Metalworks/Oxy Show

Just got back from this Auburn (ME) show a couple hours ago. Have posted the pix on www.HotKarz.com already. Please note that not only did we post show pix in the gallery, but we also posted a smoke show that was performed. And we posted shots of the winners, as well.

And we have added a new section in the gallery - the HotKarz Feature Car of the Month. Newly posted is a truly righteous '51 Ford Vicky owned by Pastor Joseph Mallozzi of Lewiston, ME. Hope you enjoy the pix!

The weather was great, and the people, as usual, were friendly. Metalworks hosted over 80 cars this year - they had a bit of trouble finding enough parking spaces.

Many of the folks I spoke with seemed to be less than ecstatic with the "classes". There were (6) classes, with (6) trophies (and Joe Mallozzi won three of them). The classes seemed terribly generic, and excluded about half the cars that entered. The classes were:

Best Paint
Best Interior
Best Truck
Best Import
Best Street Rod
Best of Show

With such limitations, many of the rides just did not qualify for any trophy. Yesterday I joked about the class limitation for the up-coming show at Shaw's Ridge, saying it would be a dud if one car took all the trophies. Well, that's nearly what happened at the Oxy show - one great car took three of the six trophies. And if his car were an imported street rod, he would have swept everything but "Best Truck".

And that's the problem when the good folks who run a car show do not understand about classes, and they end up having classes that just do not make any sense, and exclude many entries. Hopefully, they will learn. Perhaps if they get feedback from all of us, the hosts of Oxy and Shaw's Ridge will put together a better class structure next year. I'm afraid if they do not, their annual shows will become defunct, as many enthusiasts will stop spending money to enter such shows. And if that happens, we all lose.

We all enjoy the shows, and most of us participate. As such, we owe it to the hosts, as well as to each other, to help them host the best shows possible. We should compliment them when they do something well, and offer suggestions when something does not click as it should. If we just stand by and do nothing, our pasttime will suffer, and everyone loses. So, don't be afraid to speak up.

Well, gotta get the camera charged for the Seacoast Show in Dover (NH) tomorrow. Maybe we'll see you there.

An Unusual Format

I have just received a listing of the "classes" that will be judged at the Art of Transportation Car Show (Shaw's Ridge Farm, Sanford, ME) on October 13. It strikes me as rather odd. So, I will go, and see how it shakes out.

But I suspect the "classes" are not classes at all. To understand that, take a look at the list:

Taxpayer's Best of Show
Children's Best of Show
Largest Club Participation
Farthest Distance Driven
Best Rust
Best Chrome
Best Engine
Best Paint
Best Antique
Best Classic
Best Custom
Best Hot Rod
Best Truck
Best Stock
Best Foreign
Best Tuner
Most Unusual

OK, so are these really "classes"? It sounds like the voters will receive a ballot with those classes, and they will choose from the field, rather than choose the best from a specific class. You would choose the car you find to be the most unusual of all the entries in the show, etc. So, it does not appear that the entries will choose a class to appear in - instead, would the voters choose your class for you? I could be wrong, but that is how it appears. My reasoning? Who in their right mind is going to put their car in a "Rust Bucket" class? And what if the owner of the "most unusual" car does not see his car as unusual, and enters it inthe CUSTOM class? And would their not be a lot of conflict if a truck is also stock, or a tuner is also foreign? And just what is considered unusual? Herman Munster certainly did not think his MunsterMobile was unusual. One man's tea is another man's poison! I just have a hard time getting my brain around this format.

My fear is that there may be an entry that is the most unusual stock foreign tuner that has the best paint, best chrome and best engine, is a member of the largest club in attendance, has driven the farthest and is chosen by the taxpayers and the children - and he will get all the trophies. (^.^) (I'm joking, of course)

Seriously, though - how do you award a trophy to the "largest club in attendance" - who do you give it to? Does everyone in that club get one?

So, I will be interested in seeing just what happens - an open field that should be judged by points, with classes that are not classes at all, judged by the participants.

I am sure this will be very interesting, to say the least. I just hope it will not be disappointing. In any case, you can be sure I'll be posting pictures!

Your Projects...

During the slow winter months, there isn't a whole lot of shows, cruises or events to write about. So, I have a suggestion that we might all enjoy.

Many of you will be spending the next several months working on new "projects", either building or rebuilding a vehicle. This blog, and the HotKarz website could be used to follow you through your project, and allow everyone to follow along.

If you are working on a project, please feel free to tell us about it, and submit pictures. We will post your submissions on this blog, and link it to your "before, during & after" pictures.

You do not have to submit anything on a regular basis - just update us periodically so we can all follow your progress, and maybe get a bit fired up to start projects of our own.

Even if you are not working on a project, I am sure that many of you have some great stories to tell - personal experiences you would like to share. Please do. Over these next several months, I'll need all the help I can get :o)

Killer Chrome - the jury is in

As promised, I have concluded my test on the new 3 Stage "Killer Chrome" paint product that claims to provide a chrome finish indistinguishable from real chrome.

I did not find this claim to be true. You may check out the pictorial results for yourself.

In theory, you first apply the Jet Black spray. And that does, indeed, make a beautiful gloss black finish by itself. Then you are supposed to apply the Killer Chrome paint. I did that, but it seems the black hue of the base continued to come through the finish. Perhaps if they provided more of the Killer Chrome spray, to insure complete coverage, the results may have been better.

Finally, after allowing the Killer Chrome to cure for 12 hours, you should buff it with the soft cloth (provided), and then add the clearcoat.

You can see the results for yourself (see link, above). The Killer Chrome ended up more like brushed steel or aluminum, rather than chrome.

Bill

A Cool Wind Blowin'...

We are all too aware that the "car" season is coming to a close. Except for Shapleigh (ME) and HomeTown Mobil (ME), I know of no other cruises for 2007. And we only see a few shows left - we will be going to four more this year: Metalworks (Auburn ME), Dover (Foster's Daily Democrat, Dover NH), Shaw's Ridge (Sanford ME) and Stratham Hill (Stratham NH). There are a few others, and for those who attend them, we would appreciate pics and stories if you please :o)

In our EVENTS section, we have posted a show in Burlington, MA - we do not normally include shows outside northern New England, but we felt this was for a good cause - and it comes at a time when there are so few other events to attend. It is their first year, and they really need to make this a success if it is to become an annual event.

As many of you already know, Robin, Criss and I are planning to "build" another PT Cruiser - this one to be a custom panel truck. Today we got off to a good start - we purchased an '04 Platinum Series Turbo PT as the base car. Now the work begins...we hope to be finished by next August, but that may be tough, as there is much work and no small amount of $$$ involved. But when it is finished, look out Special Interest (^.^)

Meanwhile, if you know anyone else with a PT that needs any parts, it seems that we are building up quite an inventory of spare parts, including tires/wheels, grills, etc. Have 'em get in touch - they will go cheap, as I am running out of room (we only have 14 acres :o)

For those of you who may be interested, I am trying that new 3-stage special chrome "paint", to see if it actually looks like chrome. I'll post the results here, and will try to include pix.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the HotKarz classifieds (or add to them).

See y'all at the shows!

To all the "Kids" Who Survived...

This has been around the Internet for awhile, but for those of you who may have missed it, you may get a chuckle from it - and a few memories...

To All The Kids Who Survived the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us

They took aspirin, ate bleu cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints

We had no child-proof lids on medicine bottles

We rode our bikes and skated without helmets

We hitch-hiked

As children, we rode in cars without car seats, seat belts or airbags

We rode in the backs of pick-up trucks

We drank from the garden hose, and often shared one soft drink with four friends from one bottle, and no one actually died from this

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and drank soda with sugar in it, but we were not obese because we were always outside playing

We would leave home in the morning, play all day, and did not come home until supper - no one was able to reach us all day - and we were OK

We would spend hours building go-karts out of scraps, then ride down the hill without brakes. After running into things, we learned to solve that problem

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games, no 99 channels on cable TV, no video-tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no computers, no Internet or chat rooms, no YouTube or MySpace - instead, we had FRIENDS, and went outside to play and spend time with them

We fell out of trees, broke bones and teeth - yet there were no lawsuits from these accidents because they were considered ACCIDENTS

We ate worms, mud pies and the white paste in school

We were given BB guns, made up games using sticks, and were told we would put someone's eye out - but most of us seem to still have both eyes

We rode bikes or walked everywhere by ourselves. We would walk right into their homes to see them, just like family

Sports had tryouts, and not everyone made the team. Those who did not had to learn how to actually deal with disappointment

Our parents actually sided with the law, and rarely bailed us out if we got in trouble.

Yet, this generation - YOUR generation - produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors that this world has ever seen

We had FREEDOM, FAILURE, SUCCESS and RESPONSIBILITY, and learned how to cope with it all

According to the government, and the liberals who incessantly want to protect us from ourselves, we should never have survived.

BUT WE DID! We survived because all those things made us stronger, smarter and more daring.

Makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

Show this to your children (or grand-kids) to show them how brave you were...

A Tough Pill to Swallow

I had to give this post some very serious thought, because it is not one I want to publish. But if HotKarz is to maintain its integrity, I must.

Let me begin, if I may, by stating unequivically that the Bektash Shriners (Concord NH) have always held a special place in my life. My Dad was the Potentate of Bektash more than 40 years ago. And when my Mother passed away, the Bektash Temple helped Dad get through the difficult time. And I certainly appreciate all the good works they do. They are truly deserving of our support.

And I would like to mention that I have been to car shows in 28 states over the last 40 years, so I am rather familiar with them. I can usually pick out a true show car from contenders and pretenders.

Unfortunately, the judges at the Bektash show seem to know precious little about car shows. Hopefully, they will learn. The reason I say this is because they run an old-time show, one without classes, but they do not judge it that way. Every car on the field competes with every other car. In such a show, there is only one legitimate way to judge - the judges must know cars, they must adhere to a strict point system, and all bias and predjudices are left at home. Personal opinions and favorites have no place in such judging.

In short, in an open show like that, the most perfect cars are the winners. But that is not what happened today. Today, though we all had a good time, and the Shriners were really great hosts, the judging appeared seriously flawed. In a "points" show, where perfection is king, there is no excuse for awarding a trophy to an unrestored, rusted vehicle while near-perfect vehicles were completely ignored. And it raised more than a few eyebrows when several cars arriving at the last minute, in succession, were all awarded trophies, right down the line. Wouldn't you wonder just a little if you heard the announcer say "Car #72, #73, #74, #75, and #76"?

Certainly, some of today's winners really were winners, like the car that took People's Choice, Best of Show, the '67 Goat, the Mustang convertible and the silver 455. But many others were a far cry from being "points perfect".

Now, I will be the first to admit that my own car is definitely not a winner in an open, points show. It has too many little, yet obvious, flaws, dings etc. I go for the enjoyment of it, and to report on the days' events. And if I had won a trophy, I would have been even more disappointed than I already am. But some true show vehicles went home empty-handed while seriously flawed cars took home the gold, and as much as I love the Shriners, that is just plain wrong. I truly hope they will strive to do better next year. Otherwise, I will not be going back, as I would not feel right about supporting it.

Yes, I know this post sounds harsh. But when a show has such inherent problems, I think it is best to bring those problems to light, as that is the only way that they can be fixed. You can't fix something if you don't know it's broke! Earlier this year, we noted similar problems with a show in Center Conway (not to be confused with the show at Settler's Green). At that show, it raised more than a few eyebrows when an inordinate number of trophies ended up on the hosts' table. Maybe it was legitimate, but I should note that those same winners were also on the list of the show's sponsors. (And, yes, we won a trophy that day, so it's not a case of "sour grapes". I just report what occurs.)

Another serious problem with the Bektash show - they appeared to have no interest except in how much money they could pull out of us. Instead of selling 50/50 throughout the day, they soild "different" batches each hour. The ones you bought at 9 am were no good for drawings after 10am, etc. So, if you wanted to play, you had to buy new tickets every hour - and that gets expensive. No other car show mistreats the participants with such abject greed. We spend $70,000 on a car, spend hours polishing it, and a lot of $$$ on gas to get there so THEY can make money from us. That's fine - but to bleed us is an entirely different story, and unacceptable. Car shows are supposed to be a symbiotic relationship - we use our cars to help them raise money, and they treat us right. It seems Bektash has no regard for the second part of that equation.

If they want to have successful shows that grow, and prosper, they need to do at least two things:

1) Make the judging much more honest, by people who know the difference between a 1940 Ford and a Tuner, and

2) Stop bleeding the very people who are helping them fund their pet projects.

Treat us fairly, and with respect, or you will lose us.

Again, it truly pains me to write unpleasant things, because I deeply treasure our "hobby". I only hope that by bringing such circumstances to light that our hobby can become even better than it already is.