javaman

Is it me or are others seeing an overall increase in car show entry fees.
Down in my neck of the woods, $20 “day of show” has jumped to $30, $35 or $40.
Now I know my wife would be the first to say “Larry - you don’t make a $1.65 per hour any more and you’ve got to join the 21st century”!
Still….I don’t know.

ls1121

It has been my (bad) experience that most of the time that the group, club, people putting the show are the ones that win, so I don't pay to enter. I just go to the show.

slowtealz28

I rarely go to car shows but I’m going to be hosting one as part of a charity event. What’s the normal rate for a car shows these days anyway? We’re going to likely be charging but all proceeds will be going to the foundation.

javaman

My post was meant to be more “tongue in cheek” than anything else.
That said, all kidding aside, I think $25 or $30 for a charity is not out of line.

jbc1995fb

I agree and it's been my experience as well. I guess when I got me 2012 GS 8 years ago I thought it was cool to enter car shows. I wasn't really trying to win a trophy as much as just being there, hanging out with other car nuts.
After doing that a few times I realized that hanging out for 5 to 8 hours in the hopes of winning in trophy isn't the way I want to spend my whole Saturday. So now I go for an hour or two to check out other people's rides. I don't enter mine.

BacknBlack08

I always found it odd the way the car show "system" works. We spend a bazillion dollars to restore our classics and then we have to pay to show them off , but really I have no problem when the shows are put on for a legitimate charity. Around my part of town we are usually around $15-20 dollars entry but most of them have prizes and raffles so it makes for a fun day.
BNB08

SSWEET

Most car show proceeds go to some charity so I'm good with the registration prices. Although I don't pre-register in case it rains that day. Learned that lesson from my autocross days.....not fun racing in the rain.

lilcuda

One word: insurance

Patsgarage

The most I have seen in my area is $20, if it was more than that I would not enter one of my cars.

cadyshac

Seems like most around here are still $20 which I don’t mind when supporting a charity

1bdvet

I stopped going to show for that reason the price is out of control, and since I was in club for decades and I know what they do with profits, don't ask!

The only shows I go for free, or 100% proceeds go to needy charity.

This month here were lot of Toys for Tots shows, bring a toy, and the Marines were there which made it sure winner for kids.

Yes shows soared from to 30 to 35 dollars for what, what they make on selling food more than pays for trophies and expensive, that there bread and butter.

JUICEBOX

I go to a lot of car shows, most are around $20 entry, $30-35 if you’re getting a T-shirt or hat driving in. I just think it’s funny when people who don’t win a trophy in their $100k brand new car get bent out of shape.

449er

I've gone to shows where this has been the case but the word gets out quickly & those shows are poorly attended

javaman

A reputable club will not judge its own cars with other attendees.
Some clubs will have a separate judging for their cars only.

BWF07

This subject comes up from time to time and the biggest complaint I see is the people that say the club putting it on usually win most of the trophies. While I am sure that may happen in some shows, I find that either the host club does not allow their members to enter, but simply display their cars, or they are a completely separate class that all those attending the show will judge. The normal rate around here is $20 pre-registered $25 day of show.

cmonkey713

I have been deeply involved in put-on on numerous all Corvette car shows with well over 100 cars per show. The reason the entry fees keep going up is the direct related cost of putting on the show. Expenses such as: Venue rental, Disk Jockeys, Administrative costs (printing advertising etc), Tent rental, Awards, and other such costs. All of these costs keep going up like everything else. Donations and sponsorships can offset some or all of the costs which works well providing these sponsorships are secured. Most shows are charity events with proceeds over direct costs go to the charity. Think of it as a charitable donation and have fun.

CrvtBB

I used to go to several car shows a year in So Cal - at least two a month during the "season" - when I had my '69 and '71 Z28s. I stopped going because 1) I saw the same cars (as nice as they were) over and over again; and 2) having to wait around all day to see if I might have won my 15th or 16th trophy stopped appealing to me. Once you've saturated the market, all you're paying for is a repeat of last weekend's show. There really isn't anything new to see. The better alternative, IMO is a local cars and coffee. Sure - you'll see a lot of the same cars, but there tends to be a wider variety than your standard "classic" car show - plus it is free, there are no club politics, and it only lasts a couple of hours - if that.

Corvette_Ed

I typically only did charity shows, and the cost for entry was usually in a range from $25-50 depending on the locale and size of show.

cv67

LOL I dont get it either.
Show cars are usually built & not new/late model production stuff

Shows cost a ton of $ to put on whats 20 or 30 dollars considering how much these cars cost?

Corvette_Ed

I had this happen to me at the last show I participated in before I left Texas. A guy with a brand new C7 that he'd put all kinds of armed services stickers all over it, and no other modifications threw a hissy fit when I took first place in my purpose-built show C6 over him. I asked him if he'd really expected differently and he actually said his car should have beaten mine because it was "newer and cooler" than my old C6. I told him that I'd dropped about $16k into building my car into a car that would win shows and spent literally hundreds of hours cleaning and detailing it, but he was still of the opinion that his new and unmodified car should have won.