole parking lot was filled with hot rods and customs. This definitly won't be my last trip to the roundup. Thanks Ryan for a great story as well.
This was my first year to attend , and I'll never miss another one. I'll definately have my Riviera there next year , finished.
Wow! 4 days of non stop fun!! Thanks to everyone for everything. I totally agree about Friday, crappy rainy day turned into one of the best Roundup days ever. Steve and the Kontinentals just have a way of making everything great. Norm & Reggie did a great job with the swap meet. I was broke by noon! Really good to see you and Marcie, all of our out of state HAMB friends we get to see twice a year as well as the ones from Texas we see more often. I missed the meet & greet because my phone battery died, no alarm. Ken & Vickie make awesome smoothies! Thanks to Jason & Whitney for a great Sunday afternoon. Nice to end the weekend half way home!
Well I am probably making a mistake because I know I will forget to thank someone but here goes. These are not in any certain order but just as they come to mind. First off we made our way over to Reggies for some BBQ. This is not your ordinary BBQ. It is so good you will want to slap yo mama. You can miss alot of things in Austin but what ever you do, dont miss Reggies BBQ. Second Billy Merker for having everyone over for thirsty thursdays. This guys garage will make some museams look like kids stuff. Had a great time Billy. Third. I dont think I ever had this much fun in the rain. Thanks to Mark and the donut gang for putting on the garage crawl. Its neat to see other personal garages and shops in different parts of the country. I cant believe the amount of shops in the Austin area and the people that support them. It has to be a large hot rod community. Fourth. We finally got to the expo center on friday afternoon and checked out the swap meet. Thanks Norm and Reggie for all the hard work. All I can say is Good Stuff. Me and my buddy were walking around lookin at the cars in the dry covered building when all of a sudden I hear this guy playing his gutair with his band. I told my buddy that sounds like Jimmy Vaughn but I must be dreamin. We walked a little further and told him I got to go see if that is JV. Sure nuff, It was the MAN!!! You talk about givvin you the chills. This guy would make dead man tap his foot. I mean you cant stand still. Saturday. Finally the rain slacked off a bit so we went to the car wash and cleaned our cars the best we could and got to the EXPO center. I was dryin off the Riv and who walks by but the the other "main man". Mr Ryan himself. Thanks Ryan for the kind words and a great web sight. It was good to put a face with a name. Soon after that I walked up to the Riv to get my camera and this guy was checkin it out. He started asking some questions and I introduced my self. I had to pull it out of him but finally asked him who he was. You will never guess. It was Rod Powell. You couldnt ask for a nicer and more sincere guy. Turns out we had a lot in common. Thanks Rod for the compliments and the award. On Saturday afternoon I did it again. I missed the meet & greet. Time just got away, but I did get to meet a lot of HAMBERS. There again it was good to put faces with names. After that I got to meet the great Steve Wertheimer. What a great guy. He and the rest of the Kontinentals really put on a great show. Thanks for the hard work. Sunday Got to go to the Ski Shores resort. Enjoyed a great burger but better that that Rod Powell introduced me to Jimmy Vaughn. If standin between those two guys dont give you the chills you aint breathin. What a great weekend it was and thanks to everyone who had a hand in it. Rick
This show is on my must do list! I've become kind of burned out on the whole car show thing, but this seems like so much more than just a car show! Hopefully next year. Right now, too many home improvement projects. Sometimes life just gets in the way, but that can be a good thing......
The show was very cool on Friday I personally loved it,Congress as usual is a show on wheels with all the action and people and of course the cars.I couldn't stay as long as last year but had a blast while I was there.Can't wait for next year and a big thanks to everyone involved with the show ( vendors,clubs and good people ) the atmosphere is always laid back and enjoyable you guys make the roundup what it is....!!
The Perfect Storm, indeed. Complete with JV jammin' under a tin roof in the rain!Sounds like I really missed a special weekend. Congrats to all who made it...
Had an awesome time, will be back next year but driving for sure. I wanna thank Piero, Mr.ford, and all the guys at a.s.s for being more than hospitable.Also JAde IDol slays face.
My first Roundup. Flew in from Vegas on Thursday for the bad weather, but by Saturday, things were very nice. The show was awesome. Somehow I missed the meet n greet, but had a great time. Sure thing for next year.
I'll tell you what. When Squeak Bell pulled outta my place here in Tucson on Thursday morning heading for Austin it just about killed me. I wanted to jump in the 29 and just blow off work. But the reality of the situation took over. I will make it next year with bells on for sure. I am so glad Ryan that you chose Squeak's coupe. Bitchin' is the word. Just another note. Lowsquire from Australia was with him and he is a great guy. Fun having him to entertain as well. Vaphead will be seeing him in Denver this week. Next year I want sun for four days please and ZZ Top if El Jefe can work that out.--------- Curbspeed
I had a great time....as usual! I finished the coupe enough to bring it down this year.. Finally! The rain did make it difficult, but hanging out under the barn was a blast! Ryan, good to finally meet you in person! Next year I'm going to make sure I stay through Sunday so I can do the Ski Shores thing.
I owe an apology. I'm not a dick, and if you saw my truck and never saw me, or I never found you or talked to you. I am SO SORRY! I have made 1 outside of Houston car show the past two years, that right one, uno. And Roundup is it. Between work, my race schedule, and family the past two years we have literally trailered up in the weeeeeee hours of Saturday morning and then hauled ass late Saturday night back to Houston. This was my 6th Roundup and 5th with a vehicle there. I miss the Thursday/Friday nights on S. Congress, Friday shop crawl, and Saturday night at ASS, then Sunday at Flyrite. I could care less if we were hanging out in a parking lot looking at piles of horse shit, rat turd rods, or the best kustoms and rods in the world all in one place. Its all about the people. You all are just good people. I miss hanging out with Blake since he moved to Austin, drinking beer with D.W., Eating BBQ with Norwell, and Flat Top Bob. The Santa jokes for Big Ken, and Bob K. Marcy, and Marci, Ryan, the Continentals. Jard, Sean J., Reggie, the cornpone from Illinois, I know Luke Decurio was there somewhere but never saw him. John Collins, Bruce and Danny Burroughs, the Danny, Rusty and Danielle. Obviously missing hundreds, but the people make that show what it is. I do have a suggestion, rain or shine, kick everyone out of the barn unless they have a roadster. The low light, dirt, and dust, just sucked the life out of the event. Just my opinion from the 7 hours I was there on Saturday.
I missed you too... Oh but man, do I love that barn... I loved the cars in it, loved the people in it, loved the band in it (sounded so much better), but most of all loved vending in it.
Ryan, Loved your narrative especially the part about Friday. It echoed what had been going through my mind the last few days while my wife and I recovered in Port Aransas. A great way to rehab from the intensity that is the LSR and I think that is our new tradition--half a week in Austin--half a week at the beach! Back in Dallas now, back to reality, but wanted to share some of my observations from Funday Friday. I forgot how large the Arena was and sitting in the hotel watching it rain that morning I figured nothing was going on out there. However our friend, sax man Greg Piccolo, had flown down from Connecticut to play with Jimmy and we wanted to talk with him so we headed out for a sure washout...instead we lucked into what Will told you...The Koolest Kar Show ever! I would point out that JVs' musical pals included a full horn section, a Hammond B-3, a StandUp Bass, and the husky vocals of Miss LouAnn Barton...more than enough to drown out the wall of water coming off the roof but not too loud you could not still talk to people. Folks that were not there need to understand-you can see the water-the sides of the Arena are open-it's like you are at a car show behind a waterfall...and the sounds of the occasional hot rod firing up just made it the most surreal experience you can imagine! The quality of the die-hards' cars lining the paved and un-paved floor was so incredible that you never tired of heading down another row to check 'em out again! Thanks to everyone that posted pix of them--I was too caught up in the moment to pull my camera out. Ryan, you probably noticed, and my wife pointed it out to me, but there were scores of children playing in the dirt in the center of the arena having the times of their lives. They did not even know or care it was raining! It was a true family event. The vibe in the air was absolutely intoxicating and by the time I saw Steve W I was raving about how awesome it was. "Comfy, isn't it?", he said. A great adjective, but I prefer Magical. Like you said, you can't plan this stuff, you just have to be lucky enuff to be there when it happens. As FritzTownFord said in his post, I too was real worried about the Kontinentals' bottom line as well as the vendors and charities present but in true form the Magic cast its spell over Saturday as well to bring the sun out on a more conventional form of Kool. Shoot, I saw people still paying to get in the fairgrounds at 6:00p.m! The digital times we live in were making sure the word got out that something special was going down here. Well, that's all I got...and I realize by ranting like this I am insuring it will be even harder to find a spot to park on South Congress next year but what ya gonna do? Ya gotta share when it's this Magical. Thanks Ryan, Thanks Kontinentals and all involved. I think PERSEVERANCE will be the lesson I take from this years' show! Eddy and Jill from Dallas
Eddy(and Jill) from Dallas - I liked your take on Friday. All I can say is - I loved being there Friday, too. There's nothing like a bunch of Hard Core Entrants all standing around chewing the fat with the little folk like me. It was my first Roundup, and I don't intend to miss one again. Can anyone get any numbers from each day? I would love to know the statistics. Awesome, just plain awesome. David --ps I may pull the kids out of school for Friday next year It would make an excellent field trip for the kiddo's.
Can't believe I missed this after I swore I would go this year but life got in the way...I'm gettin' a big jar and every bit of loose change is going in it so that next year not only will I not miss it but I'll be able to do it in style...are you kiddin' me? Jimmie took the stage...you guys are rulers!
Next year you can drive down with us from Charlotte! My wife is already excited about next years! Hopefully I'll have my coupe or '54 on the road before then.
Damn Rick! You're making me jealous... I will make it there next year come hell or high water. Sounds like you guys had a blast!
very nice to meet you and have a little bs'ing time ryan. the show really was amazing, each day had a totally different feel, from reggie's bbq, to a rain soaked friday, to the overwhelming crowd of people and cars on saturday, and a relaxing smaller get together at flyrite on sunday. the kontinetals did an amazing job, it could have been a disaster with the weather but somehow it just came together, i don't think it could have been a better time even if it was sunny and 75 for the whole deal. i've been home in so-cal for a few days, and for some strange reason i'm missing austin, something about that place and the people in it are just special. can't wait till next year.