Went to car show today and OMG

[ratdog]

I drove two hours to Charlotte to the car show and took my camera to take pictures of cobras there,I checked out the corvettes, camaros,mustangs. They were very sharp and detailed for the show, walked over and checked out the cobras and was very disappointed. The ones that had there hoods up,(were sad looking), NONE had done any detail work on the engine department, oil leaks,rust,very very dirty.I was upset and disappointed. One was so dirty it looked like it had a dirt floor on drivers side and the driver side seat was were he put his feet. This was at a car SHOW what the hell..I didn't take any pictures and came home. I'm trying to understand why anyone would build and spend hours doing so and then take a car and show it this way. sad

[blykins]

Sure it wasn't an original?

[cobradvm]

Originally Posted by blykins

Sure it wasn't an original?

Agreed - some of the originals have a lot of patina and the owners like to keep them that way.

Of course they may just have been one of those rebodied rustang kits!!!

[vatdevil]

Maybe Cobra drivers actually have FUN with their cars?

[Jerry Clayton]

So you probably passed on an one in a life time chance to photograph an driven original car

[ratdog]

none of these were original,they were Factory Five and Super Performance and I think one lone star. Most were Factory Fives of which I have one.

I love car shows. I love going to them and having fun, but honestly, I do very little prep. I have too much fun driving it and I could care less about winning something at a show. I wouldn't say my car is a pit, but it's far from detailed.
__________________
Originally posted at www.automotomedia.net

[lamaluv]

When I go to a car show with my Cobra it is only to the ones that I can sit by my car and talk with people about cars. I go with no expectation of winning a trophy. My car is 30 years old and the paint job is over 20 years old. It goes to each show clean and polished but the paint has rock chips and scratches. The engine compartment is clean but looks its age. My real pleasure in owning my Cobra is cruising and open tracking the car. For me attending a car show is an excuse to talk cars and be with other car nuts. If showing is your main thing then you need have everything perfect and an expensive paint job. If that is your thing, thats cool, just don't knock those of us that are I little more layed back about it. I know of one guy that his Cobra just sits in his garage. Since he finished it he is afraid that if he drives it something bad might happen to it. Have fun with your car in whatever way that turns your crank. To each thier own!

[67JET]

I agree with the driving it and having fun part -- but if you are going to take it to a car show i think you should a least vacuum it out and wipe off the mud (unless it is a jacked-up 4 wheel drive). If you don't want to clean it up you should just leave it in the parking lot and enjoy the show. Now if it is an actual car that is raced and has road rash and chunks of black rubber hanging off it the leave it there and talk to the others there about the last race you were in. Most of these cars are not raced but all of them are fun. Clean it up and take pride in what you have. I mean -- I don't own a Kirkham but I run the crap out of it and then clean it up for the next time out.

[ratdog]

I just didn't understand if they wanted to show them at a show this big why they didn't clean them up a little.I have seen trailer queens but opening your hood at a large car show and your car isn't detailed and setting right behind new vets and camaros that has been detailed to the max, isn't showing or helping others with there image of a nice cobra.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by ratdog

I drove two hours to Charlotte to the car show and took my camera to take pictures of cobras there,I checked out the corvettes, camaros,mustangs. They were very sharp and detailed for the show, walked over and checked out the cobras and was very disappointed. The ones that had there hoods up,(were sad looking), NONE had done any detail work on the engine department, oil leaks,rust,very very dirty.I was upset and disappointed. One was so dirty it looked like it had a dirt floor on drivers side and the driver side seat was were he put his feet. This was at a car SHOW what the hell..I didn't take any pictures and came home. I'm trying to understand why anyone would build and spend hours doing so and then take a car and show it this way. sad

On the flip side, spend hours cleaning and polishing the car so you can win a $3.00 trophy....Sorry, no.........When I take one of my cars to a show, I wear the dirt and grime as a badge of honor showing I drive(race) my car for the sheer enjoyment of doing so....Most people get it, some like yourself do not.


Bill S.

[mr bruce]

never did understand why some guys buy/build these things, only to "save them for the next guy", if you're not goin' to use the friggin' car, don't bother gittin' one, just give the money to your wife and let her buy furniture

[vector1]

Originally Posted by mr bruce

never did understand why some guys buy/build these things, only to "save them for the next guy", if you're not goin' to use the friggin' car, don't bother gittin' one, just give the money to your wife and let her buy furniture

x2........

[bstuke]

Originally Posted by vector1

x2........

X3, drive it like you stole it.

Keep in mind Ratdog that quite a few of us go to these events more to
"Meet and Greet" than anything. Did you introduce yourself to Brian or any of the other guys that went? Or do you already know some of the folks in Charlotte?

[ratdog]

I had met some of them last year on the dragon,I guess I was looking at going to a car show and see cars detailed to show there best, not a RAT car show but the corvettes ,camaros amd mustangs were ready and looked great.

[Tommy]

I am not a car show guy. I much prefer cruise-ins like the one I attended tonight. But, I have some good friends who annually pressure me to attend the car show hosted by their club. I dust my car off enough to look like I tried a little, but it is not detailed. ... Some of the most popular car shows in my area now give no trophies at all. They only give back a part of the entry fee with money trees and similar drawings. My point is that not everyone enters a car show with the expectation of winning best of class. Some enter for other reasons. To each his own.

[Mariah]

OK, OK, OK, one was at least MARIAH, certainly Cobra Earl and probably Mr. Viagra. All of us, Factory Five Mark Is with some mileage, some years and a few adventures behind us.

Sorry to be so late to the party you guys were having here last week ……………… Since I stopped by I thought I would drop off a couple comments before getting back to things that really matter in life.

I’m pretty sure I must have talked to ratdog that day but he did not leave nearly the impression on me that MARIAH apparently did on him. And after reading his comments, I’ve pulled up my big boy panties and let them pass. Heck I’ve criticized a car and owner or two in my day.

But by golly the world of Cobras (originals and replicas) here in the Southeast is pretty small. Thrashing fellow enthusiasts publicly seems a little well ……………(you fill in the word).

I expect to see ratdog again, probably sooner than later during this driving season. The next time that happens, MARIAH might appreciate a little more consideration of her patina and the love she has for spectators. Not an event passes without at least one if not several adults and children being given the opportunity to sit behind the wheel for photographs. Smiles and memories last far longer than trophies. At the AutoFair one gentleman was handed the keys to see what she sounded like. A couple years ago, a perfect stranger and his wife (potential FFR customers), drove her around the lot at a Cruise In. Foolish me to think that MARIAH should be only for my enjoyment ……. an object to be protected, babied, worshiped and set on a pedestal; high above others.

At 53,000 miles she does show the wear and grit of her trips to Key West, London Ohio twice, Cape Cod, the LP & UP of Michigan, Door County Wisconsin, several times out to Ocracoke Island, NC, down to Parris Island for a Reunion, Amelia Island to see some real cars, many trips to Ocala to visit our daughter and every place within a 6 hour drive of Upstate South Carolina. She has been in rain with and without her hardtop, snow, sleet and down MANY gravel roads that seemed to offer adventure.

The first time she was on a trailer was when I picked her up at Whitbys with her bare frame sitting on the deck and boxes filling all her cavities. The 2nd time was when the painter picked her up. The 3rd time was $2,000 later when she came back from the painter.

MARIAH sets in the garage. I can’t remember the last time she wore a cover other than her Snapless Tonneau. If I forget to put the hardtop windows in, the cat naps in the passenger foot box. At any moment, she is likely to head off to church, Lowes to pick up PVC pipe or fertilizer, dinner with Cobra friends of which she has many, a trash run to the Inconvenience Center, a Cruise In or any of the many adventures the wife and I can conger up. Saturday, I did take a paper towel and windex and wiped off the muddy cat prints before heading off on an adventure for the afternoon.

I have been known to wipe off the valve covers and air cleaner as a part of preps before a viewing. But I must admit the paint is peeling from her frame, some rust is coming through, the oil vapors have collected dust and debris in multiple places and her once buffed aluminum panels remain grungy.

The nice thing about the automotive hobby is there is room for everyone and everything.

All that owners and cars can expect is ……… respect. So if you see MARIAH out your way, judge her by her adventures and the smiles that she has brought to the world not whether she is a buffed to your satisfaction.

[cobradvm]

Originally Posted by Mariah

So if you see MARIAH out your way, judge her by her adventures and the smiles that she has brought to the world not whether she is a buffed to your satisfaction.

Well, I did say at the start that it could have been an original, I just didn't realize it was an original Mk1 FFR - cool!

[Rog246]

Well said sir, well said !
Rog in Oz

[timsullivan]

Couldn't agree more. "Trailer Queen" Cobras are a disgrace to the cause. I just got mine on the road less than a year ago and already my brand spanking new Superformance has a stone chip in the windshield and a front end containing several stone chips all directly attributable to driving it hard. If the local car show spectators can't handle a few imperfections on my Cobra than screw 'em. I'm going to continue to drive the snot out of it and continue to enjoy every ounce of its superior performance regardless if the local poseurs don't appreciate that it isn't always in concours condition when I stop by the local car shows with it.