Are Awards/Trophies Really Necessary?

Personally, I prefer the non-trophy shows. I get satisfaction when another builder that I respect picks out a little detail on my car and complements me on it.

On the other hand, I run a small town car show with 4 other guys. We are non-profit and car count is extremely important to our survival. We need trophies to bring in cars and we put up with the whining as a result. Since we're 100 miles from a major city, a lot of the locals have never been to a "no-award" car show and therefore have no appreciation of them. To them a car show without trophies is like bread without butter. We do have some unique "pick" trophies that often go to surprise winners, but we struggle to keep the muscle cars guys happy.

 

As a local show organizer,I dont like trophies either..Its a necessary evil..wastes
money that we could give to the Burn Center,takes time to shop for..etc..We
give judging sheets to all entrants.they judge each others cars..But it take us lots of time to tally the votes...We give out a Grand Prize(drawn from entry blanks)of $500.00 CASH...and still usually donate $10,000.00 to the Burn Center for Children..We feed everyone Sat noon..Auction and Dance Sat nite.
with a good Band..been averaging 250-300 cars every year..Come to Texas
Show is posted on another thread..

 

No.

 

Trophy's are both good and bad depending on who's giving them and why. The typical trophy chasers pay $25. to enter their car with the hopes of winning a $10. piece of plastic shit. The promoter pockets the money and then guarantees everyone gets a trophy. These trophy's mean your an idiot.
Meanwhile, the Kustom trophys that the 'ol skoolers are giving out are part of the fun. These awards often provide the same creativity as the hotrods they honor. Not only that but having your peers choose your car for some 'best' award is a real treat. These are people that generally know real hotrods, so if you were to win some award you should feel very proud. That is, unless you get the 'biggest piece of crap' award! Still, the 'BOMB' trophy presented by the Poor Boy's was a beautiful thing.

RiffRaff

 

I've won a few over the years....no big deal. Caught me offguard because I was having a ball just being there and checking out the other rides. The thing is.......they don't mean shit to anybody else but the guy that won it. When you die.........they go in with the rest of the shit at the big ass yard sale.

I could do without them.

 

For years I ran the largest 1 day car show in this state. 350 to 400 vehicles every year ... at the state fairgrounds. My trophy bill was 3 to 4 thousand dollars a event. The event raised money for a local childrens home. We made 3 to 4 times the trophy bill every year ... so it was a win - win situation for the childrens home.

IF we did not have so many trophies ... the car count would have been WAY less Folks want trophies.

A lot of the folks who say they do not want trophies has NEVER won one ... nor never will. That's OK too. BUT ... It is NICE to win a award. if you really deserve one. Getting one when every body and their sister gets one does make it cheap feeling.

The main thing for me is to go and have FUN ... if the trophy gods smile on you and present you with a trophy ... SMILE, graciously accept and then go home and throw it in the pile with the others.

 

i like the idea of.."build the car" "build the trophy"..you know the ones..
there made out of car parts. and show character..
the old gold lady trophies suck..

 

How many trophys, at mainstream car shows, go to friends of the judges ?

 

Trophies are good in some cases, my daughter and I did a major resto on a 68 Firebird, her first car. We won a several trophies, and they are more about our memories doing the work together than anything else. She did think it was wierd that the trophy she got for being the youngest driver was three times larger than the trophy her got for all of her work.

We display a scrap book with photos of her and I doing the rebuild, I enjoy fathers and daughters looking and seeing that it is not a father/son only past time.
Over all I don't see a real need, perhaps some new catigories "who had the most scars from the work" "Biggest hard luck story getting parts" " anything to make it more personnel.

 

i think throphies are nice... but they never amount to the work you put into getting it

 

For me? No, I care less when I win one. They usually sit in a closet till I sell them at a garage sale. However, I have friends that thats the ONLY reason they go to shows.

 

YES! I need some new wheel chocks. Otherwise, I'd have to buy some. Have you seen the price of wheel chocks lately????

 

I don't give a damn about trophies. They take up too much room in the trunk. When I do win one, I usually give it to a young kid, they love 'em. To me, the trophies that count are the ones that are invisible. To see a fellow rodder get down on his knees to scope out the chassis work, that's the kind of trophy I like to get. A compliment from a rodding peer is plenty for me.

 

Yes. I need justification, and a constant, approving pat on the back.

 

A little off topic, but a true trophy story.......

I was at a small show a few years back put on by a local restaurant/bar. The peoples choice award was a three-way tie, including my HenryJ. The show organizer announced that he had only one trophy and asked if 2 of the winners would take a prime rib dinner instead. I immediately shot up my hand. I said out load, "shit you can't eat a trophy". The other two guys looked at me in shock. They each demanded a trophy. The organizer gave in an agreed to get another trophy, but the two guys would have to decide who gets to take the trophy home that day and who gets one in the mail the next week. I was buttering my baked potato by the time they decided.

 

Yes, they are.
Life is about winners and losers.

 

I AGREE 100 % !

 

The best trophy you can possibly get is a little 2" X 2" "kill sticker" at the drags for winning your class at that meet.....period.

.....my .02

 

if you are going just for the trophy your going for the wrong reason the people and the cars are what it is about. i rather have a dash plaque but the guy with the $75000 dollar car that he bought wants a trophy and a large one

 

I got a cool trophy about a week ago! The guy who has a business next to where I work, brought his 12 year old son over to see my T Bucket. I had it covered and when his dad took the cover off his eyes got big as saucers and he just said, "WOOOOOOOOW!" I let him sit in it and his dad was just smiling and taking pics. Hell, my T isn't even done yet! THAT was better than ANY piece of tin or plastic could be.

I've seen guys at local shows get all pissed because the car they HAD built didn't get a $10 plaque! Seems like they really need to get a clue.

 

I know some big awards at some shows are decided weeks ahead of time.

Which undermines the whole process.

 

i think a "longest driver" award is a cool and appropriate trophy, but i'd have to kick my own ass if i ever won a people's choice award.

 

Ask this guy?

 

Peoples Choice is a nice award. Most Beautiful,Best,seem like a bullshit term,usually!!!

 

I won a tee-ball trophy once

ALRIGHT, damn your right

they gave them to everybody

 

To me the best trophy is the drive to and from the event on some nice roads, meeting great like minded people, and HAMBing it up here afterwards.

 

Best award....standing around bullshitting with the guys at the Anti-donut breakfast! Wouldn't give it up for ANY trophy or show!!!!

OKAY,OKAY...once to go golf! ONLY ONCE!!!!!

 

deuce roadster said it best.

 

outta all you folks i must be the only trophy slut around here!!
im guilty as a motherfucker and over the years i have accumulated
a shitload of them and i aint bustin them over no curbs either ..
if i go to a show and they give me one i take it home , if they dont , i dont give
a shit as i have just as much fun either way ..... some of yall seem a little judgemental about judged car shows and the trophy whores who enter them..
yeah right! im all alone in my trophy slutdom!!LMAO

 

i won a 3rd place thropy in karate after gettin the shit kicked outta me by a girl!!! i was damn proud of it! now im old enough to own guns! she wont be kickin my ass again anytime soon!

we have a few homeades for out show....people think there neat and theres no bullshit that comes along with them! makes it kinna fun!