Axle posted this on the HAMB. Looks like this may have been the last year for the car show....
here's the whole run down of what happened over the past 6 days.
first off....some real shitty news......(first time in our car show history)
i cat by the name of brian dunning drove a pink 59 caddy 2 door hard top out to vlv from oklahoma. this car is powered by a small block chevy.
everything was going great for this guy until friday night. he and some friends took the car and went sight seeing. they returned to the parking lot at 9:00 p.m. at 9:30 p.m. the car was stolen from one person.
security surveilance camera's show brian pulling in to the top lot and one man in dark clothing getting in to the car and driving off with it exactly 30 minutes later. my gut feeling? a hired want list....sort of like nicholas cages gone in 60 seconds. dont think it was a VLV attendee...for one thing where would one go? in any direction leaving vegas you'd stand out like a sore dick with a huge finned pink 59 caddy ot in the middle of the desert. i think its in vegas some where. so, when i heard the news saturday night i made an impromptu announcement in the main ballroom . i got brian an offer for a free ride to new mexico and others said they'd pay for him to get a bus ride back to oklahoma. i also raised a few bucks from warm hearted rockabillies willing to help. 2 couples came up to me and said they saw the car sitting in the north part of town saturday evening with suspicious characters walking around it.....the whole picture sort of looked out of place.if anyone in vegas see's,hears,or feels anything at all please contact myself,any of the other vlv staff or call brian dunning at (405)-350-1841.
now that my worst vlv news has been announced our shifters viva las vegas car show was unbelievably huge! there were approx. 700 cars that attended and close to 200 cars turned away! at least 100 of those cars were billet/fiberglass/high tech rods or 64 on up cars the didn't meet the requirments. the top lot was full,half of the second lot was full of cars,and the south ramp was full of cars......all the way down to ground level!
unfortunately my brother marky and fellow shifter anthony broke down on the way to vlv friday night. they were bringing the PPE,a 34 coupe,60 el camino, and a sectioned 36 roadster. my personal highlights of the weekend? GUIDO and his 1908 bath tub - made in to a bonzai no brakes go kart! also, the saturday evening pasta wrestling was fuckin crazy! i guess i should mention the guy in his late 1800's bicycle cruisin the lot all day with the blue macaw parrot.
saturday night in the main ballroom a guy in a clown suit chased a guy in a gorilla outfit!
the shifters want to thank the following for without thier help this show would of been extremely hectic for us to handle:
the road rockets from indy. tom,paco,goose, you guys are the best!
the invaders from phoenix!
los desperados!
mike parker from bakersfield!
stressed out pete fiorito and dick gozenya from las vegas! thanks for the help on the cones,spreadin the word,and watchin the ramps!
this year marked the 8th show. the quality as well as quantity of cars are getting better each year!
nice to of met so many people from around the world.
that said....will the viva las vegas car show happen next year? i really dont know! i am having a meeting with co organizers and management next week. just so happens that when the lights go down some car show attendee's act like fuckin morons year after year and it may of ruined it for everyone.....ESPECIALLY ME....I'M THE PERSON WHO HAS WORKED SO HARD TO MAKE THIS SHOW WHAT IT IS TODAY.
but most dont realize all of that. most dont know or care about the hundreds of the hours i spend on the phone,internet, and out on the road promoting this show for the past 8 years.
whats really interesting is that its the same guys that give me and the rest of the shifters the hard core bad ass attitude every year....its the type guy who has a lowered 4 door 63 ford ( or a car like that) with social d stickers all over it thats all banged up and in different colors of paint & primer that seem to cause the most trouble.....get drunk,throw bottles over the top lot wall,back in to other cars (and act like it isn't thier fault) burn out and speed through crowds of people, run over my cones that are there for a reason,etc,etc. some times i wish there was just the same ol 100 cars sitting on that lot like it was 5 or 6 years ago. it was a lot mellower and a lot less attitudes back then.
dont know. just dont know whats gonna happen.
hey, if its over.....i guess it was cool while it lasted!
a guy once said........"everything cool allways gets ruined" .
thanks to the true hot rodders and custom guys that have supported us and our shows over the years...it doesn't go un noticed!
axle
