l.a.r.s. disapointment 2014

This was the worst turn out I have ever seen they told us most of the swap meet left after sat. many of them were packing up by 10 am. sun. no waiting in line to get in and you could walk right up and get a beer witch was a good thing a lot of the people we talked to said the think l.a. roadster club has made itself so exclusive to join that it discourages young people to join and all the old farts like us have died off I don't really know But the last time I went was I think 2008 or 09 I was at the first one in 1964 with the Studebaker we ran at bvill but this year was vary disappointing. .....ted

Yeah, there's lots of us that don't like the snobbery of having to have a "real car" according to LA Roadster club and there band of followers standards.... I went once, many years ago, no desire to ever go again!

Sorry to read your report Ted. It doesn't bode well for their future.

It'll be interesting to see what the "greybeards" group says about their weekend and the show. It's sad to hear that it was declining attendance and vendors pulling up stakes early as it was their 50th anniversary, touted as being something special this year.

I've been going for many years and I thought the turnout this year was great. Tons of roadsters and the preferred parking lot was so full Saturday you couldn't get through it all. Cars from all over the country were there. The souvenir stands sold out earlier than ever before.

The swap meet always starts ending early on Sunday and quite a few swappers don't return on Sunday. They start giving the mugs to the roadsters about 1:00 or so. If you only went on Sunday, it would seem a little weak.

Mick

Turnout was fantastic, supposedly a record number of roadsters. The club has a requirement of the car being a roadster (36 and earlier) and must have shiney paint......their show, their rules. They have a separate parking area for cars not meeting the standard. Friday was packed as was Saturday. Building 4 vendors could not leave until 4 pm Sunday. Lots of out of town cars needed to go home and I'm sure swappers needed to leave also thus the Sunday exit. Show was a darned good one. Some gripe about their club but, for an amateur presentation, they do a good job. Like Mick said, the souvenir sale tent was a mob all day. Heard they ran out of some stuff by noon Saturday. Some really nice cars, no way could a person absorb the entire show in one day. Only gripe was crappy food and $11 beers....but that's part of the Fairground package that is forced on the club. Didnt hear of any bargains in the swap meet but did hear some high $$ sales numbers from some vendors.

I have been following the coverage from one of our rodders who is a NZ magazine contributer on Faceache and the photo's he has posted tells me just how much I have missed out on. The outside carparks look as if one would need a day or two just to get around having a good study of the cars there let alone the show inside the Pavilions. Did anybody notice the A pickup from NZer Mike Roberts who was invited to show his vehicle in one of the pavilions ?

The OP must be smokin the wacky tabacky.
Just got back from a 10 day road trip out there and back. (2800 miles)
Record # of roadsters (over 1000 ) and they don't give out the mugs until 3:30 Sunday
Preferred parking was PACKED as was the swap meet, (if ya got there early you would have seen that Ted)
Just like any other swap meet ya go to, the good stuff gets sold and vendor go home.
I say this all from experiance as I've been to 49 of the 50.
Got any ?'s just ask me.
To many naysayers here.

Well sun. was the only day I could go and went with 4 other guys who go every year and we got there at 730 a.m and stayed till 300 p.m. and you can say what you want but fathers day was always the biggest day before but it sucked this year ...ted

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Originally Posted by DA34GUY

The OP must be smokin the wacky tabacky.
Just got back from a 10 day road trip out there and back. (2800 miles)
Record # of roadsters (over 1000 ) and they don't give out the mugs until 3:30 Sunday
Preferred parking was PACKED as was the swap meet, (if ya got there early you would have seen that Ted)
Just like any other swap meet ya go to, the good stuff gets sold and vendor go home.
I say this all from experiance as I've been to 49 of the 50.
Got any ?'s just ask me.
To many naysayers here.

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Might get there one day.. hehe..Hey,Don,,how's your buddy,with the new stent?? All good?? better get on the Greybeards page and look for pix.. kool..

Buddy Green is doin well and back @ home in KY.
Fellow Greybeard and his wife picked up the car @ Scootings house in Rio Rancho NM and are delivering it back to him in KY on their way home to N.C.
How's that for true hot rodders.

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Originally Posted by DA34GUY

Buddy Green is doin well and back @ home in KY.
Fellow Greybeard and his wife picked up the car @ Scootings house in Rio Rancho NM and are delivering it back to him in KY on their way home to N.C.
How's that for true hot rodders.

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Pleased to hear that,Don..not the way the poor guy would want to spend his annual Greybeard adventure to the ''other side'' of the country..I feel for him,,and of course,Roger,too.

I guess it could boil down to expectations. It used to be that Sunday was THE day, most memorably when it was at the long gone Great Western Exhibit Center. You got in the Conga line at 0 dark thirty, got entertained by Jack Stewart at the gate, and then set up your booth...only to clear out at the end of the day if you had take homes. I would guess that the Fairplex is expensive enough that two day event (or three if you count "setup" Friday) helps make it pay.

We went down this year with full intent to hit the grounds Saturday morning bright and early but I ended up being a bit under the weather most of the day. Fortunately we made the trip with a couple other objectives which got accomplished and a bonus. Ken Thurm and his wife set up a dinner Sat night with us and Mike (Robot) and his bride.........great time. Ken is healing well (staples were supposed to come out yesterday), and as a bonus I got some of Mike's money for some flathead parts (how do you top that!?) Would have liked to have made the LARS as most reports had it as a big one, but................that's life.

Uncle Bob got my $$ because I needed the parts now, couldnt wait for the estate sale. Let's hope that sale is a loooooong way off.

Roadster show turnout was excellent. In my opinion the quality of cars is better each year, a lot of worthwhile stuff to look at and drool over. Swap meet was as large as ever, preferred parking with non roadster cars was huge, and I saw no commercial vendors leaving. I was hunting for items with them most of Sat afternoon, many were pleased with their sales. Comments about the LA Roadsters being high toned - Each year I meet more of them and have not found that to be true. If you are complaining about a group wanting to have a club with cars of similar interest, what about the Deuce Club, Fab Forty's, Thunderbird clubs, Tri 5 Chevys, Corvette clubs - the list could be endless. I think it is great that this club wants to put on such a strong show and visitors are not only nationwide but worldwide. Good for them.

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Originally Posted by Scooting

Roadster show turnout was excellent. In my opinion the quality of cars is better each year, a lot of worthwhile stuff to look at and drool over. Swap meet was as large as ever, preferred parking with non roadster cars was huge, and I saw no commercial vendors leaving. I was hunting for items with them most of Sat afternoon, many were pleased with their sales. Comments about the LA Roadsters being high toned - Each year I meet more of them and have not found that to be true. If you are complaining about a group wanting to have a club with cars of similar interest, what about the Deuce Club, Fab Forty's, Thunderbird clubs, Tri 5 Chevys, Corvette clubs - the list could be endless. I think it is great that this club wants to put on such a strong show and visitors are not only nationwide but worldwide. Good for them.

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As far as the visitors go,,yup,,world wide would be right.. There were more Kiwi hotrodders there than left at home I think.. Heard some stories already.. hehe..It's on my bucket list.. ;)

Me too Robin, the show is a must do before anything else in this screwed up world we so call enjoy living in. The photo's posted on Faceache from Greg Stokes has been excellent and then with the add ons like the open house shows etc at the Rod Shops I can see why one would need to allow a couple of weeks in the LA area just for this event. Paul, the editor of NZHRM was there working a stand with the editor of Rodding USA and was really rapped at the amount of people from Europe, UK, Aussie and New Zealand that took time to drop by and say hi so that says a lot about the effort that the organizers put in to the show to make it the success it is and has been over all these years.

Ha bob I went there with thane and allen Jensen we tried to catch up with junior Conway but never did but when we got back junior said that jack stewart dad a stroke about a month ago but was a minor one so he went to lars but had another one wile he was there and left in an ambulance I will let you know if I get an update.....ted

Thanks for the info Ted. Sad to hear, but at this point in life we just keep hearing this kind of story. I hope he can find a way to have just a bit more time.

Used to be we'd go to weddings; and all the aunties would nudge you in the ribs and say "You're next, you're next."

Then the funerals started; and it was our turn to nudge the old aunties in the ribs and say "You're next, you're next."

Now we go to funerals and look around at all our mates and think "Who's next?" :HMMM:

It's a bugger; but that's the way it goes.