69BFAN
1 BBL/Pack Member
Lift Off Hoods Forever!
Posts: 19
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Getting a majority opinion on which venue will support the best show is going to be pretty much a personal preference for most of us. We would all love the show to be closer to us, but the demographics will not support most events. Living in North Georgia, I travel to Carlisle, 13 hours, and Columbus, 9 hours, as a vendor. The reason that I travel that distance and not the 3 hours to a local three day show is the turnout. The shows here in the South are very regional and will typically only draw cars from less than a 200 mile radius. Even the Garlitis show in my opinion is a regional show drawing from the same 200 mile radius.
Yet Carlisle and The Nats is a able to draw a crowd from thousands of miles away. As most of you will agree, Carlisle is hands down the easiest group to deal with. They will work with you and do almost whatever is necessary to make the event work for you. The Nationals on the other hand will be much tougher to get them to work with us as a group. Back in the late 80's to early 90's, I was one of the first to put together a group of cars to be staged under a tent. The cars going under the tent would all pitch in and cover the cost of the tent. Even to this day, I still believe that Mel Majors and his group of survivors pay for the cost of their tent at The Nationals. Anyone ever tried to get into Columbus and load / unload a car know the pains that is inflicted. The Woodward Cruise is such a big event as well and from what I hear, they pretty much charge to park to watch the cruising.
For must of us, no matter where the show, we must take off three to five days to attend an event. That is why I schedule my vacation time around these events. If they were only a one day or even two day events, I would have to reconsider as to whether it would be worth attending just from the aspect of viewing the event. I try to cram as much into these two weeks as possible as most of you do.
Again as much as I would love to see a big event here in the deep South, the majority of the cars and owners are located in the areas of Pennslyvania, Ohio and Michigan and they support the events very well. Knowing that, it makes sense to leave it in a area that will support the cause.
A couple of events that might possibly work is as follows:
The Clay City show. I have never attended, but it is a all Mopar show and is located almost close enough to draw a decent number of cars.
The Bristol Bash is a mix event for various makes, but years ago, the all Mopar show at Bristol was pretty good. It may still be too far South for most of you, but it does have drag racing and the ability to host a group.
The other event is "The Show" held in the Gatlinburg area each September / October. The show caters to certain style cars each year and if the show staff would consider highlighting the A12 group in 2014, they would have the ability to put on a good show place for the cars. They could feature a select group inside and the other attendees could gather outside the event. The major drawback again would the distance that most of the cars would have to travel to attend the event.
Whatever the choice, my personal preference would be that Carlisle is still the best bet for the money.
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