We arrived at the show at 8 am and the LOT FULL signs were already up, so we parked in a nearby office lot and walked over to the British car section. Enroute, we came across Lloyd Baker and wife with his V8 Alpine which he had to park on an "end cap" because the British car section was overflowing.
There were a lot of spectators there to see the cars. As we made our way about , a pattern became apparent -
the car dealers were taking over the show - whereas there were only a few cars that were obviously dealer-displayed, this show had many. For instance:
1. The British car section was full of very expensive cars with no older middle of the road vehicles. I counted 5 e type Jags (one a pristine v12 and the only one of interest) , 2 new and 2 old Rolls Royce sedans, three new Bentley sedans and a new convertible.
2. The BMW section was packed as usual, but mostly with new cars.
3. There were six(6) brand new Tesla sedans in a row, complete with tripods with description and a salesman working the group.
4. The exotic supercar section has always had dealer cars with a sales person or two, but it was packed this time with more cars than ever. With one or two exceptions, they were the same cars on display for the past several months - HO HUM.
5. There were 30-40 late model Mustangs and a similar number of late model Camaros - Ho Hum again.
6. Corvettes were here there and yonder, too numerous to count.
7.The few Shelby Cobras and Vipers were not grouped as usual, but spread out all over the lot.
8 There were much fewer custom and hot rod cars than usual - no room is my guess.
9. The Z car section was full as always with several brand new cars with dealer tags.
The highlight of the show for me was a red TR3A in show condition - same as I drove in college except mine had wire wheels! Again, this classic British car was double parked far from the British section.
Conclusion - This show was great for first time visitors (lots of them there) who came to see late model cars; even my grandson, who has been to a half dozen shows, saw only two new supercars that he had not photographed multiple times before; jaded already at only 13?
We left early as more spectators were walking in and some of the more interesting (to me) cars were already leaving too; (seen one new Aston Martin, seen them all?)
I will look for other shows such as antique, British, or sports car only so as not to be crowded out by new cars shown by dealers.
I invite comments by Bill Mohr and Lloyd Baker who were also there as to their impressions.
PS - MY opinions just MAY have been biased by the fact we prepped the Alpine last evening and the only folks that saw it today were those taking pix of it in the office parking lot! It did run well on the 40 mile drive in to the show, cruising 65-70 at around 2500 RPM - not even enough to make the pipes resonate.
