Everyone goes for a different reason. Hard to please everyone, for some the trophy is the only thing and those people go to shows they think they can win. I've done this for a long time and have too many plastic awards, but only a few have real meaning. Too many shows have poor judging or participant judging where guys vote for their buddy's car. So the awards are meaningless. Some of the best and BIGGER events I go to do not hand out awards. It's fun to go and visit with friends and check out the cars without the competition. A lot of guys with cars in progress will show up at these events. Much more enjoyable for me to look for the positive instead of the negative.
I like shows that are not too damn pretentious! Give me a car show where I can actually DO something with my car besides park it and have people look at it...boring! I like shows that have driving events and/or a cruise involved, like the show in El Reno, OK on Route 66! Cruise, BBQ, show, two days long. Lots of fun! I don't give a shit about being judged. In fact, a show that does NOT have trophies is one I prefer. Door prizes, sure, but screw the damn trophies! And I refuse to judge shows that are participant-judged - I did not pay my entry fee to walk around and judge entrants. I'm there to socialize, swap lies and parts, and have fun. Not judge someone else's damn show! Weather makes a big difference, of course. Missed out on a couple of great shows in OK last year because of rain...HUGE rain! Without wipers, it wasn't happnin'! I've driven over a thousand miles, several times, just for a large car show. But, the BIG ones really aren't for me these days. I prefer the smaller shows that don't have seven gajillion cars that there is no way in hell you'd ever see them all!
I go to shows if I never been before. If I like it I go back (maybe) if I don't...well then I don't. I loved the Heavy Rebel Weekender in N.C. Just being able to sit outside a pub or something,enjoy a cold beer, watch the cars cruise back and forth. If I got bores I could walk down to the main venue and watch a few bands play or start a conversation with some of the hot rodders while walking around or just people watch is what gets me to come back again and again.
seen that way too many times, I remember the first show I ever did about 5 years ago..it was welcome to anyone to come and after the awards were handed out I had a couple of black guys with muscle cars with ugly paint and big ass rims other wise known as "donks" bitch to me for 30 minutes about how they didnt win and had them threaten to kick my ass and stuff I was like are you serious..I'll give you $10 and you can go buy yourself a plastic trophy and you can even pick what prize you get 1st,2nd,3rd..etc its just going to collect dust on your shelf..it feels good when you win but after you get home you rarley look or think about that trophy again now the custom hand made trophies at shows are much more valuable to me..I like the fact that people use their old parts and do the work themselves..I'd perfer one of those over a plastic trophy anyday
Have a group of cars headed by the sherriff and his posse, the important thing is the friendship and the fun of seeing the other cars, no rules, no dues, no shit things to do, just fun. We pick shows that we can just sit and enjoy the day, AND DRINK BEER
Pretty much just a good swap meet, but that's because I go to sell at them. I know it's a good show if I barely have time to make a lap of the other vendors myself, let alone go look at anything else. The one exception to that is the show I go to that's on a lake and there's a public beach nearby. The occasional bikini wandering by, and a dip in the water after I pack up, makes even a slow day worthwhile.
I agree with most of what others are saying here, it's the people, nice location, etc... I do like a cruise also - nice to hear and see the cars in motion. BUT... For me, the most important factor is do the people at the show "get it". I wanna go where people will appreciate my shit. Not where everyone walks by to see another red Camaro, or calls anything not shiny a rat rod. Ever been to a show where ever third person has to tell you about how fast their brother/uncles/friends 74 Mustang was?? This doesn't happen at the cool shows, ie billetproof. Just my 2 cents...
Arrowood, Hope to make it there. Sounds like a cool show in a nice location. Also hope to bump into you at one of the shows earlier this spring/summer.
I usually go there with a bunch of friends with our rides,and make our own little party. But not before first raiding the flea markets! But, we try to go to nice locations. We even started doing our own car show. We're on our 4th year! Get's bigger every year! Last year, we had almost 300 participants! And where I live, our show is pretty unique! We have lots of American influence on our shows. Lots of cool Hot Rods,Kustoms, and 4 bands!
I like a show that will have people from all over ,something different in the way of cars , a Swapmeet area is a bonus and a good venue is very important. I hate being locked in a fairgrounds all day, just parked. Oh and just me probably but please what the eff is with the "ladies craft show" crap that turns up at a car show...there is a place for that and it is not there! Ok, off the soapbox now.
The cars mostly, and I like to be around people with the same common interists. Also the location. Golden Colorado has a great car show every year the town relaxes me. Going to Viva this year in hopes of seeing some different rides.
The quality and type of cars there, if there is a show even within a 2-3 hour drive that has some decent cars even if it is only a small show then I will go.
Not much into just shows,nothing for sale and to many dudes with cars they bought restored ,don"t know a damn thing about,I enjoy the swapmeets where real car nuts get together to trade cars,bullshit, just have a good gettogether with old friends and always make new ones.no fancy hats,no I"m better than you attitudes just there for the day to relax and maybe go home with a new project or some parts you don"t really need.
I used to go to Paso, until they shut it down. It was the one I most looked forward to because of the diversity of styles--street rods, hot rods, rat rods and original restorations not to mention the location--a nice middle America type town. Now that it's moved to Santa Maria, I have no interest. It was good to keep the show going somewhere I guess, but I'm not really into hanging out at a county fairgrounds all day. Outside of Paso, I've never really enjoyed shows that much anyway. I'd rather hang out in the garage and it's hard to get a DUI in there. Ha! The only shows I go to now are the ones where family members are showing their cars.
I can tell you what turns me off of shows. Outrages price to get in(starbird) Indoors food/drink restrictions lame and or overdone cars allowed(tuners, camaro, camaro, camaro, mustang, chevelle) just a show, nothing else to help make a weekend out of it
The Jalopy Journal
