Chatsworth- March 21^st, 2010 marked the 3^rd annual B&M Hurst Car Show at their B&M Performance Chatsworth facility. Several hundred cars lined the surrounding streets and featured everything from classic cars to modern muscle cars and the specialty line of Hurst edition vehicles. Over fifty-five trophies were given for various classes. There was also a group raffle for car groups that brought over ten vehicles. Hurst and other vendors also donated various car products that were raffled away to the many car enthusiasts. Hot Rod TV made their way around the show and shot amongst the many first-class automobiles that were present.

The Hurst Show this year came on the heels of the LX Festival just the day before. It was a busy, busy, weekend for SCC. The LX Festival is huge for us as we are the “unofficial” hosts for the Challenger owners that are there and also the fact that it is a show that is put on by Dodge corporate. It’s a must for us to be at that one in large numbers. It just so happened that this year the Hurst Show was the next day. So be it. As I showed up at the meeting point I wondered how many people would show at this one the very next day. I always want us to show up in force where ever we go, but I was curious how that day would go. I could understand if people would have shined the Hurst Show off. The day before was very hot and there was no shade. We all were baked like a tray of brownies. I was tired and dehydrated. I felt like a piece of beef jerky. I was relieved to see the cars start pulling into the meeting place. I was really happy that the NCC guys who were at the LX Festival the day before also showed up to the Hurst Show. Mike and the gang are great guys and we were honored to have them with us. Dave did the pre-flight pow-wow and we were off to line up for the show.

As we pulled into the pre-staging line to enter the show there was a spectacular sight. A Hemi-Orange 1970 Challenger R/T lined up against the curb. It was owned by Mike V and his son was driving it. This car was in the second version of Vanishing Point and was in immaculate condition. Dave had the great idea of having this Challenger lead us in. It made for a very cool sight to see an original and classic Challenger bringing in the new Challengers. We ended up getting prime parking around the end of the street. It worked out really well for us.

After we shined ‘em up and set up our banners and ez-ups, it was time to enjoy the show. Other than the “Fling” Shows in Woodley Park twice a year, the Hurst Show has had the most old Mopar cars of any show we’ve been at. I loved seeing them around. Our Member Carl had his Challenger on display at the DC Performance booth. DC did his blower and it was great to see his car in the limelight. I also liked seeing the old Hurst packed cars, especially the Oldsmobile. Somebody’s dad in school had one of those and I remember thinking it was way cool back then!

As the show came to a close it was trophy presentation time. Last year we took home the Group Participation Trophy from this event. It still to this day is one of the coolest trophies we have in our trophy case. It’s truly unique. This year however we had some really good competition from the new Camaro Club that was present. They had a whole line of cars towards the other end of the show that looked like it either matched or exceeded what he had there. It was down to the wire who had more cars. I truly didn’t know. I remember one of their guys coming over and counting how many cars we had. It was that close! It turned out that we had one more car than they did and our name was called for the Group Participation Award.  Last year we won that trophy pretty handily. This year it was one car that made the difference. I think it’s great to have the competition with other car groups. Number one it’s all in fun, it pushes everyone to be better, and the car show and spectators benefit from it. I’m glad they were there.

Big thanks to B&M for putting on a kick ass car show. It was amazing to see the number of cars increase from last year to this year. And it’s only their 3^rd one! Also, big props to all the SCC Members who sucked it up and came to both shows that weekend. I know that was tough to do with your families and other obligations, but it was truly appreciated. Thank you to our partner NCC Members as well for attending with us. It’s going to be fun watching you be successful as you build your group. The two of us together will accomplish great things…

Irvine- If you own an LX body vehicle, the place to be on March 20^th, 2010 was the Spring Festival of LX’s in Irvine, Ca. Over six hundred 300’s, Magnums, Chargers, and Challengers filled the parking lot caddy-corner to the Chrysler building. Dodge unveiled new vehicle editions and plans for the future to the passionate crowd of Dodge/Chrysler owners. A furious fuchsia Challenger and a new 300s were on display for all to see and enjoy. Vendors such as Stack Performance, Brembo, and Corsa  all had impressive displays around the venue. Owners spent the day visiting vendor booths and checking out what other owners had done to their vehicles.

This is a great show for SoCal Challengers as we play the role of “unofficial” host for the visiting Challenger owners. My fellow Co-President, Dave, stayed at the Doubletree Hotel which was the primary hotel for out-of-towners who came in for the whole weekend. He was able to meet most of the attendees the Friday before the show and make them feel at home. It also served to help us make the next morning go smoother as we were responsible for getting them into the show. The Irvine Police department however had other ideas. Last year we had lined up all of the Challengers on Gateway Ave. along the shoulder and then proceeded to take them into the LX Festival. It’s a full shoulder along that road, the cars are completely out of any traffic lanes when stopped there. Irvine PD this year decided that we couldn’t line up there and told us to leave or face citation. Wonderful. Since the LX Festival gate wasn’t open yet, Dave, who was leading the group had to take everyone for a drive in circles until the LX Festival opened their gates. It was interesting to see Challengers going around in circles for no apparent reason. I’m sure most of the Challenger owners in that line were scratching their heads why they were driving around the block over and over. I was on the shoulder and when I found out what happened I ran over to the gate to find someone in charge. I told a gentleman there,” Look man, we have about 50 Challengers going around the block in circles until you let us in. You need to open this up for us. Irvine PD won’t let us stop anywhere.” He told me to call Dave and have them come back and that they would let us in. Rick called Dave from his car and the circle driving exercise was over. Eventually, we were all parked and into the show. Once parked we all shined up our vehicles, picked up our welcome bags and lunch tickets and walked around the venue.

Dodge had a new 300s on display as well as a furious fuchsia Challenger R/T.  The fuchsia doesn’t do it for me at all. It looked like a nail polish color. I think as far as a purple goes, the Plum Crazy paint job wins hands down. But, to each their own. You buy what you yourself like, not what someone else likes.  The 300’s headlights and seats looked great. New tweaks from Dodge that were impressive in my opinion. My car was at the Stack Performance booth along with Dan’s black Challenger SRT-8. I’m glad we could help Ryan promote his business and are indebted to him for all he’s done for SCC and our vehicles. Billet Technologies had a booth at the show as well. A lot of Challenger owners have their bling on their car. It was good to finally meet them in person. I also enjoyed talking to Corsa, whose exhaust I have on my Challenger. Nice guys those Corsa guys.

Dodge made announcements about halfway through the day that by this time next year we would see a whole new lineup of vehicles. This was a nice teaser as none of them were there at the show to see. It was announced too that Dodge was teaming up with Rich Evans, a custom builder, to build a Challenger together. That will be interesting as every car I’ve seen Rich do has been covered with spikes; real metal spikes! Rich does fantastic ghost painting and airbrushing. I’m interested to see what they come up with together.

All in all I think we pulled in 48 Challengers to the show as a group which was a damn impressive site. The LX Festival is THE only place you will see that many Challengers in one place, period. Everyone we met was super cool and a pleasure to hang out with. Thank you Dodge for putting on the event for us LX owners. Thanks also to (FatChance) Jon, for organizing the event with them and your passion for Dodge/Chrysler vehicles. And to my fellow Co-President Dave, thanks for your hard work promoting this show and making the Challenger owners there feel like family. That you can’t put a price on…