Help! Tell me about car shows
 

My wife and I took the car yesterday to get some frozen custard, and when we arrived, there was a car show taking place. They were undoing the ropes to let us in the show, to which I declined. My car wasn't even clean. Although we weren't in the show, a lot of people were wanting to check out the C7. There weren't any other ones there. I was thinking it would be fun to enter a show some time. I don't care about winning anything, I just like the camaraderie with car guys (and gals).

Here's my question: I've heard several here say that entering a car into a show completely stock is bad, so what mods would go the farthest to make my car show worthy? Under the hood mods? Exterior? Interior? All of the above? Also, I'm not looking to spend a fortune on mods and want to keep it fairly simple. So far, all I've done is black out the grille, blacked out the reflectors, and lowered. I was thinking about adding some painted parts under the hood, a custom hood liner and plenum cover, and some Lloyds mats.

Thoughts? Opinions?



:cheers:

Wash it and go!
Forget about trying to impress anyone but yourself with modifications. The public in most cases is clueless about what they are looking at other then if it's clean and shiny.

Doing cruise ins and car shows is a part of owning a car like a Corvette or collector car (if you are so inclined). You don't have to do or be anything special....just wash it, vacuum the interior and enjoy it. Your 2014 will attract a lot of attention until more are out there. My first suggestion would be to join your local Corvette club....will open up all kinds of new things for you to enjoy.

:iagree:

I participate in a few car shows in mine each year. I could give a rats @$$ about winning awards at a show for my car. I just go to help what ever organization the show is supporting and to talk to other car guys and gals.

Just go and have fun, Participate in a few shows and decide what you like then.

Thanks for the replies! I think I'll go to a couple "as is". Like I said, I'm not interested in winning any plastic trophies or anything, just want to have a good time, and support a good cause.

I go to shows at least 6 times a season. 3 weeks ago in Birmingham and won a large trophy. I was in Beaumont last week and won a large trophy with a C2 model mounted on top.
My crystal red metallic --Kalahari top convertible has no mods--reasonable clean after travel to the show.
We were not surprised by the wins as people were more excited about the car-- far beyond our imagination.
Stopping for lunch while travelling we found folks taking pictures of the car in the parking lot.
Recommendation is GO-we meet the nicest people AND join a Corvette club. The clubs are hip on what shows are good and have tips on cleaning the car.
Shows we recommend are: Birmingham, Beaumont, New Orleans, Hot Springs, Charleston and Bristol Tn. All in the SE. WE know there are good shows across the US. cutnout aka Charlie

Forget to say we don't like trophies either--wife says something else to dust. cutnout aka Charlie

I always entered the wash and shine. After going to a few shows I started to pick up some trophies �� Quite a few of these shows are for charities so you are also helping folks out.

Sorry, new cars entered into competition is just lame.
I belonged to a KC Corvette club and they had one every year. Everyone got a trophy and every car was judged....So how do you judge a factory-fresh C7 vs. another factory-fresh C7 ???

Older cars are another story. They take time, patience, skill, and money to get back to original and that is something worthy of a "Show" and judgment.

Of course, the standard disclaimer of "Do what makes you happy" applies to my post...but I don't get it.

I would rather hang out with car guys talking about our cars instead of trying to determine who get the trophy for best "Armor All Tire Application" :crazy:

Whether or not your car does well in a car show if it is totally stock really depends on the show classes. Many shows, especially ones that are strictly for Corvettes, have both a stock and modified class. Usually the modified class means the car has more than 3 modifications from stock. If you want to enter other shows that include many different makes, some new wheels, engine bling, interior upgrades, etc. do well with the judges (whether that be actual judges or the show participants).

Like you said though, the fun of going to shows is meeting and talking to car enthusiasts.

I've only shown my Corvettes at ,"Corvette only" shows. Modern muscle IMO has no business being parked along side classic art. The single mod that gains votes like nothing else, though, is gobs of Chrome. Chrome wheels,engine bits,etc. As one can see I don't go with the flow.:D

I'd have to agree with your assessment. There was a big annual show down here about six months ago and no parking to be found but there were still three spaces left so I paid the 25 bucks or so to park in the show. The judges would put various colored dots on the windshield; my car was being judged.
After taking another spin around the show and seeing some of the fine cars that actually weren't pulled for judging it was time to scat.

There were 3 C7s in both shows I attended. Two won. A solid black with black wheels did not--however they may win at the next show--who knows.--The bright car colors pop in the sun.
We go to see the cars and associate with good people. The car is the commonality among us. The trip in the C7 is the trophy for us.
The older cars win the judging and we clap for them. Life in a Corvette is good. cutnout aka Charlie

If you decide to go to a show then you pick the class and if you like you can pick "for display only" and not enter the judging. Quite a few car owners don't care for judging--they too go to enjoy the cars and people.

Got a friend with a heavily modified C5 and he enters every show in a 500 mile radius and wins a lot.

When I had the C6 he always wanted me to enter the stock category. Said I would win top prize because it was so clean and shiny and there would be little to no competition.

I agree with the above, however the C7 is new enough to attract crowds and be desirable to have in shows, at least for a little while. That being said I go to car shows where one can see unique or modified cars etc. Not cars you can see on the showroom floor!

I've done at least 7 or 8 shows since I got my car back in September, some of them pretty large. I do not go for the judging, I go to share my car and talk to other car enthusiasts. It's just a fun enjoyable day. The first one I did my car was all stock, now I have ECS supercharger, RX body matched catch can with stainless braided PCV lines, body matched engine covers, meth injection, Caravaggio wheel, ACS side skirts. I'm waiting for the WeaponX rear spoiler and Corsa exhaust with black tips to arrive. My car is about 650 hp at the wheels.

Soon bro! :)

My advice to you is go and just enjoy, don't take the awards part seriously as most of the judges in the local shows have no set criteria for judging and "politics" run rampant in judging.

I went to a car show a couple of weeks ago in Harrison, AR. No classes, no judging, no trophies, no hurt feelings etc. You enter your car(classic, hot rods, newer cars), etc for $20/$25 and they give you a ticket and they throw the matching ticket in a box. At 3 PM they do a drawing for cash prizes. Every car has the same chance at winning.

Our club won $500 for best club participation(goes into the club's treasury to pay for our spring picnic). On top of that, John & Ann won $1,000, and Dan & Sherri won $250, and Ray & Sonja won $100. They were all in our Corvette club and not show cars. Not bad for a Saturday of relaxed fun on the town square.