Unpopular opinion. I'm so frustrated I hate car shows/cruises.

-
IMG_5894.gif
 
famous bob said:
just found out , there is a car show in the closest town to me , 3 miles away , am I interested ? NO ...
Click to expand...
Two within 10 miles of me today. The boy is working so Ill stay home and work on the house. i wont subject myself to the misery.
 
Anytime I can meet a person that becomes a good friend or even a source of parts, info, whatever, the car show is worth my time and gas, even though I car less about taking my car or the
dog and pony" show itself. Closest one ever is about 20 mi.
I always gravitate toward conversation with the young kid there with a slant in progress, rust and all, or the really old fart that drove his C body 75 mi to get there.
At the fall show I always attend by the big lake, I meet an older couple (like me) (OK maybe not quit as old) that drove their super cool Stude Hawk there. It was pretty nice, he built it, not a $80,000 job but cool they were proud and I enjoyed the conversation and maybe made friends.
At the Branson,Mo/ Mopar show 7-8 years before I moved to Texas, there was kid in his early twenties maybe, that had the rattiest old early slant Valiant ever, he and his dad drove it there, they not a soul ever walked up to them to say boo or anything, they said, but I loved talking to them because the kid did all the work dad gave advice, and both of them could not have been more proud of that car if it was a hemi superbird!
Another little local ish show we were walking around looking, and we stop to talk to a young coupe maybe early 30s with a four door 56 Chevy. Pretty nice ride. They explain how THEY had don all the work, still a work in progress, and apolgized because it was NOT a two door! I said don't ever apologize to anyone for such!
 
I actually find the car show personal exchanges that attempt to discuss the errors of my cars an open challenge to humorously insult the other person.

For example, if the show is not very rural or all Mopar, I get a number of folks (all ages) that look at my ‘53 Dodge truck, asking me “Why didn’t you put a SBC or an LS in it?”

My typical responses are “It gets plenty of traction without all that weight laying in the back. Or, “The bed wood is new and the bed paint is great. Why would I want to have an SBC or an LS rolling around in the back?”

Always gets laughs and my critic moves on.
 
Bobacuda said:
I actually find the car show personal exchanges that attempt to discuss the errors of my cars an open challenge to humorously insult the other person.

For example, if the show is not very rural or all Mopar, I get a number of folks (all ages) that look at my ‘53 Dodge truck, asking me “Why didn’t you put a SBC or an LS in it?”

My typical responses are “It gets plenty of traction without all that weight laying in the back. Or, “The bed wood is new and the bed paint is great. Why would I want to have an SBC or an LS rolling around in the back?”

Always gets laughs and my critic moves on.
Click to expand...
:rofl: :rofl:
 
HankRearden said:
I've gotten back into going to car cruises/shows the last few years because my kid was getting old enough to drive and I figured if I could get him interested in cars instead of video games it would be a positive. But damn these are miserable experiences(at least in my area).
It is always the same crap. No one actually drives these things. They putter into the show area way slower than normal traffic. Sadly most of the participants seem to be on a day pass from the retirement home. They are better versed at discussing which adult diaper is more comfortable than what they enjoy about cars. I was at a "cruise" a few weeks ago that was poorly attended because it rained(guess these things don't have windshield wipers) and a geriatric gentleman had to be ambulanced away after he collapsed on the concrete.
Meanwhile there was a crowd of other incoherent geriatrics who saw fit to surround the man while offering no assistance. It took a youngish retiree to think to call the ambulance and my 17 year old to decide to support the mans head and neck and check his blood sugar while waiting on the ambulance. Now before you get butt hurt and say Im busting on old people Im not. I grew up savoring every bit of information and life experience I could glean from my grandparents,great grandparents and their friends. Still today when going into a new job or work site I look for the guy with some grey in his beard first to get some insight into the situation.
What I hate is that being in the car hobby has become the rolling equivalent of sitting on a dead pecker bench at a mall.
I would rather see 1 kid passionate about their fart piped equipped rice rocket than see another hundred bitter 75 year olds that are no longer capable or interested in driving,maintaining or building cool stuff.
Did I mention that blaring surf rock serves only to make any of these gentlemen I try to engage with struggle to hear a damn thing let alone carry a conversation?

Why the hell cant we have other car related events?
Like miniature scale power tours where we maybe hit a few local landmarks and picnic.
Really anything beside standing around passing out and polishing non functioning knobs or chrome while we criticize the cars of others because they don't use the same wax?

How the hell am I supposes to convince a teenager that this hobby has any value when this is the representation?

Am I crazy? Am I the only one? Does everyone here over the age of 65 want to beat me to death with their cane?
Click to expand...
Just do like me and always have your cars torn apart in your garage. You'll never have time or gas money to go to shows, or a car to drive to them anyway. :lol:
 
I guess I fit in the 70+ category. Never thought of it that way . Am I the exception. I was at a car show awhile back and when I come in I usually open my dumps. I have electric dumps , makes it sooo easy. Anyway comming down the lane between parked cars a guy probably younger then me , was standing on the side of the lane and was motioning I was too loud.
I got up to him and shouted out
ITS A MUSCLE Car. I shrugged my shoulders at him and drove by.
I left the same way.
 
Based on the various car event complaints - musical selections, over-restored cars, under-restored cars, fart pipes, desire to see cars that are driven and thrashed, the age of participants, the age of the spectators, the mechanical capabilities of folks, and yadda-yadda-yadda, I think I have a reasonable compromise.

Most of the people here that are unhappy should look into participating in “24 Hours of Lemons.” Lemons insist on a tight budget, mechanics are on the race teams, they emphasize creativity and safety, and the older the car, the better your points standing.
Plus, if you don’t want to race on a track, they also have ralley races.

From what I read, and what participants have told me, it appears to be everything a lot of the disillusioned folks are looking for.
 
Bobacuda said:
And finally, the 50’s and surfer music can go away.
Click to expand...

This is as far as I've read of this thread so far, but my response to the quote above:

In a word? Yes.

In two words? Hell, Yes!

Back to the 50's (MN State Fairgrounds), the Summer Nat's, Mopars in the Park....

As a self-described "recovering audiophile", I love music. I really do. But I don't need to have the same old "surfer ****" (cue John Milner) shoved down my ear at each and every car show I attend.

1556130-L.jpg


(End of rant.)
 
Last edited:
ProjectBazza said:
This is as far as I've read of this thread so far, but my response to the quote above:

In a word? Yes.

In two words? Hell, Yes!

Back to the 50's (MN State Fairgrounds), the Summer Nat's, Mopars in the Park....

As a self-described "recovering audiophile", I love music. I really do. But I don't need to have the same old "surfer ****" (cue John Milner) shoved down my ear at each and every car show I attend.

View attachment 1716132861

(End of rant.)
Click to expand...
I'm 63 and still love 50s music, surfer stuff, 60s, 70s and 80s rock. So, the music at most shows fits me well. Now, when they start playing rap I'm not happy...
 
barbee6043 said:
At the Branson,Mo/ Mopar show 7-8 years before I moved to Texas, there was kid in his early twenties maybe, that had the rattiest old early slant Valiant ever, he and his dad drove it there, they not a soul ever walked up to them to say boo or anything, they said, but I loved talking to them because the kid did all the work dad gave advice, and both of them could not have been more proud of that car if it was a hemi superbird!
Another little local ish show we were walking around looking, and we stop to talk to a young coupe maybe early 30s with a four door 56 Chevy. Pretty nice ride. They explain how THEY had don all the work, still a work in progress, and apolgized because it was NOT a two door! I said don't ever apologize to anyone for such
Click to expand...

That just made my day, right there!
 
barbee6043 said:
Anytime I can meet a person that becomes a good friend or even a source of parts, info, whatever, the car show is worth my time and gas, even though I car less about taking my car or the
dog and pony" show itself.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t agree with you more on this^^^^. A couple years back I met a guy with a 71 Cuda and I bought a complete 340 six pack set up off him for less than most want for the carbs.
 
I like the American Graffitti soundtrack yes, but I was in high school mid 80s so they could mix in a bit of 70s 80s 90s rock etc. nothing to aggressive unless its a metal crowd but yes..not everyone is as old as Paul Lemat and Ron Howard at the car show...:)
 
I like music also. older stuff,some new that my wife listens to and in between. what I don't need at a show is the speakers blareing noise that I can't hear somebody talking. Me, myself and I am deaf in one ear from surgery so just one ear hearing is difficult in those situations. just like three people talking at the same time, that's why I like one-on-one conversations. course, I have no problem with being at the strip and listening to the cars...
 
Yep-I have oddball’s and I like them. Last weekend I drove my M code to the local Freddie’s cruise and as usual one of the numbers guru’s had the door open and hood up when I got back outside. And once again nothing was correct.
 
d5667 said:
Yep-I have oddball’s and I like them. Last weekend I drove my M code to the local Freddie’s cruise and as usual one of the numbers guru’s had the door open and hood up when I got back outside. And once again nothing was correct.
Click to expand...
wait. wut?

somebody *opened* the hood and door of your car to have a look-see while you weren't there?
 
Jim Lusk said:
Now, when they start playing rap I'm not happy...
Click to expand...
i'm calling shenanigans!

you can clearly hear Dr. Dre's seminal 1992 album The Chronic playing in the background of your LCA repair video on youtube!

(i keed, i keed)
 
junkyardhero said:
wait. wut?

somebody *opened* the hood and door of your car to have a look-see while you weren't there?
Click to expand...
Yes they did, and I didn’t know them. It has been five years since I have had this car to a show. It seems all they want to do is discredit the car.
 
d5667 said:
Yep-I have oddball’s and I like them. Last weekend I drove my M code to the local Freddie’s cruise and as usual one of the numbers guru’s had the door open and hood up when I got back outside. And once again nothing was correct.
Click to expand...
That’s grounds for a good old fashioned arse whooping!
 
I would RELISH the feeling, the justifiable *** kicking I would give to any dipshit stupid enough to mess with my car.
 
d5667 said:
Yes they did, and I didn’t know them. It has been five years since I have had this car to a show. It seems all they want to do is discredit the car.
Click to expand...
that level of unchecked privileged, audacious, brazen behavior is just unreal.

my car is a certifiable hunk of junk but i'd be stompin' a mudhole in somebody's *** and walking it dry if they rolled up on me like that.
 
It’s hard to see the disrespect of people nowadays.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top