RIAC National Classic Car show

aravan2010

I drove in through the exit and only heard the next day that they were charging €6 for parking. I suppose the poor signage saved me €6.

PyeContinental

Well I could have saved myself the trip and the money if I'd just seen your photos instead, okistag! I've seen more from them than I did from actually being at the exhibition. There are some cars in your photos I don't even remember seeing, like that red car with the 21 sticker on it.

How did you get to take photos in an empty exhibition hall? Your photos actually show far better lighting of the paintwork of all the cars than could be seen in reality there. I'm beginning to think that the type and quality of indoor lighting could play a huge part in how these cars look indoors and consequently the perceived success of an exhibition.

By the way, I'm pretty sure I used to see that gold (yellow/brown?) Citroen SM parked in the Queen's Pub carpark in Dalkey quite often, maybe about 10 or 15 years ago. Maybe it is still to be seen there, but I just haven't been there in ages.

shagman

I think there's various people trying and failing to put on "THE" irish classic car show, if RIAC, Irish festival of speed and the Terenure show / Jag club could combine forces and put on a part moving part static show that'd be great. I thought the festival of speed in Adare castle was great but it's in Limerick racecourse this year instead. I'd like to see a large show in a similar suitable venue eg Rathfarnham castle, Farmleigh house any of any Irelands castles. I didn't go to the RDS show because of the price of the ticket and because as f4fay says earlier ".....some people would rather go to a show in a field with 1000 rusty pieces of **** than 150 best of the best beautiful rare cars we dont see very often in one comfortable place !!! "
Seriously, well used cars that have a bit of patina and are affordable and DIY servicable I can relate to and get inspired by more than trophy winning concours perfection of rare exotics. In the hot rod world it's refered to as rat rods versus trailer queens (meaning they enter and leave the show on a trailer and never set rubber on tarmac). That said I love cars and a car show is car show. I hope the RIAC one does grow and maybe it could grow to include a moving / track element.
I think the three shows I mentioned show that Ireland does have the ability and market for a Big classic show that covers all tastes.

fergiesfolly

Travelled up on Sunday and enjoyed the day, but like some other posters, had some reservations.
The modern stands and the seating area took up far too much space.
The displays seemed disjointed and there was no flow around the arena. Did several laps trying to see everything, but I reckon, I still missed some things.
The trade stands were a right bottleneck and I more or less avoided them altogther.
Some of the displays seemed cramped and it was hard to get photos, such were the jostling for position at some cars.
Can't for the life of me, figure out why a deal could not be struck up, to rent the empty area on the left of the arena. Lying empty, when it could have been put to good use.
Didn't get to see the cars outside at all, because of the weather. Could they not get some sort of cover for it and charge a small fee to those parking there.
Having said that, saw some beautiful cars and was able to explain to my daughter why having an incar dvd player isn't the be all and end all of automobile engineering.
All in all a good day out and with the experience gained, I don't see any reason why the organisers couldn't put on a bigger and better show next year

DarenO

Having ran (with others) some car shows in the RDS before, I've a very good understanding on what happened and where I'd see some necessary changes.

Cost of entrance - not an issue, hiring the RDS is very expensive each square metre is a cost that has to met, each socket for power is a cost, however more could have been done for advance ticket sales if they were sold through the clubs, you have to remember you are paying for an opportunity to see cars in the flesh that spend their lives tucked away in a shed.

I understand the need for commercial exhibits like Paddy Connolly's stock as he has paid for the privilege and paid for the location within the hall, I'd suggest in future years this side is expanded into a separate hall and leave the main hall for exhibits.

I'm not sure what costs were involved for club space but clearly they were excessive judging by the number of notable clubs not in attendance. This should be addressed.

Organisers have no control over food prices.

The outside area should have better allocated to clubs as opposed to who turned up in a pre 80, if clubs were asked to fill these spots you would have more usage plus members entering the show and paying their 15 quid.

I'd expect there were cars promised for display that never showed up but the general lay out was fairly poor, no flow, unused space and cramped corners, one whole section devoted to sheds that could have been outside and give a better representation to a potential buyer and freed up hall space (but they were paying exhibitors).

Lighting was very poor for an indoor show as evidenced by most of the pictures I took not worthy of publication apart from cars that were red or white as they reflected the light better.

A schedule of events should be developed throughout the day, musical entertainment and kids entertainment for a more family day out, it shouldn't just be about providing for the needs of the petrolhead as this is a finite group of people in Ireland. I've no interest in bikes or tractors but these two areas have large groups of supporters who weren't catered for, this is Ireland we have classic tractors and bikes at our shows we can't afford to be car specific in my opinion even if I'd walk past a Fordson without blinking an eye

Keep at it for next year, start organising now, get feedback from exhibitors and clubs, advertise in the UK mags, look at car anniversaries to celebrate, pick a manufacturer to promote their history, get the first Irish made Beetle back to Ireland since 70s ( me being selfish), introduce a classics for sale section, a motorsports section from the historic rally series or modern rally cars, formula 1 cars.

Was an survey conducted on visitors to the show e.g. I'd suggest the majority of those attending on the Saturday I seen were male and over 50, typically not facebook users so where should the focus have been for advertising. But that also meant the twenty something's with disposable income of 15 quid might not have heard about the show or been drawn by the majority of the exhibits

I'll continue to spend my 15 quid going to it and hopefully it gets a chance to expand and address its issues

okistag

PyeContinental wrote: »

Well I could have saved myself the trip and the money if I'd just seen your photos instead, okistag! I've seen more from them than I did from actually being at the exhibition. There are some cars in your photos I don't even remember seeing, like that red car with the 21 sticker on it.

How did you get to take photos in an empty exhibition hall? Your photos actually show far better lighting of the paintwork of all the cars than could be seen in reality there. I'm beginning to think that the type and quality of indoor lighting could play a huge part in how these cars look indoors and consequently the perceived success of an exhibition.

By the way, I'm pretty sure I used to see that gold (yellow/brown?) Citroen SM parked in the Queen's Pub carpark in Dalkey quite often, maybe about 10 or 15 years ago. Maybe it is still to be seen there, but I just haven't been there in ages.

I am working on a DVD Documentary "The enthusiasts guide to Ireland's Classic and Vintage car scene" I applied for a media pass for the weekend when it was granted I was delighted be able to capture the show on video and stills. There are more photos on my fb page link in my first batch of photos if you want to see more, I think there are 240 in the RIAC album.
I also remember a SM in Dalkey / Kiliney area.. Not sure if same one but there cant be many !!

DarenO

Car of the show for me the 61 DB4 it wasn't silver and it was Irish despite the other rarities on display

okistag

DarenO wrote: »

Car of the show for me the 61 DB4 it wasn't silver and it was Irish despite the other rarities on display

Now that was nice along with the BMW (forgot the model) but over near the retros light met blue, magic lines.

steveone

I loved the gull wing mercedes that were on display, there are many beautiful cars but for me they don't come any better than these....

Dades

Great stuff posting those pics, okistag!

911is50

911s wrote: »

Price of parking at RDS on top of entry price has always been an issue. A lot of
expensive metal on view, well worth entry fee. Show seems to be aimed at the
general public ( to increase revenue) as opposed to die hard vintage fans hence
absence of trade stands etc.
Agree with a previous poster about narrow isles/lack of space. This
was not helped by Mr's Connolly, Cameron & VW displaying some of their current
modern stocklist at what was supposed to be a classic & vintage show. If I feel the
need to buy modern 911 or Aston Martin I will visit their showrooms, will not have
to pay entry fee or parking and let them supply the overpriced coffee!!

With a name like 911s one would expect you'd show a little bit more interest in them?

When I visited the Porsche Clubs stand the guys on it explained they were presenting four generations of 911 from the 70's through to the 00's. Down the bottom was a detailed history of the 911 from 63 - 13 They were all club members cars

The Red Ace

Hi all, as a new member on the site where i saw the event being talked about I made my way up from the West with a few friends, found my way in to the event no bother and had a great day out. For an Irish show I thought it was quite good with an impressive line up of motors, the one that made it for me was the one constructed in Kildare many moons ago and nice to see it still resides there. OK space between vehicles might be a little on the tight side but then it comes at a premium price that has to be paid for so for the entry fee of 15 euro not bad value, I have rarely got in to any show in the UK for less. On saturday two beautiful Irish Escorts in pristine condition with an equally good MK1 left hooker on display outside with a lot of other classics driven to the show. Hope to win the Capri. lol.

johnk123

Interesting that you heard about it from boards.ie. Do you mind me asking, do you read a lot of other classic/vintage magazines? Or are you a member of any local club?

For the record, I was not involved in marketing the show or anything, just interested!

The Red Ace

only the occasional car mag even though i own a Rover P6, more into the classic two wheel mags as i have a couple of these as well

Silvera

The Red Ace wrote: »

...the one that made it for me was the one constructed in Kildare many moons ago and nice to see it still resides there..

That is the 1909 Silver Stream. Built in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare Philip Sommerville-Large. It is the only example of it's kind in existence. It was on display in the museum in Killarney until it closed in c.2005. It was then sent to the UK (along with many other rare Irish cars) to be auctioned. Fortunately it was bought by an Irish collector and returned to Ireland.

johnk123

The Red Ace wrote: »

only the occasional car mag even though i own a Rover P6, more into the classic two wheel mags as i have a couple of these as well

Thanks! Interesting that you found out about the show from here, as I have said. Sorry for prying, it just ties in nicely as an example for a piece of college work I'm writing!

As a side note, I'm sure the organisers would also be interested to know that point.

What did you think of the bikes on display at the show?

okistag

Deleted scenes from video footage taken at the RIAC SHOW, It may give those who missed it an idea of the weekend.

or you can view it here with lots of photos..http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jack-Epstein-Productions-Video-Photography/252414211540319

http://youtu.be/RZX-fXsCGW0