Symco by far is the coolest event around. I could miss any other show except this one. An absolute must attend.
I missed this again. The weather is just perfect too. Rats! Instead, I went to shows in Kenosha and in the town of Union Grove, pretty cool. Note: Kenosha people are some of the friendliness I ever met.
Had a blast again.......Worked the Front gate on Friday Morning and talked with many nice people. It had to be a record for mini bikes that were there and the weather was great all week. Thanks Lincoln Mike (Cliffy) for putting on an awesome show.
My wife and I were just got out of the river, and walked by that car, I had to turn around because I thought it was a nice custom. It was a really clean and nicely done car.
Just got back,and we had a blast. First time to this show and everything my buddies told me about this show was an understatement after seeing it myself. The cars,the swap,the music, the people, this show has a vibe all it's own. I'll be back again. Thank You to all who put this event together.
Spectator count seemed like it was up.....modern camper count seemed like it was way, way up.....car count at best seemed the same, if not down slightly.....swap seemed the same. Too many spectators, and not enough cars or swap meet.....seems to be growing in the wrong direction. Wish the swap meet was as big as the modern camper area. A separate exit for the show cars would be nice.....at the northeast end of the grounds.....a one way traffic thing. Local police should get on board, and start helping instead of hating. It's a nice place, out in the sticks. Need to encourage participant vehicles, as it's easier to drive a spectator vehicle there!
I attended the Symco Shakedown for the first time. I only spent 1 day there. It was a lot of fun as the venue was perfect for an old skool show, which made for a great atmosphere. Shortly after arriving at 10:00am Saturday I ran into my group of friends, whom apparently consumed a lot of Captain Morgan for breakfast. I checked out the swap area, then walked the grounds with my friends. There were a lot of great bands and watching the minibike drags was fun. The car turnout was good as there were plenty of nice customs and hot rods to enjoy. The setup of Symco is pretty cool. You can park your hot rod in the show area and pretty much leave it sit all weekend since you will be camping in the general area. With on-site camping for 3 days, bands all day and all night, literally a real working/stocked Saloon in the show grounds, I can see why people have a lot of fun. I bet it got pretty crazy at night!
i attended once again and had a great time. thanks cliffy and volunteers. the only suggestion i have is don't make the show cars go through the dusty bumpy field to get in. the cars are a dusty mess before they even get in. this show is a must do on everyones list.
Awesome show--been wanting to get there for years and finally made the time and the trip north.. Had a rather "eventful" trip on Friday that would have made many people give up altogether after nearly losing a car on the freeway in Mikwaukee--but good good friends and the willingness to drive-on made us continue until we arrived at this awesome show! (This is merely an introduction to the thoughts of a near disastrous ride in a '31 Ford after the brakes were disabled due to unimaginable circumstances...at least it was "unimaginable" before it happened) Anyway--me and "Ms Law" made the trip and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at this fantastic venue.. Met some if the nicest people and I can honestly say this was probably my favorite car show ever.. Laid back-friendly strangers and great vibe everywhere.. Plans are in place for our own camping next year for the duration of the event--great job to the team who puts this show together...I've got no complaints.. Oh wait-maybe a burnout pad?? ;-) Either way--this>>> on my way home didn't even spoil the weekend..time for a new trans- 6-speed anyone!!!??? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Well i have scored this little gem. A 4-71 Blower for my 327 sbc. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Yep it be fun fer sure! !! Scored a wooden "Reddy Kilowatt" sign and I renamed him "Artie Kilowatt "! Posted using Full box of Crayons on the Kitchen Walls App!
Everybody should hit this show at least 1x, KOOL!!!, for anybody that's enjoys history, its the best car show around, really enjoyed all the younger people involved, the guys, girls, w/ their kids involved in the " happening" Its on my list, will not miss until my end of time. A BIG Thank you for everyone involved for putting this on. John
This was my third year, and arguably the best. The quality of the cars in attendance was great, even if the quantity was down a bit. Plenty of music, and you don't have to leave the grounds all weekend. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I had a great time. I got a handful of my locals to make the drive and I heard they had a excellent time. Whiskey tasting was a good time too. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
We were a bit stricter at the gate, having turned away some stuff that we may have let fly in the past, which might account for the slightly lower car count, although I think the quality was a bit higher. There's limited parking space for show cars in the grounds and there's just not room for half-assed stuff anymore. Other than a couple assholes who stole and trashed a golf cart, the show went smoother than it ever has. I did great business in the swap meet.
That's odd. I saw a ton of non criteria parts and pieces on cars all over the show. Why do you let modern everyday suvs and pickups etc. in the show area? I was trying to get photos of several cars but daily drivers ruined the shot.
I'm retired from the gate as of this year, so you're welcome to take over the job if you like. Plan on 25 hours of work for no pay and getting crabbed at by people who either don't get it, or think they could do it better. We're volunteers and we do the best we can. If I was as strict as I'd like to be, there would probably only have been 50 cars in the show. You have to draw a line somewhere and it's tough. We don't allow any late model vehicles in on the grounds unless they belong to a paid vendor or for one of the bands. They're supposed to be removed immediately once unloaded but there aren't enough people to police it. Although I felt like that was kept to a bare minimum, unless you were walking around on Thursday or Sunday, which are set up and tear down days. Technically Friday and Saturday are the only actual show days and I doubt you'd see any late models on the grounds those two days.
I'm not knocking you Sqablow. It's just that you guys are trying to do the nearly impossible. And we highly appreciate having a great whole weekend show. How many totally period perfect cars are out there? Not enough to fill the grounds at Symco. I would not have your job for the reasons you state nor could I do it better. Symco is in a class by itself but it's an awfully tall order to find that many cars to fit the rules. Shit! I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining.
It's cool, and I really appreciate the reply. We've had several cars that came one year and got turned away, then came again the next with cars redone to fit criteria, so I feel like we've educated quite a few builders, and that feels nice. I made several people pull off on the road and remove offending parts (plasma table cutouts of sculls and spiderwebs, had a guy bust a 90's looking Ford oval emblem off of his trunklid to get in) and I've allowed people to throw a T-shirt over an ugly steering wheel a few times because their cars were otherwise spot-on, but it's tough to decide where to draw the line. Great case in point, a couple of years ago we had a Model A sedan pull up, flat black and fenderless, obviously low budget but not offending in any way, and I stickered his windshield, everything looks good, then as he pulls in, I see the back of it and I notice the LED trailer tail lights he has grafted into the roof. SHIT! Missed it by that much. Can't go back now, that's how we learned always to walk all the way around the car. So we do what we can and every year we try to tighten it up more. This year, if you wanted to camp by the river, you had to have a vintage camper AND be pulling it with an old car that fit criteria (we were a bit more lax with those) and it still filled up the camping area TIGHT! Hopefully someday we can completely eradicate headrest bucket seats and 80's tilt steering columns from hot rods, but it gets real stressful and that's why I'm stepping down from gate inspections. I bought a set of repop '40 Ford hose clamps for my T build because I couldn't stomach the worm drive ones I had, so seeing the close but no cigar cars come through is hard for me.
Can you list examples of these non criteria parts and pieces you saw all over the show, or better yet do you have any pics of these parts? I'm just curious and want to learn.
I thought it was better than most shows. I found one wheel that was disguised. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The '59 Ford above got turned away, then he went through the swap meet, bought some caps and put them on and came through the inspection gate again. He was a good sport about it, although his caps didn't seem to fit over the rims very well, I'm hoping he didn't just take them back off once he got in, but I didn't see the car after that. He seemed pretty honest. A few guys do that. In the past, we'd let guys drive in and then "fix" stuff, but some bad apples blew us off and didn't do what they said they would, so now we make them do all of the on-the-spot changes at the gate and get re-inspected. That seemed to work better, and most were good sports about it.
BTW, the gold Pontiac convertible with the '53 Chevy grille pictured above was built by Rob Paul who is a member here. If every car that came through the gate was done like that, we wouldn't need gate inspectors anymore!
Ya that guy yanked the caps once he was in. I saw that late on Saturday. I just shook my head and thought, "He don't understand." There was a lot of cool guys that had cars that I knew weren't aloud and I detoured them to VIP on Saturday morning when I worked gate security. But, there were a few of "Those guys" that said I didn't know what I was talking about and headed towards the inspection gate. I simply told them I was saving them the embarrassment. They laughed. Some people just will never get it. Plain and simple. You can put a criteria fitting car in front of them and a non fitting car and they will think the non fitting car is the way. It was a great weekend.
The guy who took the caps off after entering the grounds is the exact reason you can't let people "cover" stuff or "fix" stuff once they get parked. People are not above lying or above taking off stuff once they get through the gate keepers. It's frustrating that people have no respect for what a show is trying to achieve. He was obviously not above lying to the gate keeper and taking off the wheel covers once he got in. Worse yet he thinks that nobody will notice those shitty wheels or care about it. But it's the people who actually "know" and "get it" like Stick Shift who saw the wheels that the gate keepers were trying to keep covered. The lying thieving bastard car owner didn't care and basically ruined an otherwise perfect show for Stick Shift. I'm glad you guys have mostly stopped letting people cover junk up. I hope the next generation of gate keepers stop it 100% cold turkey.
One thing that loses me completely is the bagged garbage. That's all the rusted beat up full of rust hole shit boxes laying on their frames. The period incorrectness is the RUST! Maybe shows could offer a junkyard section so they can park together. Throw in some old tires a couple 50 gallon drums tipped over and a rusty bed frame to enhance their display. The Underachievers Section.
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