2007 Spring AutoFair Recap....

[Ooooner]

This years Spring AutoFair started on Friday night with a BBQ dinner at my home attended by Tom Adkins, Connie and John Dickerson, Tom Cavataio, Harold Collins, Keith Lundholm, Floyd and Laurie Schwartz, Roy Bell and his better half Yvonne, Terry Burford, Dennis Blalock (Otis), Wally Boswell and his wife, and others. BBQ Pork, Baby Back Ribs, baked beans, potato salad, food, food and more food. (Plus drink, Hee Hee Hee)
The 2007 Spring AutoFair in Charlotte, NC went great again! We had 8 Opels and many Opel people without Opels show up. John and Connie were our honorary judges this year and did a good job with the judging (no one got mad )
The winners are: Tom Adkins for "Best In Show". Laurie and Floyd Schwartz for "1st place". Tom Cavataio took "2nd Place". Helmut Guehr received the "Honorable Mention" plaque. Jarrel Young (Soybean) took home the "Most Unique" trophy and Ed Dingo grabbed the "Peoples Choice Award". Tony Woodbury from Hickory, NC brought his GT with a Toyota Engine in it and I had my 73 GT there as well.
Harold Collins, Keith Lundholm from Tennessee where there as usual. I'm not too sure it would be the same unless those two showed up. They bring parts and really help others out with questions and information the have. It's always a pleasure when they come to the AutoFair's.
Friday's weather was simply great. Saturday's weather was a hair on the cool side and the rain held off until everybody had left Saturday evening. Great timing.
The 2007 Fall AutoFair will be September 13th through the 16th. The date for next years Spring AutoFair is April 3 through the 6th, 2008. The 2008 Opel Nationals dates are going to September 12th through the 14th, 2008. So mark your calenders and plan to come! Much more on this show at a later time.
Thanks to everyone who made this show another success. It's always a pleasure seeing Opel friends, some of the nicest people there are! So, now it's on to Carlisle in a few weeks!

[soybean]

Roy, I've got to say that once again it was a great meet. We had a blast, although my feet are tired from all the walking. It was great to see old friends and meet new ones. I wish there had been more time to sit and talk. The time passes quickly in just one day. I really have to get that 5 speed installed, it would definately help on the gas milage and my overheating problem. At 85mph I'm taching 4100 Rpms. thus it has a tendancy to overheat. Running with the pack on I-85 going home, 85 mph passing a Porshe boxter, the surprised looks from the people. Priceless
Once again, we had a great time. Jarrell and Jordan

[73Manta72gt]

Hey Roy, the body work you did on the GT looks really good...so ole buddy buddy wanna do mine?....:-)

[newman27]

Originally Posted by soybean Running with the pack on I-85 going home, 85 mph passing a Porshe boxter, the surprised looks from the people. Priceless

That mental picture brings a tear to my eye - wish I could have seen it... Anyone shoot any video at the show by chance?

[BQS4]

Roy;
I know I have said this before, but, I'm 99.44/100% sure I can make the FAll meet. I now have a car to rely on to go to meets now. I just haven't gotten the auto-to-5-spd conversion done yet. The hard part is done though, the mounting of the firewall piece, and the pedal assembly. It will be done in time for Carlisle. It should be done in time for the Orphan Car Show here in Snellville.

[Ooooner]

Gene,
I plan to come to the Orphan Car show in May if it isn't raining. I was a little disappointed when I read that Dieter was not going to cook. I think he chickened out because he heard that my BBQ was much better! I think his cover was that he was going to Germany. Likely story.... Pass this along to him.....
Hope to see you in the Fall! It would be great to finally get you up here. It's just up the road from Atlanta.

[opeljohn]

Been planning to post for a couple of days but we have been trying to catch up after our vacation. Wanted to let Roy and the rest of the folks out there know they put on a damm fine meet in Charlotte. The BBQ on Friday was excellent, and the car show Saturday was just to much to take in on one day. Being a Judge kinda got sprung on us out of the blue but as they say we didn't have a dog in the fight so it made sense. I want to let everyone know Roy took his GT out of the hunt for the awards or he surly would have took home some hardware. We look forward to bringing our GT out for the 08 Nationals but seeing as how it's about 15 hours one way from our house it might get dragged out there. It was really good to meet some of the Opelers we hadn't seen at other shows. Hope to see those folks at other events. Once again thanks Roy.
John & Connie

[Ooooner]

John and Connie,
It was really great to see you two at the AutoFair! It was also great that you came by for some BBQ on Friday night. I know others that attended were finally glad to meet you and put a face with a screen name!
Sorry about springing the judging on you two but as a club, we felt you and Connie would do a great job. Hey, you were the official "Honorary" Judges!!! I probably need to get you a plaque made up for that honor!
Hopefully, we will see you at Carlisle. If not, definitely at Springfield for the 2007 Opel Nationals!

[Mach1Tom]

I'm a bit late at posting. I also had a great time at the event. The Friday night BBQ at Roy's was worth the drive alone. I really want to thank Roy & his wife Yvonne for their hospitality. Not just for the show, but for letting some of us stay at their place, coffee & breakfast in the mornings, a great dinner again on Saturday night & even a couple BBQ sandwiches to go Sunday morning for my drive back to Raleigh NC where I was staying.

A one day Opel event at a huge show like this just doesn't give enough time to see it all or even talk to the other Opelers. The trophies given by the AutoFair are really nice. Roy voluntarily leaves his car out of the judging. If you haven't seen his car, as John D. stated it's definitely a "Show Winning" Opel. Anyone that's thought of coming to the event should make sure they attend next falls Opel National Meet here.

My Gt ran great both down to the event & back to PA, with the speedo reading triple digits at least a half dozen times. This was a great way to start off the Opel season with a long road trip. I hope to make it back down for the fall show later this year.

Thanks again,
~ Tom

[Ooooner]

Tom,
It was good seeing you and glad you got home safe! You are an honorary member of the Carolina Opel Club now, even though you are a Yankee!
We hope you can make it back in the Fall. I will definitely see you at Carlisle! Again, thanks for coming. It made the Opel show even better!

[greenopelgt]

I too have just returned from the Spring AutoFair and the Carolina Opel Club have outdone themselves again and the weather Friday and Saturday helped. I made a detour from Charlotte back through the sleet, snow, rain and hail to Nashville for the Country Music Television Awards show. Just now getting to a computer since this one had failed my wife while I was gone.
I want to "second" everything Tom C said about the hospitality provided by Roy "Oooner", his family and friends. It was "first" class.. It was awesome!!!!! I liked hearing about the stories of Roy and his tolerance to blood and pain. And a truck upside down!!!! The real competition was who could talk the most -- LOL
Let me just say this, plan now to attend the 2008 Opel Nationals in Charlotte because not only will the venue (Lowes MotorSpeedway) blow you away but so will the hugh AutoFair and all the attractions in that neck of the woods.

Thanks again to everyone. It was a pleasure seeing you all.

Tom

[Ooooner]

Tom,
Thank you for the kind words. As always, you and other Opelers are always welcome around here!