Car Show Etiquette *DELETED*

Post deleted by CarFreak

That article hit the nail on the head. When my father-in-law was looking for a Model A, he would handle and touch everything on any A he came across. I've even seen him jump up on a running board to look at the top of a car. All the while I'd be telling him "NO, DON'T DO THAT!." It was worse than dealing with a kid.

He finally bought his own Model A and has quit manhandling other cars, but he does not treat his A any better. To him it's not an old car to care for and appreciate, it's just an old car to drive like he did when he was younger. That shows me that he has a complete lack of repect for not only other's property, but even his own.

Now I understand why some folks do what they do, it's not that they don't know better, they just don't care.

Another way this is caused is because of people like me. Don't get me wrong, I love to have people set in my car behind the wheel, "SUPERVISED". If I'm setting behind my car and get a comment of "my Dad had one of these, or I learned how to drive in one of these", I always hop out of my chair and go up and ask if they woild like to set behind the wheel for a picture if they have a camera. I have learned so much from these people about "quirks" of the car,maintenance items I never knew about, and generally inviting them to find a car to restore and become a participant in our sport. etc. I will have to admit though that some of these people I've seen walk down two or three cars and just "hop" in, thinking wrongly that everyone in the show will be as accomidating as me. The problems I have seen are the other owners. They will raise hell at the sight of a dog or a kid on a bicycle, then come over and lean across your big fenders to get a peek at your motor with belt buckles that are as big as a billboard! I don't know the answers, but I think that it still reflects the individual person, be spectator or participant to police themselves.

Basic good mannners would be to look, don't touch and ask permission of the owner. It's not Wal-Mart where most items are under $25 and bought by the shipload from Singapore. I've seen the same behavior at collectible gun shows. If you happen to watch History Channel, you'll notice in the Tales of the Gun Series, the museum guy always wears cotton gloves. Finger prints can etch the metal if left uncleaned. Just what you need is some kid with a pair of Levi's rivet pocket jeans rubbing his butt all over the side of you car. That's inexcusable.

Could someone tell me what JWO is? I would like to get a copy of the article and permission to reprint it in our Region's newsletter prior to the 2005 car show season? Any help would be appreciated.

Patt

JWO is <span style="font-style: italic">Journey with Olds</span> the official publication of the Oldsmobile Club of America. The Editor of the magazine and Director of the club is Clay Mollman at journeywitholds@mindspring.com

Having been the victim of a shattered windshield on my i908 and deep scratches from rings on the 1911 I understand the frustration. However, I have come to learn that if we want this hooby to grow we have to be less protective of our cars and get people to experience why we love them so much. Our Curved Dash Olds Club members make it a habit, when at other meets to give people rides and other demonstrations. Somewhere a balance of protecting our "investments" and allowing for a experience needs to take place. Most of us have given a blind person an opportunity to "see" our cars and it is probably more rewarding then a trophy.

I have seen all manners of abuse of cars. Kids using curved fenders as a slicky-slide. Kids jumping up on running boards. I was captain at an AACA show where the car was owned by another judge so he was not there. A boy, before I could stop him, stepped up on a running board to look inside. I was polite and asked him to carefully get down. His mother looked at me and asked, "What do you care? It's not your car." I told her that judges look out for each other and it was the same as if it was my car and he was to get off of it and not get on any more cars or even touch them. How can we expect kids to have manners around old cars when their parents don't?

And street-rod people are known for just using their cars. Eating in them, letting the kids wallow around in them. Then they come to our shows and act the same way.

A car, any car, is private property. And just because it is being displayed does not give persmission to anyone to even touch it, much less climb on or in it or lean on it.

Shop Rat, Street Rodders have the same problems as we do with spectators. Actually, some of their "shop built" cars have more money invested in them than us antiquers do. It all goes back to the children's upbringing at home, which is poor in some cases, as both parents are out working, and no one's home to oversee their children. I agree with Steve that letting people experience the cars is helpful, but a word of caution should be extended to spectators, that show cars can never be used in this way. Wayne

We have several cars that tour & show, and bad behavior is a challenge at times -- just like in other parts of real life. For us, the overall experience is maxed by allowing the public to see, touch, feel and talk to us about the cars.

Instead of buttoning them up and 'forcing' curious kids to climb on a fender to see in, we roll the windows down to help them see in. When we are around the cars, we often leave a door or two open at 45 degrees so that the public may peer in. Later, we do have to wipe down the car, but... so what. The "Thank You" comments received and open discussions held far outweigh the hour's worth of cleanup.

We've experienced damage too -- a kid slid down our '30 A Town Sedan's fender wearing his unzipped Winter coat, leaving zipper-teeth trenches all the way down. Bad kid, poor parenting, etc... etc... However, the bottom-line is that we choose to share with the public and we accept the fact that things happen from time-to-time. For those occasions, Hagerty has been most helpful!

Shop Rat: Nice generalizations, oh Tolerant One. I ate a turkey sandwich while cruising in our A during MARC 2000 (Williamsburg VA). Come to think of it, our kids may have been in the back seat (heck, they might have been "wallowing"). Bad us? Are you really a Closet Rodder? Having a bad day? Geeeez

Have a great day.

I was talking to a 40 something guy at a local show, he was telling me how his parents owned a similar car when it was new. Next thing i see is him sitting in the car. I turned for a second and in he went. I had all i could do to not get arrested.

At a local Mcdonald's cruise night.. my wife had just told the mother of a 10-12 yr old girl " don't touch the car, the paint is very old" , next we see is the girl the trying to unsnap the convertible top boot. My wife yelled " I said don't touch the car" . Mothers response was " she didn't touch the paint"

There are local shows and cruise ins that my wife and i no longer attend, we don't want to have to sit by the car and as my wife says "guard it" .

Streetrod people do a lot of crazy things, didn't know they ate in their cars too. The slime!!

Oh, believe me I know that they have problems with spectators also. And they can/do spend as much or more than people who restore to original. But from what we have seen at some pretty big shows they tend to be more tolerant of everyday use of their cars than people with restored cars are.

We have a Legends racecar and we let kids sit in it and smaller adults that will fit in Bill's Butler race seat. But it is by invitation only. No one should just come up and get in it.

I don't care what someone else does or allows to be done with their car. It is theirs and that is the way it should be. I don't care if you let your kids drink red Kool-Aid in your car. But don't think I am going to let them into my car with it. And don't get mad mad:at me when I head them off and tell them no way.

Bad you? No. Your car, your business.

Closet Street Rodder? Wouldn't call it closet. We do have a 1939 Dodge Four-Door Deluxe that is going to be modified as to paint inside and out. The rest will be restored to original. We just can't afford what it would take to totally restore it. The wood-graining alone would be more than the whole car would ever be worth. It will however be treated with the same respect and care as the 1963 1/2 Ford Falcon "Sprint" Convertible that Bill is building as an AACA show car. I was raised at the tailend of the last big depression. We were taught to buy the best we could afford and take care of it. And to respect what we had and what others had.

Having a bad day? No, very good as a matter of fact.

We were at one show and the guy's kids got in a snack food fight in the trunk of their street rod and dumped a full can of soda over on the carpet in the trunk. Once again, their car-their kids, but I don't want them near my car.

Shop Rat, Hearing that you need woodgraining, I subscribe to AutoRestorer Magazine. They had an article last year about doing your own woodgraining on metal. I tried it over last winter with my 40 Olds and was very happy. Contact me if you are interested and I can walk you through the process.

showard@mmmw.com

I recall very vividly at a car show when I was a kid some other kid about my age rolling up on a bicycle and almost immediately dropping it on the front fender of our 1930 Model A roadster. No way it could be buffed out, this was a repaint, cut down to bare metal. The kid's father apologized, but said something to the effect of, "He's just a kid" and shrugged. He didn't offer to pay for repairs or anything. Then they just rode off and enjoyed the rest of their day. Ours, of course, was ruined, and my mother practically had to physically restrain my father from going after the guy. I understand the feeling, and if I weren't 6 years old and 50 pounds, I would have gone after him, too. Disrespect and ignorance are painful to everyone <span style="font-style: italic">except</span> the person possessing those "qualities."

It isn't the kids' fault that they don't know how to behave, it's the parents. Raise your kids right and don't be afraid to say "No" to them once in a while. Maybe they'll even respect you for it someday.

Thank you very much for the offer. I will put your name and e-mail address in my address book and possibly have my husband to contact you. I will tell you that I bet my mom would be good at doing woodgraining. She is an amazing tole painter and has a very steady hand despite being almost 86 years old.

What woodgraining system do you feel is the best?

I always try and stay close to my car or have someone else I bring along stick close by. My wife doesn't seem to mind staying close by when she goes. Have even had the owner from next door watch my car if I had to leave for a short time.

Having non antique car people (with or without kids) pushing a carriage, carrying a camera, etc will be a problem, eventually. They just don't realize the time, money and hours devoted to restoring anything let alone an old vehicle. Guarding your vehicle against damage or accessory theft is part of the hobby when showing.

At shows I have let many people set in any of my vehicles as I do believe it helps the hobby. I have also let many of my friends drive them. And I have also received scratches at a Grand National from a judge unintentionally of course. Short of never using your old vehicles these things will happen. Sticking close by will lessen the damage, but won't stop it all short of hooking up an old Model T coil with a battery and connecting it to the frame.

I enjoy allowing the public see all aspects of my car. My convertible is easier as with the top down, one can see inside readily. The limousine is different. I haven't repainted it yet, so I can afford to be more tolerant. I also roll down the windows, and if I can, park where I can open both rear doors. I drop the jump seats back and put my literature on that, so no one can go in. So far no real problems, but you do have to watch. After I repaint, I may have to cordon it off.....but hopefully not. I enjoy the interaction, that's why I show them.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">short of hooking up an old Model T coil with a battery and connecting it to the frame</div></div>

Sort of gives new meaning to "electric car" concept ....

When my Metropolitan got damaged this year, (story here), Met story I became very defensive at shows or cruises even though this incident was intentional. I always leave the hood closed and windows rolled up, so people don't hang over the fenders & doors. This includes my Buick when the top is up. If people want to see the engine compartments or see the interiors closer I gladly show them. Don't forget, we are dealing with alot of different up-bringings and you cannot tell the difference by the way they look or dress.

Before we started restoring our car we only left the windows down just enough to let the heat out. Doors locked at all times. Hood and trunk were open. Leaving windows down invites people to lean in and look, and then you get belt buckle scrapes or gouges. Our feeling is we don't owe spectators a thing more than to stand back and look. I had to take one AACA judge aside (I was the captain) and give her a quick lesson in not touching cars. Her vision was not good and she thought it was okay to use a finger nail to see if something was dirt or a paint nick. NOT!!!!!!!

I agree that youngsters lack of proper behavior is because of a lack of proper training.We always enter our horseless carriage in the local Christmas parade.Last year, there was a 10 or 11 year old that shot silly string on my front wheel and running board as we passed by.I stopped and hollered at him but it didn't even phase him.I nearly had a fit!

Always a hot topic and Ive seen some absolutely crazy things happen-everything from spectators trying to unscrew motometers to people trying to get pictures of their little kids in the cars. At one car show, one of our club members had an incident where he returned to an old car only to find an entire family sitting in it, while someone was getting ready to take a photo. When asked "what do you think you are doing?" the lady who seemed to be in charge of the kids said "if you don't want us to do this then why did you bring the cars here?" She really believed it was there for them to use as a photo brackground! Its often difficult to educate the public but there is a way that the people organizing the event can use carefully timed publicity to emphasize the "rules" for spectators. Very few car shows though have entry control points where people can be told to leave bicycles, etc behind.

Thats why Ive never repaired the scratches on the Model T fenders and running boards. Ive had a lot of fun giving rides, letting people take photos, etc, but it does require my presence. Maybe having a photo-op at a car show would take the heat off some of the other vehicles there? The AACA Museum has a couple of cars on the lower level just for that purpose.

Terry

A few years ago I seen a guy who yelled at a spectator for touching his car. I mean he through a fit! Well, latter on the day the car owner noticed his door was keyed. He couldn't prove it was the same guy who he yelled at, but I think everyone knew it was. So if you see someone touch or do something you don't like near your car, don't go off in a rampage because you don't know if they will come back and do some serious damage on spite........it's a cruel world!