Car Event Participation Waning?

Your last two lines basically sum it up. The bigger events will need to adapt by making registration easier, making it free (using sponsors or whatever is necessary...), etc.

There is also the factor that online videos & coverage of events has become so good, many people don't feel the need to actually attend!

 

In some cases, the victims of their own success? In other words, too crowded with spectators. Which equates to attendee parking problems and near gridlock traffic.

 

That's spelled Pebble Beach!

 

Boy I think you hit the nail on the head. I'm not sure whats happened but I think the level of interest for these events is waning. I have been attending the Cavallino Classic in Palm Beach for the last 6 years and this year I noticed a much lower attendance. It may be that we all go through phases but I do enjoy local cars & coffee gatherings more as of late. Its a way of "showing off" your car and being around like minded individuals without traveling across country to do the same thing.

 

Interesting topic. I went to Monterey in late 80s till 00s, where I learned the virtues of Enzo-era Ferraris and old air-cooled Porsche race cars - cars before I was born. Eventually, traffic and craziness outweighed the enjoyment for me. Besides, it became more of the same after a while. Other than being a race participant, catching up with car friends/community was the bulk of the fun IMO. Nowadays, there are other venues to be able to do that.

I like C&C in that you get to see folks, go for a drive before/after, etc. - more grassroots feel. It also doesn't take up a whole day. Having said this, I've seen it evolve increasingly as more posing, more commercialized, etc.

 

My last PB/Monterey weekend was 1989. Even back then it was just getting too big to deal with. Then I started going to Goodwood Revival. My last one, after seven visits, was in 2014, for the same reason. Now I go to Goodwood Members' Meeting, hoping it won't also become a victim of its own success.

 

The entire Monterey week.

 

Barber Motorsports in Leeds, AL (outside of Birmingham) does an annual vintage festival with racing classes that span several decades. The Mitty at Road Atlanta does the same. Both are in April/May each year. Sebring has a vintage festival with on-track racing every March.

Masters USA race series does vintage F1 and usually those weekends are pairs with other events/races: http://www.mastershistoricracing.com/historic-formula-1-usa/championship/

 

Amen.

 

Based on my own experiences and the complaints I've read on this forum over the years, I'd say it's several things, but the people attending and the way the events are conducted are two biggies.

There was a situation an owner posted on this forum where he was specifically invited to a major event and requested to bring his car the night before for the ease of the event organizers with staging. He complied and one of the event employees hit his car with a golf cart. Despite charging a high dollar fee for entry, the event refused to cover the repairs to his car, which I think is absolutely egregious. If it was a free event or one for charity, then I'd hold a different view, but a for profit venture not covering their own employees actions is horrible.

Then there's the attendees. They touch things and let their kids climb over doors and into car and if you say anything, they get all bent like the owner of the car is the problem. Some of those automobiles cost more than ten houses put together and yet people treat them like their personal petting zoo.

Then there's the stupid element at C&C. In Dallas, it's show up to show, but so many cars show up that they can't fit them all. So instead of having people apply and issuing cards, if someone wants to get their car in, they have to show up at 5 am to get a slot. Yay, 40 mustangs get in and exotics are turned away for not arriving earlier. I have absolutely no desire to see anything I can find ten of in a Walmart parking lot. So the way it is organized is keeping people from showing cars.

Or, even more fun, are the stupid car owners that show up to C&C. I could offer up a million stories, but I'll just share the one about the Hellcat owner who decided he would be cool and pull up in front of the LaFerrari and do burnouts. He even ran over a viewers foot. Hey, who wouldn't want to get up at 4:30 am to hang out with that guy, right?

I think it's a shame because I enjoy people enjoying my car, but unless things changes, I'll stick to letting people take pictures when they randomly come across me.

 

Id say that Monterey week takes up a large chunk. Its the super bowl... followed closely by scottsdale. Those two events are about 7 months apart. Everyone gets their fill. Also, Monterey is getting bigger... and bigger... and bigger... and more... and more... and more expensive. I think people just go to the big shows and call it aday unless local

 

By in large...they are painfully boring.
This is why I love road trips with friends in Ferraris.
More people need to discover this joy of Ferrari ownership.

 

I honestly don't go to many car shows let alone vintage festivals. The Cars & Coffee thing hasn't really ever interested me either. The photos and videos I've seen online are mainly new cars I already see around town or at dealer showrooms. I can understand why some owners like it for the social aspect with other owners.

The only car show I go to regularly is the Celebration FL/FCA outside of Orlando every year. I only go to see what supercars show up as the rest of the cars there are the same from year to year. They had a Koenigsegg this year, which was the first time I've ever seen one and made it worth the trip.

The Simeone Museum in Philly is probably my favorite automotive place to visit. Dr. Simeone does demo days and that day he took out the Bugatti Type 35 and Alfa 8C 2300...amazing stuff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeone_Foundation_Automotive_Museum I'd like to go to the Petersen Museum at some point.

 

Exactly, all of the above.

 

Car shows can be great but by and large I'm a firm believer in that cars are meant to be driven vs looked at. I would personally much rather attend a brief show followed by a drive to actually see/hear the cars in action. One can always stop and look at cars/talk to owners, etc at the stops along the way and then enjoy the cars on the trip.

 

Im with you... and I totally get the who wants to see 40 mustangs... even as a mustang owner... but... if the early bird gets the worm... the early bird gets the worm. To kick a car enthusiast out because a mclaren owner shows up is ridiculous and those kinds of actions would ensure that I never go again regardless.

I was at the infancy of our cars and coffee and I have a number of car ranging from the 30s to 2017s I ask the orginizer a day or two early if he can fit me in in a spot if I show up at 630... I am always taken care of... I was early... but early to the game 10 years ago.

I get it... we all want to see exotics etc... but... dont forget this is a large hobby... and we all started in a mustang or a civic or a maverick or a falcon or whatever... Most of us on here weren't born into money and we have all struggled. Cars and Coffee isn't only for the successful... in my opinion it is for the like minded.

If the guy in a Laferrari was doing burnouts and doughnuts I would say hey thats neat and then get irritated... just as irritated as the guy in the mustang doing it.

We are all guests of whoever hosts us.

Acting like a ****head isn't separated by status or money...

(the later portion of this rant is not directed at you please don't take it that way)

 

I think it is in part the baby boomers are tired of showing cars, too old. The other reason is some venues charge to bring a car to show or so.

Cars are a great hobby more fun to drive than show in my opinion.

Best

Lee

 

You miss my point entirely. I don't want to see anything common. If I can see it anywhere, I'm not interested. If you have a Mustang then it should be hopped up. Nothing off a lot is a showcar except exotics, antiques, hypercars, etc. The point of going to a show is to see things you can't normally see.

So if Mustangs take 40 slots and others don't want to get out at 5 am in their exotics, then people see 40 stock Mustangs. Big deal. I have personally known people with exotics turned away, despite the fact that the original agreement was exotics would never be turned down.

My suggestion, when 500+ cars are showing up is that they need a system for invitations and approval. That way, they could control the number of the same item at the show and tell people with average stock cars to get some hop ups before they consider showing them.

 

The C&C event here relocated some years ago, and I haven't been since, but they have attempted to address some of the issues. They have a "featured marque" almost every weekend. Some times it was "Ferrari" or it might be "Italian sports cars" or it might be "new age muscle". The prime spots were reserved for cars fitting the description, though it was first come first served. Then there was a larger "show" area that was first come first served, and then general parking. Still, I heard that sometimes the best cars to see were in the general parking. But that idea has merit if you have the resources to police entrance and pre-plan groups.

 

Not a problem in Colorado.

5 race tracks 2~3hrs equidistant from one another and several major cars and coffee events each month in each city. Generally on different weekends. Fantastic mountain roads, 75mph highways, low taxes. It's my personal slice of heaven.

One show has cramped parking where you need to get there by 8:30am for a spot but it brings out the most eclectic mix of cars so it is well worth it.

The Lafayette/Boulder cars and coffee attracts around 750-850 cars over a four hour period with 30 rows of 30 cars. There aren't the same emissions entanglements and proper race cars get less harassment.

Didn't this all start with Crystal Cove, a local CA phenomenon focused on exotics that spawned a regional one and then national attention? It began right around the time I joined F-chat.

https://goo.gl/maps/rDY7cwnsYT22

 

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