Last Tuesday night was the second “Show and Shine” presented by Grimm. There were plenty of buggies on display, and quite a few avatars. Carcus, Onus, Mackie and Sonblock all made appearances. Everyone had a lot of fun checking out the buggies and Sonblock was happy to answer questions from anyone who asked. His dedication is amazing. 

Of the numerous buggies shown, only a few were actually part of the contest. There were some collectable Onus buggies shown, as well as a couple of ZMWs including the not yet release “Jazz”.  

The judging consisted of 5 categories: Best in Show, Original Concept, Casual Merchant, Legendary Merchant, and Best Theme. The winners were based on a complex formula known only to ummm me. It’s based on points awarded for various parts of the buggy as well as the overall design. Seats, dash, wheels and highlighting all count towards the point totals. As for the category of Legendary Merchant, the only ones in attendance weren’t competing, so there was no award in that classification. 

For Best in Show, the winner was DamageInc with his bright orange Tangerine Dream.

 Original Concept goes to Rose E Vette with her 9^th St. Customs: Morado GT. I’ve never seen a hood treatment like this before, and the overall buggy was well done as well.

 Casual Merchant probably shouldn’t have been awarded since there were none showing buggies, but I stretched the rules and went to Avid to find a winner. In this category, the winner was Lynnellen with her Blue Phantom. 

 

For Best Theme, the only buggy really in contention was a buggy that was introduced in May of 2003, the Benny the Buggy by Spyderbytez. This award is as much a tribute to a great old name in buggy design as anything. We miss ya, Spyder, and sure wish you’d drop in for a visit sometime soon. 

One thing that struck me was the small number of buggy designers who showed enough interest to show their buggies. I hear complaints constantly about how it’s only the “name designers” that are successful. I know it’s expensive to list on the front page of the auctions, which is an issue for a new designer, but these events are FREE!!! and the exposure is incredible. Where else are you going to find a crowd interested solely in buggies? Where else can you mingle with other designers and exchange thoughts and ideas? No where.

The best way to assure your invitation to future events would be to join the “Show and Shine Group” at: http://webapps.prod.there.com/clubs/clubs?id=384586018&op=home 

I sure hope to see a lot of you at the next one. :)