Hot Rods If you could design and organize the perfect hotrod event, What would it look like?

Pick a new location every year. Centered around a site to visit. Example a bucket list site. This way people would be willing to travel to get to. Be very specific on the type of cars you want to attend. Pre registration is a plus with a pic of vehicle attending. Get a few historical cars to attend with pedigree and some popular people on the HAMB to attend. For example---Moriarity, Squirrel, or maybe Hot Rod Primer. New Location every year to keep it from being a local show. You want people to travel to this show. It would break up the normal hum drum that happens. Maybe a Friday Saturday show.

 

I have given this some thought as I intend to do something along these lines only geared towards model T speedster, pre model A. In short the main event would be on a Sunday and consist of an actual endurance run where it may be a challenge to complete due to distance and roads. The endurance run would be the climax on Sunday. after the run is an obvious relaxation and awards ceremony. Before the run on Saturday will be a tech/safety inspection. During Saturday of the tech can be various games/events along the lines of balancing a car on a trailer, skewering heads of lettuce while driving, and others. Basically making for a fun eventful relaxed Saturday, before Saturday on Friday is check in and hang out. I figure the model T class can be expanded on the endurance run maybe some low key drags added etc. As for location I have 18 acres I would base it from for trailer parking etc although accomodations would not be available (tents/rvs welcome).

 

We have recently returned from the Jalopyrama show in Maryland. Most excellent. It’s a two day event with an invite show indoors, a cruise on Friday, welcome dinner Friday night and a traditional hot rod show on Saturday with a flea market.

 

How bout a show at a huge vintage junk yard

 

no trophies, no end time, no food, no f**king dogs, no tee-shirts, no entry forms, no chairs, no ez-ups, no selling...opps sounds close to Donut Derelicks every Saturday morning in Huntington beach...

 

All good input. Thanks for your responses. It's good to hear what guys are thinking. Some of it doesn't relate to what I have in mind and some does. If I do this, I will do it right and it will be a success. I don't do half measures. My success with the Hotrod-A-Rama proved that. The wheels are turning and it's leading me down a dangerous dark alley. Stayed tuned, lubed and ready to rock and roll.

 

We go to the Blue Suede Cruise in Tupelo MS most years. The main show parking is at the Bancor South Arena, but it is more than just a static show, entrants are encouraged to get out and drive the streets of Tupelo. They have a poker run set up on Saturdays that takes you all over town to various places, local businesses sometimes have specials for folks driving their old cars. Also, on Saturday morning there is a parade of cars from the north of town to the main show area. It opens up on Friday morning, and runs through Sunday morning about 11:00. They have nightly music in the arena inside, as well as a guy called KOTO {King of the Oldies} who is set up in the parking lot playing old r&r. The guy is a hoot, and has a vast knowledge of automotive trivia. He also does the Panama City Beach cruise in the fall, and I think Cruising the Coast in MS.

We enjoy getting out and cruising the town. That's what driving an old car is about, seeing and being seen. We may stay at the main site a few hours, then leave and drive around town, then go back again. Much better than being stuck in one spot all day and night!

 

There is an event called the Colorado Grand here and it is actually a high dollar rally for vintage sports cars. Runs a week and has CHP escorts and supports several charities. Entry fee covers meals and lodging for two. Limited entries and sold out in a day every year. There are several similar events in California, Nevada and Arizona. Several attempts to do a similar event for hot rods has failed. Interestingly enough, the cost to enter was never a big deal. However the logistics needed to be set in motion at least 18 to 24 months in advance. The Great America Race does encourage hot rods.

 

One day short and sweet.
Some kind of racing for period correct cars. Oval track or Drag racing

Static car shows don't do it for me. They need to have a swapmeet.


Winter Drags Port Crane N.Y.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=760688610808556

 

shows today are mostly boring. the drive to the show is fun. the sitting in a lawn chair for the rest of the day sucks. big parking lots are horrible. a setting like symco is fantastic. the other thing I like is a good nostalgia race to watch or participate in. If im paying money for something I want to get some thing out of it. I don't know how shows charge so much money in the first place. I have driven to shows and parked in the spectator lot many times. funny how the real estate is much cheaper on the other side of the fence.

 

That's no show....just gow

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Which would be the Perfect Hot Rod Event. Which is the title of this thread. If I wanted a show, I could go to a museum.

 

Drive to and from event. No trophies. No charge for entrants. Charge spectators a small amount. Food trucks and live bands with no poodle skirt canned music. And a year cut off at 1970.

Real car guys get to enjoy the drive and some good bench racing time.

 

My mistake for not acknowledging the rest of the Mischief Makers and all the hard work they put in over the years doing the show. It was never my intention to slight you or anyone else in the group of guys that helped out and the folks at the Swiss Tavern. I'm just trying to figure out what "my'' next move is going to be. You sound like you are still butt hurt. Jeez Rob, lighten up. Why so much hate?

 

HOT ROD REUNION BOWLING GREEN KY. THE TOWN LOVES THE HOT RODS, PRE 72 DRAG RACING. SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS NAMES IN DRAG RACING.PRETTY GOOD SWAP MEET.
DOWN SIDE, THAT IS THE HOTTEST PLACE IN THE SOUTH................THEY DO GIVE AWAY A FEW TROPHY'S .BUT ALL SHOWS SHOULD BE THIS COOL..ERRRRR FUN

 

i organized a local show once, we had it at the middle school which has two tiers of grass fields, parked em with a whole cars worth of space between em so both cars could be cadillacs with the doors open at the same time! had dj and live music, our dj volunteered for free, bands total was 250-350 bucks, small timers, had brooks robertson come, that was cool. had booths, those vendors paid for their space which helped, food vendors paid, entry fees, had sponsors, lots of businesses are down to sponsor events like that! in one day i think first year 8500 bucks, 2nd year 8700 or 8900. i think a big factor missing in local shows is quality judging. there needs to be judging criteria executed by qualified individuals if youre gonna do a show like that. i wanted to integrate a swap meet if possible in following years. that and a cruise and youve got a pretty killer event. the cruises take a lot of manpower to do right, you can do unofficial cruises if laws allow

 

I could be interested in this. Do you post it?

 

Time's 3!

Wouldn't miss it for anything! Hell, I even put off surgery a couple years ago just so I wouldn't miss it...

 

Its great to hear that you're looking at getting back into it Dale. I attended the Hot-Rod-A-Rama for years and feel that there is still a void up here in the northwest since it came to an end. As a former Arizona resident I've always been surprised that with a state with such beautiful scenery and many quality hot rods that there's not a more traditionally based show/event. An event amidst Arizona's natural beauty and not in the middle of a concrete parking lot, like many of the other shows would be a bonus. Anything that could be held in the Tucson area has the benefit of still being not too bad of a drive for the guys in southern California.

 

Kinda surprised it hasn’t been mentioned here yet, but my favorite show and the one I compare all other shows to is the old Paso show. Lots of unique things about that show. I think one of the most important was the location. Paso Robles is situated in the middle of California so it drew cars from norther and Southern California. You were always guaranteed to see cars you’d never seen before and once you got within a few hours of Paso you were treated to a great drive into town whether you came from the north or south. The other plus was that it was held in a real world setting, not corralled into the fairgrounds. The park where the show was, was in the middle of town and surrounded by great antique /thrift stores, eateries, pubs, and even a movie theater so if you needed a break from all the eye candy you could just walk to one of these and do your thing. All the while a constant stream of cars cruising the main drag which ran right by one side of the park. After the show you could take a drive to the coast or even the spot where James Dean met his maker. Bands, all over town. Old A&W to hang at all night, cruising, plenty of country roads to mash the pedal down if need be, etc. It’s the one show my wife still remenisces about. It had a great vibe to it. I guess a lot of it boils down to location location location. Now I really miss Paso!

 

I don't know to me it would look just like the Eagle Field Runway Drags

 

When I was a young lad the Merced Nationals were killer because there was a roadway inside the fairgrounds where they would cruise inside the show. Sight and sound is everything. See you at LARS

 

We just got home From HOT ROD DIRT DRAGS. It would be pretty hard to beat that in my opinion. HOT ROD HILL CLIME is great also. There is no time to sit on your ass behind your car. I usually go a day early and stay past a day or two, But they are close for me and I don't have be back to work. Also I can do with out the loud music.

 

I have been to the Paso show a few times back when I was stationed in California. At that time, and maybe even today, it was sponsored by the West Coast Customs. It was a hell of a good time and there never was a shortage of cars that's for sure. An event similar to that but a little more centered in the country would work very well I bet.

 

My favorite. ...and I've been to a lot, was the last 100 Car Pileup held in Decatur, Ill. Put on by the Chrome Czars out of Chicago. Best run show I've ever been to. I think there were about 9 guys in the club, but.....they had about 100 volunteers. And the location was excellent, even tho it was a fairgrounds setting.

 

"Back to the 50's" June 21-23. "Symco" Aug 9-10 are 2 great events, different from each other, offer ideas for you to look at. Only did a short leg of a Power tour, was fun. Thinking the venue is key IMO. Good Luck

 

Yep, the cost will get you.... But if I had the resources, I'd find me an old trailer park, remove all the trailers, and have my show there. It's not a fair ground or a parking lot, but already have streets - perfect for cruising! Would mark out a parade route and as a spectator, you could sit all day and watch the cars cruise by. Plenty of room to "power park" so you're not all sitting on top of each other and banging doors into each other. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is how you can park, then go cruise, then get your parking spot back. I could go on and on about what events there would be, food, etc, but I think that's been covered in other posts. The main point is having the perfect facilities - thus, the trailer park...

 

My favorite show is the Jalopy Showdown (3rd Saturday in May) hosted by ScaryLarry in Abbotstown, PA. The past 2 years it has been hosted at Lincoln Speedway and before that Latimore Fairgrounds. Like others have said static car shows don't do it for me, these things were meant to move! The Jalopy Showdown has plenty of vintage dirt racing from early sprints, speedsters, hotrods, roadsters, vintage stock cars, wingless sprints and now motorcycles. They also have a car show or as like to look at it, hot rod only parking, which is nice because half the fun is driving your hot rod to the show. There is also a band and great BBQ. Its a great day that i look forward to every year. He also hosts the Jalopy Drags at Beaver Springs which is another great event with vintage racing. But #1 thing for a hot rod event for me is vintage racing!

 

X2 for the Showdown! Scary Larry is the man.

 

A while back, years ago really, I was thinking about this. What I wanted to do was probably trying to be a bit too much 'all things for all people' but the intent was to help share things with younger people. I don't mean children, I mean young adults. To that end, I wanted to start EVERYTHING later in the day.

I wanted an afternoon swap meet, car show, and bands playing on a stage, something akin to a festival and not single focus early morning stuff that starts when these kids are just going to bed on a weekend night.