How to Make the Most of Your Classic Car When Exhibiting at a Car Show

Have you ever thought about displaying your classic car at a car show? I am not talking about entering concours competitions which is a discipline, almost a religion, in its own right, but just showing the car on a club stand or maybe lending it to a company for displaying on a trade stand. If so there are a number of things that you need to consider to protect both you and the car and show it to its best.

The first and most obvious aspect of showing the car is making sure it is clean, unless the show has a 'barn find' or 'off-road' theme. Obviously the car needs a thorough clean and polish with whatever products you normally use. You should take all the cleaning materials with you for a final clean and polish on the stand.

Many people don't pay enough attention to the wheels and tyres. Whether the wheels are chrome wires, painted or alloy, even if they have been cleaned and polished, the whole car can be let down by the tyres. A general clean isn't enough as the rubber tends to fade and look uneven. The best solution is to paint on a proprietary tyre dressing product and not just the walls, but round the edges and maybe as far as the first line of tread. This really makes a difference. Why do you think car dealers always do it?

The interior should also be cleaned, particularly if the car is a convertible and will be displayed with the hood down. Vacuum both the seats and the carpet. If the interior is vinyl then clean the seats, dashboard and door and side panels with a good vinyl cleaner. Treat any leather with a good hide food which will not only look good and feed the leather but will add that characteristic leather aroma to the car.

Decide on whether or not you will allow people to sit in the car. Many people will want to try it for size or maybe just sit and play. If you do allow anyone in the car, leave nothing on show that could be stolen. You would be amazed at the number of cigarette lighters that go missing, particularly if they have a company logo - lock it away. Lock the glove box. Lock any valuables in the boot, along with the cleaning materials. If you are displaying the car with the hood down, use a tonneau cover to stop people fiddling with the mechanism.

If the car is a saloon then it is much easier to secure and one way of avoiding people even asking if they can get in it, is to fill it with balloons. This works well particularly if the stand plans to run a competition of some sort. In which case 'guess the number of balloons' is an easy way of getting attention for both the stand and the car. However you do need to check with the organisers if this is allowed, as one venue I know won't allow balloons, in case the sound of them popping is mistaken for a bomb or gun going off!

If the show is indoors the organisers may insist that the fuel tank is almost empty and the fuel filler sealed for safety reasons. This can be a bit inconvenient if you normally keep the car fully fuelled and ready to go, but think of the problems of having a fire in an exhibition hall, fuelled by a load of cars each containing 50 litres of petrol.

Check with your insurance company to see if the car is covered for displaying at car shows, as it may not include cover for damage caused while on private property. Most insurers will extend the cover as long as you inform them but make sure you have a paper or email audit trail of them agreeing to the cover.

If the car is to be shown on a trade stand then check with the trader to see if the car is covered by their own insurance. If so find out what cover is included and get a copy of the insurance certificate. You should also agree who is responsible for any damage to the car during the show. To avoid any disputes it is a good idea to take a full set of digital photos or a digital video before displaying the car and again afterwards.

If you need to provide information on the car then the best method is to produce information sheets and insert them in plastic folders or have them laminated and then display them inside the car. Whatever you do, do not allow anything to be stuck on the paintwork as you may find that when you remove the sticky tape three days later, some of the paint comes off with it.

If you run a company either selling or hiring out classic cars then you should have a set of display number plates made up showing the company name and use these over the normal number plates. It would also be a good idea to have your web address displayed on the windscreen.

Finally as most people are proud of their cars and enjoy showing off, tell everybody when and where you are showing it.

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Comments

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 at 7:17 AM, by Russle_Classiccar
What a great article. Very close to reality.Really very actual article for Classic car customer.
http://classicvehicleauction.com/

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