German Auto Fest

[911pcars]

Anyone else surprised by the $40 charge to park inside the GAF in Sept? Maybe I'm a little sensitive since we've been able to park inside for a more modest fee in past years (it being a draw for a lot of participants).

Sherwood

[Gburner]

I have to agree. I have seen the same trend in street rod events 10 years ago. I have seen other promoters increase entry fees to the maximum. All it does is soften the event, less cars will enter and the event suffers.
I would rather see lower entry fees, so more cars would enter, and all the Porsche cars parked outside in public parking (a $30 savings?) could then join the show.
Also the fact that everyone that doles out the $40+$5 for state park parking is part of the event, they create the draw that brings spectators through the gate. Yet no $$ break for those that enter?
rant over.

[Zeke]

Last year, the year of the Boxster, I drove my Boxster to the event and paid the $5 and was directed to the street where the Boxsters parked at no charge except for the walk in fee of $10. I declined and paid for the inside parking and parked elsewhere.

Anyway, no break for the featured cars? They're supposed to be free. Well, they are if you figure 2 people per car for 2 days, 'cause you get two 2 day passes with the $40. But still.......not the same as last year.

[RSupdate]

Yeah, I find myself beginning to question Bob Campbell's ethic's over this whole deal. I guess he figures the early 911/912 community will just blindly fork over whatever he asks since this is the "early 900 series" feature year.

To be honest, I am becoming rather luke-warm over attending. I mean, the bottom line is this, you pay $45.00 ttl. to get in and stand around looking at a whole lot of cars we've all seen many, many times before.

I used to do that when I showed my car in PCA Concours...

And then there is the Alpha club running at Streets that weekend.....and NASA running at Big Willow.....

hmmmmmmm.......

[69Sman]

Johnny....you KNOW you have to go....
Maybe we should petition Bob C. RE: the price. What was it LAST year??? $40 seems kinda steep, especially since 1 day is more than enuf, and 2 is OVERKILL.....

[JackOlsen]

Agreed.

Do we have any inside connections to the organizers? It seems there's a certain leverage that the Early S Registry / R Gruppe people could exercise. Cars like Kurt's and Stacy's (and a lot of others, here) are a big part of the attraction for this event (especially this year). Charging everyone a premium for parking on-site, and then making us all pay for two days attendance when most of us will opt for only one is bad form.

If the organizers claim they're losing too much money, they should cut the event back to a single day. As it is, they're offering not much more than Dunkel's for a much higher price.

[69Sman]

Having been previously appointed the 'Official RGRUPPE 356 Contact Chairperson and Ambassador', I just now sent the following email to Mr. Bob Campbell:


Hi Bob, (at least, I hope this email is going to you).

There has been some grumbling over at the Early "S" site, in
regards to the $40 charge for admission and parking for Early 9
Fest Entrants. Many who have supported GAF since the beginning
are (UNFORTUNATELY) thinking of not coming.

I for one, will show up no matter what! However, I KNOW for a
fact that you could assure an absolutely stellar turn-out, if you
could somehow lower the entry fee for the 'marquee' cars this
year.

Alternately, since many of us (myself included) can only attend
for 1 day, maybe you could break it up - $20 per DAY, and then,
if one had to leave after ONLY Saturday, they would not feel as
if they had wasted $20....

Any thoughts? Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks Bob,

Stacy Schulman - unofficial 'Ambassador" for the Early "S"
registry as well as:

Proud owner:

1965 356 SC CAB #161827
1972 911 S
1973 911 RS (Bringing to Fest)
2004 GT3
and (as you know) 356 Registry member in good standing!

[69Sman]

OK. Here is Bob's reply! IT IS VERY GOOD NEWS, as ONLY the cars that WANT TO BE JUDGED FOR PEOPLE'S CHOICE are required to pay the $40. IF you are on the fence about attending, please READ BOB'S EMAIL:

Stacy,

Thank you very much for your email.

The $40 admission is only for those people that want their cars voted on
and then be eligible for an award at the awards ceremony. We will display
park all the Early 9 Fest entrants on Main Street Saturday morning for
voting. All other Early 9 cars need only pay the $10 general admission per
person, per day, and they will park together on the grass areas at the west
end of Main Street, where they were last year. Entry in the Early 9 Fest
is not required to join in the fun. Please remember that Seaside Park
collects a $5 fee per car, there are no further parking fees.

We chose to feature all the Early 9 cars this year to support all the
various groups, not to alienate anybody. We are very sorry if this was not
explained fully, and we hope to see you all next month in Ventura. It's
going to be a helluva show. You may forward this message to all concerned
individuals or lists.

Sincerely,

Bob & Karen Campbell

That sould clarify. Please help spread the word, let's have a good ole Early S/RGRUPPE showing!

[JackOlsen]

Good response.

I'm in.

Saturday caravan, anyone?

[69Sman]

Me, I'm in. Where's Roger? We need Roger....