Event Coverage 2016 nats ,Louisville

Good news Bruce. No rain in almost 24 hours. Wx looks good for Tuesday as well.

Gary

 

Leaving at 6:00 am tomorrow.

 

I'mmmmm back. 10,000 plus cars. good friends, old friends, new freinds, new place to eat.GREAT WEATHER driving home.Can't wait till next year!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Was there Fri. HOT but the dark clouds kept it O.K.

 

I was down there on Saturday-sort of. My next door neighbor is in his 70s and recovering from cancer surgery and wanted to see some street rods but could only be out of the house for a couple of hours due to bladder issues so I drove him down there in my Edsel. We went to Papa John's Stadium where everyone has to register first and just sat in my car for about an hour and 20 minutes. We chatted with a few people and saw dozens of cars from street rods to rat rods to a late '50s Corvette towing a trailer with a dragster on it. My favorite was a red '55 Caddy coupe in incredible condition. The weatherman cooperated for all four days and, even though it was hot and humid, it didn't rain at all as far as I know. Hopefully everyone who came had a good time....

 

Well, I got to visit with B.A. and Irant. It was a good time as always. I left right after the car give-a-way and arrived back home in central Missouri at 10:00pm Saturday night. The humidity was high but it was great weather. Friday afternoon as the clouds closed in, I pulled out of the grass field and was able to get into an agricultural building with my truck. It was good napping weather throughout the thunderstorm and we kept our gear dry. A longtime hot rodding buddy went with me and we slept in the back of my truck in the adjacent RV park on Thursday and Friday nights. It was a great time. Next up will be the HAMB DRAGS on Saturday August 20 and then off on our annual pilgrimage to the FROG FOLLIES. Please watch for a thread our HAMB "meet and greet" if you'll be attending. Sam

 

Well it was MR "NSRA " WALKER at his best again this year. Yep take the money and run !l know,I know, his shop his rules. But why no saw dust at the very muddy exits from the east field ???.he did it when it rained before. Low Inside vendors count, small swap meet, .just a below Average rod run at best! I had hoped to make the 50th nats, but at the rate he is going it won't be worth me going. " nuff said " Well I feel a little better now!

 

Got into town on Tuesday afternoon. Was first in line for registration. Had some heavy rain for awhile Thursday afternoon and some wind and lighter rain on Friday. Wednesday and Saturday were both bone dry.
Swap meet was down from last year, but last year it was packed to the gills. Vendor area was about the same as last year. Entry count was said to be 10,047. I waited by the walk thru entrance at the northwest corner of the fairgrounds for some friends to come in and was shocked at the number of people with participant buttons walking in from the back parking lot. I always knew there was a large number of people who register a car to get the credentals to walk in, but damn that seemed to be up this year. From some one who has been to every Louisville NSRA event, overall, the car count seemed way down, but the paved parking was packed pretty good with cars.
The grassy area to the east of the buildings never had more than 100 cars in it on any given day.

FWIW, the rolling 30 year break didn't seem to have much of an affect this year. Those with vehicles newer than 1969 seemed to self-select themselves out of the event this year. There were a few entries newer than 1969 but damn few in the grand scheme of things.

Will I go back, hell yes

 

Just got home from Louisville, over 2000 miles and had car issues both ways. Got most of them fixed. Had a great time, visited with I.Rant and OkieDokie. It seemed as though the car count was down but still enough for brain overload. Thanks to all that helped us as I am sure I must have not thanked someone in person!!

 

well all i can say is i saw them bring a large bucket of rock/gravel and put in a spot that was muddy.Inside looked about the same to me. swap meet was smaller tho..................

 

I agree with y'all. Swap meet was terrible more Flea Market junk then quality parts. Vendors were down. If you noticed in the vendor area, the aisles were wider then in previous years. Mothers whose usually there in an 18 wheeler didn't even show up.

Gary

 

Mercdeuceman, I spent my nights in the adjacent RV park. I do know that many of the campers left their rides in the event overnight. Some of the folks you saw walking in or on mobility carts might have been campers. The mobility carts are really becoming a nuisance. I have no problems with anyone with health issues being able to enjoy the event with mobile transportation. There were many folks who are just damn lazy. I saw folks in their thirties riding around on the rental mobility carts with drinks in their hands. Some were moving in formation. In the swap meet there were lines of scooters at the tables because they wanted to check out the goods without getting off. I guess it's just the aging of America but damn. There were even tandem seat mobility carts pulling another buddy on a single axle cart behind.

 

You must have been inside. Thursday, around 2 O' clock winds came up quickly. A light to moderate rain increased to heavy for a brief period of time, leaving the east field muddy for the weekend. Friday, again, the storm developed quickly and aggressively. We took down our canopy at the onset. At 3 pm, we bailed for Shepardsville driving in heavy rain. The canopies are no deterrent for the influx of discourteous, infatuated attendees parking in front of the canopies, that obviously were put there the previous day by the car owners. On Friday someone placed a chair in front of our canopy. I moved the chair and reclaimed our spot. NSRA says neither canopy or chair saves car parking spots. On Saturday an early riser parked in front of our canopy and I was forced to park behind the canopy, essentially in a traffic lane, if I were to be close to our digs.
My interest in cars, I think, are indicative of the HAMB example. I lean toward the mild end of the spectrum, mostly interested in mild customs and mildly rodded cars. A combination of the two is a perfect execution for my taste. I am interested in traditionally styled and built rods and customs. Most street rods, muscle cars and rat rods have little interest to me. I have no interest in pieces of junk, farm trucks, motor homes or other absurdities! I will venture to say that only 1-3% of the 10K cars there would have an interest to me, if I were to have seen them all! In all of the builders cars, only the 58 chevy was my type. I read in the program Lucky 7 was there. Lucky 7 from California is putting out some of the cleanest Kustoms on the planet today. Unbeknownst to me there is another Lucky 7, a rod builder from back East. Was I ever disappointed! It is my opinion the HAMB and the NSRA nats have a thing in common: It is the place to be!
For 8 years Illinois friends have been meeting me in Louisville for our annual rendezvous. These meetings are valued and highly anticipated. I believe both parties have been holding back on our growing disenchantment with the Nats. I certainly have been, thinking that my buddy, a street rodder, was having a great time. He and his wife were prompted to release their frustration over the intrusions into our claimed space, besides other issues. We had worst experiences 2 years ago. We have decided this year was probably going to our last. We want a more rural setting and hopefully a cooler setting. We are thinking September. Our intermediate point is Indy, but don't want an urban setting. We are thinking 1-3K cars would be plenty. Any ideas HAMBers? I found the Cider Run in beautiful Brown County Ind. in September., put on by ISRA. Has any one had experience with this event?

 

I live 25 miles away in Oldham County and was only there on Saturday. We didn't get any rain at the house all 5 days and I was hoping it was the same weather at the fairgrounds but I guess not.

I think the contract with the NSRA and Louisville is up in a couple of years and it will be going somewhere else but I don't remember where....

 

I haven't seen any pictures of the "house cars" on any of the threads. At first glance, I thought the yellow one was a modified school bus but that wasn't the case. I'm not sure which category they would fit it but they were pretty cool. They were representative of the early RV's. 504640, I understand where you are coming from. I enjoy smaller events as well. Some of my friends no longer attend Good Guys or NSRA events. You would probably enjoy the KKOA Salina, KS. event or the Duct tail and James Dean events, Pumpkin Run etc. I have had to morph with the changing times. I can now walk past the vehicles I don't care for and still have a good time. As I have gotten older, the events are more social gatherings for me now. I agree with you on the chairs and inconsiderate people. The guys camped next to me told me about the Newport Hill Climb the first weekend of October each year. They mentioned that the national RV museum is close by so I might try that for a smaller venue. Note: I was at Louisville when there were over 15,000 pre. 48's in attendance. It's a lot different now.

 

Lebowski, I've heard the contract between the NSRA and the Fair Grounds has been extended another 10 years. There isn't to many places centrally located in the US that has the air conditioned facility that the Louisville Fair Grounds has.

Gary

 

Gman, i didn't see you in line early this year did you sleep in?

 

504640: I, and a lot of my friends are right there with ya. I actually heard one say "I wish they'd move this event so I didn't have to come to it". Obviously, we don't have to go but when it's 12 miles from the house your nuts not to. It is what you make it. I did go to the Brown county Indiana run a few times years ago. Don't know what it's like now. Evansville is the best one around but it's hotter than hades everytime I go. But then!!! the run here inLouisville at Iroquois Park in late sep early oct put on by the Louisville street Rods is great. It is a mixed bag of cars but a very nice setting. Likely over a 1,000 cars. You need to be in line EARLY for a good parking spot. Tim

 

As a vendor. my perspective is probably a bit different. The vendor count was down slightly from years past from what I could tell - not sure why, our booth space costs have remained the same for quite a few years now, so it was Not due to higher rates. Our foot traffic was UP, a noticeably busier show for us and more literature and information given out than over the past 5 years. We don't sell direct at the show, but our dealers reported increased sales of our product lines. Overall we were very happy with the show and I just filled out our contract for next year.
Oh, and the rain was heavy enough on Thursday and Friday that we could hear the Thunder inside the convention Center - enough to make us go out and look at what was happening and watch some EZ Ups blow across the parking lot.
As for the Swap Meet - the NSRA really has no control on the turnout there. If the folks who sell junk don't want to show up, not much they can do to entice them. I think major swap meets all ocher the country are seeing a decrease in what many of us would consider Good Junk - But that is a by product of Ebay, Craig's List and the fact that there is just less cool old stuff left out there.

 

I can see why you would be compelled to go every year. And let's face it, there is a lot of cool stuff to see, new products to check out and excitement is in the air! Being from Columbia, I would still probably visit early (wed or thur) if my friends weren't coming for the full week-end. I might even come on both wed and thur if I didn't have to suffer the drive with my 411 geared Babbitt pounder! My pre-49's are not running, so I may very well go as visitor to the Follies this year. Last year my buddy finally got his long term 41 Hudson built. A very unique, detailed and highly engineered top quality street rod, he had thousands of hours of build time and a huge emotional investment in the car. If a car was to burn in a carb fire you would guess it would be a bone head like who owns it, not meticulous, safety conscious Jerry. His did last fall. We had planned on making Evansville our reunion event, but that is not happening now! Thanks for the heads up on Iroquois. I may very well check it out.

 

This was my first visit to Louisville in maybe 20 years. I had a great time. Met I.rant and Legends47 plus a couple of other HAMB folks. Saw ol55's 40 but did not get to meet Andy. As has been the case at all the large and small events I have attended over the past 50 or more years, there were rods that I did not care for, and some that reached out and grabbed me. I saw some vendor exhibits that we never see around here. Saturday after the giveaway we sat and watched the cars leaving (why so many left confused me) and there were so many that I would have liked to see up close that I didn't. Anyway I am looking forward to the next trip to the Nats. There is simply nothing better than 1800 trouble free miles in your hot rod for me. My only regret was we left Sunday first thing, next time will be four days for me.

 

BA saw your ELKY at registration but didn't see you. Never saw it after that. I didn't do too much walking as we had a real good parking area and I was babysitting my 64 Biscayne which I sold. Overall I had a great time at the Nats. Sorry I missed you.

Gary