Car show stuff, what to do?

[outlaw118]

I've decided to bite the bullet and ask the question / opinion of all you learned people.

 

I went to a show yesterday in Little Clacton, as recommended by Trigger of this parish.

It was small, yet, perfectly formed, and contained lots of stuff, as seen on my "Out and About" thread.

 

However, before I plunge into showing my Capri, I'm in two minds on how far to go.

 

There were people there with the original brochure(s) on the dash, others went a step further and had a blown up wikipedia style description laminated on A3 on the windscreen.

 

Then we come to the "car biographer" type, who say things like "Bessie was made in Ellesmere Port on 15/07/74 and sold to Mr Cockhandle on 1/8/74 by Stripe Motors of Little Cockington. He kept her until he was arrested and jailed for buggering farm animals in January 1980 and she was pushed into a garage until 1988 when his brother sold the house to pay for ladyboys and crack. That's when we bought her.....blah....blah...leather polish.....blah....rare...How many left....Cleveland Steamer.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

 

I'm not planning to go into the same amount of detail but how much is too much?

 

What's the Autoshite opinion, it's a Capri, it's not like it's anything rare like a Horsey Horseless cabriolet or summat!

[sporty-shite]

You should just do it the AS Chumley way. Park up in a field, leave it, and go and chat to a load of misfits. If you really want to make the effort, give it a wash and hoover a couple of weeks before.

[mercrocker]

Chuck a couple of period magazines in there maybe a rubik cube on the rear shelf - that kind of chod.   Packet of Rothman King size on the dash and a pair of little football boots from the mirror.   Its better than crap folding chairs and a felt-penned bit of cardboard where the letters get smaller and smaller like a birthday message on a roundabout....

[Junkman]

There were people there with the original brochure(s) on the dash, others went a step further and had a blown up wikipedia style description laminated on A3 on the windscreen.

 

Then we come to the "car biographer" type, who say things like "Bessie was made in Ellesmere Port on 15/07/74 and sold to Mr Cockhandle on 1/8/74 by Stripe Motors of Little Cockington. He kept her until he was arrested and jailed for buggering farm animals in January 1980 and she was pushed into a garage until 1988 when his brother sold the house to pay for ladyboys and crack. That's when we bought her.....blah....blah...leather polish.....blah....rare...How many left....Cleveland Steamer.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

 

Do you consider this sort of behaviour normal?

This is the kind of people I try to get away from as quickly as possible, running backwards, so I can keep an eye on them until I consider the distance between them and me safe, then turn around and just r00n like f00k.

A friend of mine is a real loony doctor in a real asylum and he once told me about a patient he had, who believed his toothbrush is his dog and treated it like one, including pulling it behind him on a leash. I don't think people like the ones you described above are too far away from that condition.

 

Them is fuggin motors, man. Yes, we love them, but they are just fuggin motors. And the only thing I'm interested in when it comes to a car's history is whether I managed to clean out really all the dirt the former owners left in it.

[Sigmund Fraud]

You should just do it the AS Chumley way. Park up in a field, leave it, and go and chat to a load of misfits. If you really want to make the effort, give it a wash and hoover a couple of weeks before.

 

^ This.

 

Not being around the car also means you don't have to listen to people telling you their "Dad had one in the '70s" ad nauseam. You also avoid the endless moaning of anal rivetcounters that the wheels/tyres/suspension/seat covers/etc. are "not original for the car".

[Ghosty]

Yep, it's already been said. Park up, lock up, fuck off and enjoy the other exhibits while people enjoy yours.

[ayrshirelad]

Go for it!. I show my fleet in all their unrestored glory. I take pics for ccb mag and i go to most of the shows here in Scotlandshire. Your car doesn't need to be a show Queen or anything like it. My mk3 Marina Roland for those of you who know him, is about as far from Mint as you can get. I have put a wee story in the windscreen and some before and after pics. Usually the story gets a wee read and a few laughs. Sometimes my car gets more looks than the show Queens or more minty cars. This happened last the weekedend before last at selkirk, when 2 men in particular read his story looked all round him inside and out, then walked past me mates brown mk3 which is not far from Mint without a second glance!. Got me own back for me paying a fiver for 2 front all be it as new front indactor lenses and he paying a quid for his 2!.

[trigger]

Then we come to the "car biographer" type, who say things like "Bessie was made in Ellesmere Port on 15/07/74 and sold to Mr Cockhandle on 1/8/74 by Stripe Motors of Little Cockington. He kept her until he was arrested and jailed for buggering farm animals in January 1980 and she was pushed into a garage until 1988 when his brother sold the house to pay for ladyboys and crack. That's when we bought her.....blah....blah...leather polish.....blah....rare...How many left....Cleveland Steamer.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

 

 

 

 That ticked me!, I do quite a few shows and the cars with all the rubbish on I tend to ignore, Keep it plan and simple, It's a Capri, not a Horsely Horseless, people know what it is, If you have a few photos of it before and during restoration it would be worth putting them in a folder maybe but that's about as far as I'd go.

 

My mate Paul took his XR3 and his Clio Williams there on Sunday and I did cringed a bit when I saw all the boards around his car in Felly Magics photos, I'll have to have words with him I think!

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I love all that daft shit folk do at car shows. You wouldnt catch me doing it in a million years but i love to see folk who are mega into their old car to that extent. I remember laughing at a pic on here at some bonkers old couple who had carefully painted the reg number of their Austin Metro onto their wooden picnic table so that it all looked of a piece at the shows. Brilliant! 

[outlaw118]

 

blown up wikipedia style description laminated on A3 on the windscreen.

That was the Clio Williams ......

[outlaw118]

I'm thinking now that a very brief resume of the car's history, ie reg date, date bought by me, who restored it, spec etc.

I'm going to get in touch with the blokes who did the paint and welding, see how many pics they've got and have a few of those.

And then lock it up and feck off to look at everyone elses. Probably.

 

(Runs and takes his anti-OCD pill)

[skattrd]

When I've been to shows with other cars, and slightly more serious car groups than AS, we usually ended up with a printed sheet of A4 with a brief rundown of the car written on it as this stops a lot the repetitive questions. This was really useful when I went to shows with the kei cars a couple of years ago because most people had no idea what they were. With a Capri though I wouldn't really bother unless you wanted to show factory specs or there was something particularly interesting about the car.

[trigger]

That was the Clio Williams ......

 

He's a wally! I will be having words!

 

 

How about this one I've seen.

 

Ford Popular 100E Covered in Dalmatians Dog toys and boards! by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

Ford Popular 100E Covered in Dalmatians Dog toys and boards! by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

And especially for Bo11ox.

 

1983 Austin Metro 1.3 HLS by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[fordperv]

One problem you face by putting brochures etc on the dash is you get the great unwashed leaning over to read what's on the dash with their zips/buttons/handbags and any other sharp pointy objects in close proximity to your paintwork, I say polish it lock it up and enjoy your day looking at everything

 

Trigger if you really want to upset your mate with that lovely looking xr3 tell him his fog lamps are wonky lol

[Pillock]

Leave a copy of Razzle on the dash.

[dollywobbler]

I like a bit of something to read, otherwise I can just walk along going 'that's nice, that's not' and be done with the show in seconds. Rebuild history if there is any, or some facts. Especially if it's done more than a handful of miles. I love finding mega-mile stuff at shows. Cars that have had a life and not just lived in garages all their lives waiting for the next sunny day.

 

I stick a small info sheet in the rear side window of the 2CV. Not the windscreen because it's little more than an arrow slit and ruins photos. Sometimes it's just hand-written.

 

And plaque boards can FRO!

[overrun]

 That ticked me!, I do quite a few shows and the cars with all the rubbish on I tend to ignore, Keep it plan and simple, It's a Capri, not a Horsely Horseless, people know what it is, If you have a few photos of it before and during restoration it would be worth putting them in a folder maybe but that's about as far as I'd go.

 

My mate Paul took his XR3 and his Clio Williams there on Sunday and I did cringed a bit when I saw all the boards around his car in Felly Magics photos, I'll have to have words with him I think!

 

970379_10200633655865106_1401754541_n.jpg

All that shite and it's not even an original car. Strange fella.

 

I agree with the majority. Park up. Lock up. Fuck off. That's how I roll.

I wouldn't 'show' the car unless it's very clean, then again, It's always kept well.

 

The stuff from the OP reminds me of some cracker on seriesoneturbo forum.

He has two 12 door mk3 Escort Ghias. Betty and Nora...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

YES!!!!! I love that Metro/picnic table combo. Cheers trig!!!

[Pillock]

Anything interesting is worth mentioning, like "This was once owned by Phillip Schofield's nan". But anyone can wikipedia a model, and my attention span tends to die around the second paragraph of tedious tripe.

[Jim Bell]

Oily HBOL on the passenger seat, left open at a hillariously complicated procedure.

 

So people knows exactly how badass you are.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

When you're doing your 'fact board' write all the text small and put some very faint cock and balls diagrams in the background behind the text to keep people on their toes.

[trigger]

All that shite and it's not even an original car. Strange fella.

How do you mean not original? It's one of the very first 1981 XR3's, all he's done is give it a fresh respray back to it's original colour and fit the Hella's.

[overrun]

 

MY MOTOR NOT MY FOLDING CHAIR REPEAT NOT MY FOLDING CHAIR

 

Dunno which boring old fossil was decaying it. I know you believe me, as I don't have the bonnet open, let alone a pin board with all old tax discs proudly on display.

[overrun]

How do you mean not original? It's one of the very first 1981 XR3's, all he's done is give it a fresh respray back to it's original colour and fit the Hella's.

Red Ford badge. Spotlight covers. Daft number plates.

Not the kind of thing I would have on it. Especially not if it was as early as your mates and such a rare car - and I was that anal about it that I had plaques etc.

 

It is lovely though.

[philibusmo]

Last proper car show (eg not shitefest or RRG) I ended up at was at the begining of May in Scotland. I turned up in my mk1 Fiesta, covered in dead flies and motorway grime from the journey up with a big spray of mud up one side from where I had been bombing round the lanes with some mates the day before. I also opened the bonnet to show my engine bay of many colours and few horses and wrote 'pikey cross' on the top of my home made pancake air filter.

 

Then I fucked off and looked at the other motors, took the piss over the amount of daft nick-knacks people had displayed on their parcel shelves and laughed at a man cleaning out the tip of his exhaust with what looked like a sponge dildo.

[vulgalour]

Print out what looks like a detailed sheet of information but actually only contains this lymeric.

 

There once was a car at a show,

Whose owner did think it'd blow,

If all 'round his Capri

Was tat and debris

But thankfully to this he said no.

 

Sorry, it's not even rude.

[ifc63]

All I've ever done until recently was put some oversized laminated pages from the sales brochure on the windscreen.

 

 

This was to give an idea of what a Sunchaser is as most people don't seem sure and don't like to ask in case it shows them up for not knowing.

It also means you don't have to get too involved in unnecessary conversations with some of the 'general public' who frequent some of the shows. I'm more than happy to ramble on with fellow car enthusiasts but some people are just plain hard work. 

Just recently I mislaid the laminated stuff so just display the A5-sized brochure pages inside the windscreen and it looks so much neater.

As said in other posts I now spend most of the shows off-pitch and wander around the other stands.

[alf892]

I just park and fuck off. If there is one group of people I'm not keen on its the Public.

 

I usually only take the car so I get in free..........

 

Did see a Wyvern this week with a bloke sat at the back with a (very well made) picnic table that had Vauxhall machined into the side.

[barefoot]

I'm off to do Brighton Breeze in the t2 in a couple of weeks and some folks I'm parking up with sent me a pro forma thing to fill in, so I've done this;

 

Engine - 3.2 flat 6 from Porsche 964 with five speed box, hydraulic clutch.

Exterior - ceramic disc brakes and full air suspension

Interior - re built light weight Devon with 10,000 watt Marshall sound system and modified Hammond c3 head unit. Underfloor jacuzzi.

Notes - none of the above is true.

 

Having read previous posts though, I wish I'd given it some history in the form of bizarre previous owners.

Perhaps if I'm ever asked back.

[panhard65]

I used to have a printed sheet of the spec's etc when I took my Jensen 541 de-luxe to shows but got so fed up with all the muppets who would pick fault and question my knowledge of my own car. It can be useful with a very rare car to save you having to keep telling the idiots what it is. Hence putting bloody great signs on the back of my truck. I still had some moron came stomping over moaning about what I had done to "that morris" He did look a twat though when I informed him it had sod all to do with morris and wasn't even a british car. I also enjoy pretending its not my car and listen in when beardy tells all his friends what it is unfortunately they usually get it wrong unless they have caught me at another show already. I wouldn't bother putting a sheet on anything run of the mill like a capri or details of the work you have had done as it just gives them something to pick fault on. There is nothing beardy likes better than telling you that the pinstripe on the front wing is 0.0025mm too narrow to of been fitted to your car. This will wind you up and you will then punch beardy thus getting thrown out of the show never to be invited back. So best not to provoke them in the first place