For me static cars on show with some trade stands doesn't work.
Ian
ps, and even if your doing the rwyb you still have to pay to get in the gates and then again to get on track...
[Edited on 3/1/15 by Oddified]
I posted this on PH too.
As we are now officially in 2015 I opened my new diary page to enter the important dates for 2015 kit car shows or alternatives. Ouch!
No kit car pavilion at Auto sport
No Detling
No Exeter
No Malvern (first one cancelled)
No Newark
No Castle Coombe Kit Fest (first one cancelled)
No Donington, at least no news yet?
SEVEN DOWN AND JUST ONE LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I entered Stoneligh in my diary and then realised a massive opportunity has opened up for a new show, a show that revitalises the industry, a
show perhaps that can break the mould of fields full of kit cars and little or no action or entertainment and and low gate take for organisers.
With virtually no where for kit car owners to go this year maybe just maybe at last it is possible to throw away that " I should get in free
because my car adds to the show" routine and actually charge a small fee to KC owners that can be spent on making a great show.
Is this possible? Are we ready? I can't do it, I am a manufacturer, but there must be show organisers that can run with this if they were made
aware of potential.
So is anyone going to step forward and open a new show this year, a proper show, with perhaps a drag strip or an auto test that everyone can have a go
at, inter club competitions, prizes for best club display etc etc. Any other ideas very welcome. Lets hope someone is looking that can grasp this
opportunity and do it. Please help spread the word.
Track action is probably cost prohibitive unless there is a low cost alternative. Brands Hatch and the likes can cost 40k for a weekend in the summer
due to one firm owning most of the UK circuits that almost has a monopoly. Site suggestions? Events that may combine with kit cars suggestions? WOULD
YOU PAY TO GET IN?
You convieniently miss the one show from the last 2 years that did exactly what you suggest; Track action and charged a (discounted) entry to kit
drivers.
Total Kit Car Live. At Blyton in 2013 and Brands in 2014. It was hampered by lack of publicity and this year by the date (Nov at Brands?) and a clash
with another event I think, but it could build into a decent event.
They have all slowly died a death due to lack of support by the kit car owner.
Although still in its infancy, on the 13th to 15tb September 2015 RHOCAR are hosting the 3rd annual 'end of season kit car bash' in
Northampton which is open to all clubs and enthusiasts.
Last year's event from a couple of photo bucket albums;
http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/sparish73/library/National%20Meet%202014?sort=3&page=1
http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/Dino2B/story_130185/story
http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=37794&st=90
Although it's not a Kitcar show in its truest form, it is a bl00dy good family weekend centred around our hobby. The 2015 event hasn't yet
been formalised, but the date is set and we're certainly aiming to grow the event year on year.
Please note this is not exclusive to RHOCAR members. Other clubs attend for the weekend so if you'd like to join us, details can be found here
and flyers will be given out at stoneleigh show etc....throughout the year.
http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=40646
[Edited on 3/1/15 by richardm6994]
I work for a events company and I have never understood the 'get in free with a kitcar'. When going to a concert you don't get in free
if you take a guitar. The company I work for don't do this sort of show.
You need these people.
http://www.livepromotions.co.uk/
If the alternative is " no show at all" then its a no-brainer!
Use the funds to get more exhibitors and traders interested.
Somebody doing 4 wheel alignment checks?
A mobile rolling road?
Is there a date set yet for TKC Live 2015?
TKC Action days have both been great. As Adi says Blyton went well if a little quiet, Brands a little wet and cold!
Perhaps a more central location when it's a little warmer? Perhaps Bruntingthorpe would be an option?
I'm pretty sure Steve will be working on both the issues.
Donnington works well as the racing adds another dimension and gives us something else to do.
Stoneleigh is Stoneleigh and the one most people make the effort to go to as a social event as much as anything.
Considering the current state of the kit car world at the moment that seems enough.
They have them too far south, what about north east, Yorkshire and Scotland ???
The kent Kitcar club have events on all through the year
Stoneleigh, bhp show, dealing classic show, Folkestone airshow car display, TKC at brands the Diarys not filled in yet so I can't say much more.
But I did something every month last year and didn't do all the events.
We are also doing Silverstone classic in July camping over.
[Edited on 3/1/15 by Ben_Copeland]
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
They have all slowly died a death due to lack of support by the kit car owner.
quote:
Originally posted by Irony
I work for a events company and I have never understood the 'get in free with a kitcar'. When going to a concert you don't get in free if you take a guitar. The company I work for don't do this sort of show.
You need these people.
http://www.livepromotions.co.uk/
Stig Mills has, no doubt, a far better overview of the kit car industry than anyone (especially me).
I do however, get a big vibe that things are not too good. Interesting article I read on this somewhere, in a glossy magazine, that the yoof are just
not interested in all this rubbish (when you can get an' Impretzer' (e.g.) for not a great outlay). The rich old gits are now apparently
into very expensive Cobraesque type things. People like me , now balding, poor, etc., seem to in the minority.
Problem with me and shows - simply that motorsport rounds have always coincided, the latter will always win out.
quote:
Originally posted by marcoThe point is without the cars to look at there is no show worth going to see is there....
This is what really gets my goat the unlucky folks that spend all of there hard earned cash on there show cars and kit cars and they are still expected to pay to exhibit these at the shows. Without them what have you left some trade stands and a few burger vans....
Elvington would be a good venue.
Plenty of outdoor hardstanding for displays, auto-testing and/or marquees, plus a huge runway to do sprints, demonstrations, drag races etc.
if I was the organiser, I'd market the event on the driving aspect I.e. Have pay per run drag strip, auto-testing and maybe drifting. Have it
open to bikes and cars, have auto jumble and trade areas. For those exhibiting cars, do something like one drag run free (but only during certain off
peak times)
Then at elvington, for the drag/sprints, I'd set the start area in the middle and have them running off in both directions to maximise the amount
of runs per day and minimise the queuing.
quote:
Originally posted by PorkChop
quote:
Originally posted by marcoThe point is without the cars to look at there is no show worth going to see is there....
This is what really gets my goat the unlucky folks that spend all of there hard earned cash on there show cars and kit cars and they are still expected to pay to exhibit these at the shows. Without them what have you left some trade stands and a few burger vans....
The kit car fraternity is the only one I know of where there is the expectation of free entry for 'exhibitors' TBH.
Having not completed my car yet I've always had to pay full whack for Stoneleigh, but I have absolutely no problem with it. I look forward to
showing off my car when it's done, but I'd still be happy to pay some sort of entrance fee.
I do like the idea of the TKC action days though, I think MEV do a similar thing for their owners.
Would I be right in thinking that if we had been paying an entry fee to "exhibit " our cars that Newark, Detling, et al might still be on
the calendar?
Or is Marco right? Better to have no show than have to cough up!
quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
How about hosting it at a track that has 750MC on at the same time. That would be good and boost exposure to 750MC. Kind of like Goodwood FOS style.
I'm liking the sound of Elvington and up north events.
Quite a lot of people seem to live within an hours drive of Stoneleigh but for those living future away it can be a major undertaking in some ting not
benefitting from V12 power or if it does it can cost a couple of hundred in fuel so regional shows would be a good way to go
Atb
Mike
quote:
Originally posted by motorcycle_mayhem
The rich old gits are now apparently into very expensive Cobraesque type things. People like me , now balding, poor, etc., seem to in the minority.
I think if you get the right balance of building and driving type events at the show, the rolling road/setup type exhibitors as noted above, you have more things under cover to mitigate the weather and it's well advertised then most kitcar folk would be happy to pay a modest fee for entry...
Can't believe that some people are quibbling about paying to get into a show when you drive a kitcar. Even if the gate charges a small amount
like £2.50 it would help turn a show into a profit making venture. You get free bloody parking as well!!!!!!!!
I am a exhibition designer and I go to a lot of shows. I have designed and built a stand at a show, been forced to pay to get in and been charged £12
to park before.
As kit car owners we need to support our kit car shows, we need to pay to get in and still go if the weathers naff.
The biggest and best shows have a wide range of entertainment for the masses. Some of the biggest car shows are at Santa Pod, and they have everything
a from night club, bars, fairground rides, show n shine, trade stands/shops, rolling road, drifting and of course the on track drag racing. It works,
some of the shows are huge, so much so that it can be a bit of nightmare getting out of the event at the end of a weekend!
For me static cars on show with some trade stands doesn't work.
Ian
ps, and even if your doing the rwyb you still have to pay to get in the gates and then again to get on track...
[Edited on 3/1/15 by Oddified]
Promoters are in business to make money - shock, I know, but that's how it works. All the shows that have been dropped have been losing money.
What do you expect when more of the people attending Stoneleigh last year got in for free than paid.
I suspect the problems of the decline in kit car shows and kit cars in general are many, but the general attitude of 'My car is the show so I
should get in for free' has been a major factor in the shows Stiggy has mentioned being dropped.
Your car is not the main entertainment the general public pay good money to see, but at most shows these days there's little other entertainment
to justify the money they have paid to get in.
This drives the public away and thus the potential customers, leading to the manufacturers failing and the industry continuing to shrink.
Add to this the general lack of design innovation in the last 2 decades and the ridiculous prices some kits cost to put on the road and I would say
the writing is clearly on the wall.
Stiggy has been one of the few innovators but his exoskeleton designs don't suit the British weather. With even his kits costing the thick end of
£5000 to put on the road for only a few days use per year, kit cars just don't make sense any more.
If these shows are to continue then kitcar owners have to accept they have to pay to get in too.
As for the kitcar industry, manufacturers are going to have come up with innovative solutions not just for the next generation of kitcars but in the
way they market them as they can no longer rely on third party promoters for somewhere to show there products to the general public.
Not a positive post to start the year on I know but if it wakes people up to the crisis that the kitcar fraternity is in then maybe something positive
will come of it!
Have to agree with all of the above,
I went to EVERY kit car show from May 1999-2003, any where in the country we went, in our kit cars
I did about 8k mileage in those 3-4 years, but now manage about 1k a year
yet ive been to Exeter 2012 and Stoneleigh 2012, and EXACTLY the same stalls, same car stands, and nothing new (that I saw) so why bother going ?
zero interest, sorry !!
Another point i would like to raise is, that back in the 1999-2003 period of kit car shows, it was mainly
car related stalls, with the odd wicker basket or garden furniture stall thrown in the mix, yet stoneleigh a couple of years ago, the ratio must of
been 40% car related and 60% other crap
This we all know is to bring in a larger audience of Wifes, Gf , and kids, also pushchairs and dogs!
who in there right mind wants to take a dog to a car show? (wifes and Gf excluded)
The kit car shows are nothing more than money making ventures, and we all need to make money
the above problems also are true of the Radio controlled shows I used to frequent, Blackbush and North weald, a few years ago, would be ram packed
with "families and a dog"
Now as was said earlier, I buy pretty well all of my "wants" online as well,
steve
Go back to the late 90s and the shows were massive, but it was also the only place you could really go and buy most of the bits and bobs we need to
complete a car. You would go in with a list and walk out with rolls of carpet, pleather, some shocks, a nibbler and some DiDi7 for some reason.
These days you can buy all of that stuff on the internet for the same or sometimes even cheaper than you can get at the shows so theres less incentive
for suppliers and buyers to go along.
Cheers
Stot
And don't forget the weather.
There is nothing like a cold and rainy British summer to think nah I won't bother with this one.
Maybe kit car owners are too busy actually building and driving their cars to go to shows to look at a few static cars and stands selling bits you can
buy on the internet anytime? Certainly I am.
VW/concours/classic shows and similar work because they are all about the looks and showing off, a stationary kit car is as pointless as a deactivated
gun.
I saw more interesting kit car stuff at the Thoresby Park sprint this year than at the few shows I have been to and Thoresby Park was free for my
family to come in as spectators.
quote:
Originally posted by big_wasa
And don't forget the weather.
There is nothing like a cold and rainy British summer to think nah I won't bother with this one.
As a manufacture we found that the cost of the show,fuel and staff bills for the weekend didn't make it feasible to attend the shows anymore.
We now just attend trackdays or race meetings and get lots mote interest than as static stand.
This is were I think I live track and drift or drag strip day with owners stands and stalls would be a lot better show.
As people have said it's a lot to do with internet sales,I have to agree.we get over 15,000 views a month so you have to move with the times.
If someone would come up with a decenct show with all the above I would be more than happy to bring a couple of cars along to give passenger rides etc
Thanks Danny
Mk sportscars
I've been going to kit car shows for more years than I care to remember probably before a lot of members on here were born I always paid to get in and never complained about the price however I see it as some kind of payback now to get in free with the kit car . How many times have I been loading up the car looking at the weather and thinking is it worth taking a chance or should I go in the tin top? As others have said would it be a kit car show without members cars being displayed? Whilst I sympathise with people like Danny and see his point about costs I wonder how long manufacturers keep displaying the same old same old without a lot of new kits coming onto the market, no wonder attendances are falling? Another point , I wonder what percentages of kits are brought on recommendations from members of the owners clubs rather than the often pathetic attempts at marketing by the manufacturers,? There are several Luego owners/builders on here that only brought the kit due to talking to the owners club for example, in fact how long is it since Luego having displayed at a kit car show? The only reason I now attend is to socialise like many I know. If I have to pay to get in with the kit I may well take the tin top and at least arrive in comfort and not soaking wet with dry gear to sleep in and actually save money on fuel
I have only been to one show, and that's is where I ordered my car. Since then I was too busy building to go to another, then too busy driving to
go to another.
The thing I found disappointing with the show I went to (Detling) was that when on the manufacturers stands they didn't bother to do anything,
the made no effort other than stand around seeming to think they were better than the others. No effort is trying to make a sale.
In the end, one manufacturer actually took time to talk to me, find out what I wanted and made me a cup of tea. Although I knew what I wanted in terms
of a car, it was what the company was like to deal with at the very beginning that made a difference. They were then given a shed load of money (to me
it was a lot) and since then they have also had me spend a large amount with them.
They continue to attend all sorts of motor related shows and continue to do very well. Kit car manufacturers have to realise that customer service is
just as important nowadays as the ability to weld and make things.
I would like to attend another show, I don't care about getting in for nothing, just would be nice to attend a large event with lots of other
kits and suppliers.
A proper day out, or camp and make a weekend of it.
Even Stonleigh might not be around in a few years due to a little train line going through the middle of it (HS2), unless that all gets moved elsewhere
I think that there needs to be a re-think about the purpose of kit car shows.
I started to go to them because I wanted to build a kit and going to a show was the best way to select the one that was right for me. I had a good
look at a few stands and then went to the club area where JGG was good enough to give me a ride in his Viento. I then went back to the stand and
bought one. For the next couple of years, I went along to look at other peoples builds to make sure that I was doing it right. As has already been
said, you don't really need to go to buy bits anymore, because that's what e-bay and on-line shops are for.
However, IMHO, there is no way that kit car shows can be viable if the main draw is to look for something to buy.
Now I go because the Viento is on the road, its nice to show it off cos its new, and its good to catch up with fellow builders. If the weather was
looking a bit iffy and the show was a long way away, I don't think that this would be enough.
I think that it would be more of a draw if I had other thinks to do with the car when I got there. e.g. rolling road for BHP measurement, help with
set up etc that you could pay for. How may posts on here have been of the type "where can I get my car corner weighted ..." etc?
Also, linking it to a track time would work well, even if you just got a couple of laps, or half an hour - I appreciate that the logistics and safety
issues of this would need working through though.
I would be happy to pay to get into a show with a kit, but as others do come to look, I would want a discount compared to turning up in a tin-top.
Maybe a show linked to track time at an airfield would fit.
I have to say, the RHOC seem to have it right, they self organise, seem to have a good social around the event and go out for runs etc.
[Edited on 4/1/15 by SteveWallace]
I have been to Stoneleigh the last 3 years while I've been building and to me the large areas of owners cars displayed there is very impressive
.I love comparing them and seeing how other people have overcome similar problems during the build stages. Ive had some good chats with drivers as
they ve parked their kits up .Ive bought a few bits and pieces but just having a good old rummage around around the parts is good.But times are
changing and events need to change accordingly to survive .I think ,as mentioned by others on here, there needs to be a bit more hands on stuff. A
rolling road and say a drag strip so people could test their bhp and 0-60 times would be really good.I d pay for both as long as they were reasonably
priced .Overall these would be good money spinners.Im also in favour of some kind of kit car event/show at elvington airfield !Very handy for me !I ll
be going to Stoneleigh this year in my 7 unless the weather is bad.It s a long way to go and it is going to cost me a lot in petrol so getting in free
is a bonus.But i wouldn't mind paying a discounted rate if this helps the survival of these shows .If its bad weather i ll be down in the tin
top.I think these shows need more support from everybody or they are going to disappear and nobody wants that.And I'm sure everybody could find a
bit of spare time to go to at least one event .If only to see if it was better than the last time they went !!