Room for a Crystal Cove-type meet in Chicago?

[Frank Oles]

Hello again fellow PRIME members.

Picked up the latest issue of Motor Trend Classic (my new favorite domestic car magazine) and there was an article about the weekly Crystal Cove meet in Laguna Beach. People are always posting great photos from this meet in the Photos Forum. NSXs, Enzos, Carrera GTs just about every cool exotic car you can dream of attends this weekly Sunday morning meet.

Now, Chicagoland has many great cruise nights. You could probably attend one every single night of the week. Most of the cars that show up at our cruise nights tend to be older classic domestic cars. Every now and then you'll see a Ferrari 308 or Testarossa, a few Porsches, some vipers, but usually not a very big gathering of exotics anywhere. Even the Barrington Exotic-themed cruise night failed to attract much exotic hardware (yes, we did have a good NSX turnout, but it never hurts to look at other marques, right?)

To my knowledge, there is not a cruise event on a Sunday morning in Chicagoland though. Might this be a hook for attracting the more exotic machinery, like the Crystal Cove meet? The advantage with a Sunday morning meet is that you do not burn a precious Friday, Saturday night, nor is a whole day wasted with a morning event - you could be done by 10 am.

So, what do you think about this type of event? Can we make it work in Chicago? Where do you think would be a good location?

Perhaps coordinating with places like The Last Detail and Fox Valley Motorsports and exotic car clubs we could make something like this happen in our backyard.

- Frank

 

[DRZZZ]

Frank,

This is an AWESOME idea!:biggrin:

Dave

 

[Rutnsx]

Great Idea Frank

Just hope we can get this meet together.

Brian

 

[Bob Kenney]

Frank;
Another great idea!:biggrin:

I am in; just tell me where and when and I will be there as long as there is no snow:wink:

Its nice to see you fellows are coming out hibernation early, the NSX must not have seen its shadow

Bob

 

[nsx2tall]

Its nice to see you fellows are coming out hibernation early

Bob

I needed a drink of water... I'm going back to sleep... wake me up again in April or May...

I think Crystal Cove sounds like a good place to have it :biggrin: but I can only make it every other week as the drive is a bitch.

Seriously, how about someplace up on the North Shore like Evanston, Northwestern or one of the beach areas up there? Wisconsin folks might be interested too and it would be accessible from 94. I've done the drive from Highland Park all the way to the Loop, and while it's not fast it's definitely scenic-- Beaches, trees, mansions, slums, skyscrapers, lake, etc. The only real city driving is the Congress back to 290/94. It might not work for a weekly or monthly event, but once this summer would be good.

Randy

 

[Frank Oles]

Yes! Support from the Chicago Crew - I love it!

There has got to be a way to make this thing work.

Will owners of Ferraris, Lambos and other exotics be interested? I guess we'll find out. But if we can tailor this event to suit the exotic crowd, maybe it can work.

The way I see it, the reasons you don't see too many exotics at the usual cruise nights are as follows...
1. Inconvenient times - Most cruise nights happen Thurs thru Saturday in the evening. It is often hard to convince the ladies to attend a cruise night, and those are prime date nights. Having the event on Sunday morning seems to answer this objection.
2. The attending crowd - The thought of someone backing his fire snorting 55 Chevy into the fragile nose of a Ferrari probably is a big turn off. (no offense to 55 Chevys, with or without fire snorting capabilities). I am a big fan of all kinds of cars. But it is going to take something special to get any kind of a serious exotic showing. Even I get nervous at some cruise nights - the courtesy of people at these events is all over the board. Crystal Cove is so big it seems to have no problem intermixing all different makes and vintages. To make this work in Chicago, however, it seems we will have to have some kind of filter at first to solidify exotic car participation. Otherwise, it would probably turn into a regular cruise event.
3. The exclusivity (snob) factor - Sometimes, people buy an exotic car as a status symbol and they want to pretend they have the most expensive toy on the block. They don't want to see another car like theirs on the street. Obviously, we will never appeal to these types. But there are plenty of honest car guy-types that hit it big and have some serious hardware and a general love of cars. They are the target market.
4. Golf

There are probably lots of other reasons people keep their Enzos and Carrera GTs locked up tight (keeping the mileage low among them), but just maybe this can work.

- Frank

 

[nsxtasy]

How about doing it at the Quiznos restaurant on Barrington Road in Hoffman Estates?

 

[Q]

I like the idea. I can't wait to get the car out of the garage!

 

[nsxtasy]

I like the idea. I can't wait to get the car out of the garage!

Aren't you going to drive yours to the NSX Club annual dinner March 11?

 

[nsx2tall]

Yes! Support from the Chicago Crew - I love it!

...
3. The exclusivity (snob) factor - Sometimes, people buy an exotic car as a status symbol and they want to pretend they have the most expensive toy on the block. They don't want to see another car like theirs on the street. Obviously, we will never appeal to these types. But there are plenty of honest car guy-types that hit it big and have some serious hardware and a general love of cars. They are the target market.
...

There are probably lots of other reasons people keep their Enzos and Carrera GTs locked up tight (keeping the mileage low among them), but just maybe this can work.

- Frank

There's another problem with exotics at local car shows. At the last Wheaton car night there was a fellow with a Ford GT showing his car. As I walked past, he was patiently putting up with someone who had the nerve to browbeat him about wasting so much money on a car. After giving the pest the "Good day, Sir" and moving his chair, the guy just followed him around and pestered him. I think I would have quickly lost my temper and planted my boot in his exhaust.

How about doing it at the Quiznos restaurant on Barrington Road in Hoffman Estates?

That's a convenient spot for me.

 

[sportmarc]

One approach might be to get the word out through the exotic dealerships in the area. Places like FoxValleyMotors in W. Chicago, Continental Ferrari in Hinsdale, perhaps Napleton Porsche and Luxury Motors in Westmont as well.

I've got to think in the right location and at the right time, a few may come out.

Sunday morning is church time for some. For me personally, my cars and cycle are my "church", so wouldn't be an issue.

 

[ROC CHGONSX]

I'm a new owner and looking forward to a meet. I like to drive LSD from downtown and Sheridan Rd north. In Evanston there's a great park area with a large parking lot, food service, and restrooms. I've been to a few art fairs there. Maybe someone knows it's exact location, but you can't miss it driving down (or up) Sheridan Road. I'm downtown, but any place is convenient to get together!

 

[Frank Oles]

Thanks everyone for the support of the Quizno's NSX Cruise-In. Rest assured, the second annual Cruise-In will be even bigger and better this year, with all the free subs you can eat. Date to be announced soon.

I like the idea of having the exotic meet in a northern Chicago location, which could help draw the Wisconsin crowd. Sometimes, there are village ordinances that prohibit these types of gatherings - just another hurdle I'm sure we'll encounter as the planning process moves forward.

Clearly, the Chicago NSXers are ready for this type of meet. Will the Ferrari and Lambo crowd be as enthusiastic? I hope so.

I'd like to get a similar thread going on Ferrari Chat and the Lambo Forums to gauge the interest there. If anyone here on Prime is a regular poster on any of those forums, let me know.

Roc - welcome. Once it warms up a little, I'm sure you'll find there are going to be plenty of NSX meets this year. The annual NSX winter dinner is coming up in March.

- Frank

 

[NSX 3.0]

Frank,
All you guys stay tuned for another event. I just talked to Bill from Ferrari chat he lives in Madison and is planning a Exotic Car Show in Middleton. I guess he has magazine coverage etc and wants as many NSX's as I can round up. So far he's shooting for the second Saturday of June so keep it on your calender. I guess there should be a good mix of cars...

Ferrari
Lambo
Lotus
Porsche
Jag...etc

Will keep you posted as time get's near.

 

[RP-Motorsports]

Here is "Bill's" Prime member page. http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/member.php?u=13761

And to you central WI NSXr's, we get together almost every two weeks @ Fratello's in Oshkosh on the river. Great outdoor tiki bar with live music, full indoor bar, full restaurant, micro brew on site, and a live band bar as well, all in one location. Cigarette boats are plentiful out on the docks as well. If you ever plan on being in the area, give Steve or I a shout. We usually have about 4-5 NSX's there.

 

[Frank Oles]

When is the car show in Middleton?

The reason I ask - Formula D is coming to Soldier Field in Chicago on June 10. It was a fun event last year - hopefully it is not on the same weekend. There was a nice little car show at the Formula D event (only one NSX participated - Ahad's white wide body) - I'm thinking we could have a presence at it this year. The drifting was fun and exciting, and the NSX really has a following at this type of event.

Frank

PS: Chicago's very own Crystal Cove is not coming along so well. But the good news is there is a car event just about every weekend in June/July. Maybe we can just start regular gatherings at Elmhurst cruise night, or Downer's Grove?

 

[nsxtasy]

a Crystal Cove-type meet in Chicago

You mean one where someone crashes his NSX and totals it?

 

[Ferrari328]

When is the car show in Middleton?

The reason I ask - Formula D is coming to Soldier Field in Chicago on June 10. It was a fun event last year - hopefully it is not on the same weekend. There was a nice little car show at the Formula D event (only one NSX participated - Ahad's white wide body) - I'm thinking we could have a presence at it this year. The drifting was fun and exciting, and the NSX really has a following at this type of event.

Frank

PS: Chicago's very own Crystal Cove is not coming along so well. But the good news is there is a car event just about every weekend in June/July. Maybe we can just start regular gatherings at Elmhurst cruise night, or Downer's Grove?

Formula D will, at best, be the second best event in the Midwest on June 10th......

It won't even be the best event of the weekend in Chicago.....

 

[Frank Oles]

328 - Why so cryptic?

What are the details of these other events? Info makes things happen.

Also, were you at the Formula D event last year? I was. Although it was not promoted through mass chanels, word did get out through the Import Community and it was awesome. It was a little drawn out (the main event started a little late), but it was pretty impressive seeing people be that hard on the equipment. I'm sure the follow up event this year will be even bigger and better. (NOTE: I have no connection with Formula D - this is just a spectator's opinion)

On a somewhat related note, there were no NSXs oversteering into walls like after the Crystal Cove meet. But only because there were no NSXs trying to drift. If there were, I am sure even more damage would have ensued, considering almost half the field had some kind of run in with the cement barriers. The call the course "The Gauntlet."

- Frank