we from "Kundensport" had a display of cars set up at the GAF. i hope everybody enjoyed our customer and personal cars we brought up.

i was a little dissapointed with the turnout (of vendors, clubs, groups)and am wondering about the future of GAF. was there enough promotion? did you all know about it? and nobody bothered to attend due to the economy? or was it the wrong weekend due to other (very cool) events on that weekend?

i believe that the event was more colorful a couple of years back. what are your thoughts?

Hans
Kundensport

what is GAF?

the German Auto Fest, in Ventura CA

I don't know whether the current economy affected the turnout at GAF this year, but it was the weakest turnout I've seen.

The venue itself-on the ocean in Ventura--is a great place to hold an event. I know a lot of people who had attended voiced ideas to improve the event, perhaps they will chime in.

Hey Hans!

As far as i can tell, promotion was pretty much non-existent. If it hadn't been for the Cap'n, i would not have known about it in advance.
And by the time the Cap'n posted here, i had already made other commitments for that weekend.

I did not see any advertisement anywhere at all.
Andy

i agree, i didn't even see any posts on the relevant sites with updates or pics of the day by the promoter.

I spoke with the promoters this morning, bright and early. The event was successful enough for them to plan on holding it again next year. They're working on the publicity thing, and I'll be in touch with them later to offer any suggestions I can to help'em make next year's event a success. We talked a little about getting poster style notices out in the spring, and registration flyers out in a timely manner. I'm gonna offer to help get the word out in an aggressive manner to as many interest groups as I can. YOU can help by sending them the names of shops, clubs, or parts suppliers that you patronize so they can get the word out.

They scaled it back a bit this year, which meant there weren't as many vendor spaces inside, but the cars-for-sale hall was bigger. I think the swap meet went well for a good percentage of the sellers, and I saw people walking around with a number of remarkable bargains.

If you want to offer opinions, suggestions, or help, I'm sure they'd be happy to hear from you. Remember, however, that the ONLY way to boost the attendance is to HAVE MORE PEOPLE SHOW UP. If YOU want things like this to happen, YOU have to be there. Even if it's not directly in your narrow field of interest, there's always good stuff to see, the weather is almost always nice, and there's a whole bunch of us who get up at 4 in the morning to make sure there's plenty of stuff to root through in search of good bargains. I can't believe we were actually selling stuff by moonlight .................. Buncha really nice cars there from R Gruppe, too.

There's also a bunch of interesting people who share your enthusiasm, and some of us even socialize the night before. I was a little surprised no one showed any interest in that, although I mentioned it on both primary 914 sites a week before the event. NOT ONE person even tried to hook up with us. Whatever, Lyn and I had a great dinner and a wonderful dessert in the patio of our favorite beachside restaurant, and YOU DIDN'T!

Bet those persons staying at the high falutin' Crown Plaza Hotel thing twice about THAT. Being awakened by train horns at 3:30 AM isn't what I'd call luxury ...........

I hope more of you will plan on this event next year, and we look forward to seeing you. Dinner would be nice, or lunch on Sunday.

As for you, Andy, what kind of 914 owner plans ANYTHING a month in advance?

The Cap'n, telling you to MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR NEXT YEAR!

I missed this year's event. I had been there in the past. It was a bad weekend for me personally as my kids started soccer season, so my weekend time is limited.

A venue closer to LA would be better for me, but that's just me. I don't know if you'd get more attendance moving it closer to LA. I don't know.

It might be fun to add other events to the weekend as well. Not sure what would be best. Maybe some track or AX time.

Yeah yeah yeah, I thought I would relax this year & stay at the Crown Plaza instead of the Motel 6. BIG MISTAKE!! 3 weddings, slamming doors all night, train waking me up at 3:30 in the freakin' morning. I was a tad grumpy. I'll be back at the Motel 6 again next year.

I was hoping to find lotsa good stuff for me to bring home for my car, but didn't find anything I even remotely needed. I did find the matching front plate from the dealership that my car originally came from, so that was cool.

We at GPR did OK, didn't get rid of it all, but there was a lot less in the trailer going home. We'll be back again next year.

Mark - You don't need anything for that perfect car! Besides, you have the west coasts largest used and new parts collection to pull from!

In regards to the event - Even though it was down a a bit in attendance it was good seeing all of you. I vote for making this a one day event. Start in the morning with the swap meet and let the cars collect on the fairgrounds. Those interested in signing up for the show get to park on main street. the rest of us rag taggers get to park on the black top. Or, start it on Saturday night with a big welcoming party in one of the halls.

The website was extremely confusing and some of the links read "to be updated soon" were still reading that the day of the event! There was no clear schedule of events. The event organizers also need to look to the other "bastards" of the P-car world (you know; 914, 924, 944. I can use that word that since I am one of them) and encourage support . To be honest, as a 914 owner I was quite put off by the "snubbery" (making up my own words here now) I (and we) received from the organizers prior to the event. There were quite a few of us 914ers on the Santa Monica run and so far the only way we ended up on the video I've seen was that there were 911's around us. (Note; that just might be my opinion / observation but that's what it looked like to me). For those of us that have attended before we know it's an all Porsche event for the swap meet. But, what about the rest of the event? There's little recognition of the "rest" of the Porsche world.

If they want to make this a success they need to acknowledge and advertise and appeal to all Porsche marks. I am thankful that guys like The Cap'n, Dave & Mark (GPR), Bruce & Wes, Leaman and the rest of the swappers still support this in spite of the lack of attendance. It would be a shame to see this event fall off the map. Seek out the lowly and you'll fill your event next year.

Snubbery, ha!
My uncle is a 928 freak; message boards, 928 drives, parts swaps
I got the 914 bug, same behaviors
When arriving at a Porsche event, where are the bros?
It's a bunch of cliquey 911 veterans and yuppies, performing typical snubbery
I went to "GAF" in 2007 when it was "Mid-Engine Invasion" It was sweet! Our cruise with Joe to Howard's for BBQ still lives large in my memories

Now I'm curious if we can call it GAF, or should we say Ventura Show, or what?

My take on the 2009 GAF was B minus. It really wouldn't take much more effort to take it to A+. A car "Theme" as in the past could work again. 911 marque always draws big crowds. The mid-engine theme worked well with the teeners and Boxsters...today you could add the Cayman for more spice. If the marque is mid-engine in the near future, I'll try once again to get Mike to bring the #40 Sonauto LM winner to the GAF. There was even the exotic Carrera GT that showed a couple times--a big crowd pleaser. Peoples choice awards, and Sunday Concour--except for Sunday's sandstrorm !

A new twist could be a small sized Biergarten, it is October and German Pcars right? A half dozen or so frauline St. Paulis girls pouring from steins would tend to the beer duties.

Throw a couple of radio ads up the week before the show, George Cross does it for his Pomona Shows. Door prizes , donated by exhibiting vendors, or just vendors that want to donate their wares for advertising exchange. All of these things work at other shows that I attend. Attend one of Mark Anderson's Sharktoberfests in the OC. It's a once a year orgy of 928s, organized by a handful of dedicated men and women...and it's a huge show.
Other than that , I'm OK with last weekends show. Who knows, with a little work it might turn into a SEMA type show one day !
Marty

Steve, Saturday was a "ghost town" in comparison to years past. I still had a great time becuase of running into many 914 people. My drive is 3.5 hours which was a bit much for the turnout. I will seriously have to think about whether I'll make the drive next year.

Sitting on the grass with the car and Jim Hoyland I met a lot of 911 & 944 guys and I must say they were very friendly and inquisitve about our cars. I didn't feel any "snobbery" from them...not to discount the fact the video did look very lopsided.

I paid the $45 to put my car on the grass...makes for nice parking. When I came in the guy from GAF parking the cars offered for me to park anywhere I wanted...on the street with the 911s etc, or on the grass. I chose the grass because of Jim Hoyland.

The Vagabond was nice ane quiet with great parking.

Kundensport did promote the 914 we showed one 914-6(#0011, thanks Tony, ) and two -6 GT cars!, we will be restoring a 914-4 in near future. we like mid engine P cars as you wittnessed on our stand.
i really hope GAF (the Ventura show) will rise to what it used to be


Hans
Kundensport

I couldn't make it this year, but I really enjoyed it in 07. I remember, Engman, Renegade and some of the other Vendors had set up displays, were they there this year? they also had Jim Anderson fielding questions about 911's....were those activities there this time? I would think that alot of the Vendors and Manufactures would want to be part of an event like this. With just the resources we have here for our cars, I'm sure that the other Porsche models would want theirs there too. I'd like to make it next year.

Lot's of good suggestions.....another I heard was to set up a Kart course in the parking lot for individuals or teams to complete.

I'd like to see more participation by the organized P-car clubs-whether on-line or real.

Biergarten sounds nice too

dude you finish the car!(#11) wow I need to take a trip over to your place.

anytime, gimme a call

Hans,

I agree with you about the turnout. I am just an attendee, not a vendor. This is a "no miss" annual event for me and I was very glad I went, but kind of shocked to not see more cars and crowds compared to the early years where it was truly world class.

You had some absolutely stunning cars there, by the way. I will finish going through my pictures so everyone in the 914 community who wasn't at the show can see your work. (I love the orange 930/RSR car as well.)

To keep the event alive, I would be willing to help out in some fashion next year, with pre-marketing or whatnot. I happen to live right down the street from the new shop that organized the show this year, but I have not yet met any of the guys.