Nationals discussion topic

Well another nationals has passed. What were your opinions of the show?

Its slowly been getting smaller over the past few years, dont know why though. Theres not usually as much empty space as there was this year. There wasnt many new cars that I hadnt seen before and people arent doing a lot of completely out there, unique kind of stuff.

There were a few cars that I like seeing over and over, but yeah, would like more people to start doing more "out there" stuff to put on show.

One good thing, I picked up a 1600 twin port to replace my 1200 with a stuffed bottom end 😀

Anyways, what were your thoughts?

i had fun :thumb
definately some nice cars there

i didnt mind it there was the noticeable persons missing but in all it was a good show

barls wrote:i didnt mind it there was the noticeable persons missing but in all it was a good show

Yeah sorry about that mate, i'll be there next year :P

Lee

buzzbug wrote:

barls wrote:i didnt mind it there was the noticeable persons missing but in all it was a good show

Yeah sorry about that mate, i'll be there next year :P

Lee

yeah sorry i missed you as well mate how about anzac day

i think it is cause its on every easter. and at some time everybody jsut has to do family stuff or what ever. i know this year i had to visit the nieces and nephews as i have never done that before (been going to nationals). so for sure the numbers would have to rise and fall.

I know this was the case with most people I know who really wanted to go, we all had to do the 'family' thing over Easter. :cry

twoguns wrote:i think it is cause its on every easter. and at some time everybody jsut has to do family stuff or what ever. i know this year i had to visit the nieces and nephews as i have never done that before (been going to nationals). so for sure the numbers would have to rise and fall.

Not sure if it was too much smaller.
The roof has been extended so it may have looked as though it was smaller.

I had a great day and will be there again next year.

Easter traffic scared me off this year-too much risk for a short day.

I didn't think it was any smaller but a lot of new cars,
a lot I've seen before, but many from last year were missing.... I didn't see any country buggies...
I lonely type 182 trekka [RHD type 181]
lots of things to buy... New & used....
and 300kms to get there.... and back again home...

Lee

urban_myth wrote:Well another nationals has passed. What were your opinions of the show?

people arent doing a lot of completely out there, unique kind of stuff.

There were a few cars that I like seeing over and over, but yeah, would like more people to start doing more "out there" stuff to put on show.

your thoughts?

what do you mean by out there , cutting a bus in half welding a tray onto the ass of it with some beetle gear slapping in a v6 etc , by the way i love that little ute and can not believe it has not sold as yet ....
this year was the best bus year yet i think i had the pleasure of looking at 20 splits throughout the day awsome .... i just dont get why the bus catorgories get screwed with the tropheys why is there only first and second , all beetle and other catorgories had first second and third

Think that there will be about the same at Narooma at this rate too Darren. We head out for Easter ... so no Nats ... and kinda like the drive more than the shine...was nice to drop in on Wal' to see his bus, was planning to visit 'I sold it' Bruce, but the Blues Festival made for crap traffic into Byron...and hoping to catch up with Damo in Noosa next week...

T3 Petrol Sydney to Budrim - you don't wanna know!...New Battery at SupaCheap $149.00, Whacking the starter motor - FREE....ah the love of buses...

The pics looked great btw. No harm in seeing old stuff ... nice to see that the old stuff, hasn't dropped to bits and still looks great each year.

Those bloody Nulon girls were sexually harrassing me all day. I have enough stickers now to wallpaper my house.

I think the swap meet was bigger this year, or maybe just spread out more. I brought home a wallet padded with $600 from my site (of things I probably paid $3000 for). I've still got half a trailer load of stuff. Only occured to me after the show that people may have thought the engine I was selling was pissing out oil, when in fact the oil is from my ride on mower. Nobody took my 200kmh fastback windscreen though, couldnt give any glass away. Will have to start a new for sale thread.

Usually I am pretty good at predicting car of the day and peoples choices, this year I failed. I thought the blue splittie camper was the ducks nuts, I guess the other 2 tone splittie had more shiney bits that appeal more to most people.

Hi

The numbers through the gate were up this year, about the same car show entry numbers. This year easter was at the start of the school holidays, so a good effort.

Ive been going to the Nationals since 1988 and only once was it not on the Easter weekend, I cop heaps at home about not doing family stuff.

Steve

I think if the great cars in the car park were inside it would have filled up nicely. Great day for all. I just LOVE Alex Holzl's car. Bloody hell.

I had lotsa fun.... I wonder if there is any wat to get some car park activities going
.... felt proud as punch rocking up in my girl, abut felt the git for hanging around her too long........... maybe something like an alternative awards ceremony.... like for the guy selling the signed autograph of Lindsey Lohan... or to the guy with that Green Kombi decked out in Xmas lights.......... I took heaps of little tidbits on my video camera and will edit it soon and post it ........

Wahhhh I missed coming up....getting my license back one week too late 😢

I think part of the numbers drop is the drags not being on again for the second year in a row....not being able to get Eastern Creek

And why don't people bring their nice rides in from the car park, it's a real pity....you don't have to try for a trophy.

I used to find it useful to have Bel sitting amongst the others to give me a better idea of what I wanted to do with her....see her in there next to the others...

Nice to see some new rides in the pics but any of these events see us die hards coming back with their pride and joy :kiss

...another reason for a drop in numbers this year could be that the Bug-In was being held just over the border in South Aus this year...I know they were booked out over there maybe we will get some reports in once they start arriving home?

jenz58 wrote:Wahhhh I missed coming up....getting my license back one week too late 😢

I think part of the numbers drop is the drags not being on again for the second year in a row....not being able to get Eastern Creek

And why don't people bring their nice rides in from the car park, it's a real pity....you don't have to try for a trophy.

I used to find it useful to have Bel sitting amongst the others to give me a better idea of what I wanted to do with her....see her in there next to the others...

Nice to see some new rides in the pics but any of these events see us die hards coming back with their pride and joy :kiss

i'd bring mine in but i cant be buggered hanging around for the whole day. i don't talk to people much so i don't do much other than just look around and leave.

edit: and i definitely agree with the point about the drags. personally, i was very much looking forward to it since this was the first time i've had my vw on the road in 4 or 5 years.

[ Edited on 17-4-2006 by cray ]

for some its all about the drags , how nice was the weather on saturday would have been perfect for it , i so wanted to take the bus down that stretch of road,, i think the dsk people are going to try to get as many splits to a wednesday night meet some time in the near future maybe we should try to organize all vw people interested to get down there and take over for alittle bit........ just a thought actually i will talk to some people to try to set a date...if you want to play then join in if not stay home and sit on the forum both are good entertainment

Maybe Type 3s could be better encouraged rather than lump them together with the Type 4. Looking through the car park at least gave some encouragement that there is still a number of us driving this great range of VW vehicles, especially the younger enthusiasts.

DH

I know down here in Melbourne there's a big following of the Type 3 and they do have their own trophies

....they should have their own class as they are such a cool unique VW especially with the work some of you guys put into them...they are definitely not a Type 4 and are a class of their own even if it is the one category of all years and bodies....And they are eligible for best original, paint and interior etc

Maybe it's the lack of numbers of Type 3 they have enter???

Fair enough comment cray .... I can understand if people don't want to hang around all day...but then you can leave when ever you want

I just wanted to say a huge thank you too everybody from the organising commitee, and all the people who work there collective buts off to make this event happen year in & year out. you guys & girls are the tops in my book :thumb
Also to all the VW business who support the show , all the guys who drag there stuff in from home to sell off in the swap meet ( thanks for moving your unwanted items along so other cars may make it on too the road ) and for everybody who gose to the effort of turning up with your prides and joy.

I have said it before & i am sure i will say it again.
" VW people are the best people to know"

Had a great day, met some new faces, and caught up with some old ones... all in all ... had a ball.

Thanks EVERYBODY !:thumb

I dont think its type 3 lumped in with type 4, i think the type 4 is just bundled in for lack of a better place. Is there any point in a type 4 class on its own? How many were at nationals. If one showed up... it would win yes? If I had a decent looking type 3, I dont think the threat of losing out to a type 4 would be high on my list of worries.

loved the bugs and buses ,but no old split bugs ,no baja bugs, not many roadster types etc ,no problem with the amount of cars ,just the range of different variations

Was my first ever VW event and I loved it. Just loved being among the machines and fellow obsessives. Well done to all those that organised it.

Still don't know who won what though. Anyone tell me where that information is?

have you tried www.clubvw.org.au ?

next year would be the 20th anniversary of the nats, may be even better than this year.

Mr K,
If You want to see the most Air Cooled VWs at one time,
You will need to go to Valla/Nambucca Heads in August..
Its Unreal....

Lee

amazeer wrote:have you tried www.clubvw.org.au ?

Yep. They have photos but no results. Doesn't matter as I don't know who the folks are anyway. Would be great if when they do post the results they are accompanied by a photo of the winning vehicle.

Hi

Im waiting on the results so I can upload them. I just uploading another 50 or so photos.

Steve

A very deserving peoples choice.......


[/img]

deserving....immaculate, tasteful.... hmmmmm

Theres not usually as much empty space as there was this year.

Maybe you can come out next year n help our parking guys find those empty spaces ??? they ran out of room early

Birch - are there any thoughts of a relocation somewhere down the line? I know it's hard to find another place with such a large roof, but wondering if rotating it around a few places would keep it "fresh"?

This a great site....
much better than the other Soccer place....
although You could stay there overnight....
and be one of the first at the Nationals.... Yeah...
but if it rained.... not good....

I just saw a photo I took a few years ago at this venue and there was a LOT of spare room....

You could let in some of the "nice" carpark cars...
even though they didn't want to enter the show & shine ,
competition......

just a thought....

I'll still be back next year.... hoping to see some of the cars that were there last year etc......

Lee

ill start off by saying i think the nats are a good show and well organised and i would never want to shit on someones hard work. im sure there is alot of effort inviolved with organising it and from my tiny experience with helping organise Euro Day and my Club runs i have had a small taste of wat it feels like to have people bad mouth wat u worked so hard to create and it sucks. u feel, why did i bother?

in saying that i do have a few ideas for the nationals from observations i made this year sitting at my swap site that might help make it an even better show next year.

1. vehicle displays:
later in the morning 2 Golfs parked themselves across from me diagonally across the car spaces and one setup a little golf course around his car. though a bit autosalon-ish i did like how the cars had alot of room around them and were easy to look at from all angles. when i looked around i noticed there was still alot of spaces that were left empty for the rest of the day, whilst alot of the cars were bunched up next to each other.

i feel that it would be good to give each car (if they want) abit of room to spread out. they dont hav to setup a golf course aorund them but it would not only give people a better view of each car, it would also make each car stand out instead of being so squashed together. cars lined up next to each other to me does not look good at all.
it would also help to make the show seem alot bigger and more diverse.

Now i can undersatnd there would be difficulties with this in that you guys probably dont know exact numbers turning up and it would be hard to delegate spaces for everyone, parking can be a nightmare and so on, but maybe something to think about and work out. i think the show would look far more attractive on a whole. the more i think about the space you have there the more ideas i have about how good the show could look. i especially liked how the KLACK motors or VFORCE cars were on show as well, i liked walking aorund the cars, looking inside and not turning aorund to bump into the side of the next car.

2. another category:
i requested this last year and it seems to work fine at other shows ive been to recently.
im talking about a Daily Driver/Rat Look/Alternative Trance/Hip Hop or watever u want to call it category. Id rather not pigeon hole it so ppl ask wat defines rat look and all that shit. Just a category that 'the different' people can enter. for example, entering Damiens Concrete Truck Splitty in original kombi -67, or entering the 58 rat in best modified 58 onwards, neither have a chance. i thnk itd be cool to have a for these types of cars because by the look of things its going to get more popular, im seeing alot more of these rides coming up in the near future. i think alot of ppl get enjoyment out of seeing these eclectic cars amongst the shiny but its ur show and if u want to keep it to 'clean' cars its up to you. Maybe you dont want to give them trophies, maybe they dont want trophies? just an idea.

i think alot can be done to make things better year after year, in all aspects of this scene, instead of keeping to old formats but thats just the way i think. i like to improve on the previous achievments in life. anyway, thats all for now. looking forward to next year.

sam

Birch - are there any thoughts of a relocation somewhere down the line?

Nope we wont be relocating, its the best venue available at a reasonable price and its weather proof. The accommodation at Hawkesbury and Parklea was a pain in the arse... people booking and not showing as we had to pay for all the rooms if booked or not. So I am glad we don’t have accommodation on site, much less headaches.

The only thing I want to do is get the Drags going again, next year

Daily Driver/Rat Look/Alternative Trance/Hip Hop

as for this category its was only supported by 1 car at the Flat Four Shootout last November so where are all the entrants. Its good to see these cars i like checking them out ... as you say something different

there were 2 entrants and would have been more if it had been better publicised.
just by looking at the weekends show i feel there would have been more than enough to compete in that category. i know i would build cars just for it.

Sam - maybe pop along to the next Club VW meeting and put your words in there - face to face can help people understand the passion that people have behind this class.

im no good as a public speaker :puke

Do it sam, write it down...

One question (and im not having a go at all) why is the Club VW show called the "nationals"? Just a question...

Because it sounded like a great name in 1985 and still does.

come on Sam

i did this in a presentation once at uni, filmed myself doing the speech and wheeled in a tv and vcr and played it back while i sat back and watched. can i do this at the meeting?

I'm sure Sam it will be a few people around a table, having a few beers, discussing what happened at the Nats. Do you need some moral support?

potential site for a vw nationals should you ever wish to change venue unfortunately in south australia.
Riverland field day site which on the anzac weekend will be hosting the big river hot rod nationals.
they are expecting over 600 cars using this time to avoid the usual easter price hike.
Advanatges :
central to 3 states Vic,nsw and Sa also closer to WA.
12hrs from sydney ,8hrs from melbourne, 250km to adelaide.
A 1/4 mile drag strip next to this site is in the planning stages by the Riverland Motor Sport club and due to the closure of adelaide drag strip hopefully will happen.

as for location ,it is good, plenty of room and undercover.The Chrysler and Valiant clubs have their annual show at the same venue so it cant be that bad then. And theres plenty of parking spaces too 🙂

location is great, even though i get lost on my way every year.
Generally find a bug heading liverpool way and hope i don't end up at a garage sale somewhere.
Though getting a photo under those lighting conditions is a little tricky for an amatuer.
Once again, great show and i will be back again next year and the year after that and so on.

Lee.

didnt read it all but ,who won the peoples choice? did the single cab concrete truck win anything?

Good work Sam, you said that well mate.👍

The blue splitty above ^^^^ won peoples choice. Belongs to T2 👍

And yeah, my truck won "dare to be different" award picked by a nationals sponsor.

my truck won "dare to be different

Dont park it in the sun otherwie you will kill the moss growth looks great

VWFOOL wrote:2. another category:
i requested this last year and it seems to work fine at other shows ive been to recently.
im talking about a Daily Driver/Rat Look/Alternative Trance/Hip Hop or watever u want to call it category.
sam

Hi

I really like looking at rat cars.

But as show category, how would they be judged? With cars entered in the normal show, the judges look at the paint work, if a car has good paintwork it scores high, then they look at the motor, if the motor is clean, leak free and well detailed it scores high, same with the chassis and interior. The score they receive may be a judge’s opinion but any judged looking at the same car would find the same faults or attention to detail, it’s not scientific but it works.

So how would the paint on a rat car be judged? The most consistent fade, evidence of past sign writing, surface rust etc.

Do rats have detailed undercarriages or do they look like they have been just dragged form a shed.

How rat is a rat interior, what would you mark it on, most rips etc

Same with motor is detailed motor allowed or should a scruffy on be fitted.

So a rat judge would look at a car and just decide its cool, sounds like a recipe for complaints.

Steve

1303Steve wrote:So a rat judge would look at a car and just decide its cool, sounds like a recipe for complaints.

It's your show so judging is up to Club VW, but subjective judging is used in many classes at many, many shows - even at elite levels where scientific judging is expected (and lets face it, in Australia there has only ever been a handful of VWs at that level).

Complaints will come regardless of methodology or reason. Trophy hunters are like that. Some of that is because of the judges (one particular car that has won several awards for paint at a few shows has orange peel, several dry spots and even a sag if you like at the right spot) and some of it is just because the owners would be better off making their own trophies and inviting their friends around to watch them present them to themselves.

i understand ur point steve but i think if the rat class got to that level of judging then it would miss the point completely and it would take the fun out of it.
think of it more of a booby prize, a laugh, and nothing too serious amongst a show full of fierce competition for trophies. the trophy itself could be somethign ridiculous, maybe even a voucher to carlovers, a fake rat painted gold, something like that which would make it even less serious and less likely to cause complaints. i think it would work by unanymous decision as well, maybe a group of 3 or so judges come to an agreement after discussion of who deserves to win.

just my 2 cents, and just a suggestion. i will continue to go each year and whether there is a class for these cars or not im sure they will keep entering each year. i think itd just be fun to award something to the biggest piece of shit in the place.

VWFOOL wrote:i think itd just be fun to award something to the biggest piece of shit in the place.

This is the attitude that undermines the concept of ratsters.

Rat classes have existed in rod/kustom shows for years, even within street machiners. A piece of shit is a piece of shit. A rat has solid brakes, good tyres, functioning lights - basically it is roadworthy.

Hi

Maybe a peoples choice could be used for rats, but Ive seen this system abused.

Steve

no worries guys, just took this oppurtunity to make a few suggestions, if you feel there is no way it is possible to have this or you dont want to do it it doesnt really matter to me either way.

and i think u took me a little too literally matt.

I know what you mean but unfortunately too many people fawn over absolute pieces of shit...