daily driver show cars?

[GINA]

I'm thinking of entering Pepper in a couple shows this summer, just curious how many of you that have entered your car also use it as a daily driver? Is that pretty common?

[turbs01]

I use Turbs as a daily driver and a show car. My best piece of advice is get an alarm, like Viper. My radio was stolen out of my car last year while I was at work. Also, check local laws on things like window tinting, exhaust noise, sound ordinances, etc. The police here follow me around because my car is modified. And if your car is lowered, it is in your best bet to remember where pot holes are located to save your car from possible damage.

[Herbie3Rivers]

Elwood's a daily driver and has 11 Trophies ranging from Best Water Cooled and Street Achievement Contemporary custom, to 1st and 2nd place awards, along with a TV commercial under his belt. So my answer's yes.

[yelojkt]

Yelojkt is a daily driver that I drive every day at work, on a pest control route. I have also driven him to Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Niagra Falls Canada, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and numerous day trips in Kansas. At the TNBRU Yelojkt placed well in the custom class, and again placed well in the daily driver class in Tusla. So yeah it can be done. Can you daily drive your new beetle and win trophys? Yes you can but it does not come easy. For the 2005 TNBRU I spent about 4 hours buffing Yelojkt's paint. Later that week I spent about five hours detailing. The next day we loaded him up (supplies for a family of four for four days) and headed to Texas. That night (the night before the show) we washed yelojkt to remove all the bugs and road debris. The next morning we got to the show very early and started cleaning again. This involved removing the wheels and cleaning some areas with a toothbrush, and then going over all black plastic and rubber surfaces with Armor All. But you don't have to go this extreme. Its just that I put alot of miles on my car but when I am showing it I expect it to look brand new. The fun part about showing your car is all the neat people you meet, and all the new friends you make. So I say go for it and have a blast. Below is a picture of Yelojkt in top form at the 2005 TNBRU. Oh yeah and the cars on both sides of yelojkt were both daily drivers.

[hyakugojyuuichi]

I drive Wilson every day to college and work and we go to car shows in the summer and early fall. The shows I attend are usually have a little bit of everything: foreign, domestic, antique and new cars. I agree with yelojkt about trying to keep your car clean. I wash my car weekly and it's garage kept. Even though I usually spend about two days detailing my car, it still doesn't look as good as I want it to. Last year I actually spent a whole day steam cleaning the dirt off the undercarriage.:P My NB doesn't have that many miles on it, about 45,000, and is a base model. I have 7 trophies and 5 plaques that range from first to third place. No "Best of Show" yet, but I'm working on it. While I want my car to look good, getting atrophy doesn't really matter much to me. What I really look foward to are the things like enjoying the scenery on the way there, the time I spend meeting new people and getting re-aquainted with old friends, and the compliments I get on my car. I think you should definetly enter Pepper, you won't regret it. Here's Wilson at a show last year with some of our trophies.

[marvins_dad]

Marvin is a daily driver as well. Can't even think about how many awards he has gotten over the years and most before the paint job!

I guess the good and bad of it is that when something goes wrong with the car aesthetically you want to rush to get it fixed. Good because you keep him in top shape, bad because sometimes you might not have the cash immediately to repair....I've been through probably an entire extra set of rims because of accidental rashing or road hazzards...etc.

It's great driving a daily driver/show car around!

[FineExampl]

I'm hoping to enter mine in some stuff this year. It's my only car so of course it's a daily driver. There's nothing really fancy about my car, just that it's cared for.I'm not even going to go for a win or anything. If one person likes what i do to my car it will be worth it.

[Fowvay]

Pomelo is a daily driver and a show car. That how ever means a great deal of work. For instance to get ready for show season this year I need to....

Strip and paint my calipers.

Strip and paint my A-arms.

Touch up my shocks.

Go over the entire undercarrige with a toothbrush and dawn to clean off the grime.

Then I have to follow that up with coats of wax and lubes.

Remove the seats so I can scrub the carpet and wax and polish the tracks and rollers on the seats.

Essentially I will need to go over every single square inch of Pomelo and make sure it is absolutly perfect. It usually takes me several days after the winter just to get her back in prime condition.

I then go thru the entire drill again before each show. It isn't easy but It's soooooo worth it knowing that you drive a 6 year old car that is literly better than new.

[marvins_dad]

Originally Posted by Fowvay

Pomelo is a daily driver and a show car. That how ever means a great deal of work. For instance to get ready for show season this year I need to....

Strip and paint my calipers.

Strip and paint my A-arms.

Touch up my shocks.

Go over the entire undercarrige with a toothbrush and dawn to clean off the grime.

Then I have to follow that up with coats of wax and lubes.

Remove the seats so I can scrub the carpet and wax and polish the tracks and rollers on the seats.

Essentially I will need to go over every single square inch of Pomelo and make sure it is absolutly perfect. It usually takes me several days after the winter just to get her back in prime condition.

I then go thru the entire drill again before each show. It isn't easy but It's soooooo worth it knowing that you drive a 6 year old car that is literly better than new.

Ain't that the truth...but the upside of it is that by doing this you keep the car in really good condition!

[mentalVdub]

i appreciate daily drivers.
even if there are scratches or chips in the paint, it's still a sign that the car is driven.
i've never been a fan trailer queens.anybody can put a "perfect car" into a trailer and win trophies all day long.
but a daily driver is a testimony to the owner and shows the work and pride put into the vehicle.

and boy do i hate it when a trailer queen shows against a daily driver. that's just not cool.

[SilverVw3]

Snappy is a daily driver and I've won a ton of 1st place car show trophies.

I always keep on top of making sure he is clean so I don't have to worry about a huge clean up for show season.

[GINA]

You all have gotten me excited for spring/summer now

[Captain Otto]

I love and miss my daily driver show car. I can't wait til I get
the Captain back.

[GINA]

Oh, I got a question. When do you have a chance to clean the car before the show? I'm sure there are people that drive and show the same day, right? Is there time to clean up while you're there? I'm new to all this and want to do it right

[FineExampl]

Gina here's what i'm doing. I'll spend a day or 3 before the show/shows soaping and scrubbing and detailing and waxing. day of show i will use the detail spray and some microfiber rubbin and little bit of buffing. I'm even considering going to the fancy detailing joint for this and the Show&Go. Use their muscle and attention to detail and than follow up with my careful maintenance after their work.

Weather's warming up soon. Time to stock up on some painting supplies.

[Herbie3Rivers]

Here's a recent pic of Elwood at the last show I took him too. Oktoberfest 2005. He didn't place this year as the NB class was larger, but took 3rd Under Pittbug and Pdoel's NBs in 2004 at the same show. I spent a week preping Elwood for the show(since I was off work). In that pic was 4 coats of wax to the paint and wheels. Elwood has tons of little paint chips on his front bumper and hood due to damage from a salt truck a while ago, so I'm going to repaint both of those when I install a caracture body kit. So right now he wears his chips with pride. I don't get too crazy into chassis detailing other than what you can see through the wheel spokes. My calipers are painted silver(odd choice, but goes well with the car), and I keep my new exhaust polished. I'll probably do some detailing when the suspension is apart when I ger my new brakes installed. And I also included a pic of some of the awards Elwood's won.

[hyakugojyuuichi]

I usually spend about two days detailing, that way I'll have less to clean once I get there. I also try to get there early so I'll have several hours to finish detailing and get my display ready. Doe anyone have any suggestions for getting the undercarriage clean? That waxy coating under there attracts dirt like a magnet and once it's there it's nearly impossible to get off. It's so frustrating.

[marvins_dad]

I use Simple green or another degreaser and alot of elbow grease one time a season and just make sure to wash real well when I wash the car throughout the show season.

[pixelnexus]

My Kryptie has also been in shows and is a daily driver. He's returned mostly to stock now but he still looks good. Life happened so I don't have much time or money for doing shows.

You'll just have to take extra care in keeping your car looking its best!

[WNAB911]

I picked up my car from he dealership on a Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm. Sunday morning I washed her up and took her for a drive with the kids. As we are driving along we see signs for a VW car show, so we pull in. We got out and walked around to check out the other cars for an hour or so, and came back to find the judges going over my "new" used car! We were all surprised that when the announced the trophies that we won 3rd place for best unmodified water cooled VW!!!!

I didn't even own her for 24 hours! Show your car as often as you can! I plan on going to many shows this summer with mine!