OOB

Well, it's over for another year - the wonderful OOB show. The cruise last night was a bit of a bust due to inclement weather, but not so for the show. Though the fog rolled in at award time, the rest of the day was absolutely perfect, weather-wise.

And, as usual, the show was very nice, and the staff was helpful and friendly. Poor Robbie, however, got stuck in soft ground on his way in and his beautiful Mustang became the Mudstang. But it did not keep him from taking 2nd in his class!

I figure somewhere around 400 vehicles were present - all of them worthy contenders, indeed. But most noticeable were those that seemed to be missing - friends that would normally be there, but were not. Sorry to have missed you folks - you know who you are.

But as wonderful as the show was, it was not without some difficulties that need to be mentioned. Right off the bat, when we arrived at 7:45 we were caught in a very long, parked lineup that stretched halfway to Saco (well, no quite, but it WAS long). And though the show was to begin at 8:00, the gates were not opened until 8:15. Seems to me that the tireless planning should have included arriving on time to get the show started.

This was matched by the delay of the awards ceremoney, which did not begin until 3:00. By then the fog was rollin' in and it was getting cold and damp. Of course, some folks, like Jim, were not bothered at all by the fog, since he has spent most of his life in a fog :o)

But as I made the rounds and spoke with countless folks, I got a sense that many were not pleased with the lack of enforcing the classes to maintain the integrity of the show. The first problem that was offered up was the obvious lack of a class for CUSTOMS. In a show this large, such a class is essential, because stock vehicles have no chance against customs.

The next problem that was brought to my attention was "class jumping", in a sense. Although there was a FOREIGN class, a couple of foreign vehicles registered elsewhere (note: when choosing a class, one should choose the most appropriate, which means genre or make/model is primary, and the year is secondary, so a 1978 MG, for example, should be in the FOREIGN class and not the '70's class). And someone else pointed out, correctly, that at least 6 of the 10 vehicles in Special Interest should not have been there as they had NO "special interest" whatever. As the day wore on, several other folks pointed out similar issues with the classes and class abuse.

Fortunately - and I give you folks great credit - the three vehicles that won in Special Interest were actually supposed to be there. It is a credit to all of you that you are not voting for vehicles out of their class, so that those owners will learn to place their cars where they belong. As a side note, those out-of-class foreign vehicles did not win anything, either, so it seems the tide is turning in favor of honesty and integrity.

The moral of the story - if you want to increase your chances of winning, place your vehicle in the most appropriate class. Not only does it increase your chances, but it won't anger others in the class.

The only other problem that was mentioned: some classes were WAY too big! They need to be divided. Three such classes included Street Rods, the '50's, and 90's to Present. Most other classes had fewer than 10 vehicles, but those classes had many more. Street rods should include EARLY and LATE classes; '50's should be STOCK and CUSTOM/MODIFIED, and 90's to present should be The 90's and 2000-Present, OR 90's to Present - STOCK, and CUSTOM.

Aside from the delays, and the problems with the classes, the show was a resounding success. This is a show we look forward to each year.