What did you think of the Canby Show?

[Bruce Palmer]

Not to hijack this thread but I want to ask what y'all thought of the event this weekend. This old boy had a hard time getting up this morning after walking X miles during the 2 days. I had not been involved in putting one of these together for quite a number of years and had forgotten how many

details there are that need to be chased after.

Anyway, any thoughts or comments of what we might do to make it a better event let us know by either an email to me or the webmaster at www.datsunsnw.org. Thanks for coming.

[ZSaint]

We had cars from Canada, Idaho, Washington, Nevada and California. I think the location is perfect. (Nice shade trees!) The club put everything in place and on time. Well organized! My wife was impressed that you gave out the awards and anounced the auction winners exactly on time. The car show was well populated and successful. We had a wonderful turn out of Datsuns.

Areas that we need to work on: We do need to build up the swap meet partcipation. This event is getting larger every year and it is time to bring in the big hitters. We need to see about getting some more goodies for the entrants. Trinkets and Trash are fairly easy to get and it means a lot to the entrants and workers.

(Whenever I saw Bruce he was laid back in his chair, resting. He also put up all of the signs on the property, EARLY. Nice job!)

[Arne]

My wife and I were there on both days, Bruce. And this was my first Datsun gathering, although I was quite active in the Brit-car scene for a number of years. So that's how I look at this - comparing to what I experienced with shows and such with my MG.

First, I'll have to agree with Loren - compared to when I was attending Brit-car functions in the early 90s, the swap meet was lame.

I'm also wondering about the costs to "show" the car. I understand that trophies and such are costly, but many of the nicest cars were not in the judged area, but just parked in the $5.00 group parking. For those of us with normal (i.e. not really rare) Datsuns, many of which are driven regularly, there's no way they want to pay $30 to allow them to compete against trailer queens.

Now I will grant - the majority of this year's crop were cars that were driven, not towed. But to pay $30 up front not knowing if you'll have to go up against some $30k restoration with a clean daily driver - well, I think that's why there were so many cars in the $5.00 lot.

The again, you can't please everyone...

[Mike]

Hey guys, I split this into its own thread. I did like the shade and the trees in the split area this year. It wasn't as hot and provided a nice place to keep cars cool. The areas were a bit split up. Frankly, I don' think you need to split up the competition cars against the non-competition. Perhaps make the price a bit cheaper and everyone can compete. Ie: one price for all cars.

[beandip]

I agree with arne . This is the reason I chose to park in the riffraff area. To me requiring a $30.00 preregistration 30 days in advance to show the car or $20.00 to be in the popularity contest . For a show like this is too much to ask. For me it is the principle of the thing. Make it $10.00 across the board and have categories that represent the different cars in fair comparisons. I was there Sunday only but from what I saw of the items for sale it was pathetic. I did enjoy the show and there were many beautiful cars there . It was great to visit and put a face to the names I have met here on this web site. I did expect to see a larger participation since it was all Datsuns not just Zs . The location is great , having the shade was vary nice . Gary

[Bruce Palmer]

I have been away for a few days on business but did want to follow up on this.

Arne, when you come up to visit the shop, which you still need to do, we need to get Loran and have lunch and kick you guy's suggestions around. We are having our monthly Datsuns NW meeting tonight and I'm interested in seeing what comes out in the discussion along these lines.

As it relates to the swap meet, other than putting the word out and waiting to see who shows up, I don't know what else to do. Datsunland SOCAL registered but didn't show. Any of the Jegg's kind of vendors would laugh at us.....

I'm also more than a little curious why a Good Guys street rod event as an example can charge $150+ to register and a regional Datsun meet put on by volunteers can't get people to willingly cough up $30 to support the effort right here at home. Just curious.

[Arne]

I really do plan on visiting the shop, Bruce, really, I do. But tearing myself away from the other 'have-tos' is tough. But I will, I promise.

As for the swap meet, it occurs to me that my previous swap meet experiences were all prior to the explosion of the Internet, and specifically pre-eBay. Perhaps what I perceive as poor vendor turn-out is normal these days. Used to be if a guy had a bunch of leftover parts when his car was done, he sold them at swap meets. These days they probably go on eBay instead. So maybe we can't expect much more than we got.

Lastly, I'm not the right guy to ask about the entry fees. I've never been much into having my cars judged, even the old MG after doing a 98% stock, bare-tub restoration. I don't mind paying admission, but I restore/build my cars to please me, not other people. (Well, I have to consider my wife too, or I'd never be able to do this stuff.) In fact, compared to the Brit-car scene, being able to pay a nominal fee to just park inside the grounds with all the rest of the cars was a revelation. At the All Brit Field Meet, if you didn't enter the concours or buy a swap meet booth, you couldn't bring your car onto the grounds. So if I was just attending one day to look at other cars, I had to park outside in the gravel with the SUVs. The $5 fee to park inside to me seems great.

[gogriz91]

from the looks of the cars and the weather, I'm thinking I should have been there instead of in Middle GA.

[Mike]

I'm also more than a little curious why a Good Guys street rod event as an example can charge $150+ to register and a regional Datsun meet put on by volunteers can't get people to willingly cough up $30 to support the effort right here at home. Just curious.

Because you gave them an "out" and the magical $20 threshold wasn't used. I say make the whole show a single price and charge 20 bucks. If you do the math, does it come out even?

Oh, and the advanced registration should be optional. If they show up the day of registration, make it $25.

-- Mike

[Bruce Palmer]

Arne,

The reason you weren't all that excited to show your british car was due to the fact you had a full time job just trying to keep the bodily fluids in the damn thing....... anyone who has ever owned one give us a silent amen.

On the swap meet front, I broached the subject tonight and one guy offered up the fact he has a bunch of parts but did not want to miss the happenings being tied to a vendor spot for 2 days. Just one point of view but valid from his standpoint.

The club is going to work on a site where we can do a Datsun swap meet or swap meet show and shine a couple of times a year......

Overall the comment cards from the show were very very positive.

[EScanlon]

I think that one of the main reasons you would see a Street Rod Event be able to charge $150 vs the $30 you were charging is that there are far more "American Steel" vehicles that can be modified and still classify in a Street Rod Event. Additionally, there are hundreds of models to choose from to do your modification. Then consider how easy it is to find a vehicle that you can modify AND find parts for it. Simply put, there are literally THOUSANDS of potential vehicles and just as many potential rodders out there for EACH Datsun/Nissan owner.

They have many times the vendors that supply them, they also have parts for any kind of restoration from bone stock to wild way out mod. There are also many vendors that supply "economy" items specifically geared for those that are just getting started, or are working with a smaller budget. Something that the Z's and Datsun's in general do NOT have.

There are currently only TWO known large houses of parts, Victoria British (now Black Dragon or something like that) and MotorSports. Compare that with JC Whitney, and COMBINE both catalogs and see who comes up short. Yes there are other smaller vendors, but there just aren't that many cars to properly support that many vendors providing custom parts. Heck, Sport Z magazine is going under....for lack of being able to discharge debt.

Let's face it, the Datsun/Nissan crowd is in the minority when compared to vehicles that can qualify for a Street Rod Event. So comparing what you can charge for a Street Rod Event with the Canby Show is like comparing an Eagles Concert with your local High School marching band playing at the Friday Night football game. Both are bound to be enjoyable, however, guess which one will draw more people? And by simple concatenation, which one can charge more for entrance fees?

In fact, the $150 may be that amount simply to act as a sifting screen and keep out many vehicles who may be a "Street Rod" but aren't Trailer/Garage Queens, nor have owners who can afford to dump $1,000 a month into their vehicle.

The $30 registration fee no later than 30 days BEFORE the show did exactly that...it limited registration to 1) Club Members; 2) People with plenty of disposable income; 3) People who didn't know you did NOT have to pre-register. This latter group of people found themselves hopelessly matched against vehicles that should have been in a different class.

There were people at the show who have publicly asserted that they could dump "several hundred" into their car monthly....and not be worried about it...IF it helped them win one of the awards (names withheld). That pretty much turns it into a rich person's game.

This being the Pacific North West, and the show coming at the same time frame as the Rose Festival...any bets that it could also have been rained out? What then, refunds? Probably not, so you'd be out the $30 bucks.

$20 on the day of the show for "People's Choice" turns out to be almost as slim odds as the lottery. Except they only charge a dollar and their pay out is bigger. But, then the Registered cars were not excluded from People's Choice, so your odds went down again.

Putting your Daily Driver, or your Weekend Pleasure Cruiser up against vehicles that are shown with mirrors under the frame, or have been professionally detailed before the show....take a wild guess as to which one would win in ANY class. The average owner/daily driver simply can't hope to compete fairly against someone who can throw money at any problem until it's resolved.

Enact slimmer categories and label them "Top Class" or some such label and charge $25....for the trailer queens, the rich boy toy's, and the restored by other's categories....yes 30 days in advance and give Trophies to them. That's what they are mostly after.

Enact slightly broader categories while keeping them focused, Stock 240, Stock 260, etc. Modified 240, that people can enter on the day of the show for $15. Let the driver select which one he wants to compete in. Charge $5 more for each ADDITIONAL category. These Categories win 5"x7" Certificates, as they used to do at Blue Lake years ago.

Have two People's Choice awards, one for the pre-registered vehicles and one for the ones that registered the day of the show.

Heck, have one certificate awarded within each category by vote of those who participated in that category only, or have them be their own judges while excluding their car.

These are all ideas to bring it back down to more of a grass roots level. Putting it simply, if I knew Jay Leno was going to bring a Z he owned to compete in a show that I was hoping to show at....well I can tell you that his car is bound to win...even though he drives his.

FWIW my 2¢

E

[Bruce Palmer]

... the kind of input the club needs. Why not join the club and help improve it from within? Meetings 3rd Wednesday at Tonkin NISSAN Wilsonville.... $24 a year.

We'll have a car corral at the Portland Historics stop by and have a chat....