47-55.1 Local Show

[MiraclePieCo]

I drove my panel truck to a local town celebration today, complete with parade and car show. Here's a couple of pics of interesting vehicles. I didn't enter the show of course, because wherever I go in my panel truck is my own personal car show!

[mr48chev]

I always figured that guys that did that were just too cheap to pay the entry fee and parked just outside the boundaries where people could still see their ride without paying.

It's ok to drive your enthusiast rig and park out in the cheap seats if it is off topic for the event though. I go to the East West Flathead run up in Monitor WA every year and there are some nifty rides and usually some Chevys out in the cheap seats or over in the "non flathead" section. The event is free though but you have to have flathead power to park in the main show area.

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

I always figured that guys that did that were just too cheap to pay the entry fee and parked just outside the boundaries where people could still see their ride without paying.

WTH - I post pictures of nice trucks here only to get accused of being "too cheap?" Dude, it was a FREE SHOW - no entry fee.

Believe me, in my decades of car building I've spent THOUSANDS on car show entry fees. And although I am now forced to live a thrifty lifestyle no-thanks to surviving solely on on a very meager fixed income, I didn't enter this show because I don't do ANY car shows anymore. If you'll read my early posts from years ago you'll see that my entire goal of this build was to NOT go to shows, but rather to have a daily driver that was like a personal car show wherever I went.

[MiraclePieCo]

Oops, duplicate post. No way to delete?

[crossfire84]

This guy has no life, no build will post for no good reason, just put him on your ignore list. Did that a long time ago.

[nvrdone]

mr 48 may just be having a bad day. he's usually full of good attitude and good info.

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by nvrdone

mr 48 may just be having a bad day. he's usually full of good attitude and good info.

Agreed. After all, it's not like I posted something about S10 chassis swaps

[mr48chev]

Ok I might have missed the point that it was a free show. Thing is I have seen too many people who often have nicer cars than what are entered in the show drive up and park just outside the show boundaries and stay there all day powerparked if you will and not enter the show but play show and tell with anyone who will look and listen.

If you were parked out in the cheap seats a block away I hope you accept my apology. There is a big difference in parking just over the rope from the event and parking in the parking lot a block away with everyone else's daily driver.

On the other hand I remember when I was at the Chevy-GMC truckin Nationals in Ogden in 1982 that was Chevy GMC truck only and no way you could brotherinlaw your way in a bunch of us with our trucks in the show were out in the parking lot looking at the cool non truck rides out in the parking lot while the owners were inside looking at our trucks.

No I haven't done a lot on my truck lately except buy a couple thousand bucks worth of parts to have ready for it. Money I probably should have spent getting my shop done as right now the only place I have to work is out in the dirt in the driveway. Not crying about it but it has slowed progress down a lot along with 72 year old knees and body parts that don't move around like they did 40 years ago. If that is reason to bad mouth me head on have at it but I remember things like that when someone asks questions and I just might not take the time to answer them.

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

If you were parked out in the cheap seats a block away I hope you accept my apology.

No problem, I appreciate all 11,026 of your astute and knowledgeable posts on this forum. Heck, I haven't seen you that grumpy since the last guy suggested that S10 frame swaps were the only way to go ;-)

Actually I didn't even attend the show at all. The pics were taken at the parade before the show. Like I said, I don't do shows any more. At shows I just seem to spend endless hours being a captive audience for lazy do-nothings reciting mind-numbingly detailed stories of all the outrageously cool cars they USED to own. They won't ask a single question about my car that's right in front of them; all they want to do is talk endlessly about some imaginary car their uncle had decades ago. Seems like there's do-ers and there's talkers, and shows are the haven of the latter.

[mr48chev]

Sounds like you have run into some reincarnations of my dad. As great a guy as he was he had that exact same habit. That still beats the pair of grease encrusted individuals who used to come by my truck at Vintiques NW nats in Yakima in years past and nitpick my truck every year. I think their hobby was discussing what they thought was wrong in their eyes with every vehicle they looked at. They would probably have heart attacks going over some of the rat rods that were this year or maybe they had a pair of the rat rods.

You should have trekked up to the races that I went to Sunday. Park out in the cheap seats and just have a blast at the event all day long. I even discovered that I might like watching 1/8 mile drag racing more than 1/4 mile racing. Driver error meant you just lost in evenly matched races when you didn't have the last half of the track to horsepower past the other guy.

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by MiraclePieCo

WTH - I post pictures of nice trucks here only to get accused of being "too cheap?" Dude, it was a FREE SHOW - no entry fee.

Believe me, in my decades of car building I've spent THOUSANDS on car show entry fees. And although I am now forced to live a thrifty lifestyle no-thanks to surviving solely on on a very meager fixed income, I didn't enter this show because I don't do ANY car shows anymore. If you'll read my early posts from years ago you'll see that my entire goal of this build was to NOT go to shows, but rather to have a daily driver that was like a personal car show wherever I went.

Right on, I support your way of thinking 100%.

[mr48chev]

I can get long with not going to shows or participating in them. I went through that phase 15 years ago when I hit total burn out on the whole car hobby thing and didn't even do a walk though at the local shows in the park two mines from my house because I was so burned out.

I got fed up with the mouthbreathers who's only question was "what's it worth?" That was their only interest in cars in the show as to what they might sell for. The had no interest in buying one but were playing the "this one is worth more than that one" game. Asked one one day if he had cash to buy it and he got a bit insulted that I would ask.

The thing of having to have the latest trick of the week part on your car or the latest style of (now ugly) interior fabric or graphics or you weren't cool burned me out. In that time period you could buy a set of wheels or a pair of valve covers and by the time you made it to the next show they were already outdated.


I bought a sailboat and went to boat events instead having the littlest least investment boat there but being fully accepted by the rest of the guys and never once ever in the years of boating heard or saw the "my boat is better than his boat" thing even though prices ran from the 500 tied up in mine to the half million on a couple of the really nice ones. Just getting together and having a good time. I saw a lot of that at the Billetproof drags last Sunday. Everyone out having a great time and bragging rights got earned when you got to the 1/8 mile ahead of a car that was very comparable to yours power and weight wise. A few egos of guys who thought their "gasser" was fast until they ran into cars that actually were fast got busted but they might have a lot more horse power next year.

Back to my original comment made when I totally miss read Miricapieco's original post and comment. I apologized for that and apologize again.

In this area we had one guy who openly bragged that he had taken his car to something like 20 local shows and never once paid an entry fee although it was lined up with everyone who had paid. Most of the small local events are fund raisers including a good number of the ones that are just few hours on a Saturday or Sunday.

Second thing is the next time you go to an event of any size be it the local fund raiser for the animal shelter or Goodguys look around for that/those rides that are predominantly powerparked just outside of the event where everyone can see it rather than entering the event. THAT WAS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. The guy who drives to an event and powerparks just across the street from the event or on the curb next to the park the event is in in a prominent spot with some even setting their lawn chairs out next to the car. I see it at every event I go to around here.

On the other hand if you decide to drive your truck to a Mustang only, VW only Camaro or Mopar only event and power park outside head on have at it. My wife really likes 67 Mustangs because that is the year she graduated and we have driven up to a strictly Mustang only event on a few occasions (when we remember it is on) at a winery with nice grounds and parked in the front row in the parking lot. The fun was driving the truck or the 51 Merc there and not to play show and tell. You enter a whole different world when you go to those events as a spectator/observer anyhow. Listening in on discussions on the proper clocking of hose clamps can be quite entertaining as can be the discussions on correct chalk marks on the firewall or the excitement that someone arranged for a long retired Mustang assembly line inspector to be there and certify his chalk marks.