I have been appointed by a local charity to “put together” a car show this summer as a fundraiser. As a part of the developmental process, I think it would be beneficial to hear from antique vehicle enthusiast as to “what makes a great truck/car show”. I can’t imagine a better place to hear from antique vehicle enthusiast than the FTE. It is my hope that your opinions will help me shape the event into one that will be a success this year and years down the road. Your thoughts and opinions are much appreciated.
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Lance<O</O

 

I have been a member of a classic pick-up club for the last 5 years and every year we put on a benefit cruise for Toys for Tots.
Don't try to do everything by yourself. Get help from friends, family and anyone else who are willing to spend the time required to put on a good cruise.
We go around to the local merchents in town asking if they want to be a sponsor. We ask for $25.00 from each sponsor and we use that money to by a trophy for each sponsor and they get to pick out their favorite vehicle.
We also have a chinese auction. We ask for donations from area businesses to provide items we can auction off to raise money.
We also have a DJ that plays good 1950/1960 style music.
We sell 50/50 tickets
We normally have about 160 to 200 vehicle show up depending on the weather. We ask them to bring in a new unwrapped toy or a donation as an entry fee.
We pass out fliers anouncing the date, time and location of the cruise.
It is a lot of work but it is also a lot of fun.
One thing to remember is to start planning early(right after christmas), have committee set up and have people in each committee asigned to do something that way no one person has to do everything.
Another thing to remember is your not going to please everyone.
Last year we managed to raise almost $6000.00 in cash and toys to Toys for Tots. It helps a lot of kids have a nice Chritmas.

I hope things go good for you.

 

Lance,

Typically the car shows that I enjoy most are the onew that the public can enter for free. They are typically held outdoors with plenty of room and not crammed into some hall or other building. In situations like this the owners typically stay near their vehicles and are accesible to talk with and you can have plenty of room to walk around the entire vehicle and "ooh" and "ah" as much as you please.

I have pretty much sworn off any big production car show held in a convention center or big bldg with big admission fees. I hate being jammed in shoulder to shoulder with the masses.

Oh, and one other thing, if you are going to have some kind of DJ or other musical stuff happening try and limit their volume so that you don't have to yell at everyone you are trying to talk to...(dang, did I really say that out loud? I must be getting old and cranky)

Good luck with getting it all put together.
Bobby

 

If you have it out doors,pick a place with shade and places to sit.there is nothing worst than being in a hot parking lot.Also don't try and raise all your money off the backs of the car owners.I wont show when it coast me 30-40 $ to enter and the lookers get in for free.A lot of us didn"t build show cars we have drivers and there is no insentive for me to enter a show for high $ and just sit and listen to everyone come by and tell how I built my truck wrong.It"s right for me and thats all that counts!

 

20 years and still ticking, from 130 cars to 963.

KISS………………………….keep it simple!

2009 car show small pic.jpg

 

Hey Lance,
Glad to hear from you and first how is the wife and baby, courtney asked about you all just the other day, asked if you would be in P.F. next year and I told her probably. She said she wanted to see the baby.
Where and approxamently ahen are you planning your show and are rat rods invited, Merry Christmas, Garry

 

I have a basic time frame sheet that we use for our car show in Ardmore TN. You can check out the site at www.aqbc.net and click on the car show art work. The spreadsheet may help you set some timelines and completion dates. This has helped us out over the last few years. We had 815 vehicles and cleared over 24K this year. PM me and I will get you all the info that I have.

Oh yeah good luck and you cannot make everyone happy even if you pay them to come.

 

Gary,

Kim and baby (Andie) are doing great! Andie is now 10 months old and she is crawling around everywhere. As new parents, we are having an absolute blast!

We are definitely planning on attending both Pigeon Forge shows this coming summer (if money holds out). We are going to both shows because my father and I have dreamed for over a decade to bring both of our trucks to the F100 Supernationals. My father recently finished his 1955 F100 and we are going to finally make this happen.

The car/truck show will be held in Charleston, Illinois at the Coles County Fairgrounds (July 24). I am hoping to get a lot of feedback from fellow FTE’ers so I can help make this a great event. I appreciate the comments already provided by tlb, bobbytnm, Dr. Smith and OldF1. I will heed their advice and attempt the following:

- Don’t do everything myself (use committees)
- Visit local merchants for award sponsorship
- Set up 50/50 drawing
- Get a DJ to play 1950/60’s music (not too loud)
- Can good for donation as a part of entrance fee
- Put together a flier to begin handing out at area car shows this coming spring
- Advertise in area newspapers
- Keep is simple and fun!
<O</O
What type of award does everyone prefer? Trophies or Plaques

Where is the best place to purchase awards from?

Should awards go out to 1<SUP>st</SUP>, 2<SUP>nd</SUP>, and 3<SUP>rd</SUP>?

How should the classes be broken down?

Who should I get for judges? How many?
<O</O
So many questions??

 

Keep it fun ^_^

Personally I wouldn't group anything together. It's much more fun to "treasure hunt" and come across something you're really hoping to see rather than have them all in one area and go "thats it?". Not to mention you see more things you didn't know you where looking for.

 

Lance,
First you have to answer a few questions:
- who is your audience?
- where will your funds come from...if it's a fundraiser, who is filling the till?

These questions are important because the answers will dictate a lot of how you organize your event. If your audience is basically passersby then your event will have to be structured to accomodate a wide variety of people, from lookee-loos to enthusiasts. If your event is not located at a site where it is easily seen by passersby then you will have to advertise more. What makes a great show...it is giving the car owners a nice venue by which they can show off their cars while at the same time giving the public the eyecandy that they will want to look at.
The question of fundraising is also important...as has been stated already, it's usually not a good thing to charge admission to the public but you do have to raise money somewhere. Entry fees for car owners will usually cover the cost of the event site, insurance, advertising, etc. but you won't get rich off the entry fees. You will raise much more money on 50/50 raffles, merchandise (T-shirts, etc) sales, and food/drink sales.
Sponsors are the lifeblood of any event, to get the sponsors to support your event you will have to demonstrate to each of them how it is in their best interest to help you out. For instance, if your car show is limited to Ford vehicles then a Chevy dealership or an aftermarket bowtie company will not see much of a return on investment by giving you money and/or products for your show.
The best advice I could give you is to go to other shows and make note of what works and what doesn't. I was just at the Relics & Rods "Run to the Sun" show in Lake Havasu last month. There were some really great cars there including the 40 Merc that Ted's Rod Shop just built on the TV show "Chop, Cut, Rebuild"...but while these cars were really special and drew the interest of someone like me who builds cars, there were just as many people gawking at the rat rods. Everybody has their own idea of what's cool, you just have to find out what that is in your area. Give the people what they want. Good luck.

 

What Makes a Great Truck/Car Show?


the drive there and the drive home!

Michigan Rick

 

Charlieled,
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I will try to answer your question.
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Who is your audience?
<O</O
The audience for the show will be local car enthusiast (50 miles radius). Some of the audience will own antique vehicles, some will be building hot rods, and others will just want to reminisce about the “good ole days”.<O></O>
The show will be held at the Coles County Fairgrounds that is located 2 miles north of the main drag. We will need to advertise this location as it is not easy to find for a non-Charleston native. Further, we are going to tie this event to an annual Antique Tractor show which has a great turn out every year. I feel this will definitely help the awareness and attendance.<O</O
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Where will your funds come from?
<O</O
Currently, the show is open to all makes and models. We have discussed model year cut-off, but are unsure where the year should be (1972???); however, we do plan on charging a small entrance fee. The local antique tractor club will be taking care of the Fairgrounds fees (vendors & insurance) so we are extremely lucky. We will try focusing on local car dealerships, body shops, auto parts stores for additional support.<O</O

 

Lance,
Don't overlook getting local media involved in your promotion. (Radio, TV, newspaper) They love to work charity events as a public service, and will do free PSA's. They also have connections to the deep pockets for sponsors, such as a major employer in the area. If any of them have government contracts, they have to give back something to the community. Your media partners can/will help with that.

Our local Mopar club has a charity car show every year to benefit local food banks. The entry fee for cars is $20, which also gets a dash plaque, and for an extra $5, you get a t-shirt, too. Entry for spectators is $1 or a can/non-perishable food item. They have a local tv station involved with promotion and get some of their other advertisers to pitch in as sponsors in trade for their business/products mentioned. As noted above, you won't get rich from entry fees, but thousands can be raised from the major sponsors. Music, food, door prizes, raffles are all good things to have to keep people entertained.

Unless you plan on having more entrants than you have space for, I wouldn't do a year cut-off. There are just as many people who like late model stuff as old cars. And you don't want to turn away half of your audience if you're doing a charity fundraiser.

Best of luck with your event.

 

KISS……….part two;

Charging attendance (I know its not you) is usually more trouble then its worth plus the extra incurred liability.

It’s a lot of work, but sending out invitations / poster (via a data base) to previous year’s registrants / attendee’s works very well to increase the attendance.

Judging vehicles will certainly upset many, top ten by participant vote (ballot in goodie bag) gets away from all the politics, the counting takes time but less then judging.

Because this is to be a fund raiser (business) rather then a cover expenses and buy dinner for everyone who helped, it can not help but become a little complicated and more like work rather then fun. To keep your workers / volunteers it has to be fun!

 

My 2 cents. Well it's free so take it for what you paid for it.

Personally I think most car shows last WAY too long. Fewer people might attend a shorter event but after 3-4 hours I've looked at everything and talked enough.
I realize that trophies are a draw for many participants but after witnessing the over the top reaction of some winners I'd rather attend a more relaxed show without the "competition" aspects. Getting a trophy for your car just seems a little silly too. JMO.
Most of the time I enjoy driving to and from a show as much as the show itself. Gee, with all my complaints it should be no surprise that it's been a few years since I've attended one.

So what would I do?
1. Keep it short. If you need to have a long show maybe include some educational seminars or entertainment of some kind. Old music helps, but as was mentioned, not too loud.
2. No or very few awards.
3. Lots of food.
4. Try to find a nice location like Old F1's. WOW! Way better than baking in parking lot.