I Hate Show Cars

"jlmounce" (jlmounce) 03/18/2014 at 13:21 • Filed to: Show Cars

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Maybe hate is a bit drastic. I tend to lean towards the fact that any car hobby is good for the car hobby as a whole. Perhaps I should say that I don't understand show cars.

I like walking through a good show as much as the next guy. Here's a challenge though. Go to one of the big events like Good Guys and start popping open radiator caps. Odds are you'll find more than a few high dollar builds that have empty radiators. Cars that are built, trailered and showed as nothing more than a piece of art. They don't run at the time and many of them won't see more than an excursion across an auction block.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! really got me thinking about that. A nice Trans Am hood with an unfortunate hole cut out of it. I argue that while this hood may never be perfect again, a good body man can make it more than acceptable. For a car that's built to drive, do you want or need more?

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I'll use my own Firebird as an example. Although I've rebuilt or replaced most everything on that car, I've kept as much of the factory items as I could. One glaring point that people ask me about are the headlight surrounds. The chrome is pitted or pitting. At the end of the day, those parts are cheap. Why not just replace them? Why? because I plan to drive that car. Drive the crap out of it actually. A few pits in the chrome are the least of the worries I have for the front end.

Those flaws that aren't obsessed over give the car character and add to it's story. For me, I want my car's story to be told in lap times, rock chips and broken parts. Not in a digital photo album next to a hermetically sealed bubble.

jkm7680 > jlmounce 03/18/2014 at 13:25

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Good points! Cars are meant to be driven, not just pretty objects that you lust after. A weekend driver is nice, a dysfunctional show car serves no other purpose but taking up space and getting attention. If somebody wanted a car that only serves a purpose as a show car, might as well just buy the shell.

Again, good points I agree fully.

Jayhawk Jake > jlmounce 03/18/2014 at 13:29

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A completely restored, super clean car? Sure. I get that. Cars that are modified to be show cars, with crazy modifications that serve no purpose other than to show off? I don't get it at all.

lone_liberal > jlmounce 03/18/2014 at 13:44

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I mostly agree with you. If a car doesn't drive then it isn't a car, it's a statue. The same can be said for "barn find" cars that are left in the derelict condition they're found in. The only real purpose I can see for show cars is to give people ideas of things they can do to their own (real) cars.

crowmolly > jlmounce 03/18/2014 at 13:48

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I will respectfully disagree with you- but not without first mentioning that my personal car is built as a driver to wail on and not a show piece.

It's one thing if your 20-50k cruiser gets a rock chip or gets dinged by some idiot not paying attention. It's another if you have 20-50k in paint alone.

Example: I have a friend who drives a superformance GT40 on the street. A replica but an extremely high dollar one. Flew around the country and sometimes the globe to collect original parts- right down to the gearbox, G/W heads, and so forth. He wanted to drive the piss out of the car.

Lady putting on hand cream wasn't paying attention and rear-ended him at a stoplight. How you miss a bright blue and orange GT40 with open exhaust pointed back at you I'll never know. But after seeing what he had to go through to get the car back to normal I understand why some guys just don't want the stress and hassle of all the BS out on the roads.

camaroboy68ss > jlmounce 03/18/2014 at 14:07

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I understand where you are coming from on being stumped on show cars. It never made much sense to put half a million in a car that doesn't get driven. Then one day I began to think of it differently. Most show cars get shown in ISCA (international show car association) shows. So look at them as a competition vehicle in the light of a F1, NASCAR,Drag car. These cars are specifically built for one purpose. They all compete for points, championships and wins/awards. It kinda makes more sense when you look at it like that.

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > jlmounce 03/18/2014 at 15:55

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I am inclined to have the same opinion as camaroboy68ss . There are several different types of car shows, just like there are different types of auto racing. I have attended many. And just like the crowd is different for NASCAR compared to F1, there is a different crowd for a Dub show as compared to a Concourse show. I also believe that some cars are so rare and significant that they should be considered art and displayed as such. I've only seen the 'rare and significant' at less than a handful of Concourse D'Elegance shows so that list is pretty short.

I have a highly modified car that I also show; no, its not donked, it has a race setup. My philosophy on why I show my car is not just for trophies and awards, but allow the public to know it exists, its heritage, and to see it up close and personal. Many shows I attend are in conjunction with my car club and my point is it's not just a show car, it was designed as a world class performance vehicle. I have won my fair share of awards, trophies, and accolades, but for me, that really isn't the point.

I also drive the tires off my car (two or three times annually). So I drive my car to the shows, to the races, and on road trips. Yes, it has flaws, but that doesn't detract from the fact that many people have never seen one in person. I, personally, would never own a 'trailer queen' show piece, those guys have a totally different mindset than I. But I don't knock them for it because whatever gets the younger generation interested in car culture is a good thing, who knows where it may lead.

WZAnon > crowmolly 03/18/2014 at 21:57

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Thats occupational hazard for any car man. And a car isn't the same as a Fabergé egg or a timepiece from IWC. Those items don't have the same purpose a car does, even though all have an art quality to them. I feel bad that the GT40 got hit, but your friend will recover and that accident is no reason to strip it for a show car. I mean he did have a warranty right? and even if he didn't, he has enough money to pay for repairs right?

crowmolly > WZAnon 03/19/2014 at 09:13

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By warranty I assume you mean insurance? If so, then yeah, but try getting the other person's insurance to pay for very expensive repairs to a rare car. In this case they did not want to play nice. And yes, he could have paid himself and claimed for reimbursement but if it didn't work out he would have been on the hook.

On top of that his GT40 was/is a replica and it was only rear end damage so parts were available. Other rare cars are nowhere near as lucky. Insurance can pay out what "they feel" is the value but you're fucked anyway- it can't be repaired back to the way it was. If the minivan had hit him harder all of the rare engine and trans parts he had collected would have been gone to the ether.

I get the whole "cars are made to be driven" thing but that is typically spoken by people who don't comprehend how truly dicked you are if something bad were to happen while driving a rare and valuable car. This is exactly why Hagerty, Grundy, and all of those guys require you to own a daily driver and have rules against driving the car to work.

evilfacelessturtle (Hooning a Ford is Domestic Abuse) > jlmounce 03/21/2014 at 01:56

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Agreed entirely. As a guitarist, I have the same distaste for collectors who never actually play their guitars, they just hang them on a wall or leave them in the case, as well as jacking up the prices for those of us who actually want to enjoy them. Nobody is buying a $10k '59 Les Paul replica to play out with, they're buying them as investments.

I have a similar issue with stanced cars (which my brother loves for some reason). They're customized for aesthetic purposes (which don't even look any better than a normal setup to me) at the expense of drive-ability.

evilfacelessturtle (Hooning a Ford is Domestic Abuse) > crowmolly 03/21/2014 at 01:58

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Something like that I would only track or take to autocross. The roads are a dangerous place these days with such distracted and just plain incompetent drivers on the road. The same reason I wouldn't DD a Fiero as much as I'd like to. All it takes is one texting soccer mom in a Tahoe and you're history.

WZAnon > crowmolly 03/21/2014 at 18:21

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But can those "trophy" rules apply to a car? A machine made for a specific purpose in this case is different. A Mercury Cougar or Plymouth Superbird isn't allowed to be driven? A Lamborghini Miura? Parts not available is another occupational hazard. Hard to beat "time". All the more reason to drive the cars even more.

Let's go one step further: If it was a actual 1967 Ford GT40 and got hit, I would say that is an amazing track record of a 40+ year old car having its first accident. Again, I'm just as insane about wanting to keep a car forever, but you have to be realistic to the pros and cons.