Is this where car shows are going?

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There are about 3 or 4 local shows that I will pay to take my car to. They are still $20 each. Awards are expensive, So I am OK with that. My two most favorite are the Annual Car shows in Lyndon Kansas and the all Mopar show in Kansas City.
The Lyndon Car show is in the small town of Lyndon, Kansas (about 25 miles south of my town of Topeka). It is sponsored by the local Methodist church. It is in the very nice city park with excellent rest rooms and lots of shade. People get there really early. They serve homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee in the morning, then homemade ice cream at 10:00 until it is gone, then lunch of hot dogs, hamburgers beans, chips and sodas. All of the food is excellent and reasonably priced. There is always live music from the church band. They play a great mix of 60s and 70s music. Plus, there are always a LOT of door prizes and activities for the kids. Overall a GREAT show.
The all Mopar show is in Kansas City, usually in the Cabella's parking lot. There are always a lot of beautiful Mopars to look at. It is still $20 too.
 
Tomorrow is the first day of a week long celebration of Cars & Cruising here in Modesto... The American Graffiti Festival....

Flyer for the kickoff event.... Mopar is the featured marque....

Event Details — MODESTO AREA STREET ROD ASSOCIATION

$50 to park on Asphalt, gotta get there early (as in 0600 at the latest) if you don't want to be parked in Timbuktu...

Yeah, y'all have fun, I might come walk around maybe around 9 or 10...
I'll keep my $50 to buy fuel for the next cruise...

Last week we took five cars to Copperopolis for lunch, the week before six cars to Groveland & Coulterville...

Most of the cars that will be out this week only come out once a year every year.... Pass!

My cars look like show cars from twenty feet... But they are well sorted & pretty damn reliable..

IMG_9703.jpg
 
Being perfectly honest, I'm glad that those here complaining about the cost and character of car shows don't go to them. If they don't appreciate shows then they shouldn't go and let their negative attitudes affect others who do. In response to those who believe that show cars never get driven and their owner's don't work on their own cars - I call BS. In 2023 and 2024 I drove my 70 Dart GT, which I built, 6500 miles each year from outside Seattle WA to Carlisle and the Nats. People loved it when I displayed a big map of the trip across the country, including the folks showing cars there. The drive didn't apparently affect how the car was seen, as I took 1st in class (2024), second in Class (2023), and celebrity choice (2023) at Carlisle. At the Nats it took best A-body Modified and one of the Top 5 in the show field. Is it possible that the show haters just really don't get car shows because they haven't participated enough to do so?
 
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str12-340 said:
Being perfectly honest, I'm glad that those here complaining about the cost and character of car shows don't go to them. If they don't appreciate shows then they shouldn't go and let their negative attitudes affect others who do. In response to those who believe that show cars never get driven and their owner's don't work on their own cars - I call BS. In 2023 and 2024 I drove my 70 Dart GT, which I built, 6500 miles each year from outside Seattle WA to Carlisle and the Nats. People loved it when I displayed a big map of the trip across the country, including the folks showing cars there. The drive didn't apparently affect how the car was seen, as I took 1st in class (2024), second in Class (2023), and celebrity choice (2023) at Carlisle. At the Nats it took best A-body Modified and one of the Top 5 in the show field. Is it possible that the show haters just really don't get car shows because they haven't participated enough to do so?
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I love cruise ins. But here's how the shows are around here. The Chevy clique rules the roost. Them and all their buddies always get all the trophies. Only occasionally does another make win and only after someone saying something about it. The main car club in our county is full of total old heads whose mission is to do fundraising for good causes (that's a win/win) but the only reason they do it is so the local media and community will sing their praises. It's downright sickening. Then, we have the North Georgia Mopar Club Kitty and I recently joined. They are some of the nicest, most welcoming people you could ever meet. My best friend Terius has a 71 Chevy C/10 I rbuilt the small block in and got it running really well. Super T10 4 speed. It's a rust bucket, but it's just a gnarly cool old truck. They welcome Terius to every meet, because they love old American muscle and they love Terius. He's a Gray police officer and they know he's my best friend. Regardless, they like all makes and welcome anyone who wants to participate and even join the club. The other club, whose name I won't mention will die a slow death as all the old members die off, because they basically welcome no new members into the club. It's the damndest thing you've ever seen.
 
The bottoms of the door frames, the front and rear window channels, rusty surface pitting in multiple spots all around. If it were a desirable car, it would have been saved. It could have been used in a demo derby but I sold the 383 and axle to fund the purchase of the Jigsaw Charger...

Jiggy x1.JPG
 
I go to a lot of car shows around here. Most are free. I don’t mind paying $20-25 if it is a charity show, but that is about it for me. As others have said, most trophies go to insiders at a lot of them, but I usually don’t enter to be judged if I have a choice. I go for fun, which I’d good since I don’t usually win anything anyway.
 
str12-340 said:
Being perfectly honest, I'm glad that those here complaining about the cost and character of car shows don't go to them. If they don't appreciate shows then they shouldn't go and let their negative attitudes affect others who do. In response to those who believe that show cars never get driven and their owner's don't work on their own cars - I call BS. In 2023 and 2024 I drove my 70 Dart GT, which I built, 6500 miles each year from outside Seattle WA to Carlisle and the Nats. People loved it when I displayed a big map of the trip across the country, including the folks showing cars there. The drive didn't apparently affect how the car was seen, as I took 1st in class (2024), second in Class (2023), and celebrity choice (2023) at Carlisle. At the Nats it took best A-body Modified and one of the Top 5 in the show field. Is it possible that the show haters just really don't get car shows because they haven't participated enough to do so?
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I really believe that some of the clubs that put on shows are heavily biased towards their own members and/or preferred manufacturers. There are obvious exceptions to this point, particularly when club members vehicles are ineligible for judging. I have participated in hundreds of shows, at all levels from small local clubs to international events in the past, and taken home awards that I never would have expected.
My original point was that I don't typically care to enter many shows at this point. I definitely appreciate the time and effort that goes into a project and I also like seeing "work in progress" cars, sometimes more than the shiny paint, finished product. I like going to see the cars, and I absolutely have no problem with supporting charities when the entry fees are directed to them, however when there is ambiguity regarding the reasons for an entry fee, I have to wonder where those $$ end up.
I really enjoy the laid back atmosphere of cruise nights or cars and coffee events because there is a simple camaraderie that transcends brand loyalties, everyone is there simply because they are into cars.

I know that you drive your cars, I followed your and Tina's cross country adventures and it always impresses me to see people actually enjoying their cars by driving them.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The Chevy clique rules the roost. Them and all their buddies always get all the trophies.
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seems every town has those guys..

there is a local club that will go to three shows a weekend (more sometimes) and decide which of of their own they will vote for. kinda lame if you ask me. it hasn't gone un-noticed either. have heard quite a few people mention it over the years..
 
str12-340 said:
Being perfectly honest, I'm glad that those here complaining about the cost and character of car shows don't go to them. If they don't appreciate shows then they shouldn't go and let their negative attitudes affect others who do. In response to those who believe that show cars never get driven and their owner's don't work on their own cars - I call BS. In 2023 and 2024 I drove my 70 Dart GT, which I built, 6500 miles each year from outside Seattle WA to Carlisle and the Nats. People loved it when I displayed a big map of the trip across the country, including the folks showing cars there. The drive didn't apparently affect how the car was seen, as I took 1st in class (2024), second in Class (2023), and celebrity choice (2023) at Carlisle. At the Nats it took best A-body Modified and one of the Top 5 in the show field. Is it possible that the show haters just really don't get car shows because they haven't participated enough to do so?
Click to expand...
Think what you want... I attend a few car shows every year, if they are using the funds in a positive way... Especially if it's a decent venue and attending requires driving a good distance...

Check the flyer I posted above... $50 for a one day show in a mall parking lot... And zero mention of the money going to any charity... Cause it doesn't.. It pays for club members hotel stay during Hot August Nights... Screw that & screw them, I pay for my hotel, you can pay for yours...

There are get togethers around Modesto every day this coming week, Monday through Thursday are free... Why would I pay to go to a mall parking lot?

At no point did I say show cars don't get driven... I will say most of the cars attending the Modesto event never get driven, I know a lot of these people, they don't dare come out with us for a cruise.... They know we don't pick the easiest route.... 150-300 miles for a day trip with twisty mountain roads is normal...

Cars that sit in a garage fifty weeks outta the year & then overheat when attempting to join a controlled cruise ain't making it on the road with us..
 
abodyjoe said:
seems every town has those guys..

there is a local club that will go to three shows a weekend (more sometimes) and decide which of of their own they will vote for. kinda lame if you ask me. it hasn't gone un-noticed either. have heard quite a few people mention it over the years..
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Yeah, even the Corvette old head guys are at least friendly and strike up a conversation. Those other guys.......a holes.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Yeah, even the Corvette old head guys are at least friendly and strike up a conversation. Those other guys.......a holes.
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Club here I was a member for a short time. only accepted Think 100 point cars or damn close. Mostly chevy .let me join because my GTO at the time was in High Performance Pontiac.
They did charity also, just Trophies. They went to other clubs mostly. The we give you at ours, you give us at yours deal Father's day was their big show of the year. Around 300 cars was Normal.
Local Radio station started a father's day show. Cash and Trophies. A few of us went to that show and of course our club threw us out :rofl: no big deal. They folded a few years later.
 
AAR 64Valiant said:
Club here I was a member for a short time. only accepted Think 100 point cars or damn close. Mostly chevy .let me join because my GTO at the time was in High Performance Pontiac.
They did charity also, just Trophies. They went to other clubs mostly. The we give you at ours, you give us at yours deal Father's day was their big show of the year. Around 300 cars was Normal.
Local Radio station started a father's day show. Cash and Trophies. A few of us went to that show and of course our club threw us out :rofl: no big deal. They folded a few years later.
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Explains this club I was talking about perfectly! When I was assistant manager at O'Reilly some time back, my manager asked me "Say, you know some of those guys in the club, tell them they can have a cruise in in the parking lot if they want". Pretty generous offer, I though. So a couple of days after that, I saw the president of that club in a local restaurant shootin the breeze and I told him what Billy said. His response? "What are yall gonna give us?" I said "What?! He says "People always give us stuff for showing up. They grill out for us, give us door prizes and such" You know how that went. The nerve of some folks.
 
One of the most interesting contrasts in our visits to big Mopar shows Back East was between Carlisle and MoparFest in New Hamburg Ontario. They are the biggest Mopar only shows in the US and Canada respectively. Carlisle had about 3200 cars in the show field, MoparFest had about 1500 cars. Carlisle had classes for everything you can imagine (9 type written pages of classes) and yet there were 18 just in my class - 1970-72 Dodge A-body Modified, except Demon (Demons had their own class). All the cars were parked in classes, class judging was done by other show car owners. Event wide prizes are primarily awarded by "Celebrities" meaning other big show managers, resto-shop and hot rod shop representatives, suppliers of repop and NOS/used parts, racers from back in the day - each can pick one car in a 3200 car field.

MoparFest had no classes, no judging, no trophies - just 1500 Mopars and folks talking cars.

Both events were great - big swap meets, fun discussions. Yeah they were very different and they both had their own attractions. If I lived back east I'd be at both of them every year. Both had hefty entrance fees and IMHO were worth it.

The club that I belong to, All Around Mopars, sponsors an all Mopar show every summer. We have a special SOB class (Some Other Brand) for non-Mopar folks that show up, but we don't advertise it. We have classes and show wide awards and give away trophies that we make by hand from car parts. We have a charity each year that gets money from the raffle and the club buys the raffle prizes or they are donated. We have to pay for the venue at a local high school, insurance, advertising, signs, etc, etc. We have a separate class for our own car club cars that is voted on by attendees. Class winners are voted on by show participants. We put a lot of work into having a well run event that people enjoy.

We have lost some Mopar shows that I attended for 15 - 20 years lately. Some went down during Covid and never returned, some had older members who ran the shows for many years and just couldn't keep it up. Our club seems to be growing and has more really active members too. Cruises, overnights to Mopar shows farther away, attending all makes shows as a group, and always helping each other keep our cars in great dependable shape.
 
TrailBeast said:
Like I have said before “I am not entering car shows any more, but will use the money for gas to go on drives.”

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A lot of this stems from insurance now being required at most of these. I help plan our local one in August, the event insurance has doubled this year and we’ve had not a single claim against it in the nearly 25 years of doing this show. Problem is, the state and city both require the insurance. Tack on trophy costs that have increased 30 percent year over year, it’s gonna be very tough to not raise the entry fee from 20 bucks to near that 50/60 mark for us too. Just to cover fees. What’s left over, gets donated to pay for meals for impoverished kids during the summer months.
 

I go to the local shows and shows that support local charities. I'm not interested in trophies, plaques or ribbons. I go to see the like minded folks who enjoy the sport. There are usually a few young guns that show an interest in the cars and the amount of work that has been put into them. I'm a bit long in the tooth to start any new projects but I'm always wiling to help someone with their project.
 
I just attended a biggest show in my area last weekend a half mile from my house I always look forward to it people come from miles around the little town imbraces the car culture. I meet lots of people I hang with friends hang out under the trees on the grass to talk about old time. 500 cars two nights of cruising hundreds on spectators and some really good food. cost me 45 bucks...no problem. After working on my car for over 45 years it's nice to have people enjoy seeing it.
 
I went to an all-Mopar show in Albion pa yesterday paid $5 to get admitted. I ended up seeing numerous friends, and even ended finding by accident my brothers ole 73 challenger! Guy could not believe the stories I had about the car. Was leaving and a guy said to me "you look familiar, did you used to race a blue demon?" I said yes, and recognized him and had not seen him in 30 years! I talked to him for a long time. I had one of my best days ever at an event, and did not even have a car there! Life's short, go out and do stuff you love!
 
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