(RANT)...Car Show Patrons
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,979
Likes: 743
From: PA
Never had anything like that happen, but I've had it happen to friends. I personally prefer Corvette only shows. Everyone there seems to have equal respect and use care when looking at the cars. And there usually aren't small kids or bikes around the cars.
Was at a car show a couple years ago and the lot was not paved. It was old gravel and dirt. Anyhow, this guy brought a black and silver 57 Bel Aire, mint condition, and some little kid wanted to look inside. The kid grabbed the door (window down) and put his shoe(foot) on the side of the door and pulled himself up! Scratched the shiznit out of the paint when his foot didn't hold and slid down the door. The owner was more than a little mad.
Was at a car show a couple years ago and the lot was not paved. It was old gravel and dirt. Anyhow, this guy brought a black and silver 57 Bel Aire, mint condition, and some little kid wanted to look inside. The kid grabbed the door (window down) and put his shoe(foot) on the side of the door and pulled himself up! Scratched the shiznit out of the paint when his foot didn't hold and slid down the door. The owner was more than a little mad.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 9,420
Likes: 8
From: Southern New Jersey, The wet part at the bottom
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
My dad would always remind me..."If it doesn't belong to you keep your hands in your pocket, don't touch!" My Dad passed away last year and I miss not taking him for a ride in the Vette and going to car shows to hear his stories. Those of you who still have your Dad take him for a ride for Fathers Day, you'll remember those times sharing your love for both the car and him. Bill
Do somethin' with your Dad's this Father's day while they're here.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 9,420
Likes: 8
From: Southern New Jersey, The wet part at the bottom
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
Depending on the show you usually have to stay by your car or have someone monitor it for you if you leave the immediate area.
It only takes one inconsiderate jerk to ruin it for you. I have found that most of the time people respect your car but again, there is always some dumbazz that thinks he can touch whatever he pleases.
I can remember a show a few years ago where a guy caught a kid about 6 or 7 years old running a Hot Wheel car down the side of his newly painted SS 396 Chevelle with the mom standing right there and saying nothing. When he confronted her she got all huffy and said "it's just a car and my son isn't hurting anything".
When he told her it was a $10k paint job she said, and I quote, "well, anyone that would spend that much money on paint is just stupid".
The Chevelle owner practically had to be restrained from doing this women great bodily harm. He eventually got her license plate number (the Hot Wheel car left some scratches in the paint) but I don't know what happened after that.
Takes all kinds.
It only takes one inconsiderate jerk to ruin it for you. I have found that most of the time people respect your car but again, there is always some dumbazz that thinks he can touch whatever he pleases.
I can remember a show a few years ago where a guy caught a kid about 6 or 7 years old running a Hot Wheel car down the side of his newly painted SS 396 Chevelle with the mom standing right there and saying nothing. When he confronted her she got all huffy and said "it's just a car and my son isn't hurting anything".
When he told her it was a $10k paint job she said, and I quote, "well, anyone that would spend that much money on paint is just stupid".
The Chevelle owner practically had to be restrained from doing this women great bodily harm. He eventually got her license plate number (the Hot Wheel car left some scratches in the paint) but I don't know what happened after that.
Takes all kinds.
Folks, It's US as parents who hold the future of the next generation in OUR hands, No one to blame but US!
Racer
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 421
Likes: 10
Its a catch 22. You want to show off your car, but you are nervous leaving it alone.
One show I was at, a young lady was touching the rear stainless steel letters. I must admit she really didn't do any harm but made me extremely nervous.
One show I was at, a young lady was touching the rear stainless steel letters. I must admit she really didn't do any harm but made me extremely nervous.
Pro
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 700
Likes: 2
From: Spring Hill Florida
Touch
Needless to say, all of the above holds true but I met a girlfriend at a car show. She asked me if she could touch "it" (refering to the Vette, I think) and I told her she could touch it if I could touch her. We dated for almost 2 years!!! :o
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 9,420
Likes: 8
From: Southern New Jersey, The wet part at the bottom
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
5 Best & 5 Worst Corvette Daily Drivers
Joe Kucinski
The Headlights of Every Corvette Generation Explained
Joe Kucinski
5 Best & 5 Most Overrated Corvette Track Packages of All Time!
Joe Kucinski
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained
Joe Kucinski
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Verdad Gallardo
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,977
Likes: 0
From: Mansfield, Ohio
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11, '14
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,152
Likes: 1
From: Parkland Florida
St. Jude Donor '09-'10
Lot's of good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) stories. I figured my little situation would spark a few (this is what happened to me) stories.
Yes...it's just a car (I believe he was just kidding) and I'm sure most non-car enthusiasts view these things the same way. I can deal with fingerprints or even leaning against my fender (to some degree) but having JUST gotten this blower installed this week and all of the EXPENSE involved....when I saw the BAP dialed full tilt (lean) after I had already driven it home I was like...Geeze...wonder what I just broke due to some azzhat. THe installer told me to NEVER touch that dial (it sits at about 20) and here I drove home with it wide open (60 on the dial).
Good news is I just got back from a 60 mile drive and all is well...my feeling is that it was some azz that knew what they were doing and wanted me to blow my fuel pump.
Looking for some way to seal off the battery compartment right now while keeping it vented. Have to keep this from happening again.
THanks for the stories fellas
Jason
Yes...it's just a car (I believe he was just kidding) and I'm sure most non-car enthusiasts view these things the same way. I can deal with fingerprints or even leaning against my fender (to some degree) but having JUST gotten this blower installed this week and all of the EXPENSE involved....when I saw the BAP dialed full tilt (lean) after I had already driven it home I was like...Geeze...wonder what I just broke due to some azzhat. THe installer told me to NEVER touch that dial (it sits at about 20) and here I drove home with it wide open (60 on the dial).
Good news is I just got back from a 60 mile drive and all is well...my feeling is that it was some azz that knew what they were doing and wanted me to blow my fuel pump.
Looking for some way to seal off the battery compartment right now while keeping it vented. Have to keep this from happening again.
THanks for the stories fellas
Jason
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 65,010
Likes: 133
From: Title town, Champs live here.
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 3,599
Likes: 622
From: Coldwater MI
Reminds me of another one that happened to a friend.
Car show---a spectator walked up and put his hands/wrists on the top of the car while leaning in to look at the interior. He had an ID bracelet on. My friend politely pointed out that he was scratching the paint job. Response from the spectator was "I just paid $15 dollars to get in here, I'll touch what I want and where I want." Guess the fella was pretty much a hulk of a person and probably had that attitude/got away with it all his life.
Car show---a spectator walked up and put his hands/wrists on the top of the car while leaning in to look at the interior. He had an ID bracelet on. My friend politely pointed out that he was scratching the paint job. Response from the spectator was "I just paid $15 dollars to get in here, I'll touch what I want and where I want." Guess the fella was pretty much a hulk of a person and probably had that attitude/got away with it all his life.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 65,010
Likes: 133
From: Title town, Champs live here.
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
A side story, a friend has a nice t-bucket that he shows frequently and he puts out a sign "Feel free to sit in for pictures", well we were BS'n and he asks my son to get in there to get his picture taken. My son about freaked and backed away,saying" my daddy told, me never to get too close to any of the cars" he refused to do it about five times even though I said this was a special time. I was somewhat frustrated at the time, but he was actually listening the thousand times I had told him about car shows before.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,384
Likes: 87
From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I know just what you mean
I took a jet to an airshow one year. Someone had stepped inside the roped off area and put a fast food bag in the intake. Imagine a used McDonalds down the front ed of an RB199
Maybe the gene pool just needs extra chlorine
I took a jet to an airshow one year. Someone had stepped inside the roped off area and put a fast food bag in the intake. Imagine a used McDonalds down the front ed of an RB199
Maybe the gene pool just needs extra chlorine
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,360
Likes: 1
From: West Grove Pa
Yea you do have to keep an eye on your car. I was in a display in a mall when some heavy weight chick sits her butt right on my rear deck. I'm like-could ya get your butt off my car and she says "why? my Uncle let's me sit on his Corvette" I told her to go home and sit on her uncle's car. Unbelievable.