8 MOPAR COLLECTOR’S GUIDE

xtreme motorsports.” Whenyou think of that term, I’msure visions of X-Games kids,doing backflips on  dirt bikes,

is what you see in your mind’s eye. In

the Mopar world, we have our own ver-sion of extreme motorsports, it’s called“show promotion.” Judging by the vastnumber of show promoters that havecrashed and burned over the past fiveyears, the show promotion business isobviously much harder and financiallydangerous than one might think. EachNovember, I travel to the SEMA show inLas Vegas to see what’s new for theupcoming year. Most of the time that

comes in the form of parts and projectcars, but the biggest news I have toreport on this year is big changes com-ing to the Mopar show scene west ofthe Mississippi.

I ran into Phil Painter in theHotchkis booth, and he presented mewith a map of his upcoming MATS (tra-ditionally an all-Mopar show) that wassure to have everybody talking. Whathe had laid out was a concept that hadbeen theorized, and agonized over, formany years. What if he held threeshows at the Las Vegas MotorSpeedway at the same time? A Moparshow, a Ford show, and a Chevy show!

I must admit, I was intrigued by thepotential of the concept. Personally, Idon’t need to see another Ford orChevy, but if they were sitting in theirown area, separated from the Mopars, I

can’t say it would really bother me. Thesame goes for the swap meet. What reallyintrigues me the most, however, was thepotential kickass racing that would culminatefrom all three American carmakers battling itout on the dragstrip. What Phil was propos-ing was a true, all-American, muscle carevent.

Holding events at state-of-the-artdragstrips is no nickel trick. The averagerent for the weekend is very expensive. Addin staff, unexpected track prep, racing pay-outs, advertising, insurance, etc., and thatcan easily top $200,000. Let’s just say theevent is a total success, the said promoterwill, at best, net half the cost of the eventafter everything is said and done. Now, let’sthink what would happen if bad weatherkilled the event. That promoter still owes thetrack and, possibly, even some participants.

“E

One bad show and it will take years torecover financially. Have several badshows back-to-back and that promoteris done for, through no fault of his own.That’s exactly why you don’t see aseries of MoPowered events by theBlankenships in the Midwest any longer- it’s also why you no longer see amajor Mopar event at Topeka, Kansas,Indianapolis, St. Louis, Houston, orFontana. The business model, as itcurrently exists, is heavily weighted

against the promoters.For the most part,

Mopar shows have reached apoint in time where there’s lit-tle or no growth. We’re losingfriends as fast as we’re gain-ing them, and travel budgetsare tighter for most people.That doesn’t mean Moparswon’t remain a dominantforce in the car world for

many years to come, but it does mean,as expenses continue to grow, for manyshow promoters, the same old, sameold, business model isn’t going to workgoing into the future. I’ve known Phil along time, and one of his best traits asa promoter is that he’s always eager toconsider innovative ideas. From afinancial perspective, Phil’s new plan isbrilliant. By opening up the show to allthree American makes, he could con-ceivably control costs, spreading

expenses by a factor of three. An evenbigger factor would be that it now giveshim the ability to bring in sponsors thatwould never consider the show if itremained strictly Mopar. This will, atthe very least, allow the event to remainfinancially healthy for years to come,and at the very best, open up a lot moremoney for participants in the form ofincreased racing purses.

A similar all-American musclecar show model has recently beenproven a fantastic success with theChicago MCACN show. Seven yearsago, a stagnant Corvette show wasconverted into an all-American musclecar event that has quickly grown to bethe premier gathering for collectors toshow off their muscle cars – Chevy,Ford, and Mopars alike. BecauseMopar muscle cars were so prolific inthe era, it’s no surprise this show is very

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heavily weighted toward Mopars. In Phil’scase, the transition of “Mopars at theStrip” into “Muscle Cars at the Strip” mustbe done with a little more surgical preci-sion. Mopars at the Strip, while beat up alittle from the weak West Coast economy,is still the premier Mopar event west of theMississippi. If the MATS was turned intojust another generic car show, the magicwould evaporate. What’s being proposedhere is three, distinctly different, gather-ings of cars that happen to take place atthe same place at the same time, eachbrand having its own specific car showand swap meet areas. While the inspira-tion may have come from MCACN, Phil issetting off into uncharted waters - nothingquite like this has ever been done before. 

I’m going on record this monthand say these changes at the MATS justmight be the greatest thing to happen tothe show. Despite Brand X cars being inand around for the weekend, I’m 100%certain that muscle Mopars will be viewedas way cooler than any Camaro orMustang that might show up. I’m also100% certain that the increased trafficthrough the show will do nothing butexpose more enthusiasts to the simpletruth that Road Runners are cooler thanChevelles. The one thing the Moparhobby needs right now, more than any-thing else, is more exposure that will, inturn, have more people desiring oldMopars. Where are these increasedmasses going to come from, you ask?Hot Rod Magazine has signed on as amajor sponsor of the opened up LasVegas event - guaranteeing big exposurefor the retooled show!

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perspective, we believe it to be ourresponsibility to work diligently on behalf ofthe Mopar community, behind the sceneswith Phil, to make sure Mopar enthusiasts’interests are not shorted; on the contrary,their experience should be enhanced asthese changes are made. We’re currentlyin the process of working to put our brandon both the Mopar-only swap meet and carshow areas to make sure Mopar enthusi-asts always have a familiar camp to callhome.

ChICAGOLAND’S VALENTINE GIFT TO YOU!or the last two consecutive years,The Chicagoland Mopar Club’s win-ter swap meet at Larry Roesch

Chrysler has been snowed out and forcedto be rescheduled on a future date. Theproblem arises because this is a full work-ing dealership and a last minute snowmakes it impossible to rearrange the work-ing lot and service area to accommodatean onslaught of Mopar venders and shop-pers. For 2016, the club has secured a

wonderful new facility that I’m told will not fallvictim to those same woes. The new venueis at ReNu Mobile Fleet Repair, at 271 NorthAve. in Glendale Heights, Illinois, and theshow will be held, sun or snow, February14th.

MCG’s hope is that this new venuewill allow the show to grow and ultimatelyturn into a two-day happening. This year, theChicago winter swap will take place onFebruary 14th. For more info, contact RonJones at 630-546-3855. X

ON WITh ThIS ISSUEfter years of recovery from the reces-sion, SEMA 2015 showed big numbers,estimated to be larger than ever in foot

traffic and vender participation. I’m certain

this does not mean people were buying like itwas 2005, but foot traffic is a great positiveindication that the hot rod market is continu-ing to stay strong. This month in my column,I’ve laid out some of the most interesting carsand parts I saw at SEMA this year. We thenmove on to name the Mopar enthusiast of theyear, and finish this issue off with the Top 10Mopar cars and parts of 2015. I hope youenjoy reading this jam-packed issue as muchas we enjoyed putting it together for ya’ll.Until next month, “Mopar to ya!”X

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