Car show Faux Pas ?

[Dakar Timm]

We attended a small local car show this past saturday . Also in attendance was a '67 Coronet 440 whose owner we had met last summer . Really a nice ,modest down to earth guy .
He talked about all the effort he put into finding his car in New Mexico and bringing it up here . We spoke for perhaps a half an hour
and were ready to look at a few more cars when I casually asked him if his Dodge emblem on his grill was on upside down . (I knew it was )>
He assured me it was correct. However as he compared it's orientation to that on his steering wheel and on the rear trunk lid ,he realized in fact it was upside down.
My wife admonished me for pointing it out . His wife thought it was funny . Should I have not said anyting ?

 

[GetX'd]

Something easily fixed like that - no big deal. I would have appreciated it He obviously Didn't know and you helped him right a wrong with little if any embarrassment. Wife's for what ever reason get a little kick out of seeing their husbands pinged a little for things he was no doubt proud of. He's probably been talking her ear off on all the things he knew about this car and maybe she was a little weary of it.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Don't think you said anything wrong as long as it didn't sound critical. A guy pointed out I have a 68 and newer intake manifold on my car. 66 Hemis and I believe 67 didn't have pentastar's on front of manifold. No big deal.

 

[33 IMP]

At about the age of twelve (around 1964) I was washing my grandfather's 1950 Plymouth. I noticed that the hood ornament was upside down. (From the factory!). Nobody had noticed in fourteen years.
Postscript: my grandfather traded in the 50 on a new 67chevy Belair, at the local Chevy dealer in Claremont, less than a quarter mile from his home.
Many, MANY years later, in the claremont village (small college town) I spotted a Plymouth that looked exactly like my grandpops 50. Walked over to look at the hood. Yep, same one. Upside down hood emblem. Wanna say around 1990? Flathead six still chugging along.....

 

[#41]

It's all in how you presented it to him.

 

[PlymCrazy]

Someone had to tell him. Why not you? I think the point here is that not only should you tell him the emblem was the wrong orientation but also communicate that your intention was not to come across as a jerk, but just trying to be helpful.

I always appreciate when someone tells me something that I know can be uncomfortable for most. You know, the embarrassing stuff i.e. your fly is open, there's a booger hanging out your nose, there's food in your beard, there's TP hanging out the back of your pants from the seat gasket you just made... ask me how I know

 

[Dakar Timm]

Someone had to tell him. Why not you? I think the point here is that not only should you tell him the emblem was the wrong orientation but also communicate that your intention was not to come across as a jerk, but just trying to be helpful.

I always appreciate when someone tells me something that I know can be uncomfortable for most. You know, the embarrassing stuff i.e. your fly is open, there's a booger hanging out your nose, there's food in your beard, there's TP hanging out the back of your pants from the seat gasket you just made... ask me how I know

That’s exactly why I “ asked “ and not told him . I’m learning to be social .. it’s never too late right ?

 

[Hey-O]

You did nothing wrong. Unless you started with, hey stupid, which I don't see you doing. I would have thanked you.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

If it were my car it would have been done on purpose for my own entertainment. But in his case I wouldn’t know if it was on purpose or not. If you said it nicely, and he didn’t take offense, it’s all good.

 

[Kern Dog]

Being corrected about a matter often stings a bit at first. One might feel like they are being attacked or picked on.
A reasonable person will soon thereafter mull it over and try to see it from the other point of view.

 

[kiwigtx]

No....you did the right thing.

When I first re-assembled my GTX for a Concours type show in 2002, we had been working so long in the final days, that my brother inadvertently installed the coat hooks upside down. The Judges didn't even spot that....but my eagle-eyed painter/friend did......we laughed about it.

We even made sure that the staple in the handbook had a clean staple.....we had heard a rumour that the Morris 1000 just 3 cars along had a rusty staple in his handbook. Some quick checking proved we were OK.

 

[Cranky]

At about the age of twelve (around 1964) I was washing my grandfather's 1950 Plymouth. I noticed that the hood ornament was upside down. (From the factory!). Nobody had noticed in fourteen years.
Postscript: my grandfather traded in the 50 on a new 67chevy Belair, at the local Chevy dealer in Claremont, less than a quarter mile from his home.
Many, MANY years later, in the claremont village (small college town) I spotted a Plymouth that looked exactly like my grandpops 50. Walked over to look at the hood. Yep, same one. Upside down hood emblem. Wanna say around 1990? Flathead six still chugging along.....

I was 11 in May of 64......and remember another car that looked exactly like our 56 Belvedere a couple of years earlier. Some woman had parked behind ours one day and ran in to this little store and got into ours on the way out and couldn't figure out why the key didn't work. When we came out, dad just stood there for a minute and finally said 'I think that car right behind this one is yours' lol She was so embarrassed. Funny thing is we never saw that other car again and I've never seen another one in the same color except in pictures. We lived in a town of 40k back then.

Someone had to tell him. Why not you? I think the point here is that not only should you tell him the emblem was the wrong orientation but also communicate that your intention was not to come across as a jerk, but just trying to be helpful.

I always appreciate when someone tells me something that I know can be uncomfortable for most. You know, the embarrassing stuff i.e. your fly is open, there's a booger hanging out your nose, there's food in your beard, there's TP hanging out the back of your pants from the seat gasket you just made... ask me how I know

The fly thing is one that I've been guilty of but the others....nope lol

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Asking the question is cool. Making a pointed statement about his screwup is not so cool. So I give you a thumbs up....

 

[33 IMP]

I was 11 in May of 64......and remember another car that looked exactly like our 56 Belvedere a couple of years earlier. Some woman had parked behind ours one day and ran in to this little store and got into ours on the way out and couldn't figure out why the key didn't work. When we came out, dad just stood there for a minute and finally said 'I think that car right behind this one is yours' lol She was so embarrassed. Funny thing is we never saw that other car again and I've never seen another one in the same color except in pictures. We lived in a town of 40k back then.

The fly thing is one that I've been guilty of but the others....nope lol

So, just curious, what color/colors was it? Mopar had some oddball two and three tone schemes back then.......

 

[DeltaV]

Being corrected about a matter often stings a bit at first. One might feel like they are being attacked or picked on.
A reasonable person will soon thereafter mull it over and try to see it from the other point of view.

Unless it's grammar and/or spelling.

 

[LowBikeMike]

I put the inside door armrests on my 57 Ford Retractable on the wrong sides. Never realized until it was judged at their convention. Cant switch them now, they've imprinted the door panel and are not the same shape front to back.

 

[PlymCrazy]

…The fly thing is one that I've been guilty of but the others....nope lol

Never guilty of the others?
Or maybe no one ever told you

 

[MIKESPOLARA]

I was 11 in May of 64......and remember another car that looked exactly like our 56 Belvedere a couple of years earlier. Some woman had parked behind ours one day and ran in to this little store and got into ours on the way out and couldn't figure out why the key didn't work. When we came out, dad just stood there for a minute and finally said 'I think that car right behind this one is yours' lol She was so embarrassed. Funny thing is we never saw that other car again and I've never seen another one in the same color except in pictures. We lived in a town of 40k back then.

The fly thing is one that I've been guilty of but the others....nope lol

Reminds me of a funny story. A group of my drinking buddies came out of the bar-**** faced. Got in the car and the key wouldn't work-then they realized it wasn't their car! If the owner would have come out and called the cops they would have spent the night in jail

 

[WileERobby]

No matter how long one is involved in the auto industry, even a half century, I learn something new every day, and I am never above being corrected.

 

[Cranky]

Never guilty of the others?
Or maybe no one ever told you

Last time for a booger hanging from my nose was when I was little but may have had food in my beard and never knew about it but I'm not a sloppy eater. As for the *** gasket.....only done that a couple of times in my life and made SURE there wasn't any remnants hanging off of my *** before leaving! But I appreciate you spilling the beans on what you've done.