We were talking about car shows and that taking them seriously when you’re just a hobbyist is just asking for a let down. We don’t have the funds, time or even space to a lot of the work necessary.
I’ve taken both my cars to small and large shows. I love both. The large ones have so much to do and so many cars to view and owner to talk, you might forget you’ve got your there. The small ones are great too. They are usually busy as well. But have more time to talk those walking by and the guy sitting on other side of you car.
Now if you really want to try for a trophy here a couple hints. I found this out by accident. I was merely trying get my cars in the right class for the show and wound up with two trophies in the same show.
Tip 1 – Smaller shows. Of course that’s just math, the less cars the better odds of winning something. Not only that, the judging isn’t all that “professional”. Some shows have the contestants vote for the cars they like.
Tip 2 – Check out the Classes that will be judged. If your cars aren’t exactly finished, or there’s a couple issues that user will notice look for the under construction Class. I won two trophies in that class. Read the class descriptions carefully. I went to one car show where the class were “Other Sports Cars” and Corvettes from 1962 to present. ’62 to present covers a LOT of corvettes and there’s no way my C4 will compete with 1967 427 C2…just no chances there. Because I wanted to park my Corvette and Mustang together, they made me select the “Other Sports Cars” and I didn’t win…but I got a lot of votes (and that was one of the larger car shows in the area). In a smaller show I entered the Corvette in the C4 class and I picked a show that was for a charity and just by luck there was a huge Corvette Show on the other side of town. I pick of a trophy there for Best in Class (yes there were other C4’s) but part of it was that they appreciated me bringing the Vette there and forgoing the big show.
3. Most important tip – Have a good time.
4. Take a friend. I’ll have a friend drive one of my cars while I take the other. It just adds to the fun.
I’ll do more later on car show and give you some more ideas for having fun.
