Originally Posted by
DMCVegas
First off, apologies for the lack of an answer on Facebook, etc. We've been a bit busy behind the scenes individually. I won't speak for the other board members, but for myself, we just moved out of Houston and back to Las Vegas. Between packing, driving, unpacking, job interviews, and all the other good stuff that comes with relocating (aside from checking in with our friends and family who got caught in the hurricane we apparently escaped), I missed the Facebook post. My bad there.
Anyhow, I can fill you in on the events, and what the DOA's Vegas Expo is all about.
First and foremost, we're getting away from Back to the Future. It's not that we're anti-BTTF in any way, not that we're "purists" trying to shun time machine conversions (personally, I love it when people customize their cars), but damned if the movie hasn't been beaten to death. 2015 has come and gone. It's time to move on...
What we're looking to do is to focus on the marque itself. To not only celebrate the history of the car, company, and man, but to focus on the total ownership experience. That includes the camaraderie of ownership, repairing vehicles, and even the unexplored history that many are not aware of. This is going to be an intimate show where we can come together and share our experiences. There will be no judging of cars. No looking down upon one another, but rather sharing stories and experiences. Hell, even exploring cars to talk about the production variations like wheels, etc. Get to know your car.
The driving tours and experiences are also meant to celebrate our cars, as much as they are our host city. That's why we have things like the Red Rock tour, & Bonnie Springs. Solid driving events with fantastic photo opportunities, and a taste of some of Nevada's history. Likewise with the Neon Museum to see Las Vegas' history with great photo ops under the stars. There is also the Shelby Museum. Sure in some ways it's a quick break, but did you know that after Chrysler took over AMC, they brought in Carrol Shelby to tune the Eagle Premier? The result being a Shelby PRV with twin turbos, which they have been digging in their archives to present the information for us to see another "what if" for the evolution of our engines.
Then we have our keynote speakers. The first being Michael Scheffe. Scheffe himself is a car guy, and he's going to speak about the mechanical aspects of the DeLoreans used in the films from a mechanical perspective. It's not going to be about special effects, but real, actual mechanical aspects we can relate to.
The second speaker will be Tom Calabrese. Tom was the sales manager for the local DeLorean dealership. He was there for the entire run, and saw DMC from it's inception to it's demise, and has seen it all from the perspective of a Dealer that sold brand-new DMC-12s. He has some great insight into the experiences of dealing with DMC, customers, sales, repairs, etc. It's a perspective that hasn't ever really been explored all that much in the past. And let me tell you, the man has some awesome stories & anecdotes to share!
Does the Expo cost more? Yes, yes it does. We have facilities that we're renting, guests we're bringing in, events we're organizing, etc. It's just a different show than DeLorean Weekend is. That doesn't make any event better, just different structures & styles. This is also the DOA restarting the Expos as well to build the club back up. It's small step, sure. But we're looking to bring them back, and make them events that people will want to attend.