The comments below are the personal views of the writer, not NWMotiv.com.
Members of Community, distinguished guests, and fellow NWMotiv.com fans:
Today, I want to begin by congratulating all the local companies, crews, cars, event promoters and sponsors for making the car shows in the Northwest a success. It’s your loyalty to the development of our culture, which is making the Northwest a truly unique area to own and build a car, or host an event.
While many of us are sharing in the joys of the summer events, there is some behind the scenes concern in the direction that we could be heading. Are smaller, less organized, and sometimes even chaotic events taking a toll on the scene? We really need to figure out what distinguishes a meet from a car show and how mixing the two is like oil and water. Should we pay for a car meet? Should all car shows have awards?
Our scene is like the New York Stock Exchange, with high value and decent returns one day and plummeting out of control the next.
The introduction of the stanced/fitment scene to our region a little over a year ago has had some impact on how we view our car events. I see these impacts as both positive and negative. The question is, how should WE as a community act on it? You will often see a mostly stock car with serious fitment and seriously damaged fenders enter an event, to what purpose? Yes, your fitment is really aggressive, but if you have damage to your car, you’re not doing it right. This is the type of mentality that is sweeping the scene and show producers are letting it happen. If a premium event calls for premium cars, then that should be the case, but who gives that person the right to determine whose car is premium?
It’s always been my mentality that I should be able to determine if my own car is worthy of an event. If I am stripped of this decision, then why am I building a car in the first place? But what happens when a car meet tries to be a car show but still has the overall function of a meet? How do the sponsors in the area determine that events worth? How do people building a car determine if that event is right for them? It’s one thing to be very specific about the style of the event, but those results are a mixed pot and at the end of the day means you’re doing something wrong.
With all the questions I’ve asked, I’m still trying to search for answers to them. One thing is for sure: two wrongs do not make a right, and we need to find a way to fix this. With your help we can, post your comments on this year’s events, whether it be a car meet, a car show, Forum Fest or Formula Drift, Fatlace or Tailored, let us know!
For sharing your opinion, we’ll pick a random comment and send that winner a first edition NWMotiv shirt & stickers!
What do YOU want to see in the local car show/meet scene?
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You hit the nail on the head, with Show’s turning into “meets”.. I know from first-hand experience, its going to be tough for a “meet” to draw the hardcore show crowd.(do they really want that anyways?)
They dont want to go through the hassle to bring the car out and set in a parking lot for a couple hours, for no return. (ie. no awards,no Real sponsor Exposure, mag coverage)
For a competitive Show enthusiast to determine which events he attends, there are several decisions that need to be made.
Is this event worthwhile to attend? why?
What kind of Crowd is going to be in attendance?
Awards? How many?
Parking along with Host Hotel’s make a big difference in gaining the “out of town” competitors.
For most people, Meets are nothing other than just that. a Gathering of local cars, you will usually see these “stanced” stock bodied cars with retarded fitment wheels. It seems today, there is way to much of a craze to see how wide or how crazy an offset you can achieve. This has taken a toll on the real “show cars” that go to insane lengths to modify.
Should you pay for a meet. NO! why pay to “meet” in a parking lot and sit there for no return of your investment? if there are vendors present, then support them!
Should all Car Shows have awards. Yes.. It isnt a “car show” if they are judged and competitive am I right? What do I get if I win?
cmon, for the effort it takes to build the car along with traveling to the show, setting it up, all to get a piece of paper, or a cheap placque is a slap in the face.
All in all, the Show organizer should have ultimate say in whether the car can or should be entered. Criteria for entering a show, or class at the very minimum.
The NW car scene is a fluctuating enigma, we are part of a constantly changing society that has it’s own highs, lows, peaks and crashes. What’s cool now might be considered ‘overdone’ next summer; it’s hard to predict what the next cool thing is.
I remember the Fast and Furious days, everyone rocked Honda’s and Jetta’s with underglow and painted brake drums. Then along came the HIN show movement, followed by a surge in the popularity of drifting, fitment and the rat-rod rust look.
Throughout each one of those movements the NW has produced amazing cars with creative and ingenious modifications that turn both heads and camera lenses.
What do I want to see in the local car scene?
Well first off, I just want to see more of the local car scene. Right now I’m busy every weekend driving all over the NW covering different events and I absolutely love it. There’s always something going on over here, from the big-ticket events like Forum Fest and Formula D to shows like Tailored and Exotics@RTC. There are drifting events at PGP and Evergreen a couple times a month, Rally races every once in a while and a plethora of other events that cater to off-roaders, low-riders and so-forth.
We have such a vibrant car community here in the NW, and it’s always depressing to hear people expressing their dislike for someone’s beloved project. The people around here will spend hours carefully rolling their fenders so that their new wheels fit just right, lose many hours of precious sleep just to get their motor running again, and stay up until the wee hours of the morning polishing their car so that other people might enjoy their work as well.
I want to see shows that cater to both the masses and the specialists. Sponsors will come to shows because that’s where their target market is. It’s much cheaper to set up a booth at Waterworks than to run a half-page add in Eurotuner. Our economy may be floundering at the moment but people will always find the time and the money to go out and do something they love. The internet allows for the organizations of meet-ups, drives and the like on a whim; everyone has a camera on them these days and that means more exposure for the scene.
I want to see more shows, we need to nurture our community. The people at the shows are our friends, neighbors, and forum bro’s. We need to build and fortify our community, regardless of what the latest cool new modification is.
Its not a coinsidence that the largest meets dont have “guests” “registries” etc. They have participants. The people have to buy into the meet for whatever reason. If the people are involved sponsors will follow. A perfect example could be the yearly nw toy run. Every year escalates to new highs with little organization and little planning. People coming together for different reasons. Now there no cars up on stands or mirrors but does there really have to be? When was the last time a magazine shoot look like a car at a car show?
What does the scene need? Fresh thinking, mixed with revisiting the old. Reward all paricipants, the least a show promoter could do is post pictures of every car in attendance. Often what ruins the scene is greed because formula d charges “X” amount i can get “X” amount at my event. Or vehicle that dont come to meets or small shows but they just show up take top prizes and then back to regular life. Imagine racing your garage built cars against NHRA pros. People who show want recognition period.
Im one of those guys who does his best to make it out to all the car shows, but the problem I have come across is shows that cost money and have a limited amount of cars and attendance because of it. For me $5 isnt a huge deal on top of gas because all of the shows seem to be Seattle or further south and I would already be driving over an hour to get there I dont want to pay ten bucks to see twenty cars that I just saw at forum fest.
I want to see all the little guys in the scene not just the few cars that enter at every meet with a certain look that plagues all of the cars in the show.
I think that every car that the owner feels is worthy of showing should show and if the entry fee was minimal I would be more than happy to buy from a vendor or a promotion tent.
These type of events need to be identified separately plain and simple: Meets should be free, anyone should feel like no matter what condition their vehicle is in, they should be a part of to share the experience without having to dish out cash.
Car shows should be WAY more organized that that of meets and should have awards being that ever since the beginning these type of events were created as a way of competing against other cars one on one or against other car crews. Don’t be creative and try mixing it up as it just looks ridiculous…
Should car shows always have trophies? Simple answer yes. You are paying to be judged and compete so you should get something back.
Should the organizer have ultimate say in what is allowed in the show and what isnt? Yes and No. If you organize a meet and want total control of what is entered then you can, you just have to post it as such. Some events do this with only allowing a certain amount of cars in or by selecting them through entrants. But in doing so your gona lose out on a bunch of people who dont have the ultra elite sponsored cars. I think events that allow more entrants in bring the bigger crowds. Look at forum fest anybody can enter and is growing very nicely over the 2yrs its been going.
Does the car community need meets? Yes meets bring the community together in a less competitive environment. If sponsors want to come to these then great and they should be supported by the people there. If the guys with high end sponsored cars dont want to come to the meets then okay thats there choice. But also know that when people see those really nice cars at meets there more likely to go and see them at meets cause they have connected with those people and there cars. Got to see it more up close and find out interesting things about it.
Too me the car scene is always gona have love and hate. Who are we to say to somebody that there car isnt nice. Yes we have our own opinions and thats fine your entitled to them. But your never gona have a car that is loved by all. What I think is nice may not be liked by others. What I think is a show winner may be looked by others as just another car. This is what makes the car scene but also divides the car scene. I think in the past year nwmotiv has done a good job of trying to mix all into there shows and events. Fast5 premiere was a meet but it brought a bunch of different car community’s together. Same with forum fest. Tons of different clubs all coming together. These are the shows and meets that make the car scene work. The shows that tailor to only a specific crowd well what happens when that fad goes away?