When & Why did car shows turn MODERN?

[Texas Tom]

I visited a local car show today to see the eye candy and take a few photos. I enjoy attending shows to see the cars and chat with their owners. I rarely enter one of my own cars because I would be bored sitting there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I'd rather be driving!

Over the past 10 years or so I've noticed increasing participation at car shows by folks who display new or nearly new vehicles. For example, today's show had 120 cars, and 25 of them were new or late model Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes, BMWs, PT Cruisers, etc. Several had been on dealers' sales lots just a month or two ago!

This does not offend me, as I enjoy looking at new Mustangs, Corvettes, etc.

But I am totally befuddled by WHY anyone would do this. What's the point of buying a new car and displaying it at a car show? Why not buy a new TV and display at your community's "Annual TV Show"?

Have others observed this trend? Any thoughts as to why anybody would wish to sit around all day at the city park with their new Corvette?

[1931 flamingo]

By parking their $40-50,000 car at the show it's not going to get dented or scratched (hopefully) as in a grocery store parking lot?? I often wonder how much of that new car THEY actually own. Anothe reason is they might not be able to afford to put gas in it to go cruising?
paul in CT

[Not George]

I've noticed and thought it was kind of strange.
I guess they want to be part of the car scene.

[V4F]

mostly they cant find an old one . so its a run what ya brung thing .

"back in the day" has become the bible of hot rods ! LOL we were just kids havin fun & now we are idols . go figure !

[38 Ford Pickup]

We have cruise nights every Monday and the New Mustang Crowd always show up all together.

Car and cruise nights are a thing of the past.

I remember the days of Pre 47 and even our cruise nights pre 63. The Kids Love my 38 Ford 1/2 ton but I am sick of anything that is newer than 64.

[Mitch//pa]

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its easier to finance a new car over an old one...last year i went to a local show and i was parked next to a new challenger... comments were made to me of why that car was there.. new era of cars out there and 30 years from now they may fit in better huuh and maybe well have new solar powered aero cars showing up at shows

[28ACoupe]

I don't mind people showing off their new cars. Especially if they are a car that is special in some way. What bugs me is when someone buys a new car, slaps a set of wheels and tires on it, removes a couple of stick on emblems and tries to pass it off as "Customized".

My initial thought when I see this kind of thing is, "Come on guys, don't be so lazy. Do something more interesting than a bunch of bolt on crap."

[roccaas]

How many of those new cars will still be driving around in 82 years? 2094!

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

It's called evolution or change! Change is inevitable! Kranky old cuss's have to learn to ACCEPT change. Pat taught seminars at I.R.S. To get her employees to accept new pocessing changes, as the old Kranky folks wanted to do it the OLD way and screwed up the processing "pipeline!" (Sorry if I sound rather blunt, I just picked up her urn & death certificates today & humor is scarce.)
Last night I went to a 400+ monthly car show & saw an amazing & varied collection of cars & it was delightful!!
Details at www.hotrodcoalition.com Find my pic on my mobility scooter!
I've been to some all Model A shows that sometimes are rather BORING, as every third or fourth car looks the "same." Same factory accepted color scheme, etc. Should we sacrifice our own individuality just to make sure our cars are TOTALLY "correct?" Bill W.

[Ford46]

Cruise nights are often put on by clubs or individuals. The 50/50 raffles fund them, the more cars usually means more raffle tickets sold. Most cruise nights have no year limits so technically any vehicle is eligable. That is what has and is continuing to happen at cruise nights everywhere. JMHO.

[28RPU]

I have wondered the same thing. I kind of understand why owners of Mustangs,Challengers and Camaros show up. Those cars have a loyal following and they are sporty car guy cars. But when some kid pulls up with a huge 4X4 just pulled off the car lot it baffles me.Some of them never do anything to their vehicle but polish it, where''s the fun in that?

[Roger V]

First off they are allowed or maybe even encouraged at many shows around here. The promoters want the entry fees. Like someone said, they may want to participate too, rub elbows, talk cars, etc. In some cases they may even be proud of what they own. Young people may only be able to afford old Hondas, etc. (Tuners) & jacked-up trucks. Some of what we had in the Fifties & Sixties may not have been any older at that time but seem like it from today's view. At any rate I don't care for most shows today but it's a "sign of the times" (or my age)...............

[brum1]

It all good! You will always learn something by looking and conversing with these folks. I have found the modern guys are quite interested in learning about the A as well

[Napa Skip]

Well, sometimes the new and very new cars draw fairly well at these events. Recently, our club (the Napa Valley A’s chapter of MAFCA) participated in the 2nd Annual Shearer Charter School (an elementary school here in Napa CA) Car Show, put on by the Parent-Teachers’ Association to raise money for school supplies, field trips and such.

Inasmuch as the principal is one of our club members, and inasmuch as it gives us a chance to show off our Model A’s to the (very) younger generation, we gladly take part. However, by no means are car entries limited, either by age or (apparently) anything else. The intent, after all (ok, I’ll admit that this wasn’t what most of you think of when you hear “car show”) was to raise money for the school kids, so the more entries, the merrier.

This year, the 72 entries included not only Model A’s (including a dual in-line twin Model-A engined bullet-shaped racer, trailered - not driven - to the show) and classic (and low-rider) late 50’s and 60’s iron, but Teslas (way out of my price league, although evidently not my wife’s, judging by her ogling of one particular Tesla Model S), Chevrolet (sorry) Volts (new-car price tags still firmly affixed to the windows), Fiskers, and everything in between. The principal’s husband Ron (owner of Soscol Auto Body here in Napa and in the middle of restoring his first Model A, a 1929 standard coupe) also owns an AC Cobra, so several of this mark were also included, as well as the usual conglomeration of Corvettes and Mustangs (old, new and very new).

Rounding things out was a Mercedes (this is Napa) ambulance (perhaps in anticipation of some sort of confrontation between the two rival low-rider car clubs in attendance, although – other than seeing who could make their low-rider jump higher – there was no visible animosity), the newest addition to the City of Napa Fire Department (a ladder truck, the price of which could have purchased several Fiskers, a couple of Teslas, and most of the AC Cobras), both City of Napa and California Highway Patrol cruisers (see “confrontation” above), a BMW Isetta (too bad there wasn’t a Smart Fortwo for comparison), and a fellow selling rides on his three donkeys (he made a killing).

Not bad for a car show. The school raised almost $10,000 for the kids, everyone seemed to have a good time, and the very new Mustangs, as well as Volts, Fiskers and Teslas drew as much attention as anything else. C’est la vie.

(Afterward I got my spine “adjusted” when Ron took me for a ride in his Cobra, but I covered that in another thread…)

[jr-41ford]

I've been doing car shows for quite a while and am not a fan of one bringing a new car right out of the showroom floor and parking it next to anyone of my pre-1949 cars. I believe Roger is correct, the promoters want as many cars as they can get.

Whenever I have gone to a show where they have a cutoff year, the number of cars is lower.

I attend only a couple of shows per year, most are for some charitable cause. I like attending shows that have things to do, not interested in sitting on my butt for six or more hours. I have plenty of trophies, so I don't care about getting more.

I haven't hit 60 yet, but I must be getting old and grumpy, because like others, I do not care to see the new cars. I like looking at the vintage cars, like looking at the details one has put into their vintage car.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

When I was in my late teens we would get together at the drive-in with our 30's, 40's and 50's cars. There were no "cruise-ins" and all cars were accepted, compared, bragged about, and dragged. We drove what we had and "customized" what we wanted to, mainly with paint or whitewalls or reflectors. Plus a few coon tails. A few guys could buy newer cars and a few could afford real customizing like frenched headlights and tail lights and shaved hoods and decks.
But then the new cars exploded after the war and some really cool ones hit the street. We still had the old ones though and we all still met at the drive-in together. We just wanted to drive and talk cars.

So what has really changed?

[JBill]

As long as they've got the money, they don't need to know anything about these cars and don't need to put any work in on them.

[SDJason]

Originally Posted by jr-41ford

...I do not care to see the new cars. I like looking at the vintage cars...

Mostly the same here; although I don't mind seeing the occasional RARE modern car (something that wouldn't get to see any other way), but Hot Rods are the bane of all...

[WTSHNN]

At a car show a few years back a PT Cruiser owner rubbed me the wrong way (I think I've told this story before) when he pulled one of those foam pool noodles out of his trunk and held one end against his door, and, after lightly tapping the (closed) door of my '31 Pickup with the other end, determined we were too close together and asked me to move (the noodle had not been cut, it was the normal five or six foot length). I asked him if he did that every time he went to the grocery store, got in my truck and left. That was one of the last times I went to a car show.

I agree, if people are expressing their interest in the hobby, great, all people/cars welcome, but there is a tipping point when a show is a "car show" with unique and unusual cars and it is just a normal Saturday afternoon Home Depot parking lot.

Last weekend I took my '31 out to run errands and I wound up in a Kmart parking lot. I parked right up there with a Saturn and a Lexus, ran in to get the USB memory disk I needed, wandered out and left. Hardly a car show in my opinion, yet, could very easily be the future...
-Tim

[Bruce Adams]

Maybe you should lighten up a bit?

I attend probably three car shows a week, and car ENTHUSIASTS bring their cars.

If its an ANTIQUE car show, then its for antiques.

If its a cruise-in, any collectible should be welcome, which, in my mind, includes Mustangs, Corvettes, and Camaros.

I am in charge of a car show that brings about 100 cars per show to our Main Street, once a week, and frankly any collectible, or special interest car is welcome.

I don't think a 1930 car, (or five) are particularly more interesting to visitors than, say a new Shelby or nice street rod which might have been built last year.

Why establish some arbitrary standard of your own, particularly if you are not the sponsor of the event?