Do you leave your car unattended at shows and cruise-ins?

[moparedtn]

It's sort of difficult to explain, the situation we find ourselves in with Fred and the "locals" and all that...
Somehow or another most of the locals know Fred on sight and have taken a liking to him (probably
moreso than to the arse who owns him ).
I guess that's what happens in a small town over several years with a unique sort of car...
I get a lot of "I saw the GTX and knew you were around here somewhere" sort of conversation starter.

It doesn't hurt that the fella that owns Memory Lane and has the incredible collection of cars nearby and
I are friends - we've had business back and forth and such, too - and he's always had his horse-tradin'
eyes on Fred, since he really likes how I get the car out fairly regularly and wants a b-body for the collection.
(His stuff is pristine, but you don't see any of it in public unless for a parade or cruise-in.
He had his Boss 429 fastback Mustang there last night. Yeah, it's a real one and it's gorgeous...for a Ford ).
I have an open invitation to visit his property (especially Memory Lane!).

All of this to say, I don't worry much about anyone messing with my stuff (it's not that way around here in general
really); Fred has sort of been adopted by the car bunch in the area and they are good neighbors about sort of
watching over him along with all the other cars when we're out and about.

When we go to the store or what have you, we leave his windows down and nobody messes with him; usually,
someone is waiting by the car when we come out, wanting to chat about him instead.
At these cruise-ins, we have the lawn chairs in the trunk if we want them, but we wind up wandering around
and looking at everything else instead usually - and I believe breaking that fear of something happening to Fred,
being able to just leave him unattended and walk away for a while, has made the whole hobby a lot more
relaxing for me.
I don't believe I could do that in a lot of places in this country - but we're blessed to be able to here.

So what's it like with your car?

 

[WileE]

You have to address that situation case-by-case. Depends on type of show, the venue, the spectators, who's running it, etc. The worst are the "street fair" types, where they have the general public carousing around from the food vendors, kiddie rides, into the car show area, where some people let their kiddies run amok around the cars, sometimes with bicycles and scooters !

 

[68BabyBlue]

My situation has been similar. My old car community is relatively small, and having been "the GTX guy" for nearly five decades, people know me by proxy. It's always been fun to finally talk to guys who have known my cars for years, but never met me in person. I often don't spend a huge amount of time with the car, I like to circulate. Many times folks will be waiting for me when I get back.

Rob Clark, the son of my current car's original owner, put it well when he said, "some cars, you don't need a placard on the windshield to know who owns it." A guy from out of town started bringing a blue '68 GTX to one of the bigger shows, and folks said they knew it wasn't one of mine as soon as they saw the choice of wheels.

The guy who bought Baby Blue from me last year had admired the car for years, and knew my GTX history from way back, even though he had only talked to me a couple times over the years. When my Hemi car surfaced, he cornered me, and correctly assumed I might be ready to make a change.

Ironically, the one event where I used to have concerns was when one of the local charities in State College used to sponsor an event in the downtown area. It was an invitation only show, limited to high end cars, many worth over six figures. Most of the cars came from out of town. Lack of respect, in terms of bicycles, kids out of control, uninvited touching, was appalling. State College is no longer a car guys town, and it showed. The town fathers finally cancelled the event a few years ago.

Shows twenty miles out are far better. A young woman who has a day job as a marketing consultant has been setting most of them up. Her dad is a car guy, and she grew up doing restoration work with him. At those events, I leave the car, with no concerns.

 

[AR67GTX]

Generally no. My GTX has a pretty pedestrian paint job on it so I have on occasion wandered off from it for a quick look around but I keep my eye on it.

 

[haywire 440]

I’ll walk around and enjoy the other cars, people etc. Most of the time the shows are not that big.

We went to a good sized cruise and luckily found a spot kinda far back. In our excitement we parked and went on our walking tour. It was a place we hadn’t been before in NW Indiana. Nice area. Took our convertible.

This wasn’t that show as we didn’t get a picture of it there but when we got back I did notice something real strange….. I left the keys in the ignition. It was a good night!

 

[moparwacko]

I don't spend too much time babysitting the Roadrunner at the local shows. I can't pull out a chair and sit by it, too boring. It was painted almost 30 yrs ago and has nicks and scratches and will be re-done at some point. I let some kids (and adults) sit in it regularly - They all love the horn. It was never intended to be a show poodle anyway and I drive it regularly doing some errands.
The old 64 D100 actually gets more attention whenever I take it out. Maybe it's the purple flames? It will get painted soon, but haven't decided on a color yet. It is my summer daily driver and not afraid to take it anywhere-it's a truck and gets used as one.
Neither one is a high dollar unit, so maybe if they were I'd feel differently.

 

[Dennis H]

Yes. I like to join a friend and sit near a NICE car.

At Spring Fling Los Angeles a few years ago, Rob Wolfe walked by when I was sitting next to a just finished 69 Roadrunner. Blue and beautiful. He asked ”is this your car? I said no and pointed towards the Coronet and said “that’s my yellow car. He said “oh and kept walking.

 

[Sixpactogo]

I have been to a ton of car shows over the past 30+ years and leave my car unattended at all of them. The only time I ever had an issue was at the Mopar Nationals back in the 90's when someone decided they needed my club affiliated antenna flag more than I did. Then a few year ago, I came back to my Charger to find my fuel cover open. I figured it was probably some kid that never saw one before and it probably scared him or her when it popped open.
I know there are people out there that pilfer everything from rare parts to fender tags but I worry more about leaving my car alone at an overnight Motel stay than I do at shows. I feel a little safer when I cover it. Leave the keys in it? Never! That would be begging to walk home.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I have been to a ton of car shows over the past 30+ years and leave my car unattended at all of them. The only time I ever had an issue was at the Mopar Nationals back in the 90's when someone decided they needed my club affiliated antenna flag more than I did. Then a few year ago, I came back to my Charger to find my fuel cover open. I figured it was probably some kid that never saw one before and it probably scared him or her when it popped open.
I know there are people out there that pilfer everything from rare parts to fender tags but I worry more about leaving my car alone at an overnight Motel stay than I do at shows. I feel a little safer when I cover it. Leave the keys in in? Never! That would be begging to walk home.

No question the motel situation creates additional issues. I've driven my cars to the Chrysler Nationals in Carlisle just about every year, and when I park for the night, I've always been able to find other attendees who will surround me so my paint is protected. I remove enough ignition parts that anyone who wants it will have winch it on a rollback, and I pay enough for lodging that there are much higher value cars on the lot when I'm there. So hopefully mine won't be the victim of choice.

 

[beanhead]

I leave mine, as I really don't want to sit by it all day either. I like to circulate!
Though there was one time where I came back and these two older guys were standing and leaning against the back of the trunk, having a deep conversation...I said "what the hell, really guys?" I know it's not a pretty-paint car or restored whatever but that's a carshowdinal sin in my book!

Yes. I like to join a friend and sit near a NICE car.

At Spring Fling Los Angeles a few years ago, Rob Wolfe walked by when I was sitting next to a just finished 69 Roadrunner. Blue and beautiful. He asked ”is this your car? I said no and pointed towards the Coronet and said “that’s my yellow car. He said “oh and kept walking.

Yeah but your car is usually "the place to be!"

 

[Kern Dog]

When mine was first "done", it made me nervous to be out in public without being within eyesight of it. If Mary and I went out to eat, I wanted a booth at the window to watch for people coming near it. At the first few car shows I entered, I stayed near the car. Over time, as some wear and scratches started to show, I became more comfortable with leaving it and walking around.
Over the last 10 years, I've made some changes that would be fun to chat about with other guys but I have rarely stayed near the car anymore. I do take chairs with me sometimes but at bigger shows, I wander the swap meet and look at parts, then other cars.
I enjoy the car so much more than I used to. Being nervous to drive or park it unattended is a crappy way to feel.
This car is not a national show winner but I like it.

 

[cosgig]

I leave my cars all the time, although I do get a little nervous because I don’t want my air cleaner stolen or something like that. My RR has the original paint, and it’s in daily driver status, so I’m not worried about that. Thieves worry me tho, but that’s about it.

 

[copper67sat]

I don't go to very many shows anymore, but we do regularly attend the Fall Turkey Run at the Daytona speedway. We do a LOT of walking at that show to see the other cars and check out the swap meet - about 15 miles in 2 days last year based on my phone app. We also spend a fair amount of time hanging out by the cars resting - I enjoy talking to others about my car if they're so inclined.
We have a canopy set up with our lawn chairs, coolers, etc. Never had any problems with anyone messing with the cars or any of our stuff when we're not there and that show draws well over 100k attendees.
Only problems I've ever had have been the hotel parking lots. At the 2005 MOPAR Nats in Indy someone - probably kids - stole my chrome valve stem caps. Worst was in Daytona Beach when some asshat scraped my rear quarter pretty badly wedging his POS trailer dolly into the corner next to my car - no note, nothing. My wife talked me out of taking revenge out on his dolly because we were staying there one more night and didn't want him doing anything worse.

 

[68_661charger]

I can't believe how many people leave their keys dangling from the trunk lock at shows.

 

[68BabyBlue]

When mine was first "done", it made me nervous to be out in public without being within eyesight of it. If Mary and I went out to eat, I wanted a booth at the window to watch for people coming near it. At the first few car shows I entered, I stayed near the car. Over time, as some wear and scratches started to show, I became more comfortable with leaving it and walking around.
Over the last 10 years, I've made some changes that would be fun to chat about with other guys but I have rarely stayed near the car anymore. I do take chairs with me sometimes but at bigger shows, I wander the swap meet and look at parts, then other cars.
I enjoy the car so much more than I used to. Being nervous to drive or park it unattended is a crappy way to feel.
This car is not a national show winner but I like it.

I was actually relieved after I sold my Hemi GTX. It was the only Mopar to pass through my hands that I never drove to Carlisle, too much invested in it to enjoy it to the max. Baby Blue was the best car show vehicle I ever owned. Great original car with a tired 3 decade old repaint, something not seen often. No worries when I was gone, and good conversations when I was with the car.

 

[haywire 440]

I can't believe how many people leave their keys dangling from the trunk lock at shows.

I saw that at a show and when I found the owner close by he was appreciative. Yeah I didn’t leave my keys in the ignition on purpose.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Even when my cars were freshly restored I would walk away to see what & who was at the show or the swap meet... These days I don't do nearly as many shows, I'd rather go for a drive.. Been organizing group cruises since 06....

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I saw that at a show and when I found the owner close by he was appreciative. Yeah I didn’t leave my keys in the ignition on purpose.

Back when the Blakes were bringing their Hemi E body verts out to shows it seemed like the keys were always in the ignition... Guess they figured the car was high enough profile no one would dare steal it... Or there was a hidden kill switch/GPS tracking, something

 

[twecomm]

I go to local cruises in my 66 Charger on occasion. The cruise I typically go to is well attended usual 350-400 cars every Friday night. I never see kids on bikes or running around un-supervised. Never had any issues leaving the car un-attended. I usually try to meet and introduce myself to folks on either side as I think it helps if you do wander off, everyone seems to look out for each other. Two things.. I never leave keys in car or trunk, never leave my garage door opener on the visor and never leave anything of value in the car.

 

[Fran Blacker]

"Paranoia strikes deep" that's why I take the wife. Heard of people removing parts from cars. To find even small parts that someone steals pain to find. Little things like horn button gas cap. I've seen 2 horn buttons in 15 years on ebay.