51 (edited by m610 2016-10-24 12:02 PM)

Re: Sacramento International Auto Show, Again

Some highlights from the weekend:

The Belvedere was clearly the crowd favorite for young and old. Early on Friday I noticed a young woman standing back a few yards, staring at it, mouth open. I reassured her it was not infectious. She wasn't worried about that. She was in awe.

Sunday morning Amanda put a helmet on a happy little kid who got even happier and started dancing around with it rocking back and forth on his head. When he climbed into Scrubby and put on a blue with yellow fringe Scrubby helmet his parents got their Christmas card photo for the year.

Adrian was letting visitors get in and start and rev the Belvedere. One pair, brothers, early teens, got to do this, and both got out with a face that seemed to say "So that's what sex is like." They had never started a car before. The Belvedere was their first. They walked away, grinning, virgins no more.

Alan had fun demonstrating how the hand crank on a Super Snipe worked.

Chris may have found a buyer for the class C-winning Wambulance.

Every time I take the Tinyvette out in public I hear tales of first car, wanted that car, rode in the back of that car when I was a kid, my aunt had one until it caught fire. I heard many more of these stories, along with one "I had a Kadett and it was a POS".

Flipping the headlights on the Opel proved to be a crowd pleaser.

Following one of the regular Belvedere's engine revving performances one of the guys in the vintage motorcycle exhibit rolled his bike out and answered to the call. I talked to him later and he said he knew that his single-cylinder '58 Harley would be no match for a cammed Plymouth 360 cid V8, but he just had to respond.

Gene and I took the Tinyvette out on the coned course for a couple of laps. The Toyota guys wouldn't let us near their course but the Dodge guys were happy to let us come and play. It was a tight course but the Tinyvette is a small car and it got around it OK. Well, Gene went off in T1, so a BF should be awaiting him in Dec. Later, when Adrian arrived, we took the Belvedere out. Big car, tight course, but still, he could smoke some tires and make that glorious engine sound for real.

A dad and three kids came by. They saw our exhibit last year and because of that went to watch Arse-Freeze. For about ten minutes they were telling me about what they saw and what they did, that they came to this show specifically to see our cars again, and that they planned to be at Arse-Freeze again this year.

At times I'd tell a visitor that it might look like most of these cars would have trouble getting home on their own power, but in fact would cover 800 miles in a typical race, and each of them had done just that three weeks earlier, and would be doing it again in the first week of December, along with another 150-180 like cars. Reactions varied from surprise at the length of our races to , "No, they look pretty stout to me."

A young, mod, mixed race couple came by. I recognized them from last year. They came specifically to see the Lemons cars. Last year, while seated in the Tinyvette, she said she and her companion wanted to be drifters. He is now into drifting but she has gone into rallying instead.

April had a visitor who was a friend and whose young son and daughter were pointing across the courtyard, saying they wanted to sit in the Tinyvette. I took them over and strapped them in. They were much calmer than other kids who had sat in cars all weekend. It turned out they race carts competitively. We talked about that, being fellow racers and all. Both said emphatically that they don't do any other sports. They race. That's what they do. We all three agreed that once you race, your life changes. Also, their home track was Blue Max, in Davis. I told them I've turned laps there. They went back to April's display telling their mom home good it felt to meet and talk to fellow racers, especially one who knew Blue Max. I guess I was a suitable stand in for Jeff Gordon and Danika Patrick, both who have raced at Blue Max.

More than one visitor commented on how much fun we must be having racing these cars, about the creativity in the series, about how ours was their favorite exhibit in the whole show. Balancing that somewhat, I watched a number of people walk right through the middle of our menagerie, making a beeline to the Vanagan. That's all they were interested in. Then there were some guys whole told me they were not into racing. I didn't understand. I mean, they were guys.

Nearly every woman over the age of about 20 was too shy or otherwise reluctant/resistant to getting in any of the cars. Most of the girls under 20 couldn't wait to get in them. Occasionally you could sense a little gender-role hesitation, even some "girls don't race cars" moments, and for those I'd point across the courtyard to April and tell the boys and girls alike that she's the fastest driver here.

Late Sunday, after dark, after packing up. The Belvedere was the only car still here. One of the guys who worked at Sac Expo came up and said he wanted that car, that if it was for sale and he could buy it, he would, and he would not change a thing.

Others will no doubt have similar stories to add, but suffice to say, our was not a typical car show.

Mike

52 (edited by m610 2016-10-24 12:09 PM)

Re: Sacramento International Auto Show, Again

The phone just rang. I got up and ran into the other room to answer it. It hurt. I'm so sore. What a weekend! (And it was a wrong number.)

Thank you everybody who participated, with or without a car, in this ignoble event. Much thanks to Russel and his patient wife who trailered the Jagvair all the way down from Protlandia, and to Alan who tow-dollied the Super Snipe up from SoCal, helped shuttle cars around Sacramento, and evangelized for Lemons like a prophet! And to Amanda for her energy and support and food. For the food alone, your title of "Pit Mom" is assured for life. Also thanks CrazyMike for bringing both Scrubby and Raisin in spite of a tough work and wrenching schedule that happened to coincide with an out-of-state race weekend. Much thanks also the Gavin for the monstrous work schedule rework that allowed him to bring a car and hang out with us on Sunday. Thanks to Chris for the supreme effort getting the Wambulance to and from the show. Good luck with the sale of the car. And to Chuck for bringing the astounding Avanti and parking it near the Studebaker exhibit. And to April and Gene for bringing Larry and Earl and helping us all shape young minds who might otherwise have gone through life thinking racing cars was a serious business reserved for only the best of the best. You guys are the best of the best. And to Dave who brought the Model T GT and the Pinto Bean, and for letting Gene and I take the GT out to the coned course, even if we were too busy to actually do that. Maybe next year. And to Fish, who made brief appearances. And to Corey, who brought the Buick while having better things to do, such as rebuilding your home after a flood. And to Adrian, who brought the Faster Farms Chicken Car. Can you believe how popular this car has become? I mean seriously. Nationally. Even the cops won't pull it over.

Re: Sacramento International Auto Show, Again

Stopped in Cottage Grove for fuel, 21 year old gas station attendant wanted to drive the Jagvair. After I came out of the store he correctly linked the cat on the roof to the Jag drivetrain and identified the Corvette brakes. Winner gets a Jagvair poster from the auto show.

'18 PNW-Organizer's Choice '17 PNW-IOE '15 PNW-Judge's Choice '14 PNW-Heroic Fix
Jagvair 2.0 Build   Jagvair YouTube  Jagvair Facebook

Re: Sacramento International Auto Show, Again

Thanks for inviting the Super Snipe, Mike!   I had intended to drive it up from Los Angeles, but at the last minute it was running rough and I didn't want to chance it.  So I rented a 2-wheel tow dolly and pulled it up behind my Volvo (the Cow Car).

Crazy Mike and Amanda let me crash at their place, which was only six miles from the show.   Their cats apparently approved of me, as they twice brought me gifts of deceased rodents.   smile

The Auto Show officials gave us perhaps the best possible spot: a courtyard in the center of a cluster of eight buildings.   When visitors arrived, it was on a walkway that looked directly down on us.   No matter which building you walked out of, there we were!

The show was lots of fun.   As Mike noted, the girls were much more eager to hop into the cars than the boys were.   Perhaps the boys were just trying to appear "cool".   It was good that I had removed the master power switch key from the Snipe.   One girl hopped in, flipped up the ignition switch guard, turned the switch on, and pushed the Start button.   She was ready for the track!   I got a photo of her with an ear-to-ear grin, which I hope I can show to her some day when she is a big name driver.

All the demonstrations of starting the Snipe with the hand crank left me tired and sore, but happy that I could astound so many people.   Only two or three of my attempts failed, one due to someone putting it in gear.   It was fun to tease the other owners when they started their cars with, "Yeah, but can you start it with a hand crank?"   Russ then challenged me with trying to balance a nickel on top of the engine.   I couldn't get it to balance for more than a second.

We had enough car owners there so that there was always someone who could tell stories about all our cars.   Perhaps some of them were even true!  smile   I must have told 100 people about how much fun it is to drive Crazy Mike's Mini -- "It scampers like a crazed cockroach!"

I told everyone who would listen about how easy it is to get into Lemons racing: Arrive & Drives, Race Suit Rentals, no experience necessary, the welcoming atmosphere, etc.   Mike had printed up a stack of Spectator Guides which we gave to anyone who showed the slightest interest, and emphasized the upcoming race in December at Sonoma, only two hours away.

All in all, I think it was a great success and I hope the show management invites us back again next year.

"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"
IOE winner in the Super Snipe -- Buttonwillow 2012
IOE winner in Super Snipe v2.0 -- Buttonwillow 2016
"Every Super Snipe in Lemons has won an IOE!"

Re: Sacramento International Auto Show, Again

My nickel balanced for five seconds on top of the radiator cap perched on top of the valve cover. I need to grind/machine a flat spot on the valve cover to facilitate the balancing of a coin. Video to follow.

'18 PNW-Organizer's Choice '17 PNW-IOE '15 PNW-Judge's Choice '14 PNW-Heroic Fix
Jagvair 2.0 Build   Jagvair YouTube  Jagvair Facebook

56 (edited by BigBird 2016-10-26 04:48 PM)

Re: Sacramento International Auto Show, Again

Wouldn't it be easier to grind the side of the nickel flat....?

45+x Loser.....You'd think I would learn......
5x I.O.E  Winner   1 Heroic Fix Winner   1 Org Choice Winner
2x  I Got Screwed Winner    2x Class C Winner
(Still a Class B driver in a Class A car)

Re: Sacramento International Auto Show, Again

Next year we should move the show to SEMA.