Cleanliness and presentation I think the level of cleanliness and the method of presentation is very important. I am a little picky when it comes to that, so I look for it from owners at shows. Examples: Even the newer cars can't be too clean! See, presentation makes it a real winner!
I dont look at paint or body non of that stuff i look at motor,i wanna know its got the power to plant me back in the seat,but ima go kinda guy not a show kinda guy.
A car that even though modified had quality and execution = to or better than OEM. I like all pieces to fit on the vehicle as they belong,nothing hidden, nothing flaunted. i like the car leave in a smoky burnout.................
Fit/finish.Quality of chrome/glass and interrior condition.Is weatherstripping in place and in show condition ( where visible )Is the engine compartment clean/neat.No oil spots/stains.( if its a driver this will be overlooked unless its painfully bad/obvieous) road dust under the hood on a driver is fine...dirt/grime well...Undercarriage should be clean... dont have to have fresh paint on it just not rusty/scaley(shiny paint on chassis is for trailer queens)No rusty fasteners!!!...anywhere!!Wheels/tires... do they look right/good on the particular car?...Stance...If its a late 60s' 70s' street rod it better have the stink bug stance and N-50/15s' sticking out the rear quarters(just kidding) Now I look at quality of build/upgrades...modifications/customization.Is it engineered well?does it portray the theme the owner was going for? Was that theme executed well/faithfully?? The list goes on.Judges are supposed to be "objective" if its a camaro and you like mustangs you put it aside and be honest no matter what or who.I dont do it anymore... too many guys have it in for their club buddies or brother in law who just spent 60 gs' on a driver quality trailer queen.Or get fixated on a particular ride and cant see the forest for the trees.I dont go to showes/cruises and expect anything with my car/cars( I dont build to that "show car" level for myself. I go to see cool rides and see whats up and whats unique be it how someone engineered something thats elegant/simple or both.I dont care for new cars in shows either.Not special...especially when you can go to the dealer and buy it instead of build it yourself...Trailer queens are ok as long as its something unique/rare.If you bring your 30 Peirce Arrow to the show in an enclosed trailer...I have no problem with it.If you bring your bigblock 70 and 1/2 Camaro in the trailer it better be a factory original low mile barn find Yenko or Nickey(If its not street legal trailer it for sure) other wise drive it man! ya spent all that time and money...put it to use.(you dont have to smoke the hides on it) just drive it.The enjoyment comes from letting the thing run down the road(or tear it up) and having people see an old dinosaur actually alive and well and cruising the boulevard.Its just like the toy that never comes out of its package.If its not played with its not truely loved.Now you guys who dont drive em and trailer em to shows.I am not dissing any of you or any one.I understand why(been there)its a long haul.... you have alot of $$ tied up in it... dont want any dings/nicks and dont want any lookie loos driving along side you trying to talk to you about it at 40 mph and god forbid an accident.You only live once,you cant take your $$ with you when your gone, insurance is there for a reason.We all have bigger things to worry about than a stone chip in the front valance.Take it out and get it dirty once in a while...its liberating and good therapy and you can pour over every inch of it when you wash it after the ride.Its a hobby...enjoy it no matter how you do it. Peace out!!
Hey, what's wrong with us hot rod guys??? V8, Auto, Disc Brakes, lowered just like we do to our Mavericks
Bob, Nothing is wrong with hot rods, except that I still don't have the chopped 34 Ford coupe that has been driving through my brain for years ... I personally don't have a lot of patience for the car show scene as a participant. I'd much rather go to cruise-ins, Hot Rod Power Tour, track day events, etc. As I am improving my Comet it is mainly with driving it in mind. It will look good, but function wins over perfection. When I do go to a car show as spectator, what grabs me about certain cars is usually some unique, odd, or rare factor about it. Over-restored cars are usually a turn-off, rock chips are OK, but I want to see that the car has been cared for as well as driven. A well-done small block V8 Vega will get my attention any time over the best Vette or Camaro. In a sea of 65-68 Mustang coupes, I found myself spending a lot of time pouring over a 68 Cougar. Dashboards in cars from the 40s and 50s tend to get a lot of my attention. I imagine that like most everyone else, "what grabs them" is a pretty complicated and hard to quantify ... hard to describe, but you know it when you see it.
I don't know if I can explain it myself but I'll point out what in our little world sticks out to me. When you are in a sea of mav/coms and you are walking along them its the cars that are different that grab me, color, stance, wheel and tire combo, etc...... The Hanhs cars, Dennis' sprint, Jacks car, and both Hackman cars, just to name a few. These cars draw me in with their approach to be different, then they make me start looking deeper. Then I get to start noticing the not so obvious stuff, but there does have to be that initial intrest. John, I don't think I'm helping any cuz I'm confusing myself. It seems that different people are drawn to different things, guess thats what makes this so much fun.
I said Street Rod guys (I think of any modified and heated up car as a 'hot rod') and what I meant was those Boyd Coddington types. In my experience all of the Street Rod guys I met were like Vette guys. They all felt their cars were more valuable, more interesting, more whatever. Just turned me off. Maybe just my experience but for that reason I tend to avoid looking at Street Rods at shows - unless no one's around.
Just one look. The cover story draws me in and attention to detail takes over. Most cars are worthy of just one look. No matter what brand or style. Going the extra mile weather bone stock, plain jane, or highly modified.
I personally don't like the common stuff. I like different. Tony and Terry Hahn have 2 of the nicer modified Mavericks that I have seen in person-although they really have nothing in common other than being owned by brothers. They did a great job on those cars. 1 with a polished, clean Paxton SC, roll bar and race belts adapted to original Grabber seats. The other-2 tone painted top, stock upholstered bench seat, and touches of chrome and aluminum throughout. Compare that to Dennis' Sprint-stock paint, with tasteful mods, and lots of go under the hood. Then there are cars in stock, original condition. Those cars IMO need to be dinner plate clean, and generally look better to the critical eye when the original stickers, inspection marks and paint daubs are in place. Top 10 Turnoffs to me at shows: 1)Too many bright yellow, lime green, bright orange paint jobs. 2)Fancy flamed steering wheels, momo wheels on muscle cars etc. 3)'LOOK AT ME' plug wires, and ignition parts. ex. yellow and red wires that standout. 4)Rusty chrome wheels or lug nuts, or even missing lug nuts/studs. 5)Torn or worn interior upholstery. 6)Cracked, scratched or delaminating windows. 7)Dirty engine compartments or interiors 8)Old cracked or peeling paint is fine for that 'barn find' of a former race car, or found vintage muscle car. It's not okay to see it on an '86 IROC Z28-not today! 9)Too much Armour All slathered on everything not metal or painted. Event worse than that, yellow white letters that didn't get cleaned, but they had time to overspray them with Armour All. 10)Just a dirty car, mud, dirt, anywhere, interior or exterior. Seth
If I am contemplating a project, I will be looking for a car that had it done to it so I can compare the details. I am ready to do my Mustang II and 4 link coil over project so I took a lot of photos this past year relating to that. On something like a 1 piece tilt front end, I like to see the different ways that the builders got the same thing to work. Of course there is paint, chrome, interiors and the Zoom Zoom Zoom factor too.:bananaman
Jeff & Paxtond, I agree completely. Arm chair rodding does nothing for me. My cars are drivers not show cars or trailer queens. I was doing a show (I work at them) at a fair grounds and it was cloudy almost rained. Some gold chain guy wanted to unload his trailer queen '32 plastic Ford roadster in side the building so it wouldn't get wet:confused:. I looked him in the eyes and told him even fiber glass wont shrink in the rain. He didn't like it, but those are the guys that I hate. Mega money and are trying to buy trophies to build their ego. Give me a cool lookin driver any day
As 71gold said... Especially if they are cute...refer to littleredtoy's post for prime examples I SHOULD have been focusing on leaky transmissions, since that is the MAIN issue I have to work on right now...
No, honestly, I look at what I am interested in doing to my car at the time. Last year I was focused on exhaust setups, so I focused on that. This year, interior designs. Dash boards, consoles, gauge layout, and seat fabrics and colors. So that is what I was drawn to.
