Iola car show 2023

[Dakar Timm]

Bobbie and I have just returned from the Iola car show . The weather was just about perfect . The toughest part of going was keeping my wallet in my back pocket where it belongs . Lots of choices to spend .

 

[64BEL]

Thanks for the pics! I couldn't make it this year due to work. It would have been nice weather for it!
Did you see the Beaver?

 

[retractable]

Nice to have good te.ps there,no shade.
I was there the year it was 104 I think. It was miserable. I miss not going but the knees and hips will not let me. 1985 first year for me,last 2011.

 

[Dakar Timm]

Thanks for the pics! I couldn't make it this year due to work. It would have been nice weather for it!
Did you see the Beaver?

There was a long line to see the Beaver. Eddie from the "Munsters " was there as well. Let me see if Ican throw a few more pictures up here

 

[Detective D]

The show is always amazing.
I live 20 minutes away give or take. I haven't been there in 3 years now. I drove by today on my way to Marshfield. Looks like they opened the camping area up into public parking. Unfortuneatly, the line when I drove by to try to get into the apparently full lot went all the way through Iola out the other side onto 161 past the cemetery. More were on there way in droves as I was headed west. I imagine some of them sat in line doing 1mph for at least an hour to get in. From the east, there was no one.
Then again, the east side(old) public lots are all the way on the other side of the swap meet, and it is a HIKE to get to the show itself.

I used to go yearly. Then:
They stopped using the tractors and wagons as a ferry for people to the gate from the public lot. Said it was an liability issue. No one had an accident there, or at Symco, or at 3 local strawberry patches with these things in my 40+ years of life. Or countless fall hayrides full of drunks for that matter.
So they replaced them with school busses. Yeah, super handy for carrying swap stuff back eh?
Then they told the busses, one year in, they were not allowed to make the loop out onto 161 for liability. So you could get a ride about 500 yards to the gate at the car corral. Then you could hike the rest again.
Then they just cancelled the busses for a year. So now you can walk. It is, unless you are a power walker or something, a solid half hour to get through the car coral and the entire swap to get to the tent from the public park. The last year I went with Father in Law it was about 45 minutes.
Hence they open the camping area, it is actually on the side of the grounds with the show! Now they just need to move the swap meet onto the public parking area on the east and let people park in the middle and maybe I will start going again.
Not a fan of moving the show to Thursday-Saturday either. Some of us have jobs after all.

I would never discourage people from going to the show. It is always amazing and full of cool cars and people. Just be forewarned it is usually HOT, and I am not talking Arizona hot, I am talking Wisconsin summer jungle hot(most people do not understand the difference) and you will walk. You will walk, really far, with hills in the middle of the swap meet. I have enough local shows I generally can't muster the willpower to go deal with Iola in it's current state, having to walk the entire parking lot, the car coral, the swap meet just to get to the actual show and then do it again to leave because "liability" is too fresh a wound for me yet.

 

[Bee1971]

My legs and knees are shot - My wallet is empty - My gas tank is empty - Car needs an actual wash , with water (Incase people don’t know WI is mostly in a drought this summer , very dusty)

On Friday , I have never seen so many show cars try and pull in - Busiest they said in history from what I was told - If they could have parked them in the restrooms or Ottos Bar

I couldn’t park where I was supposed to , ended up in late model over in the grass
And I just watched the chaos - Man the volunteers bust there *** - I helped with the ropes and backing in for about an hour
In retrospect, I wish I would have left my junk there overnight covered up on Thursday , but we just love the drive thru the country roads back and forth from home

People where awesome - Weather was perfect - And in two days I maybe saw 40%
Like mentioned , Wednesday night some rain came through and pushed the humidity and dew points away for the show - Timing couldn’t of been any better honestly - You could walk all day without sweat

Was nice to just relax and sit by the car , man some people just love to talk , like they haven’t been out of the house in five years , that’s ok , but I missed out on my Pancake breakfast LOL

ANYWAYS , for people who don’t realize the size of this event

And these pictures don’t even include the car corral, anywhere from 500-1000 cars for sale on any given day

And now I have to try and get my legs ready for Carlisle and the heat - Dead
Least I am flying in for that

 

[Bee1971]

Pictures

Top upper left hand corner is show cars - All makes , models , everything - Buildings are show cars , around the buildings - Bottom picture you can see the grass area filling in for show cars
Must have been early , not full yet

Then all the vendors middle and bottom right

Then the car corral is across the street bottom not seen in pictures , another huge field

 

[Detective D]

Pictures

Top upper left hand corner is show cars - All makes , models , everything - Buildings are show cars , around the buildings - Bottom picture you can see the grass area filling in for show cars
Must have been early , not full yet

Then all the vendors middle and bottom right

Then the car corral is across the street bottom not seen in pictures , another huge field

And to put in perspective from my earlier comment-
Not shown, to the right of the bottom picture off the edge is the entry gate. Then past that to the right is the public parking, about 15 acres of it. Or you can come through the gate by the car coral but that doesn't really make the walk shorter.
The pictures hide the topography a bit, there are a few fairly steep slopes between the barn and the woods in the swap meet.
161 is the road above the lake in the bottom picture, it cuts across the front of the show with Iola proper off to the upper left in the trees. The shuttles used to make the loop around and you could get off and enter at the swap, the corral, or up by the show by the buildings, get picked up at the same or a few other exit only gates. It made a huge difference on legwork for the days visit.
Again the show is always amazing, just be prepared for the scale of it and the layout.

 

[Dakar Timm]

 

[Bee1971]

My wife loved this Buick because her mom owned one

You can see a Citron Yellow Superbee next to it

I can honestly say I didn’t take pictures

Anyone know of a FJ6 1971 Superbee 383-4 Speed that sold on Consignment around the Wausau area last year ? I didn’t get any damn pictures - Just the fender tag

I know some Facebook links that has hundreds of pictures

 

[dartforforty]

Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing

 

[Davefinan]

I’ve been to Iola many times. Sometimes camped and sometimes motel-ed it. Always a good time
the size of it is fantastic. Swap meet is huge but don’t expect very many mopar parts vendors.

 

[Ron H]

stopped using the tractors and wagons

Wasn’t aware of the ending of wagon shuttles. Last time I attended they were still running. Never used them; but I was still up for miles of walking. Dumb move as many can’t get around well and the grounds are difficult enough with all the hilly terrain. I went for a couple decades and the desire has diminished as I’m not restoring anymore.

Lol, as retracable posted, I remember that hot summer well. They had iced water buckets and selling shop rags to drape around our necks to keep cool. I bought some larger stuff and hired a couple kids with wagons to take to my truck parked a long way out. Lots of nice memories going with people who are no longer with us.

 

[RiverRaider]

I had a great time at Iola. It is one of the very few shows I do not vend at so I had the time to visit with people and shop. Got there on Thursday and left with a full truck Friday afternoon. My big yellow hand cart got a workout with 14 trips back to the truck to unload. Had an excellent parking spot in the shade across from gate two.

 

[retractable]

The best parking is at the house yards across from one of the gates. My legs would get tired so back to the truck,get out a chair and watch all the cars drive by. Get to meet some nice people that way too. That part I miss big time.

 

[Chongo 68]

Great time, put my car in the modified show class, easy in easy out. Show and swap meet is something to see. Massive event, although I only typically attend on Thursday’s it’s still a great time.

 

[64BEL]

Eddie from the "Munsters " was there as well. Let me see if Ican throw a few more pictures up here

He was there a few years ago, too. He was driving around a replica Dragula.

As many have said above, Iola is a physical event. Walking the swap area you're on a hill, so you're walking at a slant most of the time. This is noticeable to someone with 2 artificial hips. The heat can be a real deterrent, too. The swap meet is overwhelming. You could easily walk right past something you need and not know it. There is so much stuff there! I think you'd need to dedicate the full three days to just the swap meet to even have a remote chance of being able to soak it in. They usually have some neat celebrity guests there. Don Garlits seems to be there every few years. Last year they had some of the actors from American Graffiti scheduled to be there. Candy Clark, Cindy Williams, and Bo Hopkins. Sadly, Bo died shortly before the show dates. And Cindy passed since last year's appearance. The first time I went was '81 or '82. It's worth going at least once if you get the chance. The wide range of cars guarantees there's something there for everyone. I agree that the Fri-Sun format was better. I think they changed it because Sun was poorly attended. I don't know if that translates to Saturday now or not.

 

[Detective D]

He was there a few years ago, too. He was driving around a replica Dragula.

As many have said above, Iola is a physical event. Walking the swap area you're on a hill, so you're walking at a slant most of the time. This is noticeable to someone with 2 artificial hips. The heat can be a real deterrent, too. The swap meet is overwhelming. You could easily walk right past something you need and not know it. There is so much stuff there! I think you'd need to dedicate the full three days to just the swap meet to even have a remote chance of being able to soak it in. They usually have some neat celebrity guests there. Don Garlits seems to be there every few years. Last year they had some of the actors from American Graffiti scheduled to be there. Candy Clark, Cindy Williams, and Bo Hopkins. Sadly, Bo died shortly before the show dates. And Cindy passed since last year's appearance. The first time I went was '81 or '82. It's worth going at least once if you get the chance. The wide range of cars guarantees there's something there for everyone. I agree that the Fri-Sun format was better. I think they changed it because Sun was poorly attended. I don't know if that translates to Saturday now or not.

Sunday dropped off because the Modal A club is mostly gone, as is the Studebaker club nowdays. Both of them used to have an unofficial church service at the "tennis courts" up front and then the Model A club would 90% pack up and leave in basically a parade.
The real old timers are all but gone now. Lot more muscle cars then there used to be and the show is much bigger but it is not quite the same without the real antiques or the big 50's car crowd that it used to be. Both clubs made a spectacle of their packing up early Sunday afternoon.
It might also be a strange Wisconsin thing. The last few years (unrelated?) people have been having their garage sales starting Friday and ending Saturday. That has always been a weekend thing. I have no idea why it changed now, I just shake my head at their signs as I drive by on my way to work Fridays. Must be a whole lot of people that don't need to be anywhere during the weekdays I guess.

From my understanding Eddie owns the Dragula and the Coffin car. I don't think he drives either but his estate has ownership? I might be wrong. Buddy at work said he was there this year with the Coffin Car and his custom bike. Eddie is a real cool dude and just shows up and walks around a lot to visit. Super approachable and willing to answer questions about the hollywood cars, without getting in a line to see him.

 

[Ron H]

swap meet is overwhelming

Exactly what I’ve thought after all the years I attended. Didn’t think I ever quite walked the entire swap meet; but might be I did a few times. After several hours traipsing around getting swamp butt, I’d find out I walked down this or that aisle before!

 

[Ron H]

Common check "Ok where are we now from the tower!"