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Editorial [h=1]The Death of the Car Show & How we helped kill it.[/h]
Let me start off by saying; Car shows aren’t completely dead, but they are really on their last leg and I’ll explain why. Around the time of 2003-2004 I really became serious about cars and car shows. I started attending every event and really trying to participate in everything I could. Back then Hot Import Nights was one of the biggest traveling car shows and being a part of Hot Import Nights was a big deal. You had to submit an application of your car with photos and a mod sheet just to be approved just so you could enter the competition. (Now while Hot Import Nights no longer has a screening process, we still have shows like that traveling like WekFest but the competition is not the same and I’ll explain that later.) The show would draw in people from every surrounding area of the city or even the state. People would travel to compete, models would show up for their chance to be featured, vendors would immediately try to sign up – no matter the cost, and the car-show scene was flourishing. Fast Forward about 10 years to 2014 – We are now in the era of the car-meet.

This year I personally put together an event called the Mystery Meat 3 for my company V2lab; We had over 65 vendors, 25 artists on display, and over 100,000 people in attendance. The event is very laid back and requires no qualifications to attend (as a spectator or participant) – just simply show up. But the culture of car meets has however created a lot of lazy car-builders. While meets themselves are not totally responsible for this – it takes a big chunk of the blame. Since all you have to do to be a part of a meet and gain attention and notoriety from your peers at a meet is have name brand wheels, good stance/fitment, while being really low, or on the opposite side driving a very performance oriented car that’s reputation proceeds itself (see every Skyline, Supra, or FD that shows up to a car meet) or even people just trying to show up in RHD or JDM cars; regardless the point I am getting at is – we as a car-culture have become really lazy when it comes to building well rounded show cars. The meet-culture has made it perfectly acceptable for you to just have wheels and suspension and get tons of respect instead of putting your heart and soul into a build – making it your own and doing different things (custom or even just searching out and finding rare parts – remember the jdm-trend?).

senor honda

Part two Death of car show....
The other part that has caused a huge rift in the car-show world is charging for spectators and show competitors; While I paid almost 70+ dollars to attend WekFest with my car and one passenger (my G/f) there aren’t many show-goers around anymore willing to spend that kind of money on just any show. In fact just this week with a passing show I’ve heard complaints over $30 entry fees and $15 spectator fees. Being able to attend an event such as the Mystery Meat (Orlando, FL) or Simply Clean (in Daytona Beach, Florida) where thousands of cars show up at every year for the cost of $10 to park really changes the dynamic of what people have come to expect car shows. For less money you see more cars, more people, and experience more of the culture – but at the cost of no trophies, less organization, less competition (only friendly rivalries), and less serious builds.
If you saw my RSX post a while back – I highlighted some of the most fierce competitors in the show scene – There are still a lot of people building very serious show cars out there – however there just aren’t as many as there used to be; to the point where if you attend one major car show a year – you’ve basically seen everything that will be ‘shown’ for the rest of the year. We need a revival of builders in the car scene – We need people to be more serious about modifying every aspect of their cars and not just looking for the quick-fix to get a little bit of attention on Instagram. We as import-tuners need to take notes from Classic Car Builders and start paying attention to the details. It is time to take ourselves seriously again or watch the Car Show Scene completely die.

blacksheep-1

Too many dipshits and their rice burners is what killed car shows, I don't understand why everyone dork with a vtec Honda and a fart can has to take every opportunity to show his ass. You go to muscle car shows and for the most part they are way more laid back and more family friendly than the import stuff.I used to go to a few import shows because even though I'm a muscle car guy I can respect the amount of work going into import and drifting stuff, but inevitably a group of dorks will start doing stupid stuff so I quit going.
Oh and let me add this, back in the 70s I lifted an intake off of a Pontiac GTO with a home made N2O system because no one made a N2O system and we cobbed one together in our garage. Now days you can buy everything, the problem with that is everybody runs the same stuff, there's no individuality (which is probably why the rat rod culture has appeared) now days car shows are boring because there's little or no individuality, back in the day (70s) we had a twin turbo V8 chevy stuffed into a VW Karmann Ghia using and Oldsmobile Toronado transaxle. Won't be seeing anyhthjing like that now days because you can't store buy it from a catalog.

senor honda

I know what you mean. I still go to car and bike shows, mostly the ones posted on Tampa Racing.com here:
Local Events
I like the machinery and hang out with people in a good mood. I probably will always go to car shows
since I started with shows when I quit on-track racing.

Young car people today are bolt-on guys and rarely do they fabricate like you did/do.
You may be right about the Rat Rod culture, although most of them are not kids.

Is there a chance you might have some pics of that Karman Ghia? It would be great for member's rides, etc.-Bob

senor honda

By Kane Potter


So I read and even reposted the article recently about the death of the car show due to meet styled events.
Well I've been doing some thinking. That's not all that true. Let me explain why.

Since the birth of the automobile folks like you and I, gear heads as society calls us. We have been modifying
cars and showing them off. With the ever growing need to show off, the car show or then known as the "car
cruise" were born. However so was the beginning of racing. Car cruises still exist and are very similar to our
"car meets". Eventually a car show scene was born by companies hosting larger events and offering
trophies, along w charging for entry. These events were a great way for car clubs to get together outside of
the typical drive in cruise or race track get together, as well, they could walk away with a trophy to show off
to every other club. Car shows also draw attention from vendors locally.

Well the point of all this is, the car cruise came before the "car show" and yet, a very solid show scene was
birthed from this, despite cruises not offering trophies or charging for entry.

You may now say, so why is the show scene declining so fast??? Well as we have all felt the squeeze on
money, extras like building a show car have been removed or dropped on the priority list. The last time
our Nation had a recession we were given "rat rods". We currently see the new age version of this in
our modern day society. Whether it be a Honda, Ford, Hyundai, or any other affordable vehicle that seems
to be ugly but under construction. Usually these are performance driven, or show characteristics of a show
car, without the flash or bling.

The other issue with our current show scene is forums. Join any forum or automotive Facebook group
these days. The moment someone mentions building a show car and not a performance driven car, the
ridicule begins. The keyboard warrior has changed the way people build their cars. Even I went through
this. I had a Saturn and put lambo doors on it, custom interior, I truly wanted to keep putting into it to
make it a show car. But after time on forums, I was ridiculed so I hard I truly began to believe these
were distasteful, so I began to change the direction of my car. These days I am glad that happened
because I was able to drive my car and enjoy it more, but nobody should be ostracized for wanting
to be all show, and no go, or some show and some go. People will build what their wallets can handle,
and who are we to judge? As gear heads young or old we should respect the work put into any car
truck or SUV, even if we don't find it to be our taste. Once the acceptance of show cars comes back,
the sooner we will see true shows that are fairly judged.

senor honda

Kane,
Don't change anything in your life to please someone who doesn't care about you any way.
-Bob

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Parking lot

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Bumping for the pics I missed Tampa Racing To the TOP!

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