Agree to Disagree

Post by **spl310** » Sat May 06, 2006 11:25 pm

Like I said last year. Take up a collection and invite special guest judges from outside of California. That way, the friendships/fueds won't be as much an issue. The Roadster world is kind of small, so there will always be some disagreement, but hey, that is life.

If you want someone that has never met 99% of the west coast guys, I am up for it!

Post by **itsa68** » Sun May 07, 2006 8:49 am

Judging is a pretty tough tough job with all the various types of roadsters that were at the show.
Sid, are you sure you want to volunteer for the job?

As an example, I noticed that in the stock catagory there had been a lot of cars that had swapped out their rim valve stems for the faster filling valve core type.
Its small things like that , which could lead to deducted judge points or bump the vehicle into the modified/custom class.
I should have made a non-biased checklist before casting my votes.

Ray B.

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Sun May 07, 2006 9:22 am

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SLOroadster · Post by **SLOroadster** » Sun May 07, 2006 8:39 pm

There does need to be a modified correct engine class. I'm thinking I'm not going to show mine next year. Its never going to win, even with real paint. Its not quite a full race car, although I'd wager no one else had a car with the mods mine does (aside from the 2 race cars). There needs to be an incorrect (as in swapped) engine class for all you swappers out there.
From what I saw, it is all about bling. You have to have bling in order to win. The two very very correct 67.5 2000s that were white didn't even place. Mike Youngs car doesn't get anymore correct, it even had the original paint! Dan Philbins just needs that horrid dash cover eliminated. He brought his red one the last few years and even though it came from canada, and was the only gaurenteed original solex car there, didn't place. Niether car has any bling, just all the correct parts that they came with.

I don't get what is so cool about chromed this or that. If the car has all the correct parts, and nice paint, it should come down to the cars that are the most correct. Those people should be the ones who set the standard, not the ones that have been chromed.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now.

Will

67 1/2 1600 · Post by **67 1/2 1600** » Sun May 07, 2006 9:40 pm

Its all about the audience! We the people cant do nothing about what the audience votes for. Let it be....

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Sun May 07, 2006 10:32 pm

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Post by **spl310** » Sun May 07, 2006 11:17 pm

Will,

I have been thinking about your post, and I disagree. Modified is modified - whether it is a Roadster with a U20 swap or an H20 swap or an SR20 swap. Modified cars are modified cars. Now, if Joe Roadsterdork shows up with his 1600 that has a replaced 1600 engine, I see that as unmodified as it was presumably replacing a failed unit.

The problem with ANY venue that has popular vote, is that personalities and preferences come into play. The more correct a car is does not matter in that arena. Another problem is that so little is documented about what should be on each car makes the true concours type of judging problematic.

I have to agree with Alvin. If you are bringing the car to take home a trophy, then you are not in it for the cars, but for the ego rush. Enjoy your car for being your car and be fine with that - don't sweat the popular opinion. If you are building a go fast Datsun, then it is not about the shine. Lets face it, by just looking at your car, no one can tell if it has a LSD, big lumpy cam, knife edged crank, over bored pistons, etc, etc, etc. It is just a primered up solex 2000. No offense intended, just the reality as it would be seen by a casual observer.

BTW, why doesn't your bud Dan ever come on the forum and post his opinion? I recall you blasting the popular vote last year or the year before with the same arguments and about the same guy's car. If Dan has a beef, lets hear from him.

I was not at the show, but I do enjoy looking at the pics. Heck, neither of my cars made it to the Mitty, but I enjoyed that anyway!

67 1/2 1600 · Post by **67 1/2 1600** » Mon May 08, 2006 1:22 am

Its not all about winning, its about enjoying the show, and being there! I went up there to have a good time, talk to fellow roadster owners, make new friends, have danish pastry with coffee, etc. I wasnt expecting to win anything, I showed up to be a part of the roadster posse. My buddy was scared to take his dented up, bondo filled 67.5 because he thought everyone would clown him, but in reality, the roadster group would have probably have influenced him to work on it instead of junking it.

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Mon May 08, 2006 1:49 am

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Post by **Brad Lustig** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:21 am

That's the whole reason that when I put together a car even in my hometown, I made it so there were no awards and no trophies. Just come as you and your car are. Every once in a while, someone will show up in their "show car" and wonder what time the awards are given out. Sometimes they leave in a huff never to be seen again, other times they become regulars and enjoy having the downtime from all the other shows so that they can enjoy the other cars and people instead of worrrying so much about how their car looks.
www.eastcoopercruisein.com
I've also put together a local forum that I hope will follow the same ideals.
www.LAGHead.com

Don't get me wrong, I think there's a time and place for car shows and 100% correct cars, I just don't enjoy them as much as actually driving and tinkering.

SLOroadster · Post by **SLOroadster** » Mon May 08, 2006 2:33 pm

Modified is modifed, however swapped is a whole different creature. There is a difference. Its like dropping a SBC in a C type Jag. Peoples choice, hey thats cool, it has a run of the mill SBC. In a real concourse event, it wouldn't be let in the show. My point is that those cars whos owners go to great effort to create a correct car should be honored for their effort. Especially when it happens to be the most highly regaurded class at the event. In fact the most unmodifed 67.5 2000 there was Mike Youngs car, with the original paintjob.
Do I ever expect to win something with my car, no not really, even with real paint. It gets driven too often to have a flawless paintjob. I have put countless hours of work and drawn plenty of blood on my car to make it what it is. I have also done a lot of research on it to see how BRE and Bob Sharp did things. From that standpoint it would be nice to see some respect for it. Does it need a lot more work? You bet, without a doubt.
I don't think Bob Klemme or Ron Carters car belonged in the modifed class, they were in a class of there own. Bobs car is a masterpiece of custom fabrication with one heck of a history. Rons car is also a very special car for many of the same reasons. Those 2 cars however need a specific race class. The attention to detail for both is first rate.
Datzoom is somewhat flustered by the fact that originallity is blown off in favor of Bling. Hes not going to post about it because he has better things to do. He will continue to bring cars in the future hoping that someday his efforts will be rewarded.

I've said enough,
Will

JoeK · Post by **JoeK** » Mon May 08, 2006 3:02 pm

Speaking about adding a class. On the drive home we were wondering what it would be like to offer voter slips to the general public. You know, all the nice people of Solvang who wander through and say "hey, this is neat, my wifes uncles mistresses son used to have one of those" What if they were given a voter slip, one differnet than the owner slips. They could vote on one car, or all classes, or whatever. You could call it the "Pedestrian Award". Then it isn't tied into who's got the right foglights or solexes. It may end up going to the shiniest car, or the car with the most talkative owner. But it may also generate a little more public participation, which I think is a fun aspect of the Solvang shows location.

I also agree there should be a "Datsun non-Roadster Award", because they do the trek, and deserve some recognition.

Ldino21 · Post by **Ldino21** » Mon May 08, 2006 3:21 pm

Will I understand your frustrations that is why years ago we had Special Awards for special vehicles, I think I remember your car winning something (Best in need of a paintjob??)

I put this thread out there because I do believe there are some beautiful stock cars and special interest cars that should be recognized and only a group of serious Datsun/Nissan freaks would know how special these cars are!!

I am currently doing a 67-2000 restoration and my color scheme is Silver with a Red interior, most people would say yuck, while a handful of guys who know our cars know that, that is an original color option that was only available in Japan.

I feel we should have as many options for people to win awards at these shows as possible and whoever takes over the show in the future takes these kind of issues into consideration.

I agree with Ron, it iwould be really tough to invite 510's and Z's and keep the show on First Street, but why couldn't there be an autocross portion to show on Sunday at the old airport about 10 minutes down the road, wouldn't that be fun..

Just my 2 cents..

Lou Smaldino
66-1600
67-2000
64-1500

datsun65 · Post by **datsun65** » Mon May 08, 2006 3:53 pm

In general...with the much larger Solvang Audience (more than 70 cars the past 2 years) vs the smaller number of cars in past years (closer to 30ish), I think there is ample room for a few more classifications for awards.

my color scheme is Silver with a Red interior, most people would say yuck

Hey... I like that color scheme

RC240z · Post by **RC240z** » Mon May 08, 2006 6:51 pm

I think we have all seen why different people go to Solvang...

I look for my awards on the race track, and in the Media. Nissan saw fit to run photos of my Roadster and my BRE Z (and me) in a national add campaign. there is no trophy you can give me that will replace that pleasant surprise... Tim Minor write up in Hemmings falls under the same type of "award" or reward for all his hard work.

Would I like a trophy from Solvang, sure. Does my car or Bob's car fit into a class, well no....Technically they are correct for stock and modified. I think if you add a class for race cars that you will see more of them at Solvang and there are several nice ones around that most of you have not seen. If you add an auto-x, it will be a management nightmare and I won't go... But that is a whole other subject.

I like the idea of the pedestrian vote too, let the folks visiting Solvang vote for what they like too. Perhaps we should add a "Bling Class" too, or ultra modified, or Hybrid Roadster award.....who knows....

Like Alvin, I didnt even vote this year. I preferred to see a group of my peers, and talk datsun, and look at all the beautiful roadsters. The award to me is all the nice people who come by and ask about my car...and the class photo at the end of the show.

My hat is off to Dan Z. he organized and lead our caravan to Southern California. I really enjoyed caravaning down to Solvang...it was a good group we had fun and we twisted a lot of heads. Again, better than any trophy.

I am sure in the next 5 years that we will see an increase in attendance of Datsun Roadsters, we are above 70 now and I know that Les has at least 4 or 5 that he is working on to complete in the next 9 months. So adding additional models of Datsuns will become an issue. If you move the show, then you can add additional makes of Datsuns...but the Solvang factor will be lost, and we all might as well go to the MSA show in Orange.

I think it is a shame that we didnt take a photo of the record number of 67.5's only because I think it might be some time before we see 10 of them together again...again a topic for another conversation.