Who's going? I have never been before so im looking forward to it, I am driving up from Memphis Tn on Wed morning to be there when it starts thursday, I went to Carlisle last year and it was awesome, how does Bloomington compare to Calisle? David

 

Bloomington Gold & Carlisle are much different shows. Carlisle is big w lots more parts and used items for sale. Bloomington has that but the cars for sale is big, certification of Corvettes is best judging in country, auction, Great Hall is amazing, etc.
Here is a link to brochure sent out for this year's event.
Thanks for attending.
http://www.bloomingtongold.com/docum...RegBro2012.pdf

Guy
B Gold

 

Size-wise, Bloomington is smaller. If there is a particular workshop you're interested in, sign up.

 

wanted to go but then i realized that's at least a 7 hour drive for me. maybe next year when it moves a bit closer!

 

I will be there
The 54 will getting judged

 

Ill be there all week as always.

 

BG is more for the affluent.. it does not appeal to the regular corvette guy..

want your car judged? 575$
20$ to get in
want to take a seminar class? 100$ for a 90 minute class.

want to sell your vette? 200$ to park in the for sale lot.

if you don't take your vette, plan on parking in the losers parking lot half a mile away. I drove my pickup and they sent me off on a several mile detour and I waited in line with a couple hundred other losers while one guy took our money.. took me 3 hours to drive there from Indy, and 2 hours in line waiting to get in..

never again...

 

I couldn't agree more. Went once with a buddy who wanted to have his car judged (I did not think the car was that special), and since I'm not a guy that ohs-and-ahs while cars get judged, I was bored.

BTW he was disappointed that his car did not do better, but then he did not sink his life savings in to making it perfect either.

And yes it was EXPENSIVE.

Carlisle is WAY better and in my opinion a lot more friendly.

 

Would Thursday be a better day to go??? I plan on driving my SUV in order to purchase some used parts and some new. Or, do sellers increase prices (no deals) at BG.. When I was doing MGA/Bs I'd go north of St.Charles in Feb. for a swap/sell and would get really good deals from both sellers and vendors. I'm 2 hours from St. Charles. I know FunFest in Effingham Illinois sellers had priced used parts out of my fair price, plus some had pieces that would only be good for boat anchors or junk yard. Some in put from those of you that have been to BG in the past? Stay home and treat myself to a steak and lobster night out??
Mike

 

Holy shh...What a rip-off. Somebody is making some dough on this. Where's the 'Poor Folks' Corvette meets? That's where I need to be. I'll spend my money on things like GAS so I can DRIVE my Vette and not be freaked out if I hit a bug!!!

 

Is it moving next year? I thought they just re-signed a long-term agreement with Pheasant Run.

Wow, I've been going for years and my experience has been totally different. I park at the Hotel directly across the main entrance. It's free parking and a 5 or 6 minute walk on a sidewalk to the front entrance. I've never had to wait in line for more than, like 2 minutes to buy my ticket if even that. Usually I walk up and just pay. I go on Saturday though, and usually don't get there until 9:00am.

I can understand why some people feel this way. It's definitely higher end in many regards, higher end cars, more collectable type of cars, few if any customs or rods. I think a lot of what you see at B/G is the result of it's 80's heyday roots when restorers were just starting to get into restoring Straight-Axle and Mid-year cars. That's when restoring Corvettes and Corvette collectibility really took off. I worked for a Corvette restorer in this era and saw the whole thing. Back then, if you were in this set, you were looking for the 67 big tank barn find that was easy to make $20k on, or that 57 big-brake car that you could flip for a quick buck. And there were a lot of cars in barns and sheds back then too. You didn't even consider a shark anything collectible because they were still contemporary cars. And if you did have one, at least in the circles of the guys I was working for at the time, you had an excuse like, 'It's a customer's car and he doesn't know what he's doing." The guy I worked for wouldn't even perform an oil change on a shark corvette if you waved the cash in front of him.

I think it helps to understand the past because it helps gain perspective on how the current show got to where it is today. B/G as much as any car show has been trasformed by money, technology and an aging owner set. I say, Money, because the amazing escallation in price of early models has changed the demeanor of the owner crowd, and the Internet has neutered the importance of the swap area. Age because you see an astonishing number of older gentlemen with silver hair, big guts and plenty of battery powered scooters.

The venue while 'stuffy' to some HAD to change to keep up with the market and demographic changes. How many owners of $50k+ and $100k+ Corvettes, senior citizens no less, want to hang out in a dusty mowed down hay field for a weekend? I like the environment, but it does tend to add a certain 'stuffiness' to it. OTOH, it also adds a sort of unique elegence as well. We all don't often get to go to car shows that are well organized in well-manacured grounds that much, so I apprecitate it for what it is, even though it may not suit some of our style for the other 364 days of the year. But the demographics do tend to make it more snooty, no doubt. I try to ignore it as much as I can. The swap area is really just a token event. It really wouldn't have to even exist for the show to continue. Ebay and aftermarket websites have pretty much ended any great 'steals' anymore. But it's nice to see new products up close and talk to other sellers. I like to walk through the isles, but I know guys that bring parts don't really make much anymore at the shows. Seems like most of them do it more for tradition than profit. Some have been doing it for so long, it's just a part of their social calendar. I tend to think of B/G more like a business trade show for Corvettes, than a grass roots car show.

Where does it leave us Shark owners? Well, early chrome bumper sharks are seeing their 'day' and many are gobbled up by the same owners of the aformentioned higher priced vetts. By many aspects, owners of mid-70s and beyond Sharks and C4's ,are currently in the position that the original B/G founders were in years ago during the 80's: limited budgets, barn and garage finds easy to come by, resourceful restorers, seeking parts to remake thier aged car. We would probably fit in really well if we could transport back to the Bloomington (IL) grounds of the early 80's. It's almost like it's gone full circle for the next generation of Corvettes (sharks). In some ways, that's what Carlisle is like (only on steroids) and probably why a lot of Shark owners really like Carlisle. It really does cater to the 'average' guy in a way B/G does not. To me, it'll be interesting to see where B/G goes 10-15 years from now when a good number of the current baby boomers can no longer make it or aren't around. I think there will be another crossroads to take, it'll be even more interesting where current shark owners fit in. The one thing I always like to see is the rare grandpa who is taking his grandson to B/G and telling him the stories of the 'old days' in their corvettes. Passing on to the next generation.

Well, that's my good-for-nuthin take on the state of B/G

 

Vicki and I will be there with a display on the golf course walkway near the dealer displays, next to Corvette Central and across from Mid America Motorworks, to promote the upcoming Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show coming up in November.

Personally, we love the show; a beautiful setting, outstanding staff and customer service, a cool Mecum Auction, plenty of vendors inside and out and an amazing variety of beautiful Corvettes of every generation. May be the best setting for taking photos too!

We will be in space GC21a, and we hope to see you there.

Bob Ashton
MCACN Managing Member
www.mcacn.com

 

We went a few years ago with our 78 silver anniversary car.....entered it in all three classes

Survivor
Gold Certification
Benchmark

The car scored high in all three classes...and we were treated extremely nice......the whole experience was awesome. We are working class folks that had a no previous corvette shows to compare to. It's a long way from Oklahoma to Illinois though and it may be a few years before we can make it again. We loved it!

 

Bloomington is moving to Champaign, IL which is a lot closer to Bloomington, IL, next year. U of Illinois grounds. This is the last year at Pheasant run.

Interesting all the comments about "snooty" vs "regular" Corvette people. Corvette people for the most part have often been called snooty by the "regular" (?) owners of other cars over the years. Have prices on certain years, or types of Corvettes caused a split in the Corvette owners themselves that didn't exist before?

 

Come enjoy the show this weekend! Should be one of those hot Midwestern summer shows, but beautiful on the golf course. More new & used Corvettes for sale than anywhere... GM bringing half dozen new 2013s.... GM Ride & Drive.... Mecum Auction on Saturday... Lots of judging....
Hot dogs, apple pie, & Chevrolet ! ...and Bloomington Gold Corvettes.

Thank you for coming
Guy
B Gold

 

I have never been to any of the big ones, but this sounds like a good time: FUNFEST LINK
Anyone ever been to it? It sounds laid back and reasonable. I may try to make it one of these times...

 

Good or bad still looking forward to it

 

We live roughly 15 minutes away, hard to pass it up.

 

Champaign?
Bummer...
St. Charles is a nice little drive for me- Not sure I'd venture out 3 hours to Champaign in the Vette though

I'm out of town for this year's event so it may be a while till I go again.
Too bad- It is an event worth seeing.
Elm

 

Update: Construction on North Avenue is very minimal. Work is not on the road itself, but on the shoulders for widening. Short stretch to the east of Pheasant Run. Road is clean, and traffic was slowed for a short stretch.
There are alternate routes that have been posted on the Forums.
Come on out - looks like great weather, lots of great Corvettes!
Thanks for attending,
Guy
B Gold