Passion for cars brings a lot of different types of people together. These people all “feel” this passion in different ways, whether it’s loyalty to a brand (Ford, Chevy, Honda), a form of driving (circuit, drift, drag), or a sub-culture (stance, imports, trackdays), along with all their different combinations. Car shows – especially the big ones – bring many, many of these different interpretations of our passion together for a few awesome hours…
We recently attended the Blox Evolution 2015 show in San Francisco’s Dogpatch industrial area. This is a review of the “anatomy” of a car show – what you can expect to find – and what makes them so awesome. Some of these 6 clichés may be annoying or funny or awesome, depending on what you’re into – but that’s what it’s all about.
The “over-funded widget company” that is run by gearheads
As you stroll into a car show, right at the entrance, you’ll usually find something flashy. A Ferrari or Lambo with some light modifications – maybe just nice wheels and matte vinyl wrapping – and a widget company brand somewhere on or near the cars. At Blox Evolution it was some random portable phone charging company that I don’t even remember the name of and can’t be bothered to find. So they make some phone charging widget, sell a ton of them, and sit on enough cash (or debt) to be able to spend six figures on “marketing”. It’s a beautiful thing, and I like these guys – because these are the kind of exotic car drivers that actually drive those cars. And who doesn’t need a portable phone charging widget thingy?
The stupidly large turbo cars
Turbos are funny, it’s one of the few things that can make grown men just stop everything they’re doing and stare… like small children watching a clown show for the first time. We’re guilty of it too, they’re awesome little things – and every car show will undoubtedly have those cars with a stupidly large turbo (or two). At Blox, right around the back there was a line-up of delicious Civic EGs and EKs – even an AWD hatch with one of the largest turbos we have ever seen on a Honda engine. See if you can spot the pale green Civic in our photo gallery, just look for the huge turbo.
Our finest revenue generators
It’s refreshing to see these guys join in the fun – the police department, state troopers, highway patrol. It shows that car guys and girls exist everywhere – even in groups that we often perceive as “the enemy”. One of the sickest Porsches at Blox Evolution was an air-cooled 993 turbo monster owned by a SFPD officer. Now don’t ask me where he got the cash for an immaculate air-cooled Porsche, let alone a modded, pristine turbo 993, but happy to see car enthusiasts where many would least expect them.
Booths that school you
Probably one of our favorite parts of the car show anatomy is the group of people that are constantly pushing the limits of technology and automotive engineering. It’s the crazy carbon fiber fabricated parts, the tubular aluminum and titanium chassis and subframes, and insanely beautiful yet functional aerodynamics and body modifications. The booths are generally fairly simple, these companies lead with their products and their innovation. Prepare to be schooled and learn something new.
Booths that bore you
In stark contrast, you’ll get the booths that are seemingly boring. Usually large companies that make tons of really boring parts, and the show represents a small slither of their massive marketing budget. They’re so boring, they hire beautiful women to stand around in what we’ll describe as “not a lot of clothes” to grab your attention and draw you in. Don’t waste your time here… We literally were more impressed with the engineering behind a mobile product stand they were using than the product (air filters) being shown on the stand. Careful with these booths, they have highly trained personnel designed to suck you in and rob you of your time.
The underdogs and the champions
It wouldn’t be a car show without show cars! Generally in the middle of the physical space are all the cars being showed and competing in one way or another. You’ll see the underdogs – cars that were put together by shops with limited resources and time, some may even surprise you. You’ll also see cars from the champions, shops known for putting out awesome builds – and some of these may disappoint you. There will be imports, exotics, domestics, and classics. We absolutely fell in love with an old-school Buick Riviera, which was surprising since we generally don’t gravitate to the older domestic classic / muscle cars. Our favorite are the show cars that get spanked weekly on the track – proudly wearing zip tie stitches, curb scuffs and battle scars.
Make sure to check out a local car show to experience and explore this anatomy yourself. Shout out to the Blox Evolution crew for putting on an awesome show and bringing the Bay Area enthusiasts together under one roof for a great day.