Car Culture ruined my favorite car show

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The one car show I look forward to most is the yearly car show at The Steelyard in Providence. I’ve been going for a while(pics from ’13 here), and it has been a really nice show full of an amazing selection of cars in a great setting.

Last year it was so popular I showed up 15 minutes after it started and had to park the truck down the street.

This year I didn’t bother bringing the truck (motor is acting up and I haven’t gotten the new motor together yet), so I parked a block away and we walked up. I took the picture above and turned the corner, to find this:

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It is hard to see, but the crowds around the entrance are so big they have filled the sidewalks and parking lanes and are spilling into the street. Nearly every person had a beer in their hands, and they were shouting at every vehicle to “do burnouts!” As we walked up a ratty Camaro obliged and started doing a burnout on a public road while big crowds pressed in on it from both sides. As soon as he moved on they started shouting at the stanced BMW behind him to do a burnout. When he didn’t they kept yelling at him until he drove away.

I looked at the drunken mob and realized there wasn’t going to be room for me to look at and photograph the cars without getting crowded on all sides. I decided not to bother going in, and we turned around to walk back to the car.

When we got back to the xB I was standing alongside it unlocking the door when a F250 brotruck pulled alongside and intentionally “rolled coal” down the length of my car, engulfing me & it in a black cloud.

So instead of wandering under the gantries of the Steelyard looking at amazing vehicles I am sitting at home with a bad taste in my mouth(literal & figurative).

The Steelyard Car Show 2013

Every year The Steelyard here in Providence puts on a car show, and every year it is filled with amazing cars. The Steelyard also makes an amazing backdrop for these beautiful classics.

A big surprise for me was my old ’62 Comet “Emily” was there(this car is in some of the header images on this blog). The current owner is treating her well and has continued to customize her. It made me nostalgic to see her again, and I was glad she was being treated well.

For more pictures, see my Flickr set from the Show.