Show Report; MTA Meet at Sussex NJ Fairgounds

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

I attended the MTA meet this weekend (Saturday only) and figured I'd tell you guys about it. First the good. Met BlackOps and he's a real nice guy. Sold me an NOS long rear axle....thanks! Weather was perfect and there were lots of MVs on display. The display field had a very good spectator turnout and there were 5 or 6 M37s in attendance. Also met an MV parts seller named Jim from Massachusetts and his partner, who were super to talk to. They used their mule to haul a pair of 9.00x16 NDTs and an M37 seat that I bought from them back to my car for me. Unlike Aberdeen, the MTA meets doesn't have club members driving around on Mules or Gators willing to haul the heavy stuff back to your car for you, so them offering to use their mule to haul my parts was much appreciated.

Now the bad. M37 parts were few and far between. Other than the parts they share in common with other M-series vehicles, pickings was slim to say the least. All I saw was a battery box, two distributors, three rear axles, some seals and gaskets, and a grille and headlight guards. Later I saw a guy walking thru with a set of plug wires hanging out of his bag.......but that's about it. Vendors were fewer than last year, and there were less folks buying MV parts. Not to rag on the hobby, but I think interest in MVs really is diminishing.

On the show field I got some good pics of M37s and details I'll need later in my restoration. Now the fun part. I love listening to people talk about M37s, as I usually learn something. Well, there was one M37 owner there who I just had to listen to. Two guys were asking him questions about his M37, which was a great 20 footer. Listening to this guy you'd think he was the world expert on M37s, except most of what he was saying was just plain wrong. I've only been in this hobby about 4 years now, so I'm no M37 guru for sure..........but I know a lot more than this guy obviously. I didn't say anything because I don't know what to do in that type of situation. The two guys he was talking to were sucking up his wrong info and I wanted to step in and correct him about a million times, but didn't. Those guys left with a bunch of bad info in their heads........I guess they'll figure that out as they progress with restoring their trucks. I guess guys like that are as much a part of the hobby as we are, so not much to do about it.

So overall it was a fun Saturday. I met and talked to some good folks, got a few parts, didn't get any speeding tickets on Route 15 (always a good thing), and got entertained by an M37 "expert"........all for a modest entrance fee of only five bucks. Oh, I almost forgot......the bathroom was air conditioned and kept well maintained all day. As you get older that's an important "plus"!

Next show.......Aberdeen in a few weeks. I hope to see some of you guys there.

Take care,
bob

[Carter]

Thanks for the thorough report Bob. I also think interest in the MV hobby is diminishing but as prices go up and available hobby money dries up the casual interest folks who wanted an army truck just like the one Joe Blow has will drop out leaving the dedicated collector, owner, driver, restorer. Smaller numbers to be sure but die hard fans.
Like you I have run into so called M37 experts who will gladly share their ignorance with anyone who would listen. They love the sound of their voice to be sure. They will be found out in the long run by restorers/repairers who try the experts way of doing things and discover what a load of crap he hands out. I have listened to those guys tell "I have this, this is how that works, if you don't do it my way it's wrong. Those "experts" have more $hit with them than a Christmas Turkey. I listen, laugh and move on.

[w30bob]

Hi Carter,

You're right.....it's best to walk away and laugh to yourself. What was weird (for me) this time is that it was an M37 owner spewing the crap.........up 'till now I've only heard this stuff from the spectator M37 "experts". I thought us M37 owners were more humble than that! My bad.

regards,
bob

[Cal_Gary]

Excellent feedback Bob! I'd only suggest possibly catching up to the misinformed to tell them about our forum so they'd get the correct info after all.

I, too, have noticed a fall off in HMV interest-even when I'm driving mine around, it doesn't pull as much interest as it did on those random short trips a few years ago.
Saddens me....
Gary

[w30bob]

Gary.........that's a good point, I should have caught up to those guys and told them about the site.....but it looked like that error filled conversation was going to continue for awhile. But I did spread the word to a few folks I had conversations with. What I really should do is print up a few cards on my printer, business card size, with this site's info on it. Many of the folks walking around at meets don't have a pen or paper to write the site info down, so if I could just hand them a card they'd put it in their pocket and have it when they got home. I'll make sure to do that at the Aberdeen meet........thanks for the idea. Between Carter's hats and my cards maybe we can drum up some more forum members!!

thanks,
bob

[Sal]

Bob. Are you going to post any Pictures? I missed it this year...

[w30bob]

Hi Sal,

I only have these 2 pics of the M37s, all the other pics I took were up close details of things I need to know for my restoration. The first pic should be titled "M37s come in more colors than Jelly Beans!".

regards,
bob

[T. Highway]

Nice group photo Bob. Thanks for sharing.

Bert

[Sal]

Great pictures Bob ,Thanks for posting them. I'm sorry I missed it this year.

[carolinamv]

Great pics and write up.

I was wondering if I should buy the jerry can cover for my M37 like in the pic.