starting a cruise

[Guest GS70Stage1]

I would appreciate comments and counsel from anyone who has started a cruise nite. Mid Florida Chapter voted last night to contact several restaurants and see if there is interest. We propose sponsoring a once a month, probably Friday, cruise. We are thinking of cars over 20 years old, and maybe limiting it to American made. There is a new style Denny's here in front of a mall with a large parking area next to it, on a major intersection. Can we expect a "donation" for the club? Some others here offer 10% discount on food purchased, but I would like to also see a $5 (or more?) per car paid to the club.

thank you,

[GSTURBO]

We have a cruise every Sat. night in the summer put on by a Street rod club and they handle the parking.It,s for 1972 or older.But we have a Flushing city parking lot next to the A & W,to use because they have over 300 cars sometimes.No discount on food but they have a live band playing oldies.Joe T. can tell you more because he belongs to the club. Norb

[Centurion]

I'm not clear whether you would be looking for Denny's to make a contribution to your club, or whether you would expect those who show up to pay a fee to your club. My impression is that charging a fee each week to participants would kill your cruise. The appeal for many cruisers is that these are informal events with no registration, no fees, no judging, and no obligation to stay any longer than they wish.

While charging a fee may not be the approach you would want to take, you could use the cruise as a great venue for selling raffle tickets as a club fundraiser. It might also be reasonable to provide an opportunity for donations.

[Guest Skyking]

I agree with having a cut off date on the year of the cars. Some of the cruises I attend don't have a cut off date and they get out of hand. The parking lots are full of new Corvettes, new Mustangs, and every other new car & truck out there. What happens is some guys come a little late and can't get in. Then they get pissed off and don't come back. As far as limiting it to american cars only, that could be a problem. What about the guy with an old Triumph, or MG or Volkswagon.......? Just my observation.

[Guest GS70Stage1]

Good comments all. Thanks.

I would hope to get the restaurant to make a donation, not charging the cars. Also I like the idea of a 50/50 or raffle of some kind for the club. But at the same time, I wouldn't want a lot of flee market kind of booths set up all around either. And I don't know how to enforce the American only idea someone suggested last night. Are Mopars German now? Plus some of the classic TR's, etc would attract attention and maybe help make it actually be successful. There is a Fri night at a Denny's real close to my house that has at least 8 PT's there every night, and not a lot of older cars. I went once.

[The Old Guy]

The cruise Norb is refering to is held once a month on the third saturday. We always have the same day, so the people know when it will happen. We limit the cars to 1972 and older. This pretty well removes the late model ricers from the game. It also helps keep a handle on things ,as the newer cars do not attract the people that the older ones do. We have a 50-50 raffle and the owner of the A&W hires the band. It has been very successful ,and the reason is that everyone with the 72 and earlier cars knows they cwn come when they want , leave when they want, they will always be welcome. We have done this for over fifteen years, and even the city LOVES us!

[NTX5467]

Hosting a cruise night can be fun, but also work. Down here, it's no big deal to charge $5.00-10.00 per car as that money helps pay for the awards and other expenses. Charging money definitely is not a factor in killing a cruise or keeping one from starting.

One key thing is that the parking lot you'll be using is used with the permission of the owner (i.e., shopping center management or similar) and does not interfere with other businesses in the area. Some of those other merchants tend to be very protective of their allocated parking spaces--even to the extent of killing a cruise with their complaints!

Many times, you can partner with a eating place that will kick in some money for awards, a live band, or a DJ, and then let them make arrangements with who owns the shopping center parking lot so you can legally use it with everyone's blessings. Some cruises have had to move as the shopping center owner/manager wanted RENT for it to be used for a car cruise event.

In the Dallas/Fort Worth area plus most of the larger metro areas of Texas, there are weekly cruise "circuits" that have grown to where there are a lot to choose from each weekend. The vast majority are shows with trophies and entry fees and usually have some area car club as the sponsor of the show. Many of the larger shopping centers usually have some eating place that is glad to partner with the club to produce a quality event that draws people into their place and the shopping center.

There used to be some "get together" car events too, that many car club people went to just to hang out and such. I have lost track of where they are these days, but every so ofter a report comes up that they are still going on, but at a different place.

Down here, the cruise season has basically ended with the cold weather, but some still might happen during the weekend days. What you might consider doing is visiting other cruise night events and see what they do and how they run things. The put your heads together and see what you can come up with for next spring. Do a cost analysis for trophy expenses and class structure versus how many (conservatively) vehicles you might expect to attract each week.

Everybody has their own orientations about what vehicles you desire to attract and not to attract. Key thing is to not make anybody mad--check out the editor's comments "UNwelcome. Banned at Old Town" in the December, 2003 issue of Mopar Muscle magazine. Other key thing, don't make it a money pit that doesn't at least break even after the first few events.

Just some thoughts, but above all, HAVE FUN!

NTX5467

[Guest]

I know that cut-off dates are to prevent ricers and brand new cars and such, but I think the 1972 thing is getting old. It really erks me, and I would think others in the same situation. Yes, the A body got a complete redesign in '73, but a '73 LeSabre, Centurion, Electra 225, and Riviera did not. Bumpers and slight mods to hoods are pretty much the only thing that changed. Even '74 models look very similar. I don't mean to start an arguement, I just think saying 1972 is the cut-off date often offends and discourages people who own cars that for all intensive purposes would fit right in to the cruise seen. That by 2 cents .

[The Old Guy]

Electra 225 ,you are right! The cruise we have does not have any space left, so we limit the cars at 72 and older. Perhaps a better solution would be using the criteria set up by our state which is 25 years old to get the antique plate. This would allow the cars up to 78 .

[Dave@Moon]

I HATE cut-off dates for cruises.

Yes there is limited cross-interest between the traditional hot rod/antique set and the "rice burner" set, <span style="font-weight: bold">but that is the very point that argues against segregation at this level!</span>

Our hobby is aging quickly. Trying to attract a more youthful audience to our interests is probably the single most important task before us. By eliminating the CRX and Mitsubishi crowd, we've managed to further isolate ourselves from the very people we'll be depending on to preserve our cars after we've passed on.

Park your 1930 Marquette next to the tattoed Turbo Civic owner and see what kind of interest you can develop there. Please!

[6219_Rules]

In my humble experience, I have had nothing but good luck when pulling into a 7-11 next to a couple of kids in their nissano-rockets. They not only give me the thumbs up but come over to ask about the car. It's easy to make derogatory comments, even in jest, about things we feel are inferior, and a whole lot harder to be open minded, less judgmental, and welcoming. The kids are interested...they simply feel older folks don't care and look down on them....which they do.

[Guest GS70Stage1]

I'm interested in the MOPAR article, expecially if the Old Town cruise it is talking about is in Kissimmee, FL.

Lots of other great comments and help. I hadn't thought about the shopping center and RENT problem. Plus liability is going to be an issue. So many people are sue happy - called the litigation lottery. This may kill it before it gets started.

[Guest GS70Stage1]

I'm interested in the MOPAR article, expecially if the Old Town cruise it is talking about is in Kissimmee, FL.

Lots of other great comments and help. I hadn't thought about the shopping center and RENT problem. Plus liability is going to be an issue. So many people are sue happy - called the litigation lottery. This may kill it before it gets started.

You people are great and I appreciate all the input. You have an open invitation anytime you visit Orlando to see some great cars.

Ken

[Dave@Moon]

Ken,

There are advantages to being a Chapter of a large national club. I believe that the National's liability coverage <span style="font-style: italic">may</span> extend to official Chapter activites, such as car cruises. My old Chapter in Pittsburgh runs a cruise in the southern suburbs, and as I recall they use coverage derived from the National. Check with Judy Leets ( mailto:jleets@tir.com ) and/or Mike Book ( mailto:BuickClubOffice@buickclub.org ) to see what's necessary.

[HurstGN]

Yes, the National Pike chapter holds a cruise once a year. We do awards, dash plaques, lots of freebies, and don't limit years, makes or models. Our fliers state "All collectable vehicles welcome" and we rarely see the rice. We get newer cars. I personally [color:\\"red\\"] <span style="font-weight: bold">HATE</span> that 72 and older stuff as my oldest is an 82. We do well every year with our cruise.

As far as a weekly cruise, the easiest "formula" is, get a business to "sponsor" the cruise. Hopefully a food place, that can serve inexpensive sandwiches for the cruisers. This business will be your interface to the lot ownership to get the space needed. If it's in a strip mall and other businesses can benefit from the crowd, they'll open their doors willingly to make some money on a day they might be closed. Our first cruise caught Dairy Queen off guard and they actually sold out of ice cream!

Try to avoid charging. Have it a free event where people can come for a while, enjoy themselves, and leave without feeling they have to stay for awards, or "get their $5 worth" from the cruise. This gets a good crowd. Arrange for the DJ to get paid by the "sponsoring" business if you can. Hopefully on food sales, they would see more sales come in that paying out for the DJ. If so, music is covered. Next, run a 50/50 raffle. Forget the awards and judging and such, make it a fun time and those die-hards that will stay till the end because they're having a good time. Most will buy 50/50 tickets and you'll realize your profits from there. This puts the job on your shoulders to make sure people have fun and spend on the 50/50. We have 50/50 raffles here at our free weekly cruises here that occasionally pay out over $350 to the winners. For those, the pot is usually split into 2 or more to spread the winnings out. Everyone enjoys themselves, and well after dark we all go home.

Don't overthink it. Keep it simple. The cars will come. The die-hards will come and stay, the lookie-loos will pass by, and you'll all have a great time.

[NTX5467]

I know things sometimes are different in other parts of the country, but down here any car cruise event is typically sponsored by a car club of some sort in partnership with a business (usually a drive-in eating establishment or a sit-down eating place in a shopping area). It is kind of expected that there will be paid registrations with appropriate trophies and such. There is one weekend cruise event held at a floundering shopping center that attracts over 300 paid-admission show cars inside of their show field regularly. They have nice trophies too. That is pretty much the template for things of that nature down here in Texas.

There are also "get together" cruise events that happen in various places too, usually in conjunction with a drive-in or similar location. No admission fee, no awards, no DJ, just everyone showing up to look, admire, and hang out with some really nice cars and other cars that are "works in progress". In many cases, you had to get there early for a decent parking space or you parked out in the vacant field adjacent to the place.

In some cases, a bunch of people congregating in a shopping center parking lot could rise some suspicions by the law enforcement people. Some towns have anti-loitering statutes and some shopping center people kind of don't want anything happening on their grounds not related to business (with appropriate signs posted).

What you CAN do is let your club people figure out a location they can meet for a meal and chit chat some night or weekend afternoon/evening (other than the regular meeting) and everyone drive your cars. If you can arrange it with the management, they'll probably reserve some parking spots in front for you. Then, if things work out, you might approach them about helping y'all host a cruise event in the spring next year/season. If they want to initially spring for the trophy costs, that would be fine, but if you soon find that your club could be making some money from it by charging a marginal admission, that would be fine too. In other words, it should be a mutually beneficial venture for everyone involved.

One thing our chapter did a good while ago was to use a popular weekend cruise spot for our chapter meetings. We met at like 2pm on Saturday afternoon. We had some reserved parking in front by the street too. That got our members to that famed spot in the daylight hours and that led into the cruise event that night if they desired to stay. Plus we put a small add in the local paper of the meeting place and time too. Worked out really well. We also found out that many of the Harley riders rode to school in the back seat of a moms' carpool Buick.

In the past, there have been some neat cruise events that were not car shows. Everyone knew that a car club group would be at a particular drive-in on a particular night to park, eat, and socialize. This attracted others too and it turned into a really big deal, which just happened to be at a McDonalds, and went on for several years.

After that location was closed down by the McDonalds people (email me for details, if you like), it moved to another place in another part of town. There were a multitude of car clubs' members that were there on the designated weekend night. It lasted for many years too. These are the ones I classify as "hang out" or "get together" cruise events. This one was at a Burger King that later went to a local chain.

From what I saw at these two cruise locations, if different people showed up with "different" vehicles, the reception they got typically determined if they came back or not. In other words, if they felt comfortable there, they'd return next time or maybe when they got some more work done on their vehicle. You'd see anything from trailer queens, clandestine "barely legal" street racers, collector cars, hot rods, street rods, classics, antiques, muscle cars, etc. It was more of a celebration of "cars" than anything else and everyone had fun, bought food, hung out, met new friends, and generally had an enjoyable time. Sometimes, they might give discounted drinks to those who had a car on the lot too, but it really was not necessary as the draw was already there and everyone was glad to be there. Those were some great times!

Enjoy!

NTX5467

For a "new" cruise event, one key factor is to not conflict with existing events nearby. Choosing the "good" time can be something of a chore.

[NTX5467]

The Mopar Muscle article I mentioned is about the cruise in Kissimmee, FL. Seems that a vehicle that had attended in prior seasons suddenly was not nice enough. He goes into some detail in his commentary. Not sure if this happened this year or another time.

NTX5467