Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Jon H · 1K+ Club

2015 Car Craft

John D · 2K+ Club

No intel, but if anywhere my guess is they'd move it back to IL.

Lost in the 60s · President

Why would they move it ?? It's not like they are running out of room...

Too expensive to rent ?

John D · 2K+ Club

$$$ draw... Mpls/St. Paul in-toto is 1/10 of the population of the BURBS of Chicago. Our state's entire population is equal to the population of Chicago proper. They could cut the fee for the gate in 1/2 and make more the 1st day than the entire weekend in Mpls.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Car Craft already does the Street Machine Nationals in Du Quoin, IL each June. They came out right during Car Craft nationals here in St. Paul last month and said they had another record year of participants. I cant see them going somewhere else and not coming back to MN next year.

68chevelle · Member

Car Craft Magazine Summer Nationals had another record year with 6385 cars in attendance.This is really hard to believe they would just yank one of the biggest car shows that Family Events puts on. This topic comes up every year. If Car craft moves out there will be someone right behind them to take over. This is a huge money maker for the fair grounds and the local businesses around. This year they had more Venders in general.

bowtie · Secretary

Though JD makes a good point with the populations, CC isn't selling this to the general population. It's more like a self-serving promotion to reinforce the brand. Like ChrisR, I can't see them duplicating a show in the same area. This is a good gig since we have the short season, so we celebrate our cars even more. With the '50s being age restricted, CC swoops in to fill the street machine and muscle car void.

here's how I see it: Aside from the Chicago area and maybe Indy, this best place for a mid-summer show in the entire Midwest. Out west in the perfect weather, shows are common enough that they aren't going to seem as special.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

I haven't heard anything...and I stay in pretty steady contact with most of the magazine pukes. If I hear anything I'll let you know, but the DuQuoin deal is kind of a Pro Street-focused thing and the St. Paul deal is a more general "what's happening now" kind of groove. As long as they are both profitable, they will both live.

Frankly, I feel the DuQuoin thing might have a limited lifespan. How many years will people pay to see a Pro Street Reunion? We already got tired of those cars once, 25 yrs ago. It's neat seeing them again, but...enough might be enough after a while. There are rumblings about new Pro Street cars being built to debut there, blah blah blah...but I can't see it being a new trend or movement in the aftermarket.

So, I'm not worried about CC losing St. Paul. They just gained the 2 big PHR events (the Muscle Car Shootout and the Engine Masters Challenge) so they might kill the Real Street Eliminator deal out here since its so much like the Muscle Car Shootout...but that's about the biggest change I can see on the horizon. If they were smart, they'd make that Muscle Car Shootout thing into a series and have RSE be one of the qualifying events...but if they listened to me I'd still be running the Engine Masters Challenge too..

bowtie · Secretary

Scott Parkhurst wrote:
....If they were smart, they'd make that Muscle Car Shootout thing into a series and have RSE be one of the qualifying events...but if they listened to me I'd still be running the Engine Masters Challenge too..

Hmmmm, an event being turned into a qualifying event as part of a series. You know something about doing that right? ;)

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

A little bit, ya..LOL!!

68chevelle · Member

Looks like its going to be Street Machine Nationals next year in st paul next July. Did Family events and Car craft split?

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Maybe its a simple name change. They used to call it the Car Craft Summer Cruise.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Family Events is still involved. Here's the website link: 2015 Car Craft

Back in Black · Active Member

Sounds like the same event to me but with no magazine name attached to it.

registration.familyevents.com/fasttrack/website/fast%20FACTS%202015%20smsn%20st%20paul-forweb.pdf

$40 if you register before Jan 1st 2015!

-- Edited by Back in Black on Saturday 27th of September 2014 08:42:08 PM

SShink · 3K+ Club

Back in Black wrote:
Sounds like the same event to me but with no magazine name attached to it.

registration.familyevents.com/fasttrack/website/fast%20FACTS%202015%20smsn%20st%20paul-forweb.pdf

-- Edited by Back in Black on Saturday 27th of September 2014 08:38:40 PM

Hmmm guess I missed it isn't sponsored by Car Craft mag any more...

Back in Black · Active Member

SShink wrote:
Back in Black wrote:
Sounds like the same event to me but with no magazine name attached to it.

registration.familyevents.com/fasttrack/website/fast%20FACTS%202015%20smsn%20st%20paul-forweb.pdf

-- Edited by Back in Black on Saturday 27th of September 2014 08:38:40 PM
Hmmm guess I missed it isn't sponsored by Car Craft mag any more...

Looks like it is but not nearly as prominently as in past years. On the Family Events website in the upper left it shows Car Craft when the event name pops up:

http://www.streetmachinenationals.net/information

stldrgn · Member

From what I have heard from visitors from other states they are treated like crap. When a couple 60 year old guys are harassed by the local authorities for talking in a parking lot by there cars there is something wrong. I have heard many people from other states also say they will not be back to btt 50's because of this. Remember the btt 50's when they closed most every road to university from the fairgrounds? This was around the time they where wetting down the roads on Friday Saturday nights? It does not set well with many people this state is not car of fun friendly unless you drive a prius of sht. They have done there best to end it all no one is allowed to cruise and hang out any more so he kids just sit around and smoke meth and text when they could be cruising university or another strip and socializing. But nope we have not in my town bs which is also why we do not have a local drag strip. The company that was fully funded to build a 4 lane 1/4 mile track and a 7/8 nascar track was shoot down many times, until they said f it and left the state. The track would make more money than the worthless Vikings stadium argue all you want they only make the owner money and make you spend yours on a worthless team. Thousands would come to the track and dump money into the economy from every angle it would have created a lot of jobs which are not here along with something to do.

-- Edited by stldrgn on Wednesday 1st of October 2014 05:22:14 PM

stldrgn · Member

68chevelle wrote:
Looks like its going to be Street Machine Nationals next year in st paul next July. Did Family events and Car craft split?

We used to have those but it's been over 20 years as far as I remember

bowtie · Secretary

I believe it's just a name change, Car Craft might have stepped down it's level of sponsorship.

SShink · 3K+ Club

The main thing is that we still have something to look forward to next summer when we are stuck inside this winter!

Dan Williams · Active Member

Just got back from Springfield Ill for the Route 66 family events show. It has always been sponsored by Mothers polish but they dropped out this year. The weather was great this year, been cold and crappy the last 3-4 years. Car numbers were good, vendors were waaay down (sadly including food). Kind of wonder if they will be able to keep it going. Couple of thousand cars, was told over 80,000 spectators. One of the few free admission events Family Events does. Probably my favorite non-Chevelle only show. It is a great time no matter what.

Lost in the 60s · President

I can understand Car Craft backing down on sponsorship money. Seems magazines are barely staying alive anymore in this electronic age, and the funds probably aren't there for things like this.

Maybe Mother's polish has peaked in the market too and is being usurped by others and losing income too.

Another factor may be that the market is soooooo flooded with car events that sponsors may be getting stretched too thin. The last 6-8 years seems like businesses caught on that classic/muscle cars draw crowds and the number of shows/events around here mushroomed greatly. This may be a leveling off or tapering back on that trend.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

Things are taming down a lot- for a lot of reasons.

2 of the biggest reasons are that the 'next generation' isn't moving in to keep the numbers up (the muscle car crowd kind of inherited the big shows from the street rod guys, but no new group is ready join the shows now that the muscle car crowd isn't growing anymore) and for a lot of guys who want really cool fast cars, the new stuff is actually pretty killer. I mean, 600-700hp can be had off the showroom floor if you want it. I know one of the reasons I got into modifying cars was because the stock stuff was junk. That's simply not the case anymore.

Times they are a-changin'...

SShink · 3K+ Club

Scott Parkhurst wrote:
Things are taming down a lot- for a lot of reasons.

2 of the biggest reasons are that the 'next generation' isn't moving in to keep the numbers up (the muscle car crowd kind of inherited the big shows from the street rod guys, but no new group is ready join the shows now that the muscle car crowd isn't growing anymore) and for a lot of guys who want really cool fast cars, the new stuff is actually pretty killer. I mean, 600-700hp can be had off the showroom floor if you want it. I know one of the reasons I got into modifying cars was because the stock stuff was junk. That's simply not the case anymore.

Times they are a-changin'...

Scott, I've been saying for 10 years now that the street rod scene is going to slow down as the old guys get out of the scene, but that hasn't happened yet with 12K cars at BTF's, so I'm not sure what is happening to keep it strong.

Seems like guys like me in their early 50's and 60's are keeping the muscle car thing going, but I would suspect that should slow down over the next 15-20 years too.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

Stan-

That's a local anomaly. Unlike most places, young guys here are really into the older cars. You probably noticed an uptick in the numbers of rat rods at BTT50s - I know I have. I know a lot of those guys locally and they are super cool and into building their own stuff. But that doesn't happen everywhere.

The NSRA is really suffering. They extended their year limit to open the doors to more potential members, and their big event in Louisville was below 10,000 cars. That's still a lot of cars, but less than a decade ago they were getting 15,000 cars that were all pre-'49.

GoodGuys has also opened up to newer cars at their events to get more participation. It's working for now, but again - the number of classic car owners isn't growing. It's still easy to sell older cars now, but the experience of the Model T crowd (and later, the Model A restorers) cannot be taken lightly. Once the demand is down, the prices soon follow.

These big shows will all go away eventually. There simply aren't enough enthusiasts to sustain them for the long term. But we will be able to enjoy them for a few more years, and we've been fortunate enough to experience them in our lifetime. That's hard to complain about.

bowtie · Secretary

The nice thing is that smaller "big" shows will probably take their place, and then one will become the dominant force. I think the CC show has a good thing going with being open to all makes/models. The purists will poo-poo stock modern vehicles and imports, but most modern daily driver vehicles are globally designed so they are all look alike. It's the special models we want to see anyway, those are the future of Hot Rodding.

Scott's newest car, for example, was in the same position back in 1986/1987. It was special. The Hurst/Olds, Monte SS, and T-Type Regals back then are the same. Oddly enough, the Camaros and 5.0 mustangs from that same era really didn't hit until several years after. Maybe it was because of the technology advances happening in that era too, there weren't too many companies willing to buy a car and pull it apart just to see how they could improve it.

I think we're lucky right now because of all the pushing by the OEMs on the new models. Normally, it takes about 20 years for a model to really have that cult following, and for some models now, it's already here. The aftermarket plays a huge part in offering so many things at the same time as the model is being released, and we can thank SEMA for that. They have really coordinated the aftermarket and OEMs to make that happen with special measuring days, and now the SEMA garage. When a vehicle can be brought in and within a few hours, a prototype of a part can be made using the CAD plotter and 3D printer. Amazing compared to yesteryear.

Who knows, maybe someone will take the reigns and create a new show. The trend is vehicles that show AND go. The Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational is skimming the top off with their series at tracks across the country, and maybe there will be smaller versions popping up? Personally, I prefer seeing mobile shows like a giant Real Street Eliminator or even a massive cruise like Power Tour (or Cruise for Troops!) vs parking lot ones where a stray cloud puts people in a panic.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

Actually, the biggest growth we've seen in 'car shows' has been 'Cars & Coffee' events...

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

www.roadandtrack.com/go/future-cars/2015-chevrolet-corvette-z06-official-performance-numbers

It's almost not fair. New Vette runs 10s for 80K w/ a warranty...and they handle pretty nice too.

We used to LOVE pulling up to new cars at stoplights in hot rods. Dusting off a new Mustang, Camaro or Corvette was one of the true joys of owning a hopped up old car.
Now the Vettes are running 10s. That's enough to take some of the wind out of my sails about building another hot muscle car.

If I build a traditional kustom, there won't be any performance expectation. Maybe that the wiser move?

bowtie · Secretary

Just found out that Detroit Muscle TV is the new Media Partner.

Usually a new main partner/sponsor brings some new ideas in, though Family Events is the promoter so they may still control it all.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

The bigger news (to me) is that Car Craft is officially off the deal.

The Detroit Muscle show (used to be Horsepower TV, used to be Hot Rod TV) is a good fit for the event. We'll have to see how much they really engage with the crowd.

It obviously means things like the Real Street Eliminator competition are gone. We'll have to see what (if any) contests/competitions they decide to bring with them.

www.streetmachinenationals.net/news-item/880

SShink · 3K+ Club

Well, the good news is they lowered the rates for an early bird registration:

REGISTER YOUR RIDE - SAVE $$$
Early Bird (before Jan 31) - $40
Pre-Registratino (Feb. 1 - July 10) - $45
On-Site (starting Thurs. July 16) - $65

Looks like RSE will become this:

Street Machine & Muscle Car Challenge - This contest showcases the braking, handling, and horsepower-generating abilities of some of the top cars in the nation - with one car reigning Best Above The Rest.

bowtie · Secretary

RSE becomes the SMMCC.