The two things that made the Nationals cool back in the early days were that the cars were all pre-48 and the location moved around. Both of those aspects are gone and why I haven’t attended in nearly 3 decades. They lost sight of a good product trying to chase the Otherguys and have suffered.
I have been a NSRA Lifetime member #843 since the early 80's. I got in when it was cheap, $175 compared to $10 a year membership. I figured a break even in 17.5 years, then they started raising the ante. So didn't even take that long! I haven't been since St. Paul 1985, lost interest when they sold out for the expansion. I still receive the monthly magazine, thumb through it for about 10 minutes and toss it in the trash. They could fold up tomorrow and it wouldn't make any difference to me! JMHO I agree with Corn Fed's statement in post #33 above!
I went down Wednesday and drove home Saturday. Walked the swap meet several times, did the building a bit at a time and saw what I wanted. Tried on some Factory Five Fords just for fun and thoroughly enjoyed the slalom cars. We had a good spot above the fence along the east side of the main exhibit building from which to watch cars on the move. Saw a number of old friends and made a couple new ones. I’ve attended a lot of Nationals since my first one in 1972 in Detroit, have seen lots of changes in the hobby but don’t get too excited either way. I don’t go near as much as I’ve been to maybe 500 to a 1000 shows of all sizes and many niches of the new and old car deal over my 60-some years at it. Go to what you like and not what you don’t like, but above all have a good time. Moaning and groaning doesn’t change much.
I’m pretty sure the max attendance maxed out at 12,000 or so back in the early 90’s. I was there in 88, 92, 01
'71 Memphis, saw Elvi's mansion, '72 Detroit, Woodward racing, '73 Tulsa fab. show at the fairgrounds.
Went to every Nationals since Detroit, Then came Louisville. Went there about 15 times. Wife loved going to all the different locations. We don't care for Louisville anymore with the late model cars. Have not gone lately. Lots of other events out there....
I believe a couple of things drove the change with NSRA. #1) Competition from the newly founded Goodguy's forced their hand to include post 48 vehicles. First extended into the 1950's and now a 30 year rolling marker. I recall Hot Rod club members in the early 80's continuing to travel to Pleasanton, Ca for Goodguy's new meets when NSRA moved from Pleasanton to Bakersfield. Reason? Not because they didn't want to support NSRA, but because they wanted to see all their annual (Norcal area) friends at Pleasanton. There was a true division in the ranks with long time NSRA members accusing Goodguy's of submarining Pleasanton reservation from NSRA's grip. #2) Aging population of car enthusiast's. I remember as far back as the early 80's, many friends quickly aging and along with that came health problems such as knees, bad backs and tremendous weight gains. Suddenly it was fashionable to park (or sell) the Model A Coupe and buy a 50's car, truck or wagon that more comfortably fit Ma and Pa on a road trip and was more comfortable on the road. The aftermarket stepped forward with a myriad of pretty much bolt on suspension and comfort accessories (A/C, PS, etc). Goodguy's and the NSRA saw this and had to change with the times. So, ultimately "we" the car enthusiasts as a market drove the change to the business model.
as a younger guy in my 50s, I enjoy seeing nicely modified cars of the 60, 70s and 80s as much as I like seeing a nicely done car in the 20-50s.
As a different younger guy in my 50’s, I might be able to stand some cars from the 50’s or 60’s, but I don’t want to pay money to see cars from the 70’s or 80’s.
I like the variety of vehicles at the NSRA Louisville show as well. I go to Frog Follies every year and after seeing so many pre-1949 vehicles they start to become monotonous. Change is difficult as most of us don't like it. But as the old saying goes, “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by discomfort.”
Seems like every time I try to provide some enjoyable or informative stuff it gets deleted. My goal was simply to share some views of the NSRA Nationals with Hamb members who were unable to attend. I spent about an hour sorting thru the pictures I had taken and trying to eliminate any that obviously had radial tires. Didn't even think about billet wheels. So, anyway it basically was a waste of time on my part even though there were far more nice ones than offensive ones. I looked at the pictures that were posted on this thread, and unless I'm mistaken, I thought I saw some radial tires and billet wheels here also. While the Hamb tries to be a "hot rod forum and not a street rod forum", I think that the real truth is that most of its members are more into cars they can cruise in rather than looking for real performance. Yes there are some on here who have some pretty fast cars, but I'd guess that the bulk of the cars on here are built with moderate power and hopefully good reliability There are lots of vehicles on here that emulate "hot rods" that were built in "the day". They were hot at that time, but today they are pretty much built as replicas to look at and are only competitive at nostalgia drag races. Thats not meant as a knock on them, its a simply a statement of fact (?). Street Rods are not that far removed from "Hamb Hot Rods" conceptually, but I think the exclusion of many of these beautiful and very fast cars simply over their choice of wheels and tires is detrimental to the Hamb rather than helpful. I don't really feel that most Hamb members would rebel over their inclusion, and I feel that they actually miss out on a lot by excluding them. I wish the Hamb would reconsider its guidelines because I really think it would benefit the Hamb.
I saw your post and enjoyed the pictures, and I appreciated the time it took you to make them available. Sorry it got taken down, I hope no one was brainwashed by seeing a "modern" wheel and radial tire.
#815 here, $125 at the time, really stretched the budget then (78), glad I did it! Figured the same. Did the "Wifer Lifer" thing too and it quietly went away. 82 in MN was mt first with as many as possible (active duty Navy) since. Did not enjoy the 92 "Flood Nats" though. Found out the car would not float! Yup, they went with the 30 year rolling to get the youngsters. Not realizing that most of us have 50s and 60s stuff already. Today the future of "hot rodding" is rice burners. Kids can get a car, put $10K in it and have a nice peace. You can't say "hot rod" and 10K in the same sentence. .
If you drive to a Walmart parking lot and see a modified car like you have ,,, you ain’t got a old enough car. !!!
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