I'm not trying to white knight NSRA but,a comparable import event (not as big of course) has all the same issues. High Spectator Gate Fee?, $14.00 is the norm.Spectators could get hand stamped to get back in. parking fees are what parking fees are. It is a PITA, but drive around and shop. The fairgrounds has a reasonable parking fee. I know it is no more than 5.00. Might even have been 3.00. The hot ticket to getting over to the swapmeet to pick up parts is to come in the fairgrounds gate @ the SE corner off of the Preston Highway. So 2 people @ 14.00 and 5.00 to park, two drinks @ 4.00 a piece, you are right at 41.00. You got to see 10,000 cars, several hundred vendors in an air conditioned venue and a swap meet. That is pretty cheap for a days entertainment now days. Before you go off on a tangent and complain about the food prices. You already know food and drinks are going to be expensive, it is at a state owned fairgrounds. Pack a cooler with drinks and sandwiches and leave it in the truck in the fairgrounds parking lot. Get your hand stamped, go to the truck for lunch and come back in. BTW, swappers had ice cold bottled water for sale all over the swap meet for .75 per bottle.
I went to the 1976 NSRA Street Machine Nationals in Tulsa (back when the NSRA had a street machine, post-49, division). Does that count?
I agree with MercDeuceMan 110%, ...while I realize this level of playing in the "sport" can be costly, there are other options out there just as he mentioned. Attending the Nat's is NOT a prerequisite for owning and enjoying a car in the "sport". Also understand that NSRA is a business, --which like any business, its intent is to make a profit off of people like you & me, ...and as such lets the market establish the price. While someone can definitely do as MercDeuceMan suggests towards saving costs on lunch, the amount of folks standing in line to purchase food is evident that there were lots of people who viewed buying that food as a value to them. Heck, if you look at next year's participant entry fee, it is $5 more than it was this year. Just be careful and don't let a frugal mindset ruin your experience there. .
the show was as good as it had ever been. To compare it to last year is a bit unfair as last year was the 40th. there has been a decline in attendence numbers for quite a few years now and this year was no different, blame it on whatever you want but I don't think it was because of the cutoff year, however I saw lots of "nationals newbies" walking with old veterans of the show that is a good thing. Not really sure why the crowd was down in the building. The number of vendors was very close to past years but the people walking around was a lot less, it was good for me though nobody in my way. all in all a great show and still one I won't miss.
One pre '48 car in you whole stable of bitchin stuff, why be so negative about it. have you ever been to the nats, or any NSRA show. Don't take this the wrong way but I just don't understand your viewpoint or others in this thread who just light off a negative one liner about an issue that will probably affect them very little. With the cars you have you should be excited......at least I would think so.
I went and had a great time. Those who didn't go, it's your loss. Sure there were a few cars that were out of place, big deal walk past them. LOTS and LOTS of bad to the bone cars....Just like always I posted some pics here http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=500866
In my opinion (which isn't worth much according to my wife) it just doesn't qualify for Street Rod status if it ain't pre-50 and it never will. But like you if you gotta draw a new line in the sand it's gotta be before "The Man" started choking the cars with emissions and all that bullshit....and doing shit like requiring rubber bumpers....and taking away chrome wiper blades...you name something that made the classics classic and 'The Man' took it away from us. You can look at HP specs for the 'vettes and see where it all fell apart....'75 was the nail in the coffin.
I'm 62. I took a 32 year old buddy and his girlfriend with me. It was his first NSRA show. He joined the NSRA, and is making plans to go to Kalamazoo. It never would have happened if the cut off year hadn't changed.
Just to let you know, I know this guy. He own a body shop in town. He has owned lots of hot rods (40 sedan delivery, 37 Chevy sedan, 39 Ford convert and others) and has a 47 ford convert under construstion now. Both of his sons work there, one built a NICE 39 Chevy convert, the other has a 40 PU. I know the Thing is not a hot rod by my standards, but is still pretty cool anyway. Complete rotissary paint job (sounds like Barrett-Jackson now), lowered with whitewalls. The Nats seemed like an end of an era, like nothing will ever be the same again, but I thought it was alright anyway. Most of the late models in there were alright. I like 55's and 57's, F100's, Camaro's etc. They just don't seem like hot rods to me. But I also remember the big fat fender wave that came through about 20-25 years ago. I didn't care that much for fat fendered cars then either. I've grown to appreciate them more now. Nothing stays the same.
Hey, this car is from my hometown in LaFontaine, IN. Owner's name is Russ Crumrine. He's still alive and the car still gets out every once in awhile. It was built in the 60's and started as a 1950 or 51 chevy - it has a 383 mopar engine in it. I wondered if the topic of the old NSRA Street Machine Division topic would come up, as my Dad used to go to the Nationals every year someplace in Oklahoma in his 1957 Chevy 2Dr HT. It would have been silver at that time. I went, too, circa 1976-77, in diapers. I went to Louisville for the first time this year with my '57. So of course I couldn't have gone without the plus / year change thing. Even I don't understand why the change had to go all the way to 1980. The old age thing (of participants, not cars) does have me concerned as well. Electric scooter rental booth did more business than anybody. Even saw a handicapped parking area (for the show cars), no offense to those who truly need it, but seeing a '50 merc with a handicapped parking tag on its rear view mirror has some irony... HRJ
Here's my two cents on the Nationals. It was alright and if you had never been to the Nationals you would think it was a pretty good show. I think attendance was down, but that is hard to judge whether it was the new year change or still the economy. With that said, for those of us who have been going for years. It was a disappointment. The show was still 80-90% street rods and the late models there were of decent quality (besides the ones there for protest and you could tell which ones were them) The only way to describe it is to say 'the magic' is gone. There was something cool about being apart of an event with such large attendance and such a narrow range of cars allowed in. It was a visual example of how large a hobby this was. Now it is just another car show.
Sorry I was so blunt. I should have elaborated so here goes. Two facts seemed obvious to me based upon postings of attendees: Attendance was down because (1) there weren't all that many '65 and later cars anyway and (2) Those who did boycott are larger in number and represent the trajectory of the events toward the more traditional side. So...they seemingly lost more cars than they gained..... and their attendance had been going downhill already. NSRA will always do the show. It will just continue losing more of the prestige and size it once had. Goodguys "gets" it because they are able to walk the fine line separating the two camps (trad rod vs. "street rod") and they limit the years to right where it should be. I have attended and have been a vendor in quite a few Nationals (and Good Guys) over the years. The fact that I prefer customs over rods doesn't diminish my appreciation of pre-'48 cars. I love any car on either side of the fence equally, as long as it is built with quality and in good taste.
I for one don't get it Tom looking at your profile and seeing the cars you have listed one would think that you and others who has express their negative thoughts about the year rule change would be in favor of it after seeing their profiles also.
I went for the first time to the NSRA and had one of the best times I've had at an event. I joined NSRA while there and the cost was beneficial for going to other NSRA events in the future. You enter your car even though you cant take it and get two passes for 25.00 for the weekend, stay outside the venue as I did and the hotel shuttle carried us and picked us up at the gate anytime we wanted them to. I made more friends and got lots of info. As far as the cost for the day, consider going to a movie for two for an hour and half or two, it cost $18.00 for tickets, 15.00 for popcorn and two drinks. So I got more for my bucks this weekend. Redsled
Yeah, the NSRA may have "expensive" gate and registration costs, but it doesn't sound like they're that much worse (probably even better) than the GoodGuys or comparably sized events. However, the NSRA is not what is "killing this sport". That would be the expensive part prices, which is a separate issue and not really influenced by the NSRA. While part (and tool) prices do hinder entry to the hobby, one doesn't have to start out with a '32 Ford or '40 Willys as his/her first car, nor does one's car have to be super nice, fancy, or finished to participate in a car show. It's not prohibitively expensive if one starts with a cheaper vehicle such as a Model A or some less "desirable", yet complete, make/model/year. FWIW, I'm 27.
Fair enough, you make valid points. I don't think they have lost cars in the numbers that everyone thinks they have. Numbers had been declining steadily before they changed the cutoff. To expect a drastic increase in participation in the first year is absurd. It will be 3-5 years before we can see the impact the cutoff change will have on the nationals. There are way too many variables to judge success or failure just based on registration numbers. Weather, economy, and available vacation time will all change participant numbers. Here is an example: Goodguys Indy, that show doesn't have near the participants or vendors that is had 6 or 7 years ago. Is it a bad show? No. Is it because people don't like drag racing anymore? No. It fucking rains there every year, not a little bit either, it rains a lot and makes a mess out of things. It's not anybodys fault, it happens. People decide not to go and instead attend an event where it doesn't have terrible weather and numbers go down for Indy. I would be very surprised to find the rodders that boycotted the nationals were more on the "traditional" side than the "street" side of this thing. These people grew with this hobby in the "street is neat" era. I would expect that very few of them have hamb friendly iron, but i am not authorized to make that distinction. i don't know if NSRA gave up any prestige by changing the cutoff, you have been there before, it is hardly Pebble Beach. How does Goodguys separate the hot rodders from the street rodders? I never saw the separate entrance or parking areas for the two. The number of post '72 cars (goodguys cutoff) was less than 1% in Louisville, for that matter the post '48 cars was less than 20% by my estimation. Hardly a tragedy. It would be great to have solid numbers on exactly what showed up but I don't know if NSRA keeps track of that stuff, they probably should. But if you are going to do that let's count the cars that you and I might think are cool vs. the number of cars that you and I would think are lame. Out of 10,000 plus my count for cars that I like are usually less than 100. I like em all too, and stated a long time ago in this thread that a bitchin Maverick will always be better to look at than a clapped out, pastel monochrome, graphics laden, fat fender pile of cobbled together junk.
. There are many shows out there that is as good or better than this one. I after many years as a member will not renew my membership because of there rule change as to years. Currently there are a couple of clubs that have sprung up with cheaper and more personal events which are more to my likings. All of our cars are traditional and if I choose to see the late model cars there are many used car lots with a wide selection for viewing. NSRA in my personal opinion did not do there loyal members right and from the looks of things there are many repercussions happening
Wow. Car guys should be car guys no matter what they like, drive or wish for. I would rather have seen the cutoff at 1972 but we still enjoyed the weekend and didn`t have to navigate around as many personal scooters as in the past. Maybe the heat killed the batteries. That being said,the opportunity to browse the swap & vendors is like no other event we attend the rest of the year so we`ll keep going until the attraction is lost. A pre `49 exclusive show is nice but wasn`t going to last without concessions eventually. Don`t rejoin if it makes you feel better but I bet if you went you would still get off on what`s still there. I`ll go next year.
I think the biggest issue here is the arrogance of the NSRA leadership and how this entire affair was handled. It could have been done gradually over time with a lot more understanding of their membership but these guys have been deaf to everyone for a long time. They need to start soon or turn it over to people that will.............
Well, here's my take - as both a vendor and a spectator. As a company we have done this show for years. Compared to the peak of 14,000 cars a number of years ago there has been a bit of a decline but it seems to have stayed steady around 10-11,000 for a couple of years ago now. I saw a car this year with 98XX on the number so I would bet it was over 10,000 again this year. Thursday was lighter than years past, but Wednesday was the hottest day in well over 20 years according to the local news so I wouldn't surprised if some folks waited till Friday to come to town. 121 with the heat index! The vendor area seemed to us to have as many, if not more vendors than the last 2 years. We were slow on Thursday but very busy on Friday and Saturday - Sunday was light as always. I talked to LimeySteve from Limeworks in the airport on Sunday night and he told me it was his best Nationals EVER! (of course it was his first as well ) He did indicate that he would do it again and I know that we will be there again as well. Well worth it from our standpoint. Now, as a car guy wandering around, I will say there was a different flavor with the late model cars. Personally I think the quality of the later cars as a whole was BETTER than the early cars! I think it made for a great event and those that chose to "Boycott" only hurt themselves! And I didn't a single Citation on the grounds (But I did see a DONK Impala and a Pacer Station wagon that was so clean it looked brand new!) Everyone I talked to seem quite all right with the mix of cars that showed up so I don't think this will hurt NSRA in anyway. In fact one guy said "Have you looked at the number of cars out there? There is no way NSRA will ever turn back now!" There are guys that will complain about anything and this turn of events is no different. Maybe it's due to the fact that I have been in this industry for 35+ years and have owned many different kinds of cars and Hot Rods that I have a wider appreciation for different types of cars, but I would rather see 10,000 well constructed cars of various years than 10,000 cars where half of them are clapped out, poorly built, shock value cars that just happen to be 1948 or older. And when there is a car that I don't care for at a show, you know what I do? I walk right by and look at something else
Well, was it really 10,000 cars, or 10,000 entries and a few thousand didn't bring their cars and just checked it out?
hotroddon, It was good to talk to you and other hambers too. I did not see anything that will keep me from going next year. I know a lot of guys are MAJOR upset with the nsra, me included but as long as it is like this years event and its in louisville only 20 miles from home I am going. I seen a lot of old friends that I only see once a year. For you guys that stayed home I understand, but it was a good time. The sun came up every morning and the world did not come to its end. Oh yeah we had 16 late model 1932 Fords at our tent on saturday.
Hey wkends I agree, not really into the late model thing but WTF, good seeing old friends, and yea you forgot to mention the real late model at the tent, a 37................
Someone earlier made a good point: If you want to attract young people to your shows you need to do something else besides change the years of the cars: You need to make it * FUN * for young people if you want us to come. And I don't think the NSRA wants to do that, because young people who like cars think think these kinds of things are fun: Getting Laid Hot Chicks Wet T-shirt Contests Cheap, Cold Beer Loud Rock and Roll Burn Outs ...and all these things would give conservative NSRA fuddy-duddys a heart attack. They have an offical pastor on the payroll for chrissakes. If they honestly want young people at their events lose the whole theres-a-stick-in-my-ass Presbyterian vibe. It's a freakin car show. It's not that serious, or even that important. It should be a PARTY. Less Pastor. More Pussy.
i disagree: nsra management has been sensitive to the old timers and the the guys who like 48 and older. it has been 5 or 6 years since they started to open up some events to 49 and newer cars, so one you know it was coming for a long time, and the gradual increase in show that had 49/newer. so it did not come out of the blue> the recession hit and alot of you guys stayed away when it was 48/older. even street rodder magazine has gone past 49. nsra held on as long as they could, i brought my 54 chevy and had a great time saw lots of great cars in the 50's 60 and 70's. you may have not liked it but a lot of nsra members did and they showed up. i hear the acceptance of the 49/newer rule is much more successfull at the smaller show cities. the crying and whining is just old, grow up and come to the show and have fun.
I was there Wed thru Sunday with my 40. I had a good time as always. the swap meet seemed a bit smaller
I don;t see anything on your list that I don't like too. Except I quit drinking. Like my grandfather told me, "you think you young guys invented this shit?"
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