Car Show Gripe/Rant

[Don Frelier]

I try to avoid judged shows. For a few years I was making the rounds with three high school classmates. Two of them were obsessed with trophies, and took the fun out of it. I have a box of trophies I won with my former A33 car, which was a crowd pleaser, but not nearly as nice as the current one. Don't need any more trinkets, and I'll be glad to hand them off at Carlisle to anyone who wants them.

See if your local boy scout troup would like them for pinewood derby prizes.
They just need to replace the plaque on the bottom.

 

[6PKRTSE]

As a newer Challenger owner myself. I never take my newer Challenger to shows and if I do on a rare occasion I always park in another lot. I understand that the next generation car guys are definitely fading away, but I do not agree with all these newer cars especially dozens and dozens of these newer Corvettes at car shows. If I wanted to see them, I would just go to the dealership.

 

[toolmanmike]

Went to a car show this weekend for the first time with my car.

I arrived at the car show I was able to park right next to another Mopar. It was a 1970 Hemi Cuda really immaculate professional build. He should have taken the best Mopar award. We even said they should have just given the award to him when he registered.

Well when they announced the best Mopar it was a 2019 Challenger. I don’t understand but they only had one judge apparently.

How the heck……….does that happen?

View attachment 1949171

It happens all the time. Many people don't appreciate originality.

 

[hemi*guy]

I only take my car to shows that benefit the military , local FD or local PD. Not that my car would win but I leave before the judging.

 

[torredcuda]

.... really immaculate professional build. He should have taken the best Mopar award. We even said they should have just given the award to him when he registered.

The people who deserved the trophy were the employees at the shop who did all the hard work restoring it, it sounds like the owner simply paid the bill and drove it to the show.

 

[Kern Dog]

Maybe, just maybe .....some of the ones that don't care much about a trophy are the people that have already won a couple of times OR have cars that are thought of as drivers, not show queens.
I actually fit into both categories. I won a few trophies at small local shows years ago and the outside has barely changed other than to have taken on a few nicks and scratches.

 

[oldbee]

See if your local boy scout troup would like them for pinewood derby prizes.
They just need to replace the plaque on the bottom.

My local shooting range does a wintertime youth education with BBguns for under 15yo. They re-use trophies just like Don says.

 

[mmissile]

We tried to give trophies to various organizations. Nobody was interested. Sad.

 

[Roadcuda]

When I first started going to a lot of shows I quickly learned about the trophy hunters. This was at participant judged shows and they were the guys who mostly stayed around their cars talking to anybody who stopped to look how great their car was. Well, at a mixed make show I was walking around with a guy who had a very nice Challenger and was accustomed to taking 1st place at most shows. Well he said in passing the he hoped he would get a second place trophy,,, just because he like it's design better, and guess what he got, yup, 2nd place. And as time went on at any show where he got something other then first place you could tell he was pissed! As for me it doesn't make a pit of difference. I usually leave well before they announce any awards.

 

[mmissile]

We have a couple guys in the area, who are there for the "bowling trophies". It's amazing to watch them. A few years back, two guys came within seconds of blows, over the 1st-place
bowling trophy. I find it a very odd world of people who see their self-worth, by a bunch of dust-collectors...usually given to buddies or buddies of buddies.

 

[YY1]

i lost interest in judged shows back in the early 00's when brand new P/T cruisers with every available JC whitney accessory glued to them were winning.

 

[Black_Sheep]

I don’t have any expectations when going to a car show. The primary goal is to hang out with friends and look at some cool stuff. Anything beyond that is just icing on the cake…

 

[Kern Dog]

Some Mopar only shows were seeing a drop in car show participants until the new Challengers came out.
Our Sacramento show sure did. We are not big enough to draw Southern CA Mopar guys so our show relies on mostly local car guys. At present, almost half of the show cars at our show are 2005 and newer.
Some are tastefully modified, some are gaudy.
I'd prefer to see only classics at the shows but you play the hand that you are dealt. If we had to rely on an aging group of classic car registrants, the show would continue to shrink.

 

[torredcuda]

I will admit one time close to 30 years ago when I first had my Barracuda "restored" I got pissed at a show. It was our local club, North East Moghty Mopars, a small one at a dealership. Now mine is just a driver and the interior still needed work so I wasn't expecting a trophy but in my class, modified E-body, was a Pro built Hemicuda convertible CLONE and it was perfect down to paint daubs. I thought it was highly unfair to put thar car against my home built '72. I realize it was a small show so they couldn't have a category for everything but none of the '72-74 E bodies stood a chance no matter how original or nice they were to a car that was just a clone. Since then I have grown to care less about cheap trophies and threw all but three of them out.

 

[hemi*guy]

The people who deserved the trophy were the employees at the shop who did all the hard work restoring it, it sounds like the owner simply paid the bill and drove it to the show.

Maybe the owner broke his *** working for years to be able to pay for something he couldn’t do himself. So maybe he did his hard work to be able to get that car.

 

[Billccm]

Maybe the owner broke his *** working for years to be able to pay for something he couldn’t do himself. So maybe he did his hard work to be able to get that car.

I have to somewhat agree. My time is better spent making a good wage than trying to restore a car that's way outside of my skill set and capabilities/tools/resources. If I had half the skills of the average FBBO member I'd try the building route myself. "A man has to know his limitations" and I know that I can turn a wrench, but fabrication, welding, painting, and heavy line drive line skills are not in me. So, I can do the 60 hour work week and build the funds for a driver quality car (maybe the prices are increasing faster than my take home pay). I'd still like to compete at a car show and perhaps win a award.

What's wrong with pride in ownership and maintaining the antique car?

 

[Coelacanth]

I have to somewhat agree. My time is better spent making a good wage than trying to restore a car that's way outside of my skill set and capabilities/tools/resources. If I had half the skills of the average FBBO member I'd try the building route myself. "A man has to know his limitations" and I know that I can turn a wrench, but fabrication, welding, painting, and heavy line drive line skills are not in me. So, I can do the 60 hour work week and build the funds for a driver quality car (maybe the prices are increasing faster than my take home pay). I'd still like to compete at a car show and perhaps win a award.

What's wrong with pride in ownership and maintaining the antique car?

I don't think the issue is with buying and enjoying a beautifully restored vintage car...it's with those owners trailering their queens to the prom and fussing over winning trophies on a car they just bought. I knew a guy in high school just like that. Rich kid, bought himself a done mid-60's 'Stang and entered it in car shows. It's basically buying trophies; lame.

 

[dadsbee]

Now we go full circle, back to "built it or bought it". JHC...

 

[Coelacanth]

Buying a car is fair enough. Buying it to win trophies? Meh.