LINC400

My car needs exactly 3 parts. A drivers side armrest that is about 5 feet long, and they are always cracked. Doesn't need, but I want, lighted sunvisors in bright aqua metallic, And if one showed up, a bumper rub strip in better condition than mine. I suppose it is possible that I could have missed a bumper strip. But I am not going to miss bright aqua visors or a 5 foot armrest by not digging in every box of Model A parts. I am quite certain they were not at Hershey. To put this in perspective, would you want to drive 28 hours round trip to look at 1970's Lincoln parts? Would you dig through boxes of a vendor that specializes in 1970's Lincoln parts hoping to find brass era lamps or Model A parts when there are 8,000 other vendors there to look at that specialize in those very parts, and risk running out of time to look at those other vendors that specialize in those parts? I am sure there were some deals to be had. But if it is cheap prices on something I can't use, it isn't much of a deal. Especially since I don't ever sell at swap meets. And as I have said, it was big, it was interesting, I did not have a horrible time. But it is not worth the drive and expense for me to go back when there are so many shows in the midwest that I can attend instead. And guess what? Hershey is not the only place that you can meet people. You can do that at any of the shows I go to in the midwest. And I know that if I did not see the whole show, I would be upset thinking that everything I wanted was in that last aisle that I missed. Just like when I go to 5 huge antique malls, and miss the dinky little storefront one because it is closed. I think everything I am looking for was in that store I missed. I know I hit every aisle at Hershey and did not miss those visors and armrest sitting under some Model A parts.

If the bumper rub strip is black with white insert, which it appears to be, I could use the rear bumper corner that goes from the bumper guard around to the passenger side if it is in decent shape. Mine is a little chewed up. Also the drivers side armrest that holds the power window controls and runs the length of the interior door. But I assume that would be shot. They usually are all cracked.

I figured this would be a one time deal even before we left because of the distance. I would have loved to have tracked down as many members of this forum as possible to chat with them in person. However, since this was a one time deal, and we only had so much time to see everything, I decided to focus on seeing everything rather than tracking everyone down and missing half the show or more. A further unexpected incident was that the guy that we were supposed to be staying with did not answer his phone all day Tuesday. He sent us emails saying he was expecting us Tues and was all excited about us showing up. We got stuck sharing the hotel room with a different guy we rode up with instead. He is an absolute tightwad, and is charging us for everything from hotel to gas to tolls for his double axle trailer he used to haul all his crap for his booth. We had to load and unload his trailer and help set up his booth in exchange for free hotel, which he then later charged us for. He is even charging us for the port-a-potty he rented for his booth for his convenience. Ten dollars per pee, seems a bit excessive. He offered to buy us a drink for our help. It wound up on our bill. We found out the reason why the guy we were supposed to be staying with never answered the phone a few days later. He died Monday night. I have to say I feel rather guilty about all the nasty comments I made about him on Tues. Sorry I can't agree with the you can't pay too much if you enjoy it logic. I can see paying a little more for a hard to find car because that is the one you want. Or being a little upside down on a car because it is the one that you want. But $23,000 for an '83 Toronado worth $5000, or $52,000 for a 1961 Imperial worth $15,000. Sorry, no amount of enjoyment is going to make it worth that much. You can buy 3 of them or more and have 3 times the enjoyment for that price. As far as swap meet prices on parts, I'm sure there are always deals to be found. But the stuff I looked at didn't seem to be any great deals. It was all a little higher than what you can buy it for on Ebay. You have to pay for shipping, but that is a lot less than 28 hours of traveling, gas, and multiple nights at a hotel. And yes, I think I can say I saw everthing. I have been antique shopping for over 20 years and do not need to examine every item on every shelf in order to see everything. I have honed my scanning skills for years so that I can immediately pick up on anything of interest to me and disregard the rest. Maybe at the bottom of a box of Model A parts, there was a small Auburn part. But I'd rather see all the booths than spend all my time rooting through all the boxes at a couple booths that don't have anything I'm looking for. Especially since I don't need an Auburn part.

Well this was my first time at Hershey. I guess I must just go to too many car shows and swap meets because most of the vendors seemed to have the same stuff as what can be found anywhere else, there are just a lot more of them. I guess maybe if you are looking for prewar stuff, there might be more of that at Hershey. I walked every single aisle, and did not miss a thing. It took me a day and a half. Of course I don't bother digging through booths with Model A parts etc. since I don't need that, I just glance at it and keep walking. Didn't bother looking thorugh literature either since I already have every brochure for my car. I have heard 2 things. First, if you can't find it at Herhsey, you can't find it anywhere. Second, complaints that there is not enough prewar stuff anymore, it is too much 1960's and 1970's stuff. Both are untrue. I'm glad I don't really need much for my car because I didn't find anything there. I saw 2 grilles and a couple of hubcaps. That is it. I don't need one, but couldn't even find something as simple as a taillight. Those can be found any day of the week on Ebay. I hardly saw any 1970's parts. Most of the stuff was prewar or 1950's. So I have no clue what the prewar guys are complaining about. My big purchase at Hershey, drum roll................ one 8 track tape. That is all I bought after walking the entire swap meet. I even checked out the Packard vendors since someday I would like to have a '56. Plenty of parts, but prices were the same or higher as what you can get them for on Ebay. And I also heard several vendors complaining that Ebay is killing their business, then they say that if they ever get anything really good, they don't bother to bring it to the swap meet, they just sell it on Ebay. Even heard one guy say "I had everything this guy needed for his Packard, and he wouldn't buy a thing. The only reason I can think of is he must be selling it, and doesn't want to put the money into it." Really, your exorbitant prices couldn't be the reason? As far as the car corral, it looked like the trend is for very low mileage cars with ridiculous prices. I saw early 1980's Olds Delta 88 and a Toronado both with 15,000 miles or so for $12,000 for the Delta and $23,000 for the Toro. Nobody is even really interested in those cars yet, and certainly not at those ridiculous prices. If you want one, a very nice one can be had for less than $5,000 any day of the week. Any interest I had in a 1961 Imperial coupe was killed by its $52,000 price tag. Value guides place it at $23,000 for a #1 condition, and this car would have been lucky to be considered #2. Bathtub Packard woody for $300,000? Didn't seem like a deal. Most interesting to me was a 1956 pink and white Imperial coupe. Didn't see a price on it. Too much is my guess. I'm glad I went and had the experience. If it was less than a 3 hour drive, I'd go back. But it isn't worth a 15+ hour drive plus gas and hotel to go back again. I'd rather go to Auburn.

That was my plan too.

Guys want to fantasize that if they drink brand X beer, they will be surrounded by bikini models. In the 1950's and 60's, probably very few Cadillac owners were attending the opera in formal evening wear. It was probably driven to work or the grocery store. But people liked to fantasize about the glamourous image, and hoped their Cadillac would make their mundane commutes more glamourous. Nobody fantasizes about wearing elegant formal evening wear to the opera anymore. That is as out of date as the tailfins on the Cadillacs today. So, no, this image will not sell cars today. Instead they throw in a few horsepower and mpg stats and images of Cadillacs flying around on the pavement to satisfy businessmen that might buy the sedans, and fantasize about "breaking free" from their boring lives of meetings and paperwork. After being stuck in a cubicle all day, they do not fantasize about putting on a "monkey suit" and sitting at the opera.

I attend a show almost every weekend from April thru Oct, sometimes 2 per weekend. Fortunately the Chicago area has many car shows on any given day so I can try to avoid the ones that have things I don't like. 1. I do not care for shows that allow new Corvettes, Challengers, Mustangs, Chrysler 300's, PT Cruisers or anything else that just rolled off the dealer lot onto the showfield. There is nothing wrong with these cars, but they are not antiques, and do not belong at an antique car show. I can go to a dealership to see them. Bring them back in 25 years. 2. One show I went to had about 40 trophies for 300 cars. So basically every 7th or 8th car won. It took over 1 1/2 hours to award them all. They even had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for Cadillac Allante. 5 showed up. That meant 2 went home without a trophy. That is just ridiculous. Not only that, but I can handle not winning Best in Show or best in my class. But if there are only 5 cars and 3 trophies, it really makes you feel like your car is crap if you don't get one. 3. I don't like seeing 30 of each Mustang, Corvette, '57 Chevy, etc. I also don't like seeing tons of rods and customs. Nothing wrong with these. But with many shows to choose from, I am happy to avoid shows that showcase these. 4. Show some appreciation for people bringing their cars. Give a discount on food, picture of the car, or free admission if you bring a car. A local restaurant gives a free ice cream cone or 10% discount on food if you bring your car to their show. The one down the street charges $25.00 for you to bring your car, and you pay full price for the food. I don't need trophies, so my car is most definitely never going to the second place when I can go to the first one. After all there is no car show without the cars. Some suggestions I would make. 1. Shade. I burn easily and can't stand a show where there is absolutely no place to get out of the sun. Especially when it is in the 90's. 2. Have adequate bathrooms. I hate having to wait half an hour for a port-a-potty, and then have people pounding on the door 2 seconds after I get in there. 3. Have places to sit. I can bring my own chairs, but don't feel like walking from one end of the show to the other just to sit down. 4. Shows that start at the crack of dawn. I have to get up early for work every day. I do not want to have to set my alarm to get up earlier on my day off than for work, so that everyone can leave at 1 pm, and then there is nothing else to do the rest of the day. Some ideas I saw here that I don't like. 1. Have a For Sale board instead of swap meet. If you don't want to have a swap meet, fine. But I am not going to make a special trip 100 or more miles back to the area to pick up something that doesn't look like the description on the board. 2. Local gift certificates. That is ok if you are local. But I am not going to drive 200 miles back to someplace to use my $25 gift certificate if I didn't get to use it the day of the show. 3. Picnic only show. Having a place to grill or have a picnic is fine. But there should be food available for sale as well. I don't want to have to make a special trip to the store, and then spend extra time packing, unpacking, and packing it all back up again just to have something there in case I happen to get hungry.

I have seen a lot of the '50's-'60's Cadillac ads and brochures showing a woman in an elegant ball gown and man in tux decending the steps of the opera to their waiting Cadillac. Very elegant ads. Unfortunately these types of ads would no longer work. Nobody wants to be elegantly dressed. They want to be comfy in sweats and flip flops. The cars pretty much all look identical, so simply showing it in front of an elegant setting is not going to get anyone to buy one aeroegg over another either. People are not interested in cars anymore like they used to be either. All they know are whatever buzzwords they hear in the media like hybrid, fuel efficient, safety etc. So that is what is blasted in advertising. Plus why bother printing expensive brochures when most people don't bother leaving their computer to shop for a car?

People do abuse antique plates, and that is unfortunate. But what makes you think this VW Golf is abusing antique plates? It is old enough, and it is allowed to be driven on the street. What makes you think this car is driven daily since you are not even the one that saw it on the road? I met a guy a few years ago that loved Pintos, and had several at a show. Not my taste, but I'm not going to say they can't have antique plates. IMO a street rod or rat rod running antique plates with basically nothing original on it and all new running gear and parts is abusing the antique plates. Not a 30 year old Golf.

Nice show, but smaller than usual. And only 3 Cadillacs. Did somebody forget to inform the Cadillac club?

It isn't just a Coronet. It is an ambulance. It is a shame that so many people look for "rare" cars and never give ambulances and hearses a second look. I doubt if you could find a rarer Forward Look car. But most people just use ambulances and hearses as parts cars for their so much more common coupes and sedans. Hopefully someone will be willing to put the time and money into it. Also the seller listing their car here is ok. Pretending to have found a great find and then showing it here as if you are not the seller is tacky, and leads people to not trust anything you say about it if they were interested.

I have complained several times about posts being deleted, and with only a few exceptions, have gotten basically zero support. Apparently it does not bother people until their own posts are deleted. While I agree that the moderators sometimes get carried away and delete happy, any mention of politics or religion simply is not a good idea. While some subjects definitely involve politics, such as government bailouts or cash for clunkers, some people on this forum will use any opening to spew their own distorted views about politics and subjects completely unrelated to cars at all. While your sig is not offensive to me, I cannot think of any reason why religion should be mentioned on a site for antique cars. I belong to several other forums as well that do not delete anywhere near the amount of what is deleted here. It does not cause problems or legal issues. But this site seems to have more members that feel the need to spew their own views about politics and other non-car issues, than to contribute anything constructive to the topic. I am not sure how to balance that with freedom of speech.

Thanks, I was wondering what happened to this show this year. I go there with my Lincoln and get lots of attention

Just saw a new CTS coupe on the road for the first time. I have been wanting Cadillac to come out with a 2 door ever since the Eldorado was discontinued. I have to say I'm glad they didn't name this thing "Eldorado" as people have been suggesting. While the last generation Eldo was underwhelming style wise, this car just looks like a cheap hatchback with the new Origami Cadillac front end bolted on to it. Except it isn't cheap, and it isn't a hatchback even though it looks like one. I can't see too many people buying this thing. Then they will discontinue it and say "See, we built one, people just don't want 2 doors".

Maaco had half and half cars for years at shows in the Chicago area. Haven't seen any recently though.

Catera Touring Sedan, not Cadillac Touring Sedan, and neither really works with a coupe.

I highly doubt anyone under 40 has any clue about the "Standard of the world" slogan. Just like they have no clue that the portholes they are slapping on their Lexus and Hondas are a Buick trademark. I'm glad Cadillac isn't copying Lexus or Mercedes styling like everyone else does. But I am still not a fan of the Origami look they have been using for the last few years. Fold it a few more times. Maybe it will look better.

Thank you. I like Packards too. Still waiting for the right combo of price/condition/model to come along.

I'll have to check these pierogies out. Everybody always has to tell me about a "wonderful" Polish restaurant they went to somewhere. I have yet to see any place that can come anywhere close to my Polish grandmother's cooking.

A full size boxy 1985 Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac Brougham looks nothing like what today's cars look like and would definitely stand out in a parking lot in their full size boxy glory. On the other hand a 1908 Ford Model T doesn't look much different than a 1927. And a 1949 Volkswagen Beetle doesn't look much different than a 1996 (still offered for sale outside the U.S) Works both ways. Whether you originally bought a car new, as a used beater on a car lot, or it was built before you were born, as soon as it hits 25 years old, it is an antique whether it fits what you personally like as an antique or not.

My mom had a 1974 Ford Elite. She always pointed out Mark IV's as the car she would like to have gotten instead. When the Mark V came out, I thought the razor edge styling and gills on the fenders made it much cooler than the Mark IV. So not exactly a connection there but I suppose that inspired my liking Lincolns. Oddly enough, I'm really not interested in the 1960's Lincolns. I guess they were quite a departure at the time with their conservative use of chrome and slab sides. But conservative (or uninspired now) flat sides are all you can get in a new car now. So I'd rather have a flashier and more extravagant Imperial or Cadillac from the 1960's. Flashy and extravagant you can't get anymore (not counting bolt on tacky bling).

When my 1979 Mark V was totaled, I was looking for one of 3 cars to replace it. 1. 1978 Continental Mark V Diamond Jubilee Edition in blue 2. 1956 Packard 400 3. 1962 Imperial 2 door Looked at some of each but the right combo of price and condition never showed up. The 1976 Givenchy showed up instead. So if any of those 3 ever appeared, I would probably go for it. It would be better if they didn't though as cash is tight and storage would be a problem.

Check with the Professional Car Society. Someone there might have one for sale.

I have zero desire to own a copy of my first high school car. Since my parents were divorced, I had to go with my uncle to buy a car. He bought a 1975 Buick Regal new, and thought it was the best car ever made (even though he had traded it in several years prior). He would not take me to look at anything I wanted to look at. Instead he took me to look at a 1974 and 1975 Buick Century (basically the same as a Regal, but not as nice. He couldn't have me owning a car that was as nice as his.) The '74 ran like crap, was rusted, and reeked of b.o. The 1975 had peeling paint and rust on the roof, and looked like it had Leprosy. I chose the '75 as it was the lesser of 2 evils. My uncle congratulated me on my great choice. I tried to make the best of it, and fix it up with junkyard parts. Then in winter, it slid on the ice and damaged the front end. I was going to fix it up, but then realized, hey I have a car, and don't have to ask anybody to take me to buy one. I traded it in on my second high school car, a 1979 Mercury Cougar XR7. I loved that car, but it was the biggest lemon I ever owned. I have no desire to get another one of those either. Nobody I know ever owned Lincolns, and I have now had 3 of them. I would also like to get a Packard and an Imperial. Nobody I know ever had one of those either. So no high school memories with any of the cars I want to own now.

The Kruse Auction and ACD Festival was one of the first out of state car events I attended. I had a great time there, and so I have always had a special attachment to this event. Since then I have been to hundreds of other car shows and events, and always compared them to Auburn. Busy with other events, I no longer attended every year, but still would every few years. It seemed that it started going downhill in the last few years. With the fall of Kruse Auctions, I thought that would be the end of this great event. I was glad to see RM took over to keep it going. I didn't attend this year as I had too much other stuff going on. I also thought I'd give them a year to get things organized. I plan on going next year, so it is good to hear that they were able to take over, and get things in place so fast. Hopefully next year will be even better when I go.