New model year Challengers and Chargers stacked up at shows.

[Ghostrider 67]

Sometimes I just don't understand why people do stuff. Every MOPAR show I attend seems to have row after row of 2012-2015 Chargers and Challengers with gobs of trophies in front of them and they win trophies too. I don't get it.
How can you compare a "new" cookie cutter car that has some cool new graphics pasted on it and some goofy stuffed animals on the aircleaner to a MOPAR classic that somebody spent 6 years restoring or resto modding and has done magic with sheetmetal and changed stuff to look cooler or more updated? If you know please tell me, if your one of those "new" car owners please don't hate on me. I'm done now.

 

[Dennis H]

I put 10,000 miles on the 09 Tracpac Challenger since new. 35,000 on the 69 Coronet since 09. All pleasure miles, I take the Train to work.

These cars were purpose built. To be driven. Hard. And, enjoyed. I write "Do not judge" on the placard at car shows.

 

[patrick66]

If I wanted to see a bunch of metric Challengers and Chargers, I'd go to the dealer's lot. I like those cars, actually. I agree, going to a Mopar show and seeing half the cars there be those is a bummer. BUT, by the same token, it hails a new generation of Mopar fan that never grew up with the cars WE love, but actually have their own hot rod cars that they can buy new, enjoy, and modify like we did in the '60s and '70s. Hell, I can remember when I took my '66 Coronet 500 to shows in the early '80s and have people bitch that it was "just a 15-year-old used car".

Just deal with it. With all the computer-dependent crap on the new cars, all that will fail eventually and our '60s and '70s Mopars will still be on the road. Think positive.

 

[Donny]

Or, the mods the newer generation Chargers/Challengers do is the Halo Headlights, or paint the engine cover the same body color as their car! I never bought into that crowd's idea of 'mods' when my mods are far more extensive and more interesting.

 

[GetX'd]

I agree. Seems like it should be a whole different class or show. There is no comparison. Would you compare a Picasso to an Anderson....?

 

[patrick66]

Remember, their "mods" are pretty much plug-and-play, giving far more horsepower than our cars do. A 440+6 engine was rated at approximately 430 hp; and a 426 Hemi, not much more. Considering that the new V-6 puts out 330 hp out the showroom door, and a Hellcat over 700 hp...AND get 20+ mpg...c'mon! It's a different era now.

 

[Kern Dog]

If it were not for the new cars at shows, the car count would be much less. Here in Sacramento, we average 200 cars at our show each year. We are grateful for every paid entry to the show. If the 2000 and newer cars were not allowed, we would have 120 cars at the most. This is an aging hobby and many of the classic 1960s cars are owned by elderly people. How long are they going to be around? Restoring a car isn't easy. Many of our projects require mucho $$$ and the space to do the work. With fewer people able to afford a house, the ease of owning a 2009 Challenger that requires NO rust repair or upholstry work is quite tempting.

 

[76mopar]

Same down here. Most car shows are filled with late model "muscle" cars. The local ones just have like a top 25 or top 50. So all are grouped together. My problem is how is someone suppose to compete with a brand new car. But like said before if they don't allow them in the show would be really small. I just learned to deal with it and now I just go to cruise ins. Only judged shows I go to now are only Mopar shows.

 

[Ghostrider 67]

I see everyones points. I guess I feel like there should be a show/judging for the newer cars alone and then for the older ones. It just winds me up when a new car gets the top trophy while a blood sweat and tears resto or mod gets ignored. My 23 year old son despises the old ones. He's all high tech.

 

[idrivemopar]

Yep I see the same thing here but with the mopar show here at least its broken up into classes with a, b, c, e, new, and modified.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Ghost I share your opinion 100% and have the same pet peeve. It became so overwhelming at our big show Moparfest that they limited registry of 2000 model year and newer cars to 200 (out of about 1700)

Its the same thing at my local cruise night with other new brands mustangs, vettes, New imports etc. Even a local club called the "Demon Darts" (I call them bum darts) .That show up with about 20 brand new dodge darts and line then up..... Bahhhhhhhh

 

[the mississippi madman]

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This challenger turned to a charger is awesome



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[73JF1Bird]

Great topic. The same goes with our Mopars at the Battleship Show. We also have different classes that include the New Generation. We have recently had club discussions about adding more trophies to that class because of the increased participation. We are grateful for the New Gens. They support our charity and our big financial contributor, AUTONATION Chrysler Dodge Jeep and Ram. This year, we raised $6,000 for the Mulherin Home. I know the tremendous amount of work that we put into our old cars. I believe that most New Gen Owners have an admiration and respect for our hard work.

 

[Bruzilla]

We have a local group here, Jacksonville Automotive Muscle (JAM) that is mostly all late-model Challenger and Charger owners. They show up en masse at car shows and stage their own events. Most of the shows down here judge on eras, so cars from the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc., aren't competing with newer cars.

I do like needling the Challenger guys by constantly, and correctly, pointing out their cars are Pony and not Muscle cars, but I do the same to the Vette, Mustang, Camaro, etc., guys as well. But for the most part, my car gets so much attention at shows that I'm usually anchored to it and answering questions all day so I don't really care what else shows up.

 

[furyus]

I feel like same as Ghost. I don't go to many shows anymore due to not wanting to pay for people to look at my car, while I sit on a burning hot parking lot. But when I do go, it's to a Mopar show. Only one around here once a year, other than Garlits. I stand there watching the "judges" give one trophy after another to the late model stuffed animal crowd. Very frustrating. Stopped going to that one show too. Will probably go again, and pay my 10 bucks to not be judged. Fortunately, our cruise night guy won't allow a bunch of ricers or late models to come in. No ghetto music either.

 

[Seventy]

A friend of mine has a new challenger, its his daily driver 13' R/T. He brings it to shows so he doesn't have to pay to go to the show, for instance instead of paying for him, his wife, and his twin sons to get into carlisle for 3 days, he pays once, parks in the show, doesnt have to pay for parking out side 3 times and walk 2 miles up that hill. I was going to rent a charger just to do that this year, lol...

I don't mind seeing the new cars, I like when they are separated because I just won't walk down the isles of the cars I don't care about, some of the guys with these new gens have put some wrench in them,and I seen a few this year repainted, sure we painted out 45 year old cars over, but that because they needed it, these ******* guys took perfect paint jobs and redid them to their liking, that takes a special kind of person...
Also, these guys spent $45K on a car, then put $15K into it, with wheels, paint, suspension upgrades, etc etc etc, sure we take 50 year old cars and invest money into them but they will only go up in value if we do them right, these guys wont live long enough to see a 2015 charger to be worth half of what it cost new...

So for them reasons I don't get bothered by them, and I am more likely to walk down them isles that the ones with the 1986 chargers and 1990 dusters, at carlisle this year I cut through an isle of them to take some steps off my walk back to the car and there was a 90'ish green duster with the gold wheels, mc donalds wrappers stuck to the floor and the hood was up to show duck taped wires and zip screws with sheet metal holding the plastic shrouds together...

 

[mmissile]

Put all the new stuff into a separate lot/area. I don't want to look at new cars that I see daily, at a classic car show....PERIOD. The Woodward cruise was better before the big-3 got there, also.
Even the news coverage of that event sucks, due to the media slobbering over whatever the big-money influence brings to the event. You see nascar and indy-car stuff on display at THEE most classic car cruise area there is. People would actually be able to see what's really happening at that amazing event, if the know-nothings and big-3 weren't there. So many cool cars, and they show bullshit.

 

[kellycom]

It's this kind of old thinking that drives younger people to imports. The import crowd have a more inclusive feel and they enjoy all cars and the mods done to them. Someone buying a newer Charger or Challenger and doing mods to it is no different than adding a carb, intake, heads to an older car. Share in the diversity instead of looking down at someone who doesnt have an old school muscle car.

 

[Bruzilla]

I feel like same as Ghost. I don't go to many shows anymore due to not wanting to pay for people to look at my car, while I sit on a burning hot parking lot. But when I do go, it's to a Mopar show. Only one around here once a year, other than Garlits. I stand there watching the "judges" give one trophy after another to the late model stuffed animal crowd. Very frustrating. Stopped going to that one show too. Will probably go again, and pay my 10 bucks to not be judged. Fortunately, our cruise night guy won't allow a bunch of ricers or late models to come in. No ghetto music either.

It's been my experience that a lot of the shows around here that are sponsored by clubs tend to have judges who award trophies to their pals in the club. At shows sponsored by Clay County Cruisers, I have yet to see anyone who's not a member win a trophy, but I'm fine with that because I don't go out to win trophies.

I go to shows to help inform and educate people about cars. My sign out front doesn't list that my car is one of XXXXX car, or go into meticulous detail of every step of it's restoration, or all the technical attributes of it. My sign details what the car is and how much time and money I spent into getting it where it is. I always have far more people stop to ask about how I got my car to that point for that amount of money than the guy next to me with his perfect restoration. Purists love that crap, but workaday car lovers who come to the shows like hearing how they can get their own car.

And the plus side is I don't have to sit there panicking every time someone touches the paint or sweat my *** off hovering over the car with a bottle of instashine and a rag like a vulture waiting for something to die. I just sit in my Gators chair, enjoy some cool beverages, and shoot the bull with whoever wants to chat about Mopars, Roadrunners, cars in general, the Steelers, Pittsburgh, whatever.

 

[67440chrg]

I have a wall covered with plaques from charity shows from years past. last year I was to busy remodeling my inlaw's house to even go to any. This year I just lost interest in them. It was depressing to see all the new cars at shows when I went. I still like to drive and enjoy my car but not in crowds.