2023 Moparty ?

[HITTER23]

   ive been watching this show since it started and havent brought myself to drive 6-7 hrs yet because i go for the swap meets which ive heard is not that great at this show.  I talked to the swap meet organizer at Carlisle and he swore its now better than the Mopar Nationals swap meet.  Whats your thoughts on the swap meet?

[hrtbkr]

Last year it was much bigger, but still not quite the size of the Mopar Nationals. Definitely IMHO worth a look, though

[JH27N0B]

Last year it had grown quite a bit and was moved from a small area between the manufacturers midway and the pits, to an area that had previously been part of the show field. I haven't been to the nats in 4 or 5 years so don't know how big the swap has been recently, I know it has decreased some.  Still bigger I'm sure, but the one at Moparty is certainly getting larger. I hope it doesn't get too big or there won't be enough room for the showcars! 

[GoMangoBoys]

I went to the Moparty last year and felt that the swap meet was pretty small.  I did the whole thing in an hour, or 90 minutes if I recall.  I only did Mopar Nats once, 2 years ago.  I felt the swap meet there was a bit bigger than the Moparty, but nowhere near what it is at Carlisle.

[Barracuda1]

I agree with GoMangoBoys.  I have been going to the Mopar Nationals since the early 80's.  I also have been going to the Moparty since it was held in Chattanooga. The Moparty is getting bigger every year, but nowhere near the size of Columbus.

I hope to see GoMango Boys and other members at the Moparty this year.

Mike

[69BFan]

The Bowling Green Moparty is fairly unique in the manner in which it operates.  After it came under the ownership of Holley in 2019, it was promoted and ran by the FM3 Marketing Group which oversees all of the  LS Fest events for Holley.  The LS events will rival the Carlisle events for attendance, and they are operated under the premise of being a fun event without the normal routine of a rigid car show event.  That is what makes the Moparty so unique in that it offers a different agenda that most of us in the Mopar world associate with the Columbus Nats or Carlsile.

We have been doing The Nats since 1987 and Carlisle since 1993 for the swap meets.  Over that time, we have grown significantly and we have seen all of the changes for these two events.  I was actually doing the Chattanooga Honest Charley events going back to 1981, so our history with the swap meet event is quite lengthy.

Since we are deeply involved in the manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing a wide assortment of Mopar reproduction parts, we love to see the events do well and grow.  Unfortunately, we have seen a number of the larger vendors drop off from attending the events starting in 2019.  Factor in Covid in 2020 and now the high cost of travel, lodging, food and etc, we are seeing more of the vendors deciding to stay at home and not come out for the events. 

The FM3 group had no knowledge of what all was involved in doing a swap meet as the LS Fest events do not have a swap meet other than the Manufactures Midway.  So when FM3 came aboard, Ted Stephens and myself spent hours talking with the FM3 staff on what was necessary to do a swap meet.  Their ideal was that everyone came to the event and picked up catalogs and talked with reps from the manufactures midway.  Selling used parts was completely off of the grid for them.

So 2019 was the first shot at a "true" swap meet for them.  Then in 2020, they had the event, but was limited to an extent by the state on attendance due to the Covid restrictions which were still intact to a certain level.  For 2021, the event saw some light rain throughout that Saturday and with heavier rain expected on that Sunday, the event was called.  For 2022, the event saw good weather and the first time,  Geoff McBryde was overseeing the swap meet.  Geoff grew up in setting up and running swap meets.  Also 2022 saw the swap meet being moved to the hillside overlooking the drag strip and adjacent to the spectator parking area.

With that history behind the event, I truly believe that the Moparty can become a viable venue for those of us in the Mopar world.  It will not replace Carlisle for sheer size, especially in regards to the swap meet.  But I can see it quickly becoming as large as Columbus for the swap meet.  It is already larger in the manufacturers midway as compared to Columbus.  If you look at Carlisle and Columbus, those two events have 30 plus years of building a brand as compared to the time that Bowling Green has less than 5 years in the make.

The Bowling Green event draws a slightly different group than what you see at Carlisle or Columbus, whether it be race cars, show cars or swap meet participants.  Geographically, you will see more of those out of the Midwest as opposed to the Northeast for Bowling Green.  The swap meet is more like the Indy Cylinder Head event in which vendors show up.  You also see a number of smaller vendors out of the deeper South that would not go to Carlisle or Columbus.  There was actually a vendor this past year who came in from Colorado.

With all of that said, we strongly support the Bowling Green event and all shows in general.  It is very expensive for all of us who attend these events, whether your driving 10 miles, 100 miles or 1000 miles to the event as a racer, swapper, car show participant or spectator.  I have to say that in my opinion, other than Carlisle and Bowling Green, all of the shows in the past three to five years have shrunk in attendance and involvement.  It is just a natural process of an aging market and less dollars for the entertainment market.

In general, I hope that anyone who is on the fence about attending the Bowling Green Moparty will give it a shot.  The swap meet is not a Carlisle, but it does offer a variety of other forms of Mopar related activities including drag racing, an autocross, an organized cross country-side cruise, show and shine, dyno facilities, obstacle course and the swap meet.

God willing, we will be there in September.  Stop by and say hello!!

https://moparty.com/

[GoMangoBoys]

We are working very hard right now to have the Challenger Debut at the Moparty in September.

[69BFan]

For those who might be considering attending the upcoming Moparty event, here is a short listing of some of the vendors that have registered for the event.  Currently, the preregistration has exceeded the number of vendors and spaces that were sold last year.  This is for the swap meet area, the midway vendors is an entirely different group and I am sure that the count is up as well as compared to the previous years.

If I have omitted anyone, just let me know as there has been over 60 registered accounts and this information was supplied to me by Geoff McBryde who is in charge of the swap meet.  I will update the list as information is provided to me.

Alan Fox
AMS Obsolete / Herbs
Bill Evans Wiring
Dale's Cuda Shop
Dan Brewer
Dean Golintz
Gary Goer Interiors
Jimmy Moore
Joe Suchy
Joe White
Justin Titus
Kramer Automotive
Restoration Parts and Materials
Steve Ivester
Ted Stephens / AMD
Tony's Parts
William Sparrow

So this is approximately one fourth of the vendors who have preregistered an I apologize for those who I may have omitted.  As always, you will have vendors showing up on Friday and Saturday that have not preregistered, so it is not hard to imagine that the event could approach 100 vendors for the swap meet.  This would be be almost doubling the number of vendors of 2022.

No matter the show, support the vendors that support the shows.  Otherwise, when the vendors quit attending, then the customer will no longer be able to personally examine the parts and will be left with looking and ordering through the online sites.

With that said, if anyone should have any special request for parts delivery of our product line, please let me know so that those request can be addressed.  That holds true for all of the other vendors as well.  Save yourself some money on shipping and possibly get a better purchase price as well.

It looks the show is also growing in all areas.  The local Dodge / Jeep dealership is having an organized cruise in on that Thursday evening to my knowledge.  I know that the promotion staff is also putting together some Saturday afternoon activities for those attending that have not been announced.

See everyone in a couple of weeks!!!

https://moparty.com/

https://www.facebook.com/holleymoparty

[JH27N0B]

I assume the Thursday cruise will be at the same dealership it was at last year?
It was definitely good, 50 or more cars, several food trucks.  Hopefully it will grow even better this year!
Last year will always be a good memory for me.  It was the first year I hauled a car to an out of state show in a trailer.  All went well taking my 71 V code Challenger there, and hopefully all will go well this year, I'm planning to take my convertible!   
Here are show pictures from last year, some of the first ones in this album are the Thursday cruise.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/111914442@N04/albums/72177720302231112

[GoMangoBoys]

As the date if the 2023 Moparty draws nearer, the "to do" list on or 70 Challenger project is getting smaller.  Some really big and important items are checked off the list.  It is looking like we will most likely be there with the car for its debut.  I normally DRIVE my cars to car shows, no matter how far away they are.  I have driven my 57 Chevy to a show at Beech Bend in Bowling Green 5 times and to Cruisin the Coast (2000 miles round trip). However, we will be trailering the Challenger to BG this year.  We have worked on it for 4 years and thus far we have less than 20 miles on it.  We might be up to 100 miles by the time the show comes around.  I don't think it is wise to take off on a 7 hour drive with such an unproven car build.  My motto usually is "Trailers are for boats", but ours will be on a trailer this time.

[anlauto]

Have someone drive your truck/trailer empty with you as you drive the Challenger....no better way to break it in....

[Romero14]

A buddy and I will be there selling parts and also trying to find stuff we need for our cars.

[JH27N0B]

Weather is looking great for Moparty!  80-82° every day, very little chance of any rain.
I'm stressing out trying to get everything sorted out for the trip tomorrow.  I'm fairly new to trailering, and retrieving the trailer from storage an hour away, getting the car in it safely etc worry me.
Hopefully all works out and tomorrow night I'm relaxing at the cruise at the Martin Bowling Green CJDR dealer.
One negative is that the Dukes of Hazzard demo got canceled, rumor is it's because the Holley CEO decreed no confederate flags allowed.  That has pissed off some people who say they are going to boycott the show.  I wish these corporate type bozos would steer clear of the culture war BS, but hope that anyone up in arms about this will still support the show and the vendors there, and do the Bud Light thing on Holley's products instead if they are compelled to boycott something.
There are a number of us from the Chicagoland Mopar Connection car club going there and planning to park together.  I'm taking my convertible.  I know my friend Todd is taking his green pro street 71 Charger with its "I HATE GM" license plates, I believe our member Roger and his wife Diane are taking their FY1 AAR.  Other than those cars, I am not sure what will end up in our group.  But if you're there stop by and say hi!

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

I will be there... in a rental

[JH27N0B]

I will be there... in a rental

Ironically, due to some of the logistical issues I've had with my trailer and lining up assistance with some things with that, and lack of sleep the last couple nights, I was thinking if I hadn't sold my B5 Challenger last year, I'd probably be getting lazy and deciding to travel down there in it instead of putting in all this work to trailer a vintage car.
So yours wouldn't be there due to your engine issues, and mine would be there instead of my '70!