I can add little to the comments made by others like Larry and Miker. The
Rocks is one of my favorite shows and the Baltimore folks deserve Kudos for
another good show. It's well organized, has plenty of LBCs, good people,
vendors and the weather always seems to cooperate. This is the first time my
C Roadster won at the Rocks. I took second place in the C category. I really
thought that I had first all sewn up but then another C showed up.
Over the past few years I've noticed how the quality of the cars is ever
increasing. It appeared that there were no more than a handful or so of cars
that were in less than showroom condition on the field. I sometimes think
that the long term LBC trend is becoming more of a showpiece hobby than a
drivers hobby. Perhaps this is a natural progression and needs to be
accepted, as sad as that would be, or perhaps I'm just seeing something that
is not really there. I'm not sure.
But it makes me really appreciate the folks who bring out the cars they love
to drive, and drive frequently, up to these shows. Like the guy who arrived
in a CB B that was a bit rusty, worn and very dented. He had a big smile on
his face and you know he's having fun driving that car for all its worth free
from cosmetic worry. Or having Ian Pender win the Best Car in Show - I'm sure
a few trailer queens were miffed at that but you'd have to give it to Ian in
terms of enthusiasm and character (or lack thereof). There sure is a lot to
celebrate about the people and cars that make up this hobby - more so than a
shiny hood and a clean "you can eat off it" engine.
And what about that A coupe in the premiere class that was rumored to have
been purchased for somewhere between $40,000 to $80,000. Wow (if true)!! I
wonder if he'd be interested in a C?
Is it my extreme frugality or did anyone else notice how expensive some of the
vendors were? For example, there was a set of 13" chrome wire wheels for $350
that were in pretty poor shape and a B factory hardtop (painted tundra green)
for $425 (both of which appeared to have gone back home with their owners at
the end of the show). In general, I saw a lot of decent used parts that
seemed to be only 5-10% lower than the VB or Moss catalog prices. Still,
there were a couple of vendors with reasonable prices and I managed to get a
couple of good buys on some stuff so I shouldn't complain too loudly.
One last note. While Larry did manage to have enough brew on hand for all,
the following should be noted:
1. He had to keep it outside of his Midget in a *collapsible* cooler.
2. He purchased the beer and ice after arriving at the rocks and *had to
borrow a larger car* to get it and haul it back to the show.
This makes me think that perhaps Larry's verbosity about his Midget's beer
carrying capacity was a bit exaggerated and sadly the beer for votes strategy
was a bust although there were certain other fruits of this endeavor to be
enjoyed (Uurrp - excuse me)!
Hey, it was great seeing some of the folks on the list again and it was a
great day all around.
Dr. Doug
69 C Rdst
69 C GT
69 B Rdst
76 B Rdst
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