Old Car Festival 2022

[Bob from Northport]

Anyone that attended notice anything different or unusual this year. Things they didn't like, especially attitudes?? Hagerty's performance as the new sponsor ?? Problems??? Overall opinions??

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Bob, ...I will say this tongue-in-cheek but I don't mind them changing things at OCF as long as it doesn't change me!

One of the two biggest things I noticed was the lack of the Village's Model-Ts running the roads. That seemed odd for some reason. My biggest dislike was they moved all of the 1914 thru 1919 vehicles down onto ½ of the Car Games field. There was not ANY spectator traffic there nor was there any scenery. It felt like a total disconnect from the event. By Saturday afternoon, most of those cars were parked elsewhere in stealth mode.

When I picked-up my packet on Friday afternoon, I asked the registrar how many cars were registered, and she said a little over 700. Traffic was very tolerable for the event with the exception of about 15 minutes during the Gaslight parade when we were at gridlock because of the routing. The biggest snafu with the traffic routing was, they sent the cars west on Christie but had us turn left (-in front of oncoming traffic) onto Washington just past the kiddie playground and the carousel. This caused back-ups while waiting to turn left. Then because of construction traffic by the new pavilion, we turned right onto Washington (just past the bathroom building) and then right again onto Junction which then routed you back onto Christie heading back towards the center of the village. IMO they should have allowed the cars to continue straight on Christie and then go in front of the train shop and left onto Washington. That way there would have never been a reason for a string of cars to turn in front of cars.

I guess my thought on OCF as a whole is it is undoubtedly the BEST annual car venue out there. It has the Hershey car show beat hands-down IMHO simply because the cars are in-motion all day long. So, while it may have experienced some less than desirable snafus', it still was a great weekend.

[Dan in MI]

This was my 14th OCF with my Model A (I live a short ride away). Brent is spot on with all his comments.

Getting a poor parking spot really makes you feel disconnected from the event. They don't seem to take in account how many of the different year vehicles there are and when someone has to move they just stick them somewhere. They also should be proactive in recruiting pre 1920 vehicles as those numbers have been dwindling for the last few years. Not a good look to have mostly empty parking spots by the entrance. They need to put a little more effort than just doing it the way they have for the last few years.

Same issue with the driving route. We called it the Hagerty Chicane as they made you cross over traffic just to go in front of the Hagerty vow renewal. If there were as many cars as previous years in the Gas Light Parade it would have been a real mess. Multiple comments from other participants on this.

Hopefully Hagerty wrote The Henry Ford a great big check as their involvement really didn't change anything for the participants.

Like Brent said the best car show at the best location. The driving really makes the show. I showed at the Motor Muster there (no driving) and it wasn't even close to being as much fun.

Bob, sounds like you have some gripes how about sharing your comments?

[Bob from Northport]

Several friends have written and called about the show. The rudeness of many of the onlookers was a big complaint. Too many of the areas were not roped off to protect the cars. One participant complained about damage to the display by their cars. Another about scratching cars. Driving down streets the wrong way. Cars over loaded with passengers standing on floor boards. I know the show is supposed to be fun, but what ever happened to respect. Sign of the times I guess. Several mentioned they may not come back. The Henry Ford is too busy on the money end. They forget the legacy that brought this car show to the level it is, or was................

[Dan in MI]

Well I didn't have any issues with the spectators. It was the same as past years. Everyone I talked to was courteous. As usual spectators walked in the roads and crossed in front of cars driving. But we know that this is going to happen and we should be prepared for this. They have no clue how difficult some vehicles are to drive or how lacking they are in the braking department.

Disclaimer: my car is a 20 footer not a trailer queen. I don't mind people touching my car, I let them sit in it and take pictures and I give rides.

Were you there when they did have ropes blocking off all the cars? I hated it. It's difficult enough to back your car up over the curb on the narrow road though the crowd without having someone to hold the rope up and miss the poles. I like the fact that people can walk around the cars, look inside and talk to me if I am sitting behind it. I've never had any issues with spectators at any car show I have been at and none of them had ropes. Maybe a Concours type event or sign up for Judging so you can park behind the ropes is in order.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

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Originally Posted by Bob from Northport

Several friends have written and called about the show. The rudeness of many of the onlookers was a big complaint. Too many of the areas were not roped off to protect the cars. One participant complained about damage to the display by their cars. Another about scratching cars. Driving down streets the wrong way. Cars over loaded with passengers standing on floor boards. I know the show is supposed to be fun, but what ever happened to respect. Sign of the times I guess. Several mentioned they may not come back. The Henry Ford is too busy on the money end. They forget the legacy that brought this car show to the level it is, or was................

Maybe I am missing some things.

(1) I am assuming "onlookers" is the same as spectators? If so, not sure how that the OCF committee could change that if they are being rude.

(2) I too would prefer that Stanchions & Rope not be used.

(3) I agree with the driving down the streets the wrong way was happening on occasion. I'm not sure if this was being done by newbies who just didn't know better, -or by veterans. Nonetheless, the route was very confusing this year.

(4) The irony about folks not coming back is they always appear to have people on waiting list to enter, so for the ones that do not want to come back next year, there will likely be a couple other wanna-be participants ready to take their spot(s). New participants likely means a different car than spectators have seen the last 'umpteen' years. Maybe that is a good thing??