Big props to the folks who brought grilling supplies. That was some tasty carne asada and chicken. Hope y'all enjoyed the rice crispy treats.

I still can't believe how much stuff they gave away at the raffle. That was amazing.

 

really, i didnt know i was a customer...i thought i was a competitor competing for the top rx7 honors. also as a competitor i should be able to defend my title, isnt that how it works..it is a competition right please enlighten me.

 

Kipling:
"There are nine and sixty ways of conducting tribal lays;
And every single one of them is right!"

http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_neolithic.htm

Even in a points-judged system, unless you know the exact points categories & the criteria each judge uses to award points in them, there's no real way to critique the outcome.

There are so many (nine and sixty, at least!) schools of thought as to what's desirable in a show car as to make objective results almost impossible even in 'pro' events. In club-run events, individual clubmembers' tastes can't help but influence every angle of a car show.

Some people love a super-low stance, some care only about rims & stretched tires, some think extreme body mods are the only important criteria, some value tons of chrome regardless of where it came from or what purpose it might serve where others are all about 'functionality,' others put more stock in owner-performed work rather than cars where the only involvement the owner had was to shell out massive coin, some think the opposite is true - result versus process. Still others think 'keeping it original' or 'keeping it period' is more important than 'pimping it out' - - and just as many others think the other way. Some even take a car's history into account, giving more credit for the difference between start and finish conditions, giving strong points for restoration efforts. Others care only about how well the original build was preserved, & actually down-check a car for having been restored or modified in any way.

In the absence of published judging categories and criteria, it's anyone's guess what scoring system is used.

MazFest is a pretty casual event with regard to the car show; I was actually kind of surprised to see they were using a point-based system.

Way I try to look at with whatever car show I choose to enter, is this:
a) It's the organizers' show & they're going to judge it however they want. They may (or may not) have strict categories, and the judges may (or may not) abide by them.
b) It's my car and I'm going to build it however I think makes it 'the best' within the limits of my skills and resources. I'm not going to change my vision of how it should be, simply to score points.

If those two things match up, I might get lucky & win an award. Or I might run into a panel of judges that will never vote for any sports car that's not painted bright red, because that's how they think a sports car should look.

I'll still know either way I that I rolled up riding in my very best work, & will proudly show it to anyone who'd enjoy looking at it. Car work is the closest thing to an artistic outlet I have, and if art is about anything it is about expressing your own vision of something.

It's really satisfying to win a trophy in a show, & to have my work recognized by others of like mind, no doubt about it. But ultimately I build my car to please me.

That said, being every bit as competitive as the next person, I always want to know where I placed in the judging. Just like I'll always check the timesheet at the cart track against the others, even if I felt I turned in an awesome lap. I can be just as disappointed at not winning as the next person, but I don't plan on getting so obsessive about car shows as to let the opinions of anonymous show judges drive my own 'artistic' decisions. (So says the guy who hospitalized himself polishing his car for a show, hahahahah)

Just the way we are, being people. And according to Kipling, we've been that way for a real long time.

/soapbox

 

point taken....very well said sir

 

Ryan, don't be sad. I have been going to this event since before it was an event. Meaning the first one was at a drag strip in Ramona back in 2003, for some reason this one does not count.
An RX7 has never won this show. Its usually someone from the MOCC boards. At one point it was the same Protege 5 two years in a row. That said its their event, so of course their will be a bias which is totally understandable. I imagine if we had a general mazda event someone of this board would win.

 

word even though rotaries made mazda who they are now, we're still the bastard child of the family.

 

I assure you that theres no hard feelings towards mocc. Just sometimes I let my competitive nature get the best of me. My apologies ya'all for ranting over something so irrelevant.

 

Ryan you must have misunderstood my previous post. I should have added a to my last post. Let's think of SS as a lil BBQ for everyone's RX's, there's no competition. As long as we had parking spots in the venue, anything from projects to garage queens are welcomed to the event.

I hope everyone who attends SS has a great time. I wished we could afford a few more shiny trophies for the all the beautiful RX's that show up to the event every year.

Professor Glenn - Thank you for the lecture Sir! BTW, you need a new Rotor Oil Cap...


BTW, thanks to everyone who dropped by the booth. It's always awesome putting faces to SNs.

Cheers!
Andy

 

Ryan both the fd and fc where top class

 

True dat.

(gets up on soap box)

Mazda was a company that was bleeding to death and heading toward extinction back in the late '70's. Then they came out with the GLC (a lollipop to who can translate GLC). That stopped the bleeding. Then they came out with the RX7 which:

1. completed the healing,
2. put them back to profitability,
3. gave them a centerpiece that set them apart from any other car company and by doing so
4. raised the general public good will attitude toward the rest of their line of cars leading to more cars being sold that one might expect otherwise.

With apologies to the Miata crowd, the RX7 is to Mazda as the Corvette is to GM*. Without a Wankle sports car (also with apologies, the RX8 is akin to a four door Corvette), the public impression of Mazda as a company has been dropping to akin to Hyundai. I don't think that most car people would consider that a compliment.

(steps down from soap box)

* I suggest a 4 boiinger Miata is to Mazda as the Camaro is to GM. When it comes to car company notariety, for Mazda it's all about the Wankle.

 

Andy.... Sorry for my dumb comment. I'll just shut up about competing.

Alex... Thanks man, it was nice finally meeting you in person. If you guys are not busy, check out Motion this Sunday in Long Beach.

 

The one I've got now was 'sponsored...'

"Great Little Car".

I still remember the ads. Be damned if I can remember offhand what the car looked like, though.

That ad campaign helped all the Japanese car companies, not just Mazda, at a time when Japanese cars were... shall we say, still somewhat less respected than they are now.

Here's a nice ad from the period...

[youtube]0dFdmu9RL1A[/youtube]

 

it should be a mega meets of all the mini meets like a giant rotary Voltron.

 

here is a video i made of the weekend event. Not focusing in on any one day, rather showing off a few rx7s. enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S5I6KBFd2c

 

That was fun. I'm glad I didn't drive on Saturday/mazfest day, otherwise I wouldn't have had the chance to goof off and check other stuff out.

Here's some pics I took of things that caught my eye:

99 spec look alike FD


Boss 302 mustang, first one I've seen in person


clean black FD, I'm thinking of getting those wheels next


super clean and slammed FC. if i had an FC I would probably set it up like this. love it


clean & simple first gen, i love these cars. one day I WILL have another one. and I will probably keep it rotary, I said probably, although a v8 swap in that would be sick


rotary trucks. these guys must know each other


brad's FD


I actually like this mazda(speed?) 3. Clean, low, although I'm not a fan of tinted windows

 

some more pics.

joel's v8 BEAST




steve's 6 liter ls-fc. with a low restriction intake


RRR FD (same one in the old hp vs. handling video on buttonwillow, twins turbo cars?)


stupid fast viper. this guy was pretty much driving around everyone on the bank


rich guy from arizona with a sweet c6 vette. you should have seen this guys accommodations... he had a flat screen tv that folded out of his trailer. must be nice


also, he had some hydraulic lift points built into each wheel corner of the car, so when it was time to pit, they could lift it up easily and put these tire socks on the tires. neat!




ultima GTR parked in the hotel me and meiogirl stayed at. sick, sick car. dry sumped LS7 with all the goodies. probably one of the quickest cars you can buy/put together in terms of power/weight ratio (last I heard, they weigh in around 2200 lbs... that motor is probably good for 500-600+ hp @ the tires)


meiogirl & friends in the pits (same tow hooks on the two FDs there)

 

more pics.

robert's & fris' track FCs


hozzman's black turbo vert & rich arizona c6 race car dude's trailer in background


another badass viper. with an attitude!




kill list LOL!

 

Those are awesome pictures and video, thank you for sharing. The weather was kinda hot but I had a blast can't wait till next year.

 

Thanks Ken....

 

Nice meeting you too! (bought small SS13 shirt & rotor oil cap)

Thanks, she has a 6 port 13B with a dollorto 48 dhla, full RB exhaust and full RB suspension.

 

here's a quick vid, more to come!
http://youtu.be/ofh-_VhCfwA

 

Nice run My car needs mo' powah.

 

Good **** Fris! Very fast man.

 

Here's a vid of my auto-x attempt on Sunday, the day after mazfest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw3l73mh00Y

 

You're all winners in my book... too bad I don't judge SevenStock anymore!!

-Bern