Event Coverage 2017 LA Roadster show

Here is what I saw today


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Where are all the people?

 

Boy, lowest turn out I've ever seen. Good show still and plenty to look at. The heat was tough.

 

Thanks for posting the photos! Looks like you like cars with full hoods too. Bob

 

I agree. Pretty low turn out for people and roadsters. Not too many roadsters at all. I was told by others that some of the roadster entries were boycotting the show this year due to rising fees. I think the swap meet area had a larger turn out than the show area. Even bldg. 4 had plenty of walking room. Not elbow to elbow as in the past.
The heat was bearable to me. It was a balmy 85 degrees and humid at 1pm. Not too shabby but I seen some of the elderly waiting for the tram to stop to pick them up in the heat. The driver would only make three stops on the entire route until someone got involved at around 11am and drove a cart in front of him and made him stop at ALL of the stops then the tram was okay for the rest of the day.

I arrived at 9am and left at 3:30 after having a nice day.

Nice pics by the way, Ron . It seems that your shadow likes to photo bomb your pics. Keep them coming.

 

Speciality car parking overview....
My instructions were "park wherever you want"

Roadster parking below...
Nobody there today....
This is roadster only parking.....
This was at 10:00 or so today.
Decent swap meet, lots of junk vendors, way smaller crowds than ever seen by me ever.

 

wow! that place is empty.dont feel so bad about not going

 

Good stuff,
Just curious, anyone know what were they charging to show?

 

It was empty, so much of the roadster parking area was barren.....

The swap area looked even worse, most of the people around my swap space just paid to drive a rental car/truck in and sold nothing or the space was barren. I wish someone could've taken an arial shot to just show how bad things were......

Lots of empty land out there..... I feel they screwed up a really good show.

 

Never in the 30 plus years I have gone to it have I ever seen it like this! Hope LARS continues! Exterminator

 

The big crowd was not there. And the swap meet, which is why I mainly go, was laid out to far apart with way to many gaps. I still like the swap meet but was disappointed the way it was laid out. Just my Geezer opinion . Next year? Hum.

 

I know it is an unfair comparison APPLES and ORANGES but have you looked at all the NEW JERSEY TROG coverage? Looks like all the fun is happening here on the East Coast. Bob

 

Great pics Ron, thanks.

 

Thanks

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Nice mix. Thanks!

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

I can't believe this, where are all the people? To hot, to expensive, what gives???

 

......just got home from the swap meet.....been there since Fri., June 16, 2017 @ 12:00 pm......Paid $200.00 for two swap spaces on the end of a row right across from a beer booth & nice, big shade tree about 10+ rows away from the specialty car parking.....sold one used 1941 Ford ft. fender parking lamp w/cracked glass lens for $20.00 and a used pair of 1941-48 Ford pass. car sun visor frames for $10.00 on Sat.. Sun. morning I sold a old, unused Bob Drake reproductions 1933-34 rubber windshield frame seal for $3.00.....Brought my food & drink=$35.00; slept in my swap spots & used portable shower (lodging & fuel used to/from)=$0.00; swap spaces=$200.00. NET LOSS=$202.00...No tears here, just stating the fiscal facts. I enjoyed (as always) seeing & visiting w/friends and acquaintances stopping at my swap spaces for some shade & cold water.....

Can't blame this year low attendance of spectators on the weather (it was low 90's w/a nice breeze & cooling stations). Just a thought: How about bringing the roadsters and the exhibition retail vendors back to where they were (in what is now the specialty parking area) and making the south end of the lot (where the full size locomotive display is) the entire swap meet area (the north end of the swap meet was about 85-90% sold & the south end was maybe 25%-30% full based on visual estimate) and make the north side the specialty parking area again. The vendors used to be outdoors for years; just because the roofs/gazebos were torn out by the Fairplex management doesn't mean vendors aren't capable to bring their own portable canopies (the exhibitor trailers always have then built in). Just my opinion but it looks like it might be time to set the event back up the way it was: Everyone enters at gate 15 off of Arrow Hwy. to park, walk through the swap meet & specialty cars to get to the entrance of the roadster show & exhibition between the race track grandstand, Avalon building and the indoor arboretum. Didn't check out the roadsters, specialty parking or the exhibitors but did speak to a long time colleague whose attended the show w/their roadster many years & said they arrived late on Sat. morning and were roadster number 81....Looks like unless there is some re-assessment & re-evaluation over the days ahead, this event may be the proverbial snow ball rolling down hill to it's inevitable ending of reaching the bottom of the hill and melting away......Or, maybe this event just has run its course & is no longer cost effective to produce anymore, or maybe just at this venue.....Hope that isn't the case, but time will tell as it always does.....Just my opinion base on my 35+ years as a spectator, exhibitor and swapper......PRE48V-8\;^]

 

are you telling me only 81 roadsters I have seen 800

 

I have attended LARs since 2001 , there used to be lots of out of state plates

there have been a lot of neat venues that sprung up in the past 5-10 years in other parts of the country , I think a lot of people are now satisfied to stay local.

lots of car people have moved out of California , the hot weather hasn't helped and I think the ownership change was the final nail in the coffin..

It had a good run , I say let it die, RIP. LARs

 

Never having been before and flying 12 hours to take it in. It was obvious to a newby that the swap meet was very down with vacant plots and lots of walking for nothing but empty tar. Friday was OK for buyers but still empty spots every where .
Where were all the roadster we came to see?
Coming in gate 17 on Saturday with 5 lanes backed up onto Arrow then down to one little check in gate with one person manning it and no signage as to what to expect to pay. Ridiculous >>
$10 parking . Ridiculous >>
Charging roadster owners . Ridiculous>>
Charging buyers $40 on Friday . Ridiculous>>
Miles of walking past empty spots . Ridiculous>>
Sunday we only came to drop parts at our shippers and then they were gone straight after. Sunday was merely a pack up day for all outside.
I think if the new owners front up and admit they got it wrong now, they may save next years event ,if not they could be on a slippery slope.
So if this is a newbys perspective , but long time rodder, what do the seasoned LARS veterans think.??
Will we fly 12hrs to attend again ????

 

This was only my fifth trip to the LARS, the last time I was here was about three years ago. This years event was poor at best. I am not saying the quality of the cars was poor, I am saying the amount of roadsters,(open cars) preferred parking cars, and swap meet venders were down. Also the main exhibition building was only half used and most of the venders were selling trinkets and trash including replacement windows for your house! (I counted at least three window booths)
The management of the event was very unorganized, one of the guys who was in the group I was with entered a roadster pick up, when he got to the entrance gate the guy at the gate asked "his boss" if the car was indeed a roadster and could he let it into the event! The guy did not know old cars at all. Another friend came in as a spectator, when he got to the gate there was no one taking money for tickets so he joined the groups of spectators just walking into the event! Such a deal free admission!
My opinion is that this may be the last "Roadster" show, the event will continue but it will be an open event. Hopefully there will be a cutoff date so there will not be a sea of Camaro's and Mustangs out numbering the open cars.
Too bad one of the premier events in the sport has to die.

 

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

I came all the way from Alabama. got my 9 year old son up at 6am and have been pumping him up for the past 4 days. All he could say is I got up at 6 for this. I figured it was better yesterday, but I wanted it to be on father's day

 

Last one I sold at, You could shoot a cannon down the row.Drove down from nor cal, gas, room, food, spot. I was in the hole about $600.

 

YES THIS IS WHAT MAY HAPPEN TO THIS GREAT EVENT CHANGE IT OR IT WILL DIE IVE BEEN SELLING SINCE THE FIRST WHEN IT MOVE TO THE FAIR GROUNDS FROM DOWNTOWN LA HOPE THE GUY THAT GOT THIS READS OUR COMMENTS RIP LARS