I have been working for the past 5 years with a group to put on a car show. This car show is used to raise money for the Coles County Advocacy Center and has consistently grown every year in size (we are well over the 100 vehicle mark). The car show “committee” is looking to expand the number of classes, but keeping the total number of trophies under 70 (this is a peer-judged show). Below are the classes we are proposing to have for our 2014 show and I would enjoy feedback from forum participants. I realize that many don’t attend/participate in car shows, but for those that do, would you please critique our listing to see if we are missing anything? Your feedback would be much appreciated.

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Lance


Top 35:

Classes:<O</O
A.Top Car or Truck 1900-1931 Original<O</O
B.Top Car or Truck 1932-1942 Original <O</O
C.Top Car 1943-1952 Original <O</O
D.Top Car 1953-1964 Original<O</O
E.Top Car (non-muscle car) 1965-1972 Original <O</O
F.Top Car 1973-1981 Original <O</O
G.Top Car 1982-1999 Original <O</O
H.Top Car or Truck 2000-Present Original <O</O
I.Top Truck 1943-1966 Original <O</O
J.Top Truck 1967-1999 Original <O</O
K.Top Truck 1900-1972 Modified<O</O
L.Top Truck 1973-Present Modified<O</O
M.Top Truck 1900-Present 4x4<O</O
N.Top Street Rod 1900-1948 <O</O
O.Top Street Machine 1949-Present <O</O
P.Top Muscle Car 1961-1972 <O</O
Q.Top Corvette 1953 -1982 Original <O</O
R.Top Corvette 1984 - Present Original <O</O
S.Top Corvette 1953-Present Modified<O</O
T.Top Mustang 1964 ½ - 1978 <O</O
U.Top Mustang 1979 - Present <O</O
V.Tuner 1979-Present<O</O
W.Top Motorcycle 1900-Present <O</O
X.Top Special Interest 1900-Present <O</O
Y.Display only Non-Judged<O</O

Special Awards:
Long Distance Awards
Club Award (Most Members in Attendance)
Fireman Choice
Mayor’s Choice
Police Choice
Sheriff’s Choice
Children’s Choice
Best of Show (6ft Trophy)<O</O
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Defintions:

Original/stock = as delivered to the customer from the dealer with a minimum of three minor changes (e.g. radial tires, dual exhaust).<O</O
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Muscle Car = Factory produced high performance 2 door mid-size car generally produced between 1965-1972 with large displacement V8 engines.
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Street Machine = Post 1948 car that has been modified from factory form.
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Street Rod = A vehicle that was manufactured before 1949 and that has been altered from the manufacturer’s original design.
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Tuner = an import automobile having less than 8 cylinders with performance
modifications.<O</O
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35 (Top 35) + 25 (classes) + 8 (special awards) = 68 total awards<O</O
<O</O

 

Hi Lance,

I have co-produced a local show in the past and can say that it appears you have some interesting classes and commend you for giving definitions.
Some suggestions:
Define 'Special Interest'. Some folks who see strong competition in their natural category will jump to SI in order to get more attention. This ticks off the folks who have true SI type vehicles.
Define the long distance award. If you trailer it, it shouldn't count. The award should be the person who came the furthest to attend that show under it's own power. This category is time consuming to gather the ballot info. Make sure the ballot clearly says what town and city they live in and the number of miles actually driven. If you just have a town listed you have to do the math yourself. I learned the hard way on that.
Original/stock - be prepared to debate with folks what 'three minor changes' are. Folks tend to differ on that especially when a trophy is at stake.
And get ready to help people determine this first thing in the morning as they roll in and are directed to a parking spot. It could get ugly. Some folks can't count to three.
Split your ballot to prevent block voting from the club members. (you vote for me and I'll vote for you) And encourage honesty right on the ballot form.
You have a real lot of classes and this will irk people who have a short attention span and don't want to spend that much time writing dozens of things on paper. Another reason to have split ballots. Why do you have category 'H'? You already have plenty of classes for 'to present' and if you wanted to trim down to make it easier for everyone, you can discourage the number of newer cars that aren't special from entering. Some folks just want to park their 2007 Ford Fusion 4-door in a car show if you know what I mean. You can't say no because you have a class for it. Add a second motorcycle class that breaks up the years if you have a lot of those attending. 1900-1960 for example. What is category 'Y' all about? I also don't get what the 'Top 35' means in addition to the 25 classes. Holy smokes better hand out coleman lanterns to the staff because they are going to be there all night to present that many awards.

Good for you to be doing this for a charity. That is what we did and we gave half of the 50/50 raffle to them. Instead of 'Mayor's choice' perhaps let a representative from the Advocacy center have a go at it. Lance, those are my thoughts. I'd be interested in hearing the other replies.

 

Very good and extensive list. If it were my decision the changes I would make are.

Class B, change years to 32-47. This gives a wider spread allowing for war years and is also when cars and trucks separated as far as design goes.

Class K, split into two 1900-46 and 1947-1972. Same reason as above, earlier small trucks were car based and this was a huge time frame for one class. Trucks are becoming more popular.

Class M, remove. You car award this in any of the stock or modified truck classes, this keeps the award count from rising.

Other than that, Great Job!

 

Another thought....since you plan on having so many awards keep in mind that some folks get antsy about 1-2 pm and want to go home if they have been there since the gates opened. If they don't think they won anything they will leave.

"And the award for xxxx is Bud Jenkins" and people shout back " He left an hour ago!!" "He fell asleep!" Have a plan on what to do with a trophy if they aren't there anymore. Consider having the ballot return cutoff time loudly and clearly announced and awards as early as possible because it will take you a while to count the ballots and then present them.

Also remember to call out the year, make and model of the winner in each category, not just their name. Folks want to know what car it was if they don't recognize the name.

Tom

 

This has been an interest of mine as well. I have been trying to keep my truck as original as possible. I would like to take it down to the frame, paint it all and then put it back together. Keeping it all stock with no modifications.
But I dont know what can be done and still call it original.

 

WAY to many classes and trophies. Your award ceremony will be 2 hours long. Keep it simple.....for a show of 200 cars 25 trophies is plenty.

The best shows I have been to have NO trophies........

 

Amen to that. Ribbons and one or two trophies. Put the money with the
Charity.

 

Thank you to all who responded so quickly and with such great recommendations! I will try to address each recommendation made.
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Pineconeford:
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A. Define Special Interest: Will this work, “a unique vehicle by design that does not qualify for a regular show class (e.g., race cars, military vehicles, fire trucks, bus) which would pique the interest of the public at large because of its uniqueness”

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B. Define long distance award: Will this work, “Long Distance (must be driven from origin)”

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C. Original/Stock definition: This show is peer judged show. So, one’s peers will determine if they feel the vehicle is truly an “original/stock” vehicle.
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D. Split Ballot: Could you explain how this works? I don’t believe I have been to a show that uses this approach, but sounds like a way to speed up the voting process.
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E. Why Category H: We often have newer trucks or cars (4 or 5 vehicles per year) that want to participate in the show. This class captures that group.
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F. What is Category Y: This class is for those that want to attend/participate in the show, but don’t care about receiving a vote or trophy.
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G. Representative from the Children’s Advocacy Center selects a winner: In our show, the Advocacy Center works with children who attend our show to select a winner of the “Children’s Choice Award” which is a 5 foot trophy.
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H. People Getting Antsy: Our show begins at 9am and registration continues until 1pm. At 1pm participants are able to retrieve their ballot from the registration tent and begin voting. We believe this allows equality between those that show up early and later in the morning. Ballots are due at 2pm and the awards are given away 3pm sharp which last 30 minutes. Are you suggesting to begin the voting process earlier in the day?
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Rimrock F1:
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A. Class B: I don’t know why the committee stopped a 1942 in this class, but will take your recommendation of 47 to our next meeting.
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B. Class K: The reason the committee selected such a large range of years for Class K (1900-72 Modified) is because we have very few trucks in the past shows who fell into this category (3 or so trucks). Like you suggested, the first 4 years of the show we broke this class at 1946, but decided to change it because of the lack of participants in this class.
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C. Class M: I will take your recommendation of removing class M to our next meeting.
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Tinman52:
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A. Awards Ceremony lasting too long: I run the awards ceremony and am always cognizant of everyone’s time and make sure I move as fast as possible. The last four years the award ceremony has lasted 30 minutes or less.
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Thank you again for all your comments and I look forward to more.<O</O
<O</O
Lance<O</O

 

1st off - Cool thread . . . and this is a good question. Taking it completely apart, sand blasting it to bare metal and painting it is far from minor work but only the very rare vehicle can win any "original" category without doing this.

 

A popular class around here is the unfinished or work in progress class. Gets allot of driven projects out that wouldn't otherwise be able to take part. Although some trophy hounds with finished cars do try to enter in it. (satin black is not unfinished)

 

epp,

I like the idea of unfinished class and see how it could bring out folks that are working on their projects. Thanks for the suggestion.

Lance

 

I have also did a few shows (Trucks)...... I thought I had all bases covered with classes and was feeling good after several months work and a good turn out . After it all done I had someone come up to me and complain there was not a class for them.... Talk about burst your happy bubble.."(. All the shows after that were top 25. And everything went smooth.... P.S. I also did a mystery trophy ie.: best lug nuts was one best tailgate ,best running boards . No one knew what the category was until awards were given out .........Dude