February Hot Takes (While It's Cold Out!)

Sure it's still cold out, but we are a little over a month and a half away from the start of the New Jersey car show season. That's got to make you feel a little better, right? This is the best time of year to get items checked off your ride's "to-do" list. As I write this, our car is having the engine and transmission re-done so it will be ready to go in April. It's also a time where I can stop for a moment, and think about the upcoming season, and season's past, and what I've learned. Here's a few of my thoughts:

• In honor of February being "Valentines Day" month, if you have a spouse or partner that shares your love for our hobby, you are very blessed. If that same person also has his or her own vehicle and participates in shows alongside you, that's a unicorn and you are very fortunate! I'm blessed as my wife and kids like to participate in running and attending events together, and I hope you are as well. They are in fact the reason the engine is getting re-done in the aforementioned car!

• Car Show Judging - we could debate this topic for days. I'm not a fan of "peer choice" as they tend to become a popularity contest, and I much prefer a fully judged show. Even with a judged show, then can get out of hand if you don't have knowledgeable judges or keep it simple. Let's face it - we are not running concours or national points events locally. We can keep our scoring system easy, keeping the trophies to Top 20, 30 ect without classes along with Best of Shows. The balance between awards for modern cars vs classics, cars vs trucks, foreign vs domestic, original vs modified should be reflected in the amount of those vehicles overall in the show. Spreading the wealth around will hopefully make at least most people happy.

• One last tidbit on car show judging - The next time you attend a judged show, just because you didn't see a judge doesn't mean your vehicle wasn't seen or judged. Also, just because the hosting club or show runner knows the winners, it doesn't mean their vehicle isn't deserving. The car community is very small, most of us know one another.

• Finally - The show season will be here before you know it. One day we are opening Christmas presents, the next dusting off our ride to head out to an event. The off season moves fast. Showrunners please get your dates in and plan ahead as best as you can. The calendar is filling up FAST! Since our last blog entry we've added roughly 80 events! Please check our calendar before you pick a date so there are no local conflicts - it's only common courtesy. You wouldn't want another group doing that to you! And please make sure you get your event in to us to list. If you think posting solely on Facebook works it doesn't as posts get buried quickly and there are people who do not use the platform. And why wouldn't you want to use NJ's #1 car show web site that so many try to duplicate but simply cannot? We'll handle getting your event out there for you so you can concentrate on the event itself!

In closing, I just want to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to those who support our car community, our Garden State Car Culture, and value our website and all we have to offer!

See you on the show field

Big AL