The next town to my little village hosts an annual carnival with a classic car show as part of the day. I attended this event a few years back and I haven’t been since due to other better car shows or rain. The Stowmarket Carnival was scheduled on the 19th July, the weather was looking good and I didn’t have any other shows to go to. So I thought I would give it a go again as a day out. This isn’t a huge show so there was no need to get up early and avoid the queue to get in. The usual drinks and a snack were packed and I set of for the show and arrived at the field fifteen minutes later, all cars had to be in place before nine forty five ready for the public to arrive. I was directed straight in and that was pretty well organised to be fair. once inside I was directed to area ten by a marshal and was shown my position to park adjacent to a concreate footpath which ran across the middle of the field or recreation field, a nice location in fact. By the time I had gone over the dry and dusty field the car needed a wipe over. I wouldn’t do that until after the other cars had all been parked up as they too were putting up plumes of dust.
I was hungry and decided that the now becoming obligatory sausage in a roll was required, and very nice it was too.
The car was given a wipe over and walked around the cars, maybe a hundred or so for the day.
There was some nice American muscle there, although I was the only 60’s Mustang.
I was almost fooled by this Chesil Speedster that was a replica of the Porsche 356 Speedster. To find a real 356 is hard enough, let alone find one at a carnival considering their value is around £300k to £560k, some rare models can command up to £800k.
I had seen all the cars, in the last part of the field were some amazing motorbikes and trikes. I was talking to a couple of great guys and spent a little with them. Two or three wheels are not my ‘thing,’ but I can certainly appreciate the mechanical engineering on these bikes and how proud the owners are of their creations.
Mart’s Car Of The Show
I have some good memories driving one of these Land Rover Series 3 in their iconic green. I have never seen one get stuck anywhere, such an amazing go anywhere work horse vehicle. Not fast, not that comfortable, not that quiet, but it will pull a house over.
I made my way back to my car and sat in my chair for a bit of people watching. I started to notice the families were arriving en masse; no doubt the nice weather, the attraction of traditional fun fair rides calling to them. Around lunch time I could see that many kids were eating ice creams while wandering around looking at the cars. I could see the parents just letting them stroll up to the cars, lean on them while holding their ice creams and putting their dirty sticky fingers all over the car. It’s a real pet hate of mine, I decided that I wasn’t going to leave my car unattended for the remaining time I was a this event.
The problem with ‘family’ focussed events like this one, is that some parents simply don’t care about your property. Your pride and joy is there on display just for their beloved little brats to climb over and have a nice time. Harsh I hear you say, maybe. But, to us car owners, dropping a bit of ice cream, a greasy hamburger morsel on a fabric seat or onto the carpet can ruin it, especially if it’s all original. I was really nervous about pushchairs being dragged through small gaps between the cars. Young kids were riding scooters around on the uneven ground, it wouldn’t take much for one of them to hit a divot in the ground and send them flying into the side of a car. In that damaged car scenario, would the parents pay for the repair and a paint job, of course they won’t. I was not enjoying this show once the general public turned up. However I do like to see families have a great day out and enjoy the cars, but sadly it was the minority that day. I hardly spoke to anybody during the time I was there, not by my choice, but nobody came up to me which was unusual, not that I ever expect people to engage with me no matter what the show. The cars seemed to be just a side line for the fun fair rides, fast food, cake and sweet stalls. Some parents were great and lifted their young kids to see the cars, which was nice to see.
Petrol heads (gear heads for those on the other side of the pond) who attend ‘proper’ car shows for fellow enthusiasts respect the cars, they don’t touch them or eat and drink near them. At those shows I feel comfortable enough to wander around without worrying about my car being trashed by the time I get back to it. We owners even look out for each others cars.
After a few hours into the early afternoon I had enough of stressing myself out watching people, near my car. I was determined to make sure my car left the same way it arrived to the event. As for this show I won’t be going again, purely for the reason of some, (not all) uncaring families, the parents were leaning on the roof of cars looking inside them, there’s no need for it. A shame, but when young children are around it’s not always their fault as they don’t know any better. If they don’t know any better they should be guided by the parents or maybe not as the case may be. I was fortunate enough to get back to my car and keep an eye on it. I did see finger marks on cars and bits of food on the floor by the cars as I was looking at them too. In my eyes and from what they saw, my little rant is justified. My car did have finger marks on a the glass right where my Krooklok sticker is, somebody had obviously pointed to it. I checked the rest of the car thoroughly which it was OK, thankfully. I guess I have upset a few people and been a bit controversial with my closing words. Do you agree with me, or am I just being a grumpy old man? This post will prompt me to write a little another little piece on ‘Car Show Etiquette’ in the near future, would it be even worth my while?
Saw some bad stuff at this weekends show. Few children being left unsupervised/parents not caring but the most egregious for me, was the older guy I saw commenting on how nice someones paint was, before wiping a hand through the fine layer of dust on it. Fairly certain he heard my remarks which no doubt went in one ear and out the other.
Thanks for the comment and slightly vindicated others are spotting this problem. It’s now becoming a real issue for me and I’ve noticed it’s getting worse. Maybe I’m just unlucky, but I’m seriously considering what shows I go to now. Family based shows are entertainment for kids and not really appreciate the cars. I’m pleased they heard your comments and hopefully they might understand the concerns. I’m planning on doing some sort of Car Show Etiquette guide hopefully sooner than later by the sounds of it.
Hi Mart, I really enjoyed the his post. Of course, I am a big petrol head, and you have some awesome cars. I especially enjoyed the photos of the older MGs. We rarely see them here.
But the part of the post I enjoyed most was your realistic and frank description of the problem parents not keeping their children in check. I thought this was an American problem, especially in the higher income communities. But, evidently it’s just the same on both sides of the big pond.
Thanks for the post, and I think a post about car show etiquette would be great. We have a local celebration here in my town of Highland in Utah, much like the one you were describing. Many years ago, I took my car there, and the exact same issues. Moms dragging strollers up and down the aisles between our cars. People leaning against my car in jeans + literally scratching my paint. I will never go back to that show, even though it’s literally a half mile from my house. Thanks for the post! Hang in there my friend!!
Hi Tim, thanks for the kind words. We have some great cars here which are survivors. Funny thing is, quite a few of the cars that are now at these shows i had and drove to a scrap yard (salvage yard) as they weren’t worth repairs. if i knew then what I know now i would never had got rid of them, hindsight is a wonderful thing. The etiquette thing i will definitely do, I’m not sure what it will be like, but some of it is just common sense surely. Parents should be teaching their kids some respect for other people’s property, not just cars. It seems that i may have hit on a problem that has remained hidden or just unspoken, for the want of being unpopular if it makes one person think to think znd be careful, then it will be worth while.
Mart, I agree with you 100%. I’m happy to show my car to spectators, and I’ve even invited people to sit in my car. But this is always done under my watchful eye. It’s the exact same problem here in the states: younger parents don’t seem to care at all when their children wander off and touch things that they should not touch. You are not being harsh at all.
Richard
Personally I think you’re right to worry. Sometimes it’s the organisers who cause the problem by cramming cars in too tight – my local show (Harpenden Classics on the Common) crowded cars in tighter this year than ever, forcing people to walk very close to cars. On the other hand, some of the public just don’t think – i saw one guy pushing a pushbike between the cars, others pushing double buggies between them. As you say, if they scratched it would they pay for a repair?
Sometimes it’s even other owners – my wife saw one car reverse into another and drive off without any attempt to make amends.
In the end one just has to trust that sufficient people are careful enough to make any damage unlikely. And maybe sit with the car and glare at anyone getting too close or handsy!
Hi Bob, Thank you for the comment. You would have thought that a car guy would be the first to own up for damage. Perhaps it’s the costs involved nowdays. At the Stowmarket show when I left the event a guy even guided me out as the turn was quite tight. So there are some people with integrity around, not many granted, but a few. I’m coming around to not trusting some of these car shows, more to the point the people at them. I’m starting to scowl at people a lot more now I must admit. The space thing, it’s just greed by the sounds of it expecially if you have to pay to get in. The costs seem to be more common in the UK for people who show their cars while the public can get in for free, that doesn’t seem fair to me.
PREACH! I swear ignorance is rampart! 🙁
You would die if you had a New England Sausage sandwich 🙂 they are sinful. Show are not worth going to as of late here in the states as well I am sorry you saw all this going down but happy your pony went home in one piece. Mine is looking like a wreck at the moment but have someone disrespect it and I catch then I will say to them what their mother never bothered to instill in them lol me at 70 I don’t care if they don’t like me 🙂
Hi, sorry to hear about the pride and joy and absolutely people need to be responsible for their actions. You’re right i do blame the parents, it was instilled in me as a kid to respect others property. I’ve had a few massages to say I should do the etiquette guide. I will think about it and post it soon. I have a large car show I will be posting this weekend over a couple of days. I’m quite partial to a hotdog at a carshow now I must admit.
🙂 yes simple and hard to mess up. Grilled or steamed with mustard and onions or chili like we do over here a lot. Toasted and spit roll or a steamed one they all hit the spot after so much walking 🙂 Brady loves his plain but wants the roll too or a dog ice cream cup. Spoiled for sure. We have a show for our US Veteran’s on Wed. night an hour away we will just take the Torino for the Viet Nam vets to check out. Thursday we have the pick of 3 and a huge one again for the Vet’s this weekend but storms return so I doubt we will attend.