QOTD: Car Show Faves?

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

With the official start of summer just around the bend, your corner car meet is about to get a lot more crowded. Sure, you folks who are to live in warm climes have Cars & Coffee year-round but the rest of us plebes can only enjoy our precious metal once the calendar flips into the hottest months.

Import shows, classic muscle, modern performance — what’s your favorite type of car to see at a show?

Or maybe it doesn’t matter. Sometimes, just appreciating the amount of work and effort (pro tip: don’t *ever* tot up the amount you’ve spent on a project car unless you want to have a stroke) that has gone into a vehicle is good enough for most gearheads, regardless of vehicle type. Still, most of us have a certain type of car that turns our crank more than others at a show.

Obscure or unheralded performance rigs grab the attention of your author. Is that a W41 badge on the fender? GLH, eh? Even a four-door GS-R causes me to unholster my smartphone and SnapFaceGram an Instachat. And it goes without saying that any Lincoln Mark VII makes me pine for my old 1989 coupe.

How about you? What will cause your head to go on a swivel at car shows this summer?

[Image: KPG_Payless/Shutterstock]

Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • Jeff S Jeff S on Jun 17, 2019

    A saw a 58 red Desoto Firedome convertible at a show with a red interior that looked like it came off the showroom floor. If you go to Leno's site there is a beautiful 58 fuel injected Chrysler 300D that his body man owns and restored himself. Hard to beat the sound of an old Hemi.

  • Synchromesh Synchromesh on Jun 18, 2019

    Heh, funny about the 4-door GS-R. I used to own a '00 Forest Green GS-R sedan up until late 2011. It was a great car! Last time I checked the Carfax it was still alive and well. Now I prefer odd European stuff. Especially gray market cars that were never sold here. But being an aircooled owner I always sniff for Bugs, Buses and old Porsches. They all smell the same...

  • Boxermojo Boxermojo on Jun 18, 2019

    Alfa Romeo, Autobianchi, Auto Union, Borgward, Citroën, DAF, DKW, Fiat, Goggomobil, Heinkel, Hillman, Lancia, Matra, Messerschmitt, NSU, Panhard, Renault, Saab (prior to the Opel travesty), Vespa, Volvo (prior to the Ford travesty), Volkswagen (up to a point), Wartburg. If I'm approaching and all I see is acres of over-polished candy-apple colors, tailfins, and chrome, I keep on driving. Mundane engineering, no matter how shiny, isn't much fun, and the stars of American car shows are almost entirely flubbery, wallowhandling parade floats plastered with potmetal trim and balanced awkwardly on a coal-cart chassis.

  • WildcatMatt WildcatMatt on Jun 18, 2019

    I like seeing anything out of the ordinary. It's not that I don't appreciate a nice Camaro or Mustang, so I won't say there are "too many", but I can see at least four at any event with more than 10 cars. But seeing things like a DeSoto, Studebaker, or Imperial is a real treat. I once saw an all-original 1906 Buick -- it was an unrestored barn find and looked it. My son is good at identifying car emblems, so I enjoy introducing him to makes he's never heard of. I'm also not a huge fan of cars that are over-restored trailer queens where it's clear the owner handed someone a blank check and walked away. I can appreciate the effort and expense, and I suppose it does well in competitions, but I find cars like that to be unapproachable. Give me a survivor or good home-done restoration any day.

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