You can tell it’s Spring when every day’s email brings yet another invitation to a Car Show. Seems that every fundraising organization in SoCal has latched on to the car show idea as a way to generate income.....and they may not be wrong.
Even with an overabundance of choices and new events stepping on the scheduling toes of older, established events, it seems every show has a great turnout. How many custom and classic cars can there be in the area? My sources tell me that many of the recurring events are also thriving, particularly Aliso Viejo, Golden Cove and UA Theatre. I have never been to a Petersen Breakfast Meet that didn’t cover the entire roof top parking area.
So much for waning interest in our hobby! Changing maybe, but surely not waning. So if your baby has been doing more sitting than driving, there’s no excuse. With Club events, recurring events and local car shows, there something for everyone and something for every weekend. Let’s get rolling! On a sadder note, my monthly delivery of Hemmings Sports and Exotics magazine came with a cover note announcing that this was the final issue. After twelve years, and despite one of the highest renewal rates in the car magazine business, Hemmings is folding the tent (just this title, not the infamous Hemmings Motor News). No explanation given. Certainly the parent company has tons of money and the magazine seemed to have a healthy load of advertising.
I for one will miss it. It’s getting harder and harder to find magazine content that consistently covers the Little British Car scene. Hemmings did it regularly along with spotlighting other great and affordable sports cars “of an era.” My other standby, Classic Motorsports, seems to be on the way to merging this British-friendly mag with its sister publication, Grassroots Motorsports, and making both all about racing. I guess it all comes down to advertiser dollars and the changing demographics.
It may not be long before my over-priced membership to the national Healey Clubs gets me the only good reading about LBC’s left!