Despite the poor air quality from the Camp Fire (our thoughts are with the firefighters and families affected by the California fires) and chilly morning start, the Alameda Fairgrounds was filled with an impressive group of classic cars and a few, fresh off the lot, muscle cars over Veteran’s Day Weekend. It is refreshing to see the Goodguys Bay Area events bounce back after a slowish 2017 (again this is based on our highly non-scientific visual analysis.) I mean this not only in the number of the cars or even the quality of cars, but in the overall quality of the event. The burnout contests, demolition derby, auto-cross, and countless other special features throughout the year have really improved the overall experience. Car shows can become stale and they have done a great job continuing to invest and innovate to make the experience fresh.

The summer show in August (West Coast Nationals) is usually the smallest of the Pleasanton based Good-Guys events, but this year both the Summer and the Autumn Get Together were packed with cars, vendors and spectators. While I’m sure the air quality hurt participation a little, it was still a very impressive showing.

The burnout competition was a big hit at the show. The sounds, the smells, and the sights thrilled young and old alike. This was the first “official” Burnout Competition at the Pleasanton Goodguys and I am sure it will be back next year, officially or not.

(Tangentially, I don’t know if anyone else noticed but Continental Tires must have shipped over a thousand new banners—as every local tire shop was sporting a new bright school bus yellow Continental Tire banner last week.)

The car community at large does a fantastic job recognizing, celebrating, and raising funds for our veterans. Be it NASCAR or your local car show—it’s with great pride and appreciation we recognize the sacrifices our veterans and their families have made for our freedom. The Goodguys organization does a standup job recognizing our veterans—making this weekend’s show very special to all who attended.

The Goodguys schedule for 2019 is available as a PDF by clicking here.

I’ve noticed that Goodguys has increased their local marketing effort with fliers in local shops across the Bay Area, plus an increased in digital media and radio spots. But I also wonder if the inclusion of newer cars had a positive impact on driving more participation from the classic car crowd. Numbers appear to be up and that’s a good thing for everyone. Goombahs member Rich Buckley and I went to the “Back to the 50’s” show in Minnesota this year, a 3-day show with over 11K cars. All the vehicles have to leave and come back each day and they have a strategic cut off year of 1964. (I cringe when I see Fieros at car shows, but that’s me being a #carshowsnob—I’ll work on it.) I think 1973 and older defines a “classic” car or truck, but that cuts off all the Squarebody enthusiast at the knees. What are your thoughts: what year is your cut off for a classic car or truck and why? Comment below.