Hershey Show Car Parking Suggestions

Hi

As much as I enjoy the Hershey show annually, I offer the following suggestions for show car parking practices that might make it even more enjoyable. Each is made with the objective of making each car more visible and accessible for everyone to see, photograph and move more easily among without fear of coming in contact with the next car.

1) As show cars arrive, park them with space for another car between the previously positioned car. This practice could go forward until enough arrived to start filling in the empty spaces which would then begin.

2) Diagonal parking initially in the HPOF and DPC Classes in addition to the above. Presently, cars group closely together leaving large empty spaces which should be utilized so each can be enjoyed more thoroughly.

3) Suggest to HPOF and DPC participants to park with other cars contemporary their car, not necessarily sorting strictly by years but loosely by era.

Perhaps this would all be like herding cats and impractical but I hope some may be considered and tried to see if they would work. I think owners and participants would enjoy the results.

Steve

I will take the opportunity of this thread to mention something regarding the way cars "should be parked"--or, perhaps more accurately, "should remain parked" throughout the entirety of the show on Saturday. I hope this common-sense request does not "hijack" this thread, as it is proposed with only the best of intentions in mind.

There was a very beautiful car that parked in the immediate row behind me, one space over. As no cars were parked on my passenger side, all the way to the start of the next class some 40 feet away, I neatly put all of my supplies from my trunk to the area about one parking space away from my passenger front door.

This space was directly behind the vehicle in the row parked behind me, to which I previously alluded. The owner of that vehicle (politely, I'll admit) asked if I could move my belongings, as it was his wish to "move his vehicle" after it had been judged. Although puzzled, as I know the hard and fast rule--emphasized many times over the PA system throughout the day--is for "all cars are to remain on the showfield until 3:00", I figured, not my problem, "whatever", so I moved my belongings a few more feet toward the front of my car; ostensibly leaving this guy "enough room" to move his car for whatever reason he had in mind.

After doing this, the gentleman asked me once again if I could move my belongings, to the point of offering to move them himself for me, as I was apparently "still in his way". Though somewhat exasperated inside, and wondering to myself "just how much room does this guy need to move his car?", I bit my tongue and obliged, moving everything about twenty more feet away, under a tree. Surely, I thought, this would give the guy enough room to move his car.

After doing this, and as my car had already been judged, I went off as I always do on Saturday, and made my rounds to take literally hundreds of pictures of all the wonderful vehicles that make Fall Hershey the best place on Earth for a classic car lover. Imagine my surprise, coming back to my car about 45 minutes later, to see that this guy merely wanted to put his car "on display", parking diagonally and nearly perpendicular to the row of cars in my class, front wheels cocked, as if his car were Marilyn Monroe lying on her side, bosom overflowing her gown, with a "come hither" look.

True, he didn't leave the show field, but he DID leave his original parking space. My simple question is this: What if EVERYONE decided that, hell, that guy moved his car so everyone could get a better look at it, why can't I do the same thing and move mine, so that it, too, gets a better photo op, and more attention? Such a move smacks of an attitude of "isn't my car special?"

I do not post this out of jealousy. The car was admittedly nicer than mine--but so are hundreds of others on the show field, and they, too, are just as "special"--at least to their owners, as well as the public admirers. But, even that is not the point. None of those people moved their cars--not even the cars that were one-of-a-kind, or of extremely limited production.

The point is, that there are rules in place--not to mention common-sense decorum--that allow for a show of such magnitude as a Fall Hershey to be and remain orderly, and that must be followed to prevent everyone from doing whatever the hell they wanted--such as moving a car after judging to park next to a friend in another class, for example. I don't care if the damn car once belonged to Harley Earl or Virgil Exner--no car on the show field is entitled to "special privilege--especially privilege that is taken by an individual for what can only be construed as to stroke their own ego.

To allow a breach of protocol like this, to me, anyways, is rife with potential for abuse, and taken to the nth degree, would allow for nothing short of a free-for-all to take place, and the orderly show field would become a melange of haphazard cars parked wherever.

I have been involved with shows of a smaller magnitude than Hershey, but whether it is a 20-car show, a 200-car show like the ones I've taken part in, or a 1500-vehicle extravaganza like Hershey, all it takes is for one person to buck the protocol, then someone else decides that they have a valid reason in their minds for doing so as well, and the next thing you know, you have a can of worms.

So, to the powers-that-be who make Fall Hershey the one-of-a-kind event that is of the highest standard, I suggest adding one little phrase to the mandatory adherence that all of us participants are to follow. ALL vehicles must remain in their original parking spots--as well as on the showfield--until 3:00 pm, or be disqualified from any awards. Simple, reasonable, and common sense.

I think HPOF should be split up between pre war & post war cars. With that thought in mind, at Hershey the pre war HPOF cars should be parked closer to all the other pre war cars on the show field. At the Hershey show last month was a beautiful early 30's Rolls Royce Brewster bodied Huntington sedan in HPOF. It was parked in between a 1960's Mustang and a 1980's Chevy Suburban. That makes no sense to me.

yes, lets make mapping the show field more complex and create more work

Yea, all those volunteers have way too much time on their hands anyway.

I think you're over stating how difficult it would be to make this change. I don't believe any other classes would even have to be moved. There's always a lot of empty space at the end of class 19 or behind the brass cars. Put the pre war HPOF cars there so they can be near their contemporaries. We all value and appreciate the work the volunteers at Hershey do. Making a few minor changes every few years is not going to cause an earthquake.

I don't think that most of the original suggestions are practical but I would really like to see HPOF and DPC cars grouped by decades. It would seem possible to somewhat sort those two classes by area without much added work. It would simply require the parking folks to direct folks to a particular row or section instead of directing them into the next available space.

I never had a problem parking on the showfield as the chalk marks clearly deliniated my space. The rows, however are a different story. Have you ever considered putting arrows on the signs? That way I won't have to guess" Is my row before or after the sign?"I get there early and often I'm the first vehicle in the row.After two or three cars arrive in the row, it's easy for participants to know that's where others of their year belong!

I will take the opportunity of this thread to mention something regarding the way cars "should be parked"--or, perhaps more accurately, "should remain parked" throughout the entirety of the show on Saturday...

... Imagine my surprise, coming back to my car about 45 minutes later, to see that this guy merely wanted to put his car "on display", parking diagonally and nearly perpendicular to the row of cars in my class, front wheels cocked, as if his car were Marilyn Monroe lying on her side, bosom overflowing her gown, with a "come hither" look.

True, he didn't leave the show field, but he DID leave his original parking space...

I'm pretty sure I walked by that same car, parked as you described, and was wondering what the heck was going on with it. In the situation as described, it shows a lack of respect for the event, and for one's co-participants.

Actually at most shows HPOF is parked by year. Hershey is a much different animal due to its size. It puts a huge strain on volunteers as it is. Many are there in the morning well before 6 AM. Some of these ideas are interesting and have been thought about before. I am sure people think that laying out the field and putting on this show is easy...it is not. The region and national are always looking for ways to improve the show so hopefully some new twists will come about down the road.

PS...the person deciding to take up extra space to show his car should have been reported to the region.

I knew these suggestions would generate discussion which was the original purpose, as well as suggest ideas that might contribute to the show enjoyment. We've all been to meets that become set-in-stone, are almost interchangeable year-to-year. They become stale and eventually participation falls off. While I doubt if Hershey is in any danger, a little mixing it up every once in a while keeps things fresh.

As far as the spaced-parking suggestion, leaving enough space between so doors on each car can be opened without danger of contacted the car next to it would help not only the owners but participants move among them.

The diagonal and spaced parking tried out in DPC initially would be a good test case whether it can be accomplished and if folks like it.

For HPOF, merely suggest to car owners in their registration packets that they park next to another car built within ten years of their car's model year. Let them work out the logistics as best they can. No hard and fast rule, just let their intelligence take over and organize the decade grouping.

Hope these will be considered and tried if it can be done without major disruptions of what is a pretty fine show now.

I don't think that most of the original suggestions are practical but I would really like to see HPOF and DPC cars grouped by decades. It would seem possible to somewhat sort those two classes by area without much added work. It would simply require the parking folks to direct folks to a particular row or section instead of directing them into the next available space.[/QUOT

I am in total agreement with this suggestion. Many small ideas implemented like this one will make a significant difference. Wayne

Personally, I don't care two hoots about how the cars are parked. Makes it more interesting to see different cars together. Just walk around and enjoy them.