I don’t know how old Mr.Sutherland is, but I’m no Boomer and I don’t want to have to step around a bunch of new cars to see the good stuff at a show. One of my coworkers, who’s even younger than I am, is currently shopping for a 1st gen Riviera to park in his garage. Another picked-up a nice Cutlass last year.

If you look to the west coast, it’s young guys that are driving the “old skool” and rat rod scene. As someone already commented, some of their shows have strict year rules (1964 and prior) to stop cars from the muscle car era from entering. My guess is that they were specifically looking to exclude the Mustang***, since the first year for the GTO was 1964.

***Based on their VINs, the first model year for the Mustang was 1965. Mustang was unveiled to the public before the official start of MY1965, so Mustang enthusiasts refer to the early ones as MY1964 1/2.

Everything after 19XX is not worthy of being a cool car. I enjoy seeing cars of all different years. I appreciated custom street rods of the Chip Foose variet, restored muscle cars and current cars that have been customized.

Realize that for gen X & Y muscle cars where just old beat up cars you bought for a pittance to drive to death. We never saw nor remember these cars in their hey day so do not have the scentimental attachment to them that the boomers have.

A Chevelle SS 396 was just a big old sedan that slurped lots of gas ;) .

This same attitude is the reason that Classic Rock stations survive. You mean music stopped being played after 1975? :) – rock died. Of course not than lets just adopt and accept that some new things are good too.

Ah yes, those darling stuffed children… Mike66Chryslers if you go to Moparfest, there’s plenty of opportunity to see how far you can punt one. I will be your lookout.

Not as common, but equally annoying…everyone with a 57-59 Plymouth has a vanity plate that is some variation of ‘Christine’ and usually has a copy of Stephen King’s book on their dash. Hmm what else…anything having to do with Garfield (and this coming from a cat lover). I could go on.

http://www.pvgp.org/pvgp/site/default.asp

There are a ton of modern cars mixed in with the old ones, typically organized by country, but no one is blaring music. There are just a lot of cars and the oldies are the stars. The vintage racing is great, and it has to be the most family friendly event in the world.

When I arrived this year, I was parked next to a new Challenger which appeared to be bone-stock. My first thought was, “Who let this poser in?”. Then I remembered that they started letting new cars in for one of the days. Yawn.

The all-Mopar shows that I frequent allow all Mopar vehicles in, regardless of age. The biggest one requests that vehicles 1987 and newer must be customized in some way. I think they’re pretty lenient on that point, so I expect to see some new Challengers with a “custom pinetree air freshener” on the field. They also have some big doorprizes that are only open to entrants with 1986 and older vehicles.

Wheeljack: +1 !!! I don’t know what’s the point of those stuffed “crying children” or whatever they’re supposed to be doing. It’s a car show, not a craft show. I’ve always wondered how far one of those would fly if you kicked it.

I was at the Rolls Royce Owners Club annual meet where there were over 1,200 RR & Bentleys in attendance and overheard a gentleman refer to the new Phantom as “a Hummer in a tux”.

Dynamic 88: I agree with you on the music. Frank Sinatra sold more music in the 50s than nearly everyone but Elvis, but you never hear him at car shows. I know – lets put on a show where the rule is that the car had to cost $4000 or more new before 1965. Then its Basie and Sinatra on the PA, and we sell cigarettes and martinis at the concession stand :)

I went to a low rider show in Grand Rapids a few months ago, and the music was so loud my bone marrow was vibrating (can’t be good) – but hell, it was a low rider show, so I guess I should have foreseen that.

OTOH, if I go to one more rod show, and hear “Rock around the clock” one more time, I’m going to puke on the nearest tuck and roll job. Show me the cars, but I don’t need hear ’50s R&R. Did that in the 70s. Still have the American Graffiti Tee Shirt.

’60s rock is a little better, but not much. We’re all getting really tired of that too.

I would like to go to a car show with a restored Citroen DS and crank up the Dave Brubeck. Or with a restored ’50s PU and crank up the Kitty Wells. There was more going on in the ’50s than just that moronic R&R crap.

IMO muscle cars should be segregated in their own shows. The last Oldsmobile show I went to had some CDOs, a Limited, a few models from the 30s and 40s, a dozen or so from the 50s and then acre after acre of Cutlas/442s. I didn’t feel like a car show, it felt like I’d died and gone to Lansing circa 1972. OK, just my own bias – don’t like muscle cars, not even if they are made by Olds.

Generally though, variety is good. I can appreciate a well restored Model A, and also appreciate a rat rod.

I like the number and variety of cars at the Woodward Dream Cruise, even some of the oddly-modified newer cars. The last time I went, there was an official stage at the corner of Woodward and Maple for Saturn?! They were giving away 1:18 scale models of the Saturn Vue?! The whole Saturn presence really did not fit in among all the interesting older cars proudly displayed by their owners.

Saturn was not the only corporate parasite sucking the fun out of the show. Every manufacturer was trying to use nostalgia to advertise their new blandmobiles. Jaguar X-types next to Jaguar E-types?! The new Transformers Camaro next to a ‘69 Camaro?! PT Cruiser?! FJ Cruiser?!

There was a Land Rover dealer with a setup across the street from the Saturns. They used new Land Rovers to smash some little Saturn Vue models.

I don’t go to the Dream Cruise anymore.

Also to address the editorial’s point about the spending habits of the old-car versus the newer car crowd…the family that can easily afford a well restored, low-mileage hobby car that is most likely their 3rd, 4th or even 5th vehicle in their household, usually has a lot more freed-up cash to spend going to an event than the guy or gal who has every extra penny they can afford into fixing up their daily driver…no matter how nice it may be. It’s not so much about the year of the cars, but about the wealth and spending habits of the different owners.

Recently, I was visiting my uncle of the beaten path in Stony Brook, NY and ran into a European Car show a few blocks away. The brief visit I had left me with a happier feeling than any of the hotrod/streetrod/ricer shows. Just people enjoying a bit of history as their own rather than trying to prove something. More charm in tha tshow than any high priced opulence mobile.

I remember attending Ferrari gatherings as a kid and hearing a V-12 owner grumbling about the Dino owners being there. “They’re not Ferraris!” I don’t know if he was kidding or not. Those Dinos are probably worth more than some of their cars today. I wonder if the new America owners will run into the same issues. Come to think of it, I’ve think I remember the same sort of remarks about the 924 and the Boxster – although not at a show.

Oh yeah, does anyone who builds a street rod nowadays have the ability to drive a manual transmission? I’m sick of all the automatics.

Shortly after writing my missive, I took off to go look at a ‘87 Porsche 924S – it’s within my price range, not too bad a shape, drives nice, and the negatives are easily fixable – assuming we can agree on a price. (If not, it’s back to hunting first generation Miatas.)

And if I do buy it, it’s sure not going to see a car/vintage show before 2012.

Yeah, I’m spoiled from the old days, when vintage was vintage. My first antique show was going to an Auburn-Cord-Dusenberg show in Harrisburg, driven down in an ex-employee of my father’s Cord 810, back in ‘68.

And while at the show, a buddy of his allowed me behind the wheel of his Model J Dusenberg out on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. And chided me at first for not being willing to pass the general traffic flow. Of course I nailed it.

Yeah, I’ve been spoiled. And my standards are high.

Mark your calendar for June 18-20 2010 and make your way up to the Twin Cities. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Perhaps your car show isn’t clear enough communicating what it is trying to be if it is attracting such an eclectic crowd. If this mixture of crowd is actually killing the show then you have a serious branding problem.

Now, I also attend our “Back to the 50’s” show that draws over 12,000 cars and around 150,000 spectators. Nothing newer than 1964. The number of young kids there, both as spectators and participants, has been growing every year. Nothing like seeing a 25 year old guy with his chopped and channeled ‘50 Merc. So, I do believe that the hobby will survive into the next generation.

BTW, along with the ‘63 Dodge, I also have a ‘98 Firebird. I just don’t take them both to the same shows!!!

I’ve been to Pebble Beach. Beautiful cars and stuffy people. There are strict standards there, and everybody knows and plays by the rules.

I also know the small local shows. Nice cars, you might see a 95-point car once in a while, but no 100 pointers.

Then there are the Ford Model A Club meets that have strict and published guidelines as well as an apprentice system for training judges. This is a very good system and their shows are well attended.

One solution that seems to work is dividing the field into a 25-or-older section and a newer section.

The reason the middle of the show scene has dropped out is because the fans are aging and shows are harder to do. I know many enthusiasts who simply don’t go to shows anymore. It’s too much effort when you’re in your seventies. These folks are collectors/restorers of Brass-era vehicles, 1930s-1950s Mercedes-Benzes, 1950s-1960s British sportscars, and many others. They still toy with their cars, but the shows are just too much work.

The question is whether the hobby survives the handoff from these collectors to the next generation. I’d love to have a Brass-Era car, but I’m loathe to sacrifice garage space to a vehicle I can’t take to the grocery story or for an dinner out.

I like to see a variety at my car shows. I like a 69 Camaro Z28. I like a 70s Countach or BMW 2002. I like an 80s 911 turbo, or a 90s Acura NSX. My preference is to not see 50 nearly identical cars at any gathering. I want to see what someone did with their Honda as well as their Mustang.

The reason that the old school shows are dying off is that their main audience is aging and dying off. The new generation of car enthusiasts, probably the majority of car enthusiasts now, likes the newer sheet metal.

Think about it – how often do you see a car show for Model T era cars?