Let's see the NATS South photos

I used to go every year before they raised the cut-off date to anything 30 years old and older.

How about some photos from those who did go.
Hamb type vehicles only please .

 

No one went ........ ??

 

Wouldn't surprise me.

If the weather in Knox was anything like N Georgia then it rained starting friday afternoon and stopped yesterday afternoon for 3-4 hours then started raining again.

 

It rained here all weekend. I would say very few went. A friend of mine went and said it was a ghost town.

 

went friday, did't know batterys were dead, good car count for a friday since the late model were allowed, love the setting of chillhowee park , then it rained the rest of the weekend

 

I went Friday, and I thought that it was the most cars I had seen there in years. Very good car count, main area was completely full and the other side of the tunnel was 1/2 full of cars ( pretty rare for a Friday). Sat & Sunday may have been different. Had a great time, bought some stuff, but didn't get any pics...
Sam

 

Struggling with broken ribs, but went over for a couple hours Friday afternoon for the swap meet, but had to give it up after a couple of hours. Looked like a good turnout. Went back with a buddy Saturday, but it started raining about 10:00, and lots pulled out.

Sorry....no pics.

 

Kennedy and I went. Friday's weather was great and the numbers looked good. The place was DEAD Saturday though.

As expected, the only pics I took was of our own stuff.

 

Well Randy,you know that Brenda and I went as did Dave and Steve.

Friday the weather was great and the car count was good,,I've seen better turn outs but good none the less.

The vendors on the other hand were down from what we have seen in the past,,Brenda said Women's was down also.

It started raining mid morning Saturday and we left around 2,,got up yesterday morning and left for home in the heavy rain.

I saw several Hambers at the show and a few came by the motel to shoot the breeze,,all in all the weather was bad but the friendships are as strong as ever.

I have a few photos,,mostly what Brenda took and I'll try and post some of them later this afternoon. HRP

 

It was really good to catch up with several HAMB friends and, like I said, Friday was as nice as anyone could ever hope for. I really enjoyed it on Friday. This show is totally in the tank though. Here are my thoughts....

The facility - Chilhowee Park: The facility is nice but the location flat out sucks. It's 5 miles from the host hotel in the middle of the East Knoxville "hood". Not that there's anything wrong with the hood, but there is NOTHING around the grounds to do, very little to eat (though Chandler's and Pizza Palace are the best in town and just up the street), and nowhere you'd dare stay overnight within 5 miles.

The cars: Very little there is fresh. Most cars appear to have been built 20-30 years ago and have seen few upgrades. No one "debuts" a car there. Alloway, Alan Johnson, & several others who are relatively local don't even show up for it. Hudson's Rod & Custom from just up the road was there but that's about the only "Pro Builder" I saw. Lobeck (RIP) and a whole caravan of Ohio guys used to come down every year in some killer rides. I haven't seen the Ohio guys in a few years now.

The vendors: Their numbers seem to be falling off every year. Paul Ellis Ford from just down the road used to set up every year. They no longer do. Coker Tire and Honest Charley are just 100 miles down the road and they weren't there. I needed to talk to Classic Instruments last weekend but they weren't there either. First year I remember them not being there. A handful of storm window, gutter, and timeshare companies took the place of parts vendors inside this year. I guess this crowd isn't building/upgrading much so it doesn't pay to make the trip for some vendors. This leads me to.....

The participants: No offense friends, but, this is an old crowd. The guys who were 50 years old and cranking stuff out 20 years ago are now driving the car they finished in 1990 and taking it easy. I was standing in the registration line on Thursday evening and was told by a very sweet, & quite honestly, elderly woman that "I didn't look like I fit in with this crowd". She was right - & I'm 40. Any spectators who paid the $14 admission on Saturday honestly deserved a refund. I know high school kids who didn't come on Saturday, not because of the rain, but because of the high cost of admission.

The NSRA: I don't think anyone younger than 50 works/volunteers for them. When they opened the cut off date a few years ago to boost numbers I said it was like trying to open a nightclub in a nursing home. I didn't think it would help them and I stand by that statement still. They closed registration at 6pm on Thursday - the day/time most people were trying to get into town & get registered. They didn't open registration (at the hotel 5 miles from the show) until 9:30am on Friday and Saturday. If you registered Friday or Saturday the earliest you might get to the show would have been 10:30. They only take cash or check for registration. I can accept someone's debit card with my cell phone out in the swap meet and the NSRA only takes cash or check at the host hotel?!?!?

I'm afraid that if they don't join the rest of us here in 2013 their numbers will continue to decline. As it stands now, I think the Nats South's days are numbered. I give it less than 5 years before they cancel it.

... and "Wings Kalahan" playing that damn doo-wop, bubble gum, poodle skirt music makes me want to kick a kitten.

JH

 

I wanted to go but I just didn't feel like riding two hours to sit in the rain.

 

Harrison is right about everything.The Cincy boys still come but only for one day in a late model.I saw one rodder from Springfield Oh and he said he couldn't get anyone else he knows to come down.The vendors were the worst i have seen in a long time.There were 3 cars in my group from Dayton Oh.I have been coming to Nats South since they moved to Knoxville.The newer cars that NSRA thought would bring in the young guys were all driven by older rodders that can't drive there early cars anymore.I did get to talk to a lot of friends that go every year but most were spectators and did not bring a car.I will probally be back next year since it is there 40 annual.Has antone been to Goodguys Nashville and how does it compare?

 

Jim,I totally agree with most everything you said,,but tell the truth you did sneak away from work and was wearing a coat and tie,,,you did stand out live a virgin at a porn festival!

I think NSRA needs to stand back and look at whats going on,,I'm with Jim,,I'm sick of the music too.

I have a friend that went this year and sadly probably won't live to ever go back,,I had a big run in with one of the NSRA officials that informed me I couldn't park in a certain place.

I explained I would be there only long enough to help his wife and daughter get him around the side of the building on the rented scooter,,,it was raining pretty hard on Saturday at this point.

He told me he didn't care and to move,,this is the point I open the door and offered to whip his ass.

A lot of you guys know me and I ain't normally aggressive but after seeing my friend of more that 40 years ravaged with cancer and hardly able to talk and shaking like a leaf from the wet and cold,,,I lost it,I was a bull reacting to a red cape!

Fortunately for Mr. NSRA guy and Me,,he backed down and I got him in my sedan and drove him out the gate to his daughters car across the street.

This experience made me question why NSRA doesn't make provisions inside the show for people both young and old with disability's or the handicapped close to the area where they can have access to the rent a scooter parking lot.

I will say it was a pleasure to see Kirby and meet his future bride,,she is a beautiful girl.

I have said it before and it's worth saying again,,it's not the show that brings me back year after year but the friendships I have established over the years. HRP

 

I agree with Harrison 100%. I am a local and I havent been since before they opened it up to the later models. Heck, I even own mainly later models now and still dont go. I give them 5 yrs or so also.

 

Harrison ...
I am afraid that your statement is so very true.
I, myself ... have the same old stuff I have had for years.
At 65, with a few serious medical issues ... I am not building anything NOR am I planning to. I have sold off a few O/T Hamb vehicles ( up, running and insured ones ).

I have been slowly but surely reducing my parts stash. I am down to almost nothing parts wise.

I believe that a LOT of us old greybeards ... just do not care like we used to.
I have been most everywhere ( NSRA events ) and a lot of the GG events. Local shows do not appeal to me either. It is usually the same old cars ...
The LA Roadster show ( been there 5 times ) is still my favorite but it is 2500 miles one way.

Because of friends being there ... I do like cruise nights within 125 miles
And my 32 FORDs



Thanks for the replys ...

Randy

 

Like I said previously ladyhrp took most of the photos,,HRP









She has a thing about wagons,,,

 

I only took 2 photos of a killer 50 Coupe,,I absolutely love this car. HRP



and my poor attempt at a artsy photo. HRP

 

Compared to the grounds in Bakersfield, CA Knoxville looks good. I like all kinds of music and real doowop, Wings Kalahan plays that awful buddle gun '50's pop, it's time they retire the Wingman. Maybe, the NSRA should move the show and revamp it top to bottom. As we all know "The times they are a changing" get with it NRSA and save the show for the better. It's too bad that a lot of fairgrounds are in the hood.

CRUISER

 

Harrison, I love your coupe.. everytime I see a picture I just sit and think how it could only look better if it was in my garage

Danny, Did Boro and the Charleston group make it up there..

 

Well i go rain or shine but i didnt take any picks

 

Great observations, Harrison, and sadly all too true. I'm 62 now and I take no offense at all with your comments, in fact I really enjoyed the "setting up a night club in a nursing home" thought regarding the NSRA in their attempt to bolster attendance (and membership) by bumping up the cut-off yrs. They are so out of touch with reality it's really embarrasing. HRP, I'm glad you were able to contain your emotions. It should never have come to a confrontation like that.

 

Well said, Jim! You covered all the bases.

I've been coming since they moved to K'ville. It was a vacation in the mountains for me.

Now that I'm only an hour away, it, ironically, just doesn't have the appeal.

Vernon and Bugg (et al) have their heads buried in the sand (or worse), and what was once a premiere event is now on life support.

GG's Nashville has passed them and disappeared over the horizon.

 

Harrison has got it right. Lawn Chair events like the NSRA and Goodguys are fading fast. There's almost more handicap scooters then cars at their events. The only thing I really look forward to now are those with nostalgia drag racing like the Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The bad news is those type of events are few and far between. In my estimation real hot rodding took place in the late fifties and the sixties. Those were the days of cruising, street racing, looking for chicks during the week and at the drag strip on the weekend. Now its either lawn chairs or nothing.

 

I hope no one takes offense at my comments. I don't think they have but do want to clarify..... MANY of my car friends are 20 (or more) years older than me. I value those friendships and look forward to catching up at events. I also enjoy the NATS South and hope it continues successfully. The NSRA seems to be totally out of touch with younger generations though. Its unfortunate.

JH

 

I didn't see them if they were there. HRP

 

Glad you cleared up that old comment. You know how sensitive I am. I havn't been to the Nats South in 25 years. Never liked the location of the fairgrounds and now really don't like the later models.

 

I started going to the Nats South when they were in Winston Salem,N.C.,,then moved to Columbia,S.C. for 3 years and then to Knoxville,Tenn.

I have been to them all and I have watch it go from the days when Pete & Jake,Jim Ewing a Magoo and Lobeck showed up,,first met Norman at Winston Salem,,good times

But I'm afraid if NSRA don't get this event off life support it ain't gonna last.
HRP

 

LHRP has very good taste

 

I still enjoy most events no matter what the age of the vehicles. I prefer mostly traditional styled hot rods, but still enjoy seeing the later model stuff if it is well done. Heck I have owned many of those same later models myself. At 68 years I am still enjoying the stuff that has always made my heart go pitter patter. I am anxious to start on my 40 tudor as soon as I get my brothers 50 F1 gathered up for him. When I was young I owned 40 Fords and 74 "other stuff" that NOBODY else would have looked at, but I still enjoyed them along with my 40's. Why would I stop now? Because some younger guy feels like he knows what it was like 50 years ago? Don't think so. Not asking anyone else to like the same as I, just let me like em without criticism. I will let them like their stuff and not criticize what they like. I go to NSRA and Goodguys and see a lot more stuff I like than the local cruise night. So I will keep going and having fun instead of staying home and complaining.

 

Harrison,
Wow, I couldn't agree more with just about everything you said. (I do like the park as long as it isn't flooded.) It's sad seeing first hand the decline of what was once the highlight of my year. I've been to every event in Knoxville and it really isn't the same event even from 10 yrs ago much less 20 or 30. It's like seeing an old friend die a slow and painful death. It was nice to meet you at the Barillaro boy's shindig Saturday night.

HRP,
I have a feeling you and I ran into the same "official". I swear I think some within the organization are hell bent to chase off as many members as they can. Sounds like you were able to retain more of your composure than I was. I hope the NSRA pulls it's collective head out of its ass but I'm afraid it's too already late.

With all that said, there is one thing that keeps me coming back and it always will. That is the thrill I get looking at it through my 16 yr. olds eyes. These are his good old days and even if it isn't what it was when I was going with my dad, there's no substitute for watching him grow and learn and enjoy being there with me.