Once I was done snapping photos at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, Geoff Hacker enlisted my help in presenting his Bill Burke bellytank dry lakes racer (Geoff curated the Forgotten Fiberglass class at the show and was thus otherwise occupied), something I gladly did, along with Ted Kempgens, one of the builders of the bellytank.
It was an unusual experience for me. Most times when I attend a show, it’s with camera in hand, roaming the aisles of the show, snapping detail shots and talking with car owners. I’ve never once sat by one car for an extended period of time, presenting it to show attendees.
The best part about doing so was that Geoff allowed kids (and interested adults) to not only touch the car, but actually sit inside of it and have their pictures taken with it. The host for the class, who has volunteered at Amelia for five years now, said he’s never seen anybody allow kids to sit in their cars, and I don’t see why. Everybody who wiggled their way into the cockpit of the bellytank had a huge smile on their face, and it’s a good bet that when those kids went into school Monday morning and told their classmates about their weekend, the first thing they talked about was being able to sit in one of the cars.
To me, that’s a lot better than scrambling the kids away from the car, yelling “Don’t touch! Don’t touch!” That’ll turn kids off of old cars faster than anything else I can imagine.