--- MARK J HASH <mjh@wanweb.net> wrote:
(snip)
The biggest embarrassment I felt was the day I attended a MoPar Show n Shine
event, where I was shut out (which I have no problem with if the
winning cars are nice cars BTW), but the car judged "Best of Show" was a '57
Belvedere which until a year before had been a very nice
"survivor" but had since been turned into a chopped, channelled beast with
Frenched door handles and a blower that extended literally
3 feet out of the louvered hood. It impressed the show goers and won the
six foot high trophy, while my '57 Fury, which the weekend before had
earned 98 out of 100 points at the Forest Grove Concours, and took me 8
years to rebuild, lost in the Fifties class to a '52 Cranbrook sedan with
no upholstery.
So, now that I finally understand that restored cars are basically ignored
by most shows and their attendees, I mostly just drive Mr. Finzzz
for myself and a few non-charging local shows, and the occasional visitor
who know the significance of Exner's designs.
Mark mjh
'57 Fury in OR
I can definitely relate to that, Mark! I occasionally attend some of the
local shows around the area here and it never fails to amaze me how some of
the vehicles which win trophies are not much better than some of the rusting
hulks I've seen in the average salvage yard. And these are not all
necessarily "professionally judged" shows either.
And then there are the shows which are obviously biased for (or against)
certain makes and models. For example, just a couple weeks ago out of 24
possible awards, 22 were won by Chevvies, 1 Ford and 1 Buick. There were
nearly 200 entrants and a fair representation of Mopars including both my
300G and the 64 Fury.
Before that, my 300G which is a strong #2 restored Mopar where its
uniqueness alone garners more attention than most of the other "routine"
entrants combined, was beaten by a Cadillac which had holes in the
upholstery, ragged paint where in one place it was cracked and the bondo was
showing through, and rusted chrome all over. When I contested the judges
decision, I was told the Caddy was "more original" than mine. Say
whaaaa?????
Then there was the "passionate pink" '59 Savoy that was chopped, decked and
stripped of anything that identified it as a Plymouth, which won "best
Mopar". I won't even talk about that atrocity.
I'm beginning to get like a lot of you fellas in saying to hell with the car
shows and just go to the cruise spots and meet with the same kind of people
as I am.....those who are just glad to get out and drive one of these
beauties once in a while and for a fleeting moment in time and relive a
vibrant piece of automotive history when these finned Mopars were indeed,
the kings of the highway.
I appreciate all of those who took the time to share with me their feelings
on this matter of overpriced car shows. Happy Moparin' and I hope to meet
some of you people one of these days. You all seem like a great bunch of
people. Maybe sometime WE can decide to get together some time in someones
park and have our OWN Forward Look car show. If anyone in the Midwest comes
up with some sort of a plan, you can definitely count me in.
Karl
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