THE CLASSIC CAR SALE/ SHOW, Citywest

DJDonaL

THE CLASSIC CAR SALE/ SHOW, Citywest

(Donal is my name, and I am posting on behalf of the Organiser and Manager of The Classic Car Sale/ Show, Mr Dermot Flynn)

The Classic car sale / shows were started in Celbridge in Sept. 04 and were an instant success.
The idea behind the event is that all cars on show are for sale, which is why it is called a sale/ show.
I have run six successful events to date:
Three in Citywest, two in Armagh City and the first one in Celbridge.

My next event will take place in Donegal Town on Sunday 23rd of April ( entry forms now available ).

I do not encourage cars for display only, as the venues do not have enough space.
Classics may park in the public car park but may not display a for sale sign on private property, to do so is free-loading, as I have very large costs to run the event.

Myself and my staff at Citywest received much negative comment about the Classics in the public car park with for sale signs on them (ie “cheapskates, freeloaders, miserable so and so’s ).
These comments came mainly from genuine classic car people that paid to enter their car in the sale.

For people that do not like to pay in to classic car shows, Citywest is not the place to go, as it would be an expensive place just to display your car, but a cheap and effective way to sell it.

My staff and myself on the day all wore yellow jackets and at no stage were rude or threatening to anyone.
We did not work in the public car park.
Traffic control in the public car park was handled by a private security firm and I will investigate further the few complaints I have (trough Boards.ie).
If anyone was treated badly by security in the public car park I fully accept responsibility and do sincerely apologise.
I will compensate them by offering free spaces in my next Citywest sale if they contact me.

If I find the security staff were heavy handed I will insist that they are not employed at future events. On the day nobody complained to the staff, which I find strange if there was a problem.

Each event takes 3 months to set up and the costs are very high (advertising campaign in all national News papers, Buy and Sell, Auto Trader, Radio, Staff, Security, Road signs etc..)

Thankfully, most genuine classic car people appreciate the event and its success is built on repeat business and regular customers.
Many people have had cars at all my Dublin shows, some travelled from Northern Ireland as a result of the successful sales there.

The Citywest show is supported by many Classic Car clubs.

Entry costs for cars vary. Some are free, to a max of €50 depending on the number of cars you enter.

Compare the above prices to any Classic car auction - I am at least 50% cheaper.
Bring your classic to Merlin car auctions car park, put a for sale sign on it and see how you get on.

To advertise a classic car in any news paper or magazine will cost more than €50 but how many people will come and see it.
I can guarantee that hundreds of people will see your car.

If it’s the right car at the right price it will sell at my show.

The owners of the following cars contacted mr since Sunday to tell me they sold their cars:
A blue MGA, Volvo 940, white BMW 635, white MR2, gold MGB, blue BMW 735, fiat estate, yellow Volvo, white merc 200, 1973 celica, Bentley T2, merc cosworth , grey mini, alfa 1300, merc 280s,
and I am sure there were many more sales.

I am only writing this letter as I received a number of calls from concerned people today about the negative comments on boards.ie
I am not registered with boards and cannot get involved in any on going discussion about the sale/ show in Citywest.

If you have any comments to make to me, you can email me at provent@eircom.net and I will respond.

Thank You for your continued support,
Dermot Flynn

alfarocks

I really do think these events would be best advertised as a sale and not a show.

"The idea behind the event is that all cars on show are for sale, which is why it is called a sale/ show" - If everything is on sale then its a sale.

"I do not encourage cars for display only, as the venues do not have enough space" - Its not a show if display only cars are discouraged from attending.

Just my 2c

mustang68

........I do not encourage cars for display only......people that paid to enter their car in the sale....expensive place just to display your car........in my next Citywest sale

Its not a show you've said it FOUR times in your own post, do not call it one

Traffic control in the public car park was handled by a private security firm

let me guess.......you're not responsible for their actions, didn't know what was going on etc.

Thankfully, most genuine classic car people appreciate the event and its...

we're genuine too

I am not registered with boards and cannot get involved in any on going discussion about the sale/ show in Citywest.

but you're quite pleased with advertising here on boards for the sale before the event, I could be wrong but isn't selling not allowed on this forum

camarobill

that cleared that up:D :eek: :cool: :mad: :rolleyes: :cool:

dublind

I was there with a car and i was under the impression that the sale was from 12 to 6...My question is why did the organisers leave before 6?I think they left by 430... Obviously they had made their money and ran once the people stopped coming!!!!!!!! That is disgraceful

corktina

not much support on here then....i'll pass on the future ones I think.....

commited

I wont go to them in future.There was plenty of space in the car park to have a classic section. the gravel where alot of people ended up parking would have been easy to cordon off.

mustang68

Cheaper to sell your car at a car show, plus its more fun too and you're helping a charity. buy and sell is where I got mine anyway

Boooo..... Down with this sort of thing, tell your friends & clubs

pat2800

I also went to this " classic " car show last Sunday with my father. We were absolutely disgusted with not only the lack of " classic " cars for sale/on show but also the 7euro entrance fee. I asked the attendant at the gate where were all the cars,he shrugged and muttered "don't know,7 euro please ". Only I has travelled 40 miles to be there I would never have gone in.
This show is clearly run by money grabb'in individuals who have no appreciation for classic cars nor enthusiasts.The first car I noticed was a '94 bmw,also a range of mercs late 80's early 90's were for sale.
These cars are NOT classic cars and should NOT be allowed into such shows. If so this should be advertised as a " car sale " event .Perhaps the organisers should comment on why these cars were allowed in.
This is exactly the kind of attitude that add's to the ' Rip off Ireland ' stigma.
All comments welcome.

mustang 69

As a business trick the use of the word SHOW does draw people to the event for the wrong reasons.:)

junkyard

I traveled up from Cork to see it, against my better judgment, and it was a complete waste of time. Over priced junk mostly. There's nothing worse the some one out to make a fast buck out of people's hobbies. Most of the classic car enthusiast I know are genuine people and it really annoys me to see these people's trust being abused.:mad:
I'm glad I got in the Durrow show on the way back, it wasn't a complete waste of time.

franksm

Like I wrote in the other thread, I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition upon arriving there, yet that's what I got. If I hadn't been driving a classic car, I probably would not have attracted the bad attitude - which is kind of ridiculous, because those of us in classics should have been treated a little bit differently than joe-public. If I want bad attitude all I have to do is to drive around in my MX5, and then I get no end of BS from oiks.

I was lucky after driving around the carparks to find the path over to the fence beside the sale area - where the Mini crew were parked up, and I got a nice parking space there. I was surprised that there was no area set aside for "show".

I don't mind seeing some '80s cars there - like the Merc CE coupes 'cos I'll probably buy one at some stage to replace the Omega. But you have to wonder at some of the late cars there. It was a pity to have to trudge around the carpark to find the classics hidden - like the Aston Martin and the Scimitar in my photos.

I think any classic show is a good thing, so I'd suggest a change of tack: have the for-sale section with the entries paid for; have a section alongside it for-show, with no charge to anyone bringing their car along. Charge no more than €5 for public entry, as anything more than that tends to hit people psychologically.

mike65

Reading the two recent threads it seems that something which is essentially simple is being made very messy by the desire to make money from what should be a benign passtime. If its a show then thats all it should be.

Oh yes, a Volvo 940 was featured?! Surely some mistake?

Mike.

commited

Oh and your security was a joke. My friend accidently left his door unlocked and luckily another member of our club was near by when some scummer opened the door of the car and the alarm went off. He ran off.

I, or no people from my club will be going back - I only went to citywest over durrow through laziness. And for that I suffered.


Oh and since when is a 98 galant considered classic?

dubtom

I voiced my opinion on the other tread about this money making scam, tbh I would have gladly paid the 7 quid into the 'show' area, I resented parking my car in the middle of the car park for anyone to damage it, Ok, there was plenty of modern cars there worth 3 or 4 times what mine is worth, but like it or not, mine attracts a lot of attention. I moved it after about 15 minutes because I saw a crowd gathering in the area it was in, I really dont have a problem with people looking at the car, infact they can get in the car and twiddle the sterring wheel if they want, as long as it's in a controled area where scumbags cant do damage to it.Mr Flynn should take the advice of classic owners for his future shows and include a viewing area for classics, every one benifits from that, he gets good attendance, people get value for money because they get to see Classic cars, which is what they come for don't forget (how many buy cars 5% or less?) and classic owners have a secure area in which their cars wont be molested.

green-blood

what a plank

"just give me the money"

Dades

It appears hell hath no fury like a classic enthusiast scorned.

kyote00

I'd like to know what % of cars sold on the day ?