If you have a custom hot Rod, or a classic car which is in pristine condition, you had better watch out at car shows. Far too many people who don’t have nice things are willing to take risks with your car’s finish. It is not less than a nightmare to get out of custom paint jobs on classic cars merely because someone with a belt buckle wanted so much to look at the engine compartment or inside the car that they leaned over and scratched it.
Yes and then there are the kids with their grubby handprints, often eating snow cones and cotton candy at car shows. And not to be outdone, mom is usually wearing lots of jewelry, much of it metallic, and that too will scratch. A perfectly flawless paint job is hard to come by, especially if the car is a daily driver, or is driven around once in a while on the weekends. After all, it only takes one door ding or one shopping cart to put a small crease in the side, on that once perfect paint job.
The first thing we at Leland West Insurance recommend you do when you take your car to a classic car show is to put a sign on an easel with all the information and digital pictures. Pictures of things that they cannot see readily easily, so they don’t try to lean over the car to look in. Also a notation in bold letters explaining that it is okay to look, but please do not touch and watch your jewelry and belt buckles too. Next, keep an eye on people, because even if dad is careful, that doesn’t mean the rest of the family will be.
And you’d be surprised how many yahoos, who don’t own nice cars themselves, or have any personal possessions in pristine condition won’t think enough to protect your classic car – and the number of risks they are willing to take while looking at your equipment, often doing things that you would never do yourself to your own car. In some regards you think yourself; “of all the nerve, I can’t believe he [she or it] would do that. And lastly, be very careful when people have their animals with them at a car show.
