gpfarrell

Condense the show, eliminate the empty/wasted spots and walking the grounds will be a much more reasonable endeavor again!

There’s not enough interest in the swap meet to sustain foot traffic for so many days… that’s why their are no shoppers and few venders on Friday & Saturday. So don’t start earlier, start later. Make the swap meet Wed-Thursday-Friday and car show Saturday. Without Tuesday & Saturday, 3 real days of swap meet will be much better. Actually, I have slept at swap meets before, in my Mercury as a matter of fact. When you wake up to an area packed with vendors and shoppers, its awesome. But if I stepped out of my sleeping quarters and saw nothing but vacant spots and the occasional motor home (with no merchandise; no bait to attract shoppers) I’d wonder why I bothered to come at all. Hershey was beautiful and I love it. But I’m not 70 or 80, I’m only 51 and I’d like it to thrive for years to come. Acres of vacant spots are no way to treat the shoppers, and fewer shoppers will be bad for the vendors. It needs condensed. Otherwise, everyone might as well set up tables in their driveways and garages at home. There’s no thrill in pacing empty rows in parking lots and that’s what I saw in October. There’s even less thrill in driving out for a 1-day event, and pulling the swap meet earlier and holding the show on a school day/work day is an awful way to attract younger participants.

In my opinion, if you can't use them they are worthless and if you don't use them it won't be long until you can't use them. I find my cars stay happy if they hit the road at least once every 2 weeks. If they sit much longer than a month they get moody. So, as many cars as you can drive in 2 weeks! I have a friendly work commute... about 30 minutes on easy roads and I can see my back-row parking spot from my office window. I try to drive the most ridiculous car I can on any given day. It was 49 degrees and drizzling today... my '85 Mustang GT Convertible has good tires, good heat, good wipers... and as a bonus it was already dirty. The Hurst shifter felt great in my hand at 7:30 this morning! Also, once you start blocking cars with other cars, the wheels might as well be squares. If you can get in any of your cars and use them, they are all useful. If you have to move something, the car in back won't get out much. At that point you either have too many cars or not enough space.

I love Hershey. I appreciate the myriad of details carefully planned, refined, and executed year after year. I realize the world still isn’t back up to full speed. And Saturday’s car show was spectacular. Our icon is waning. I’m 50 and I’m one of the youngest guys there. I walked the swap meet Friday (que 10 responses telling me Friday is a weak swap meet day) and I’ve never been so disappointed in Hershey. It was RV’s and empty asphalt. It’s time to make some adjustments. I think the correct “correction” would have been to keep the car show on Saturday on the grass where it doesn’t conflict with amusement park parking and switch the swap meet to an early Wednesday set-up, Thursday-Friday swap. Here’s why. I’m okay with pulling my kids out of school on Friday (Take a kid to a car show? I bring all 3 of my kids!) so we miss one day of school but get two days of Hershey, one for the swap meet and one for the show. Can I pull them out 2 days? That’s going to be hard. Will we drive the family from Pittsburgh Thursday night just for the car show Friday? I don’t know. The 7 hour roundtrip is more worthwhile for two days of fun than just one. Cue all the “I’ll never miss Hershey” folks. Look, I don’t want to miss it either. But Friday’s swap meet was a joke. Empty spot after empty spot. At least 1/3 of my steps were wasted. I felt bad for the lonely vendors with no neighbors… they had no traffic as everyone skipped their desolate aisle. “It was great on Wednesday and Thursday!” Awesome. Let’s get rid of the dead day between the great days and the show, and encourage the synergies that make Hershey amazing. “But everyone packs up Friday”… ahh, even though the swap meet goes through Saturday? If everyone packs up Friday then Saturday is a farce, and really Friday wasn’t much better. See, it is too long. After what I saw this year, I’d think next year Tuesday and Wednesday will be busy in the swap meet, Thursday will be a pack-up day, and Friday will be a car show without kids and families. That breaks my heart. I’m not complaining. I’m observing. And I’m suggesting. My suggestions (and I realize those “in the know” are aware of far more parameters and limitations than I’m aware of, but I hope they’ll ponder these suggestions just the same) are to make the swap meet and car coral set-up as early Wednesday as people like and stay open for business Thursday & Friday. Pack up Friday night; be gone by midnight. Amusement park gets their parking. Car show Saturday on the grass. Next, Make a camping field. Discount it. Incentive the old-timers who show up but don’t sell park their motorhome where we don’t all waste time and steps walking past it. Offer “door prizes” to vendors still open Friday afternoon at 3:00. $500 - $1,000 randomly drawn would be a heck of an incentive to stick around. Hershey’s heart still beats, but it’s growing old and thin. It needs condensed and refocused if it has any chance to survive. Thanks for your consideration.

You want me to pay for somebody else's food choice? I hope you think again.

Wow, you saw lots more than I did. We walked through Wednesday and it as a ghost town. I'm happy to see it picked up some!

My son and I are wrapping up a fun 2+ year project... we bought a 1975 Hurst Olds that had been stored inside for 31 years and have gradually revived it. It's a Black 455/T-Top/Swivel bucket seat car in #3 condition. The car runs and drives great (47 degree air-conditioning!) and will be for sale shortly. It's a great 10 footer but suffers from a mediocre respray done in 1986 or so, some misfitting Hurst-only interior pieces and some mildly pitted chrome. Haggerty estimates a #3 car to be about $17,500 and I've seen beautiful ones hit $35k at several Mecum auctions. I feel ours will be a $17.5k car. It would be a great ice-cream/picnic/cruise car as-is or a solid foundation for someone that wants to take it to the next level. (I have a Grand National winning '78 Mercury Marquis and a '68 Rambler American with a Junior, so I'm somewhat aware of the car's current condition and possibilities.) Do you think it's worth offering it in the Hershey car corral? We go every year but are normally only there Friday & Saturday. I'd assume I should aim to arrive at least sunrise on Thursday, but maybe Wednesday is a better idea? I'd trailer it from Pittsburgh to be certain I had a ride home. Can I preregister? Do I need to make the August 15 deadline? Any pointers for a successful venture? Thanks much!

I think it was above the waterline. Look at the white one in the top picture, it looks like the same white one just below and to the left of the gray SUV. Then, still in the top picture, look to the left side of the image where you can see the top deck of the boat. Looks like the boat was laying on its left side with a crud line that runs right down the middle. The crud was underwater. The gray SUV would have been above the water.

Thanks for the battery notes! I do need to remove the modern sticker from the top. I also need to put Post-it notes on numerous pages of my brochures and service manuals to be respectful of the team’s time. The rectangular caps are included in a few incidental images and illustrations... I’d have thought round caps too! The “factory documentation” is a great standard.

This little girl is going to Gettysburg! Bias plies were mounted today and that wraps up a string of little improvements... so happy for the AACA events to give me the initiative to finish the car to a higher standard!

Thank you Mark! This will be the first time the little '68 has been shown anywhere. My uncle deserves 95% of the credit as he's the one that did the restoration on it. It was his mom's car from new (my grandmother's) so sentimental reasons beat economic rationale and the simple little car got quite a makeover. That being said, though my 80 year old uncle has been working on cars since the 1950's, it is an "amateur" restoration done to his (high) standards but not exactly to the AACA's. Thanks for the guidance on tires... I think I need to find some 695x14's!

I am trying to improve the “as it left the factory” appearance on my 1968 Rambler American for Class Judging at Hershey and the 195/70R14’s radials on the car aren’t cutting it! My owner’s manual says 6.45x14 or 6.95x14’s were originally fitted to the 6-cylinder cars. Would these F70-14’s be an acceptable tire? The guidebook says letter-series tires are acceptable from 1967 on. Seller is describing these as “Coker” tires if that adds any clarification. Thanks for any insights! I know tires can have lots of subtle differences that justifiably impact scoring and I want to make sure these would be in compliance.

Mark, That’s a fantastically helpful response. If it weren’t for the undercoating I don’t think there would be a car for us to discuss! I sincerely appreciate the care and consistency of AACA judging and I think the many responses above embody the numerous perspectives necessary to develop and maintain a fair system. Your checklist is spot on for me. The car makes an amazing first impression (if I do say so myself!) and I’d like it to appear just as nice under closer scrutiny... mostly to honor my uncle’s work. I’ll get it registered and open a can of elbow grease. I hope to see you in Hershey! Greg

Again, if I were trying to “fool” anybody I don’t think I’d be using the AACA’s forum, my own name, and including photos of my car! I am attempting to ascertain if the car’s undercoating would have an outsized impact on Class Judging results. While “Ziebart isn’t factory undercoating”, the availability of factory undercoating should reduce any chassis deductions the car might face. My car doesn’t have original paint either. If my car were repainted Plum Crazy purple I’d expect a large deduction for non-factory color. However, had Rambler offered that hue (can you imagine!) then the car could very well be represented as it left the factory. Since undercoating was a factory option (and not a dealer afterthought) some of the tar could be typical of a car rolling off the assembly line. Now, that doesn’t account for the door plugs, but it should give the car a fighting chance to overcome the rust proofing. Thank you for the idea to print the Judging Sheets and and dollar values to the potential deductions. I had already printed the sheets but the cost impact is a great strategy to target my efforts. I’m most appreciative of the “do your research” recommendations. Thanks to all for the guidance!

1968 Rambler brochure lists “Undercoating” as an available factory option. 😁

I was thinking of sanding the logos off and dusting them with white paint! Labeling steel belted radials as bias plies, or placing a brochure in the trunk to cover an unsightly wear mark is hiding and I agree it’s no good for the hobby. What your suggesting isn’t entirely different than repairing rust... it’s an effort to minimize a flaw so the car better represents its factory appearance. Thanks for the idea! (If I really wanted to hide something, I wouldn’t have posted it on the Judging page!)

Mr. Hinson, I appreciate your critique! I agree wholeheartedly with each point. I’m also optimistic that these are all easily addressed with a bit of time, attention, and a few bucks. I’m inclined to pursue entering, but would welcome any concerns/opinions contrary to that idea. Please keep them coming! Greg

It does have plugs, but the black ones aren’t as harsh to my eye as the yellow ones. Underneath is so-so. I can pressure wash it and get the grime off but I don’t think there will be a need for any quick-detailer on the floorboards. I’ll see what I can learn about the availability of factory undercoating but the plugs plainly say Ziebart.

Thank you for the many perspectives, I truly appreciate them! For being the guy that owns the car, and having memories of washing it at age 10 when Grandma would visit, I’m remarkably unfamiliar with this little American! Uncle Car-Guy spent years redoing the car in his retirement as other projects kept cutting in line. I regularly asked about “Princess” (no one knows how she got that name) and would gently mention that I loved how the car had never left our family and I’d be honored to be her next caretaker. My uncle called late last summer. His memory was failing and he was unable to finish the car. I pulled a trailer 4 hours to his house. The lack of a battery made it apparent the little Rambler wouldn’t be driving onto the trailer, but a cursory inspection revealed an amazingly complete car... probably 95% done. Nobody knew what 5% he hadn’t finished. He firmly refused the envelope of cash I offered... which as many of you can appreciate was more than the car is likely worth to anyone else but just a fraction of the value of his work. An old Rambler friend fostered it for me for a few months, carefully identifying what was missing and locating appropriate bits and pieces. It needed upholstery and when we realized the Automatic transmission had internal issues I think we slipped from 95% done to 90% done! By mid October it was roadworthy and I put some shakedown miles on it. Sent it back to my friend for “a few weeks” over the winter and the virus and parts delays turned that into fetching the car in June. So far I’ve seen and driven the car very little... but I’d like to get the car from 97% to nearly 100%. Class Judging would inspire me to source the battery hold down, proper hose clamps & radiator cap, tend to some other under hood and trunk details... and really finish my uncle’s efforts with dignity. It’s just a little Rambler, but it means so much more. I’ll appreciate any other insights to the impact of undercoating on judging. I would not be inclined to tow the car from Pittsburgh to Hershey if the consensus is there is little hope for a decent assessment. I certainly wouldn’t be bitter... I’d never think of adding undercoating to a show car... but it’s what I have to work with. My wife and I and our 3 kids will be there either way... we haven’t missed Hershey in 20 years!

Matthew, Thank you. I’d agree HPOF isn’t a choice as the car is totally restored, not highly preserved. I guess I should scour the sample judging sheets and try to ascertain what sort of point deduction would result from the undercoating. Growing up in western Pennsylvania, it seemed to me every car had that stuff applied and it’s basically there forever. Combined with a “one knee” view, maybe it wouldn’t be a major setback? I was hoping for a clearer answer but I appreciate it’s no simple question. I realize a fresh coat can cover a multitude of sins and, if acceptable, would lower the quality of cars in Class Judging. Thanks again!

I have a ‘68 Rambler American that my grandmother bought new. It’s never left our family. My uncle did an amazing job restoring the car but it has undercoating that wasn’t applied at the factory. I’m tempted to enter the car at Hershey this fall, but will the undercoating have an outsized impact on the car’s score? The rest of the car is beautiful (not as nice as my Grand National winning Marquis that was my dad’s, but beautiful), but I’m unsure about the undercoating. My uncle never intended his efforts to be judged but I think the judges will be pleased (aside from the undercoating). Any opinions? Thank you!