Detling - seasons opener
Discussion
well i asked the same question on another site recently and the response was far from overwhelming.......
any of you good folks planning on going? the organizers this year are Grosvenor who put on Stoneleigh and the new exhibition hall wil be used for the first time.
Hoping that the weather will be kind as currently we have about 40 of us from skcc scheduled to go along on the Saturday. Feel free to wander over for a banter - i'm sure that you won't miss our pitch :-)
any of you good folks planning on going? the organizers this year are Grosvenor who put on Stoneleigh and the new exhibition hall wil be used for the first time.
Hoping that the weather will be kind as currently we have about 40 of us from skcc scheduled to go along on the Saturday. Feel free to wander over for a banter - i'm sure that you won't miss our pitch :-)
personally i dont care who's there as a manufacturer and who's not and i suspect that many owners dont either.......a show is what the individuals make it. I knwo for those that are building and need odd n sods or a bit of advice teh trade stalls are useful as opposed to wandering and killing time but surely most go for a day out to catch up with both new and old pals.....
let's hope the weather is kind to us all for the easter period and we can all get our cars out and enjoy them in whatever way we see fit......
let's hope the weather is kind to us all for the easter period and we can all get our cars out and enjoy them in whatever way we see fit......
''It seems getting club stands and built kit's through the gates is relatively easy''
Sorry but i beg to differ. A look at the main club forums and boards ( kit wise ) will i think show that there is a huge amount of apathy in terms of folks commiting to many events ( not purely shows ).
Sure if an upcoming event is likely to be bathed in sunshine then for sure commitment levels do rise.
Being selfish I hope that Detling is here in 2013 in perhaps another slightly revised format, its local for me and that means that our own club has the huge benefit of being able to have the 'extras' - rather than rocking up as we've done to Stoneleigh with little more than a tent/chair etc.
Thing is there's 4 factions to the 'wheel' as i see it.
Owners need to be there
general traders
manufacturers
joe public.
Each are linked with clearly differing agendas. General traders can sell any product to anyone, manufacturers are presumably there as a bit of a road show, to display their wares to teh masses and hopefully finalise a few orders / answer questions + issues from folks that are already interested or aware of their product.
Owners might want to pick up a few bits n pieces, but generally are looking to kill time looking at stuff that's related to their hobby and joe public needs to be able to kill a good few hours and make a half a day out of it as he's dragged his family along.
I'd suggest that to guarantee footfall shows other than Stoneleigh need to widen the displays to incorporate other types of car/vehicle, which in turn has a knock on benefit for the kit owners - perhaps its me, but i can't believe that many owners are that fussed asbout seeing another westie/mk or whatever - they probably see one at their club meets. Personal opinion but i'd rather wander a show looking at a few kits and a range of other marques.
On the subject of other marques. It's interesting that many car shows charge to display, now that's always been a pet hate for me - but if those monies were used to provide extra facilities for the owners that would definitely appeal. IE/ pay xyz for a pitch and turn up to find a bbq/gazebo waiting for the club, or a bit of entertainment during the day instead of just the evening ( if you're lucky).
There's umpteen things that can be done to build up or strengten a show, just wants a degree of lateral thinking....and i don't discount stoneleigh from that comment. Because standing still as we all know is in reality moving backwards.
...and as far as Detling this year is concerned, well we were fortunate enough to have a decent congregation to keep us amused. But i agree if i'd turned up solo or with the family to wander around then i'd have been disappointed.
Sorry but i beg to differ. A look at the main club forums and boards ( kit wise ) will i think show that there is a huge amount of apathy in terms of folks commiting to many events ( not purely shows ).
Sure if an upcoming event is likely to be bathed in sunshine then for sure commitment levels do rise.
Being selfish I hope that Detling is here in 2013 in perhaps another slightly revised format, its local for me and that means that our own club has the huge benefit of being able to have the 'extras' - rather than rocking up as we've done to Stoneleigh with little more than a tent/chair etc.
Thing is there's 4 factions to the 'wheel' as i see it.
Owners need to be there
general traders
manufacturers
joe public.
Each are linked with clearly differing agendas. General traders can sell any product to anyone, manufacturers are presumably there as a bit of a road show, to display their wares to teh masses and hopefully finalise a few orders / answer questions + issues from folks that are already interested or aware of their product.
Owners might want to pick up a few bits n pieces, but generally are looking to kill time looking at stuff that's related to their hobby and joe public needs to be able to kill a good few hours and make a half a day out of it as he's dragged his family along.
I'd suggest that to guarantee footfall shows other than Stoneleigh need to widen the displays to incorporate other types of car/vehicle, which in turn has a knock on benefit for the kit owners - perhaps its me, but i can't believe that many owners are that fussed asbout seeing another westie/mk or whatever - they probably see one at their club meets. Personal opinion but i'd rather wander a show looking at a few kits and a range of other marques.
On the subject of other marques. It's interesting that many car shows charge to display, now that's always been a pet hate for me - but if those monies were used to provide extra facilities for the owners that would definitely appeal. IE/ pay xyz for a pitch and turn up to find a bbq/gazebo waiting for the club, or a bit of entertainment during the day instead of just the evening ( if you're lucky).
There's umpteen things that can be done to build up or strengten a show, just wants a degree of lateral thinking....and i don't discount stoneleigh from that comment. Because standing still as we all know is in reality moving backwards.
...and as far as Detling this year is concerned, well we were fortunate enough to have a decent congregation to keep us amused. But i agree if i'd turned up solo or with the family to wander around then i'd have been disappointed.
Well this thread ought to be retitled because there seems to be 3 distinct areas of 'conversation'
1/ Detling or a.n.other show in the South
2/ Kit car industry and how to revive interest and sales
3/ kit car shows in general - what works and what doesn't.
@ Lee.
the idea surrounding activity is spot on, demonstrating what teh cars can do on track or on a gentle drive is whats needed. I recall a spur of the moment test drive in a Dutton which i drove past that had a for sale sign on nigh on 30 yrs ago and i was hooked into kit cars.
BUT unless i'm very much mistaken the numbers for somewhere like Brands don't add up.
I enquired last year about the cost of the paddock to run a slalom type event and iirc it was about £4k MIDWEEK.
The idea though in general terms about using a circuit/airfield is bang on.
You only need look at some of the events that offer passenger rides to see that folks want action: Dads Day out being an easy/prime example. I suspect that where things become tricky is mixing business with pleasure. At DDO Caterhams run their donut/slalom - sorry by Caterham i mean the l7c owners club.
now many of those are known within that club, can you imagine opening up that kind of opportunity to any johnny come lately that isnt known to be half sensible? the potential impact ( no pun) would be right 'up there'.
I wanted to do passenger rides last year at Detling ( or to be accurate taking punters out from Detling) - the can or worms taht opened beggered belief.
IF as an example a track is hired then who is it for? the manufacturers presumably, and that solves the 'static issue' for Joe Public but not the general owners. Unless of course there's a seperate area where they can do a bit of slalom type stuff. The show at Donnington this year is an example of that - i was full of hope/interest when i heard it announced, less so when it came to light that the track action would be the 750mclub. Personally if i want to watch racing i'll nip over to Brands not travel halfway up teh country.
anyway back on track.
for my money the industry needs to have a long hard look at providing products that dont require iva or are a doddle to iva ( meaning more rebody type cars). I think in parallel it needs to look at ways of providing builders with the necessary to complete builds on a tight budget. Seems to me that in past decades folks were happy to use any old engine or part for their donor, now i hear of many folks buying crate engines and spending 2.5k + on that side alone. Aside from those that push the 'lowcost' boundaries there can't be amny cars that are completed for less than £10k which is a fair chunk on a toy.
given how many cars are never finished i can only guess that folks: lose interest when they find it isnt so easy - so it needs to be made as easy as poss.
run out of funds before finishing - but a 'complete' kit?
or build takes sooo long their situation changes - make it so simple its a quick and easy build.
Detling or a show in the south.
If there is a show of some description in teh south somewhere in teh Guildford type area woudl be bang on as it opens the doors to folks from a wider area. But frankly aside from Stoneleigh i dont think a traditional kit car show has much legs in it anymore, there isnt enough interest, not only from teh public but also the owners. As has been highlighted in previous pages, combining kits with other cars is probably the way forward.
Perfect Show?
Enough 'dry' space in case the weather does its worst.
track action for manufacturers
some other driving activity for owners
decent facilities for those that want to camp over and make a weekend of it
entertainment during teh afternoon and evening, creche for nippers etc
owners pay upfront towards the event to get commitment.
1/ Detling or a.n.other show in the South
2/ Kit car industry and how to revive interest and sales
3/ kit car shows in general - what works and what doesn't.
@ Lee.
the idea surrounding activity is spot on, demonstrating what teh cars can do on track or on a gentle drive is whats needed. I recall a spur of the moment test drive in a Dutton which i drove past that had a for sale sign on nigh on 30 yrs ago and i was hooked into kit cars.
BUT unless i'm very much mistaken the numbers for somewhere like Brands don't add up.
I enquired last year about the cost of the paddock to run a slalom type event and iirc it was about £4k MIDWEEK.
The idea though in general terms about using a circuit/airfield is bang on.
You only need look at some of the events that offer passenger rides to see that folks want action: Dads Day out being an easy/prime example. I suspect that where things become tricky is mixing business with pleasure. At DDO Caterhams run their donut/slalom - sorry by Caterham i mean the l7c owners club.
now many of those are known within that club, can you imagine opening up that kind of opportunity to any johnny come lately that isnt known to be half sensible? the potential impact ( no pun) would be right 'up there'.
I wanted to do passenger rides last year at Detling ( or to be accurate taking punters out from Detling) - the can or worms taht opened beggered belief.
IF as an example a track is hired then who is it for? the manufacturers presumably, and that solves the 'static issue' for Joe Public but not the general owners. Unless of course there's a seperate area where they can do a bit of slalom type stuff. The show at Donnington this year is an example of that - i was full of hope/interest when i heard it announced, less so when it came to light that the track action would be the 750mclub. Personally if i want to watch racing i'll nip over to Brands not travel halfway up teh country.
anyway back on track.
for my money the industry needs to have a long hard look at providing products that dont require iva or are a doddle to iva ( meaning more rebody type cars). I think in parallel it needs to look at ways of providing builders with the necessary to complete builds on a tight budget. Seems to me that in past decades folks were happy to use any old engine or part for their donor, now i hear of many folks buying crate engines and spending 2.5k + on that side alone. Aside from those that push the 'lowcost' boundaries there can't be amny cars that are completed for less than £10k which is a fair chunk on a toy.
given how many cars are never finished i can only guess that folks: lose interest when they find it isnt so easy - so it needs to be made as easy as poss.
run out of funds before finishing - but a 'complete' kit?
or build takes sooo long their situation changes - make it so simple its a quick and easy build.
Detling or a show in the south.
If there is a show of some description in teh south somewhere in teh Guildford type area woudl be bang on as it opens the doors to folks from a wider area. But frankly aside from Stoneleigh i dont think a traditional kit car show has much legs in it anymore, there isnt enough interest, not only from teh public but also the owners. As has been highlighted in previous pages, combining kits with other cars is probably the way forward.
Perfect Show?
Enough 'dry' space in case the weather does its worst.
track action for manufacturers
some other driving activity for owners
decent facilities for those that want to camp over and make a weekend of it
entertainment during teh afternoon and evening, creche for nippers etc
owners pay upfront towards the event to get commitment.
''One more that has occurred to me. A few comments here indicated that the show was a focal point of a bigger weekend, where you'd travelled en masse to the event, etc. All well & good if you are a member of SKCC, but why not make it 'official' part of show, welcome to allcomers with a series of starting points (maybe organised locally by clubs), with maybe some kind of barbie / party at show venue on eve of first public day? I'm not sure anyone expects a free lunch dinner these days, but make sure catering is up to snuff (maybe possible to negotiate rate with local gastropub, e.g. 10% off for ticketholders?), otherwise it'll be counterproductive (applies to show generally). Just about every show, there's an 'Anyone going to...?' thread, so the interest is there. The biggest investment might be time on social network sites: make the announcement early to get people talking, builds up a bit of momentum for the show.''
Not to be negative, just realistic. I have found that getting 'buy in' from folks whether solo or part of a club is hard work. There have been a fair few ocacsions when we've suggested various start points for runs in general ( to other clubs ) or have gone out of our way to meet with other clubs for a run to a show only to find the majority are interested in getting there via the shortest route as quickly as possible.
For Detling there were messages on a few sites about a pre-show meet ( brekkie ) which is an excellent way of breaking the ice, rather than turning up and not knowing anyone ( because they've wandered away from their cars).....i'm not sure that anyone outside the club took up that offer.
i arranged a get together just over 2 years ago down here in teh south before skcc existed. we ended up with 75 cars from various clubs, but the effort just to round them up to achieve that was horrendous, the idea had been to have 4-5 start points in teh end we had 2, because no one would commit. and its that 'C' word that is also key in teh success of any prospective show or gathering.
to whoever wondered whether 'guildford' was a better location. I merely threw it out there as i suspect that the running time for many to attend provincial shows is no more than an hour and a half. That location widens out the potential catchment....40 mins from detling in 3 directions and you're appealing to fish.
Not to be negative, just realistic. I have found that getting 'buy in' from folks whether solo or part of a club is hard work. There have been a fair few ocacsions when we've suggested various start points for runs in general ( to other clubs ) or have gone out of our way to meet with other clubs for a run to a show only to find the majority are interested in getting there via the shortest route as quickly as possible.
For Detling there were messages on a few sites about a pre-show meet ( brekkie ) which is an excellent way of breaking the ice, rather than turning up and not knowing anyone ( because they've wandered away from their cars).....i'm not sure that anyone outside the club took up that offer.
i arranged a get together just over 2 years ago down here in teh south before skcc existed. we ended up with 75 cars from various clubs, but the effort just to round them up to achieve that was horrendous, the idea had been to have 4-5 start points in teh end we had 2, because no one would commit. and its that 'C' word that is also key in teh success of any prospective show or gathering.
to whoever wondered whether 'guildford' was a better location. I merely threw it out there as i suspect that the running time for many to attend provincial shows is no more than an hour and a half. That location widens out the potential catchment....40 mins from detling in 3 directions and you're appealing to fish.
i might be a tad naive but i dont see creating a gathering of cars / show that suits the owners and the public that tricky.
If a show or gathering is designed to make the owners happy ( i dont refer to kc's) then in time the public follow as they realise that there's plenty to look around - throw in enough stuff to amuse them and thats 2 happy contingents.
However adding traders to the mix is where the added pressure / problem comes. That said if they see a worthwhile gathering i'm sure they'd be keen to get involved.
since before this thread started i've been wondering about a venue to try out this theory. the premise would be to invite 2-3 other car marques/styles of cars, retro fords, minis etc as well of course as kits. Throw in a bbq/food, band in teh afternoon and see what happens. so far have been stumped on finding the right venue......but if it worked then i guess one could be reasonably sure that the foundations would have been laid for something on a larger scale the following year.
so if any bright spark knows a farm with barn in the surrey/north sussex area........
If a show or gathering is designed to make the owners happy ( i dont refer to kc's) then in time the public follow as they realise that there's plenty to look around - throw in enough stuff to amuse them and thats 2 happy contingents.
However adding traders to the mix is where the added pressure / problem comes. That said if they see a worthwhile gathering i'm sure they'd be keen to get involved.
since before this thread started i've been wondering about a venue to try out this theory. the premise would be to invite 2-3 other car marques/styles of cars, retro fords, minis etc as well of course as kits. Throw in a bbq/food, band in teh afternoon and see what happens. so far have been stumped on finding the right venue......but if it worked then i guess one could be reasonably sure that the foundations would have been laid for something on a larger scale the following year.
so if any bright spark knows a farm with barn in the surrey/north sussex area........
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