Great Fun at our First Charlotte Autofair – October, 2019


Hi Gang…

The challenge was on – two cars to show, two cars to tow and two trailers to go – 16 wheels on the ground in total – 30 tires to check and more before we left for the show.  Craig Johnson and I were off for our first Charlotte Autofair, and we were excited to go 🙂

We create quite a stir when we stop for food, supplies, gas and more. This photo was taken late in the day on our travels to the Charlotte Autofair.

Charlotte Bound

Craig and I left early – it was about 600 miles from Tampa to Charlotte.  We figured it would take 10 hours, but we’re slower with trailers and weather to boot.  It took us 14 hours, but we rolled in and called it a night.  The next morning, we met the Autofair staff and began unloading and placing the cars on exhibition.

Craig Johnson on left; Geoff Hacker on Right. The Shark was pre-washed by the light rain and we had to do was towel it down.

Our 1954 Frazer Custom gets ready for “Track Day” at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. I wonder how fast she would go?

Pausing for a moment as we move the Shark into the Exhibition Building for the 2019 Charlotte Autofair

We were pleased to make it safe and sound with cars and people and more – all that needed to be completed was setting the cars up for the show.  The Charlotte Autofair runs from a Thursday to Saturday so our setup day on Wednesday gave us plenty of time to get the cars and space ready.  First the Shark.  Let’s check out the display.

“Shark Street” – Great sign provided by Ed Fausel, Event Manager of the Charlotte Autofair. Thanks Ed!

We’ll get back to the the Shark Roadster and the Mach V Shortly

The Lighting in the Exhibition Hall Showcased Each of our Cars Beautifully

We brought along a small table to help with some of the handouts we had for our cars and for Undiscovered Classics.  We certainly kept busy for all three days of the show.

While we were very pleased with our display for the Shark, we were very excited for how they showcased our 1954 Frazer Custom.  This is a recent acquisition for us here at Undiscovered Classics and we were happy to share it with the folks attending the Charlotte Autofair.  And what was best was they put the Frazer Custom in the center of the Exhibition Hall for all to see.  What a great honor for us at Undiscovered Classics and an even greater honor celebrating the history of this special and unique Sport Custom car with the public.  Click here to learn more about our 1954 Frazer Sport Custom

Let The Show Begin

Craig Johnson and I were up and ready for the first day of the Autofair – Thursday October 19, 2019.  And we were lucky.  We had help.  Good friend Marvin McFalls, President of the Renault Owners Club of North America, joined us for the event.  Another good friend joined us too – Bob Murry – who has collected American specials for the past 50 years and volunteered to be put to the test.  We are very grateful for having both Marvin and Bob join us and help share these cars with the public for the duration of the event.  We know that the show and support couldn’t have gone as well as it did without their help.  Thanks guys!

Craig Johnson on left and Marvin McFalls on the Right. Both having a bit of Breakfast before the start of our first day.

The Frazer was a big hit – unique and unusual automobiles always draw a crowd especially when the history is known and can be shared.

Marvin McFalls and I snuck away for a moment to get a photo of ourselves with the famous “Bullitt” Mustang of Steve McQueen fame.

We very much enjoy having folks young and old test out our cars.  In the photos below you’ll see one of our “volunteers” Evan Jones enthusiastically consider driving and enjoying each of our cars.  Way to go Evan!

Go Speed Racer!

What’s a auto event without a few surprises and one of them was Speed Racer’s Mach V – and what a great car this turned out to be.  At the very end of the show we were able to roll the Shark and the Mach V out together and you can see the result of our photo shoot below.  The Mach V is so much larger than our Shark.  Wow!

On TV – What Great Fun 🙂

We’re always ready to go on tv with our cars and we were given a chance with the Charlotte Autofair – and what fun it was to share the cars.  The interviewer is well known in the Charlotte/Mid Atlantic area and his name was “Wilson.”  Check out the 2 minute interview below where we get to share both cars with the public on live TV.

Wilson interviewed us a few more times on that day and much to our surprise we showed up on the Charlotte Autofair “Jumbotron.”  That’s completely new to us.  Check out what we could see and record on the super-size drive-in Jumbotron screen below.

The Return Trip Home

The show ended on Saturday October 19, 2019 and was a great success.  We were honored to be asked to be a part of this event and look forward to any future invitations that might come our way from Ed Fausel and the folks at the Charlotte Autofair.  Sunday, Craig Johnson and I hooked up our trailers, loaded the cars and headed home – this time in just 13 hours.  I think Craig kept the pedal to the metal making it home before midnight on Sunday.  Another long drive and interesting photos.  Check ’em out below UC gang.

Summary:

Great thanks to Ed Fausel, Event Manager for the Charlotte Motor Speedway and Susan Russo, Communications and Publicity Manager, for asking us to be a part of this year’s 2019 Charlotte Autofair.  We couldn’t have been more honored and enjoyed meeting the public and sharing the cars and their stories with all.

For those of you wanting to learn a bit more about this event, click on the link below.

Click Here To View More Detail on Undiscovered Classics Appearance at the 2019 Charlotte Autofair

Hope you enjoyed the story, and remember…

The adventure continues here at Undiscovered Classics.

Geoff


Comments

Great Fun at our First Charlotte Autofair – October, 2019 — 9 Comments

    • Hiya Michael – give me a call sometime to catch up. Looks like you are doing great from what I see on Facebook. Best, Geoff

  1. What a Great Show for Undiscovered Classics.
    Thanks Geoff for all your time, money and hard work getting these cars back out into the public’s hands and eyes to enjoy.
    I hope to catch up and get together again soon.
    Regards, Dennis Gerdes

  2. Thanks for including me in the fun via your post Geoffrey. Love what you’re doing and have done to preserve such an important part of automotive history. But for gods sake get enclosed trailers if you plan more outings that distance for those cars.
    Cheers Alvin Shier Lethbridge, Alberta Canada , Columnist Old Autos Newspaper

    • Alvin….glad you enjoyed the story. We even brought back books and some parts for restorations we are currently working on. Enclosed trailers may be in the future. Most of our trailering is in Florida so not a big deal, but if we head to more shows with more finished cars – it will have to be in our future. I talked to Perry Zavitz a few weeks ago…over 90 years old now. Good guy. Any interest in writing an article about any of our cars? Best for now. Geoff

      • Geez I didn’t know Perry was that old. I have a number of his books, great writer. Hmmmm, would I be interested in writing an article on………… I will call. Wonderful. Alvin.

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