What is the best Oldmobile show and swap meet?
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I've attended the swap meet in Albany Oregon and been pretty impressed, not as large as Portland but held in the Fall. Not much Oldsmobile stuff though. I've got a lot of spare parts down in Medford Oregon and Larry in Bend Oregon also has a good collection. There used to be a pretty active Oldsmobile group in the Seattle area, but I've not touched base with anyone from there in a while. Anything specific your looking for? John
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They are very light on the 68-69 Cutlass/442 parts and cars.
Last edited by Bernhard; Jun 18, 2018 at 01:51 PM.
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It was a lot of fun as we got to talk to Oldsmobile fans from all over the US and Canada.
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This question is unanswerable as it is like asking which of your children is your favorite. If your goal is to find parts for your car, the best place to look and keep tabs on is ebay. Far more stuff is advertised and sold there than could ever be brought to any one swap meet.
If I were going to choose one meet to go to, it would be one the of the Carlisle events (Fall or Spring) or the Charlotte Auto Fair.
If I were going to choose one meet to go to, it would be one the of the Carlisle events (Fall or Spring) or the Charlotte Auto Fair.
Last edited by jaunty75; Jun 18, 2018 at 08:01 PM.
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you just missed
the monroe swap meet in Monroe WA
3 weeks ago
saturday was the all GM swap meet in graham WA
and an ALL GM car show sunday
the big Olds Buick show is usually tried with Meeker days in Kent washington
that was 2 weekends ago
and ........ the big gm muscle car show 300 cars usually at XXX drive in Isssaquah Wa in august ...
lots http://www.cruzinmag.com/calendar.html
3 weeks ago
saturday was the all GM swap meet in graham WA
and an ALL GM car show sunday
the big Olds Buick show is usually tried with Meeker days in Kent washington
that was 2 weekends ago
and ........ the big gm muscle car show 300 cars usually at XXX drive in Isssaquah Wa in august ...
lots http://www.cruzinmag.com/calendar.html
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,990
From: Vancouver BC
This question is unanswerable as it is like asking which of your children is your favorite. If your goal is to find parts for your car, the best place to look and keep tabs on is ebay. Far more stuff is advertised and sold there than could ever be brought to any one swap meet.
If I were going to choose one meet to go to, it would be on the of the Carlisle events (Fall or Spring) or the Charlotte Auto Fair.
If I were going to choose one meet to go to, it would be on the of the Carlisle events (Fall or Spring) or the Charlotte Auto Fair.
I'm looking strictly at all Oldsmobile shows.
Not so much for parts as I only need 3 or 4 more original parts and I will have everything I need.
Yes ebay is a great source.
Last edited by Bernhard; Jun 18, 2018 at 07:52 PM.
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As much as Olds is at any large show. You would tend to think that the national meet of the OCA would be the best place to find Olds parts, and that's true to an extent. But in the several OCA shows I've been to, I've never found the total number of vendors at the meet to be terribly large.
I was at the meet in Albuquerque last summer, and I think the number of vendors could be counted on the fingers of two hands. I realize that Albuquerque is a bit of an outlier and that there's probably more vendors at the average OCA meet held in the east, but, still, you're going to see maybe 20 vendors. Go to a Carlisle meet and you'll see thousands of vendors and a couple hundred cars for sale. Instead of walking the entire vendor line-up in 20 minutes, you'll spend two or three days covering the entire field. Of course, they're not all Oldsmobile, but there will be enough to make the trip worthwhile IF you keep an open mind and go to the show for the enjoyment and the hunt as much as you go to try to find a specific part.
I think it says something that THIS site's own Oldsmobile guru Joe Padavano sets up a vending space at Carlisle every spring and every fall. He also often talks about the unusual or interesting part he found for his own restorations while scouring the vendors there.
I'm just sayin' that your best friend is numbers. Yes, there will be more Chevy and Ford parts vendors per square inch than for any other make, but you'll see Olds and other vendors, too, and in greater numbers than at smaller meets. The people with just a few parts to sell and who might have just the part you're looking for are more likely to take the time and effort to set up at a large meet, where they'll see much more foot traffic, than to set up at a smaller one, even if it is specific to the make of parts they have to sell.
I was at the meet in Albuquerque last summer, and I think the number of vendors could be counted on the fingers of two hands. I realize that Albuquerque is a bit of an outlier and that there's probably more vendors at the average OCA meet held in the east, but, still, you're going to see maybe 20 vendors. Go to a Carlisle meet and you'll see thousands of vendors and a couple hundred cars for sale. Instead of walking the entire vendor line-up in 20 minutes, you'll spend two or three days covering the entire field. Of course, they're not all Oldsmobile, but there will be enough to make the trip worthwhile IF you keep an open mind and go to the show for the enjoyment and the hunt as much as you go to try to find a specific part.
I think it says something that THIS site's own Oldsmobile guru Joe Padavano sets up a vending space at Carlisle every spring and every fall. He also often talks about the unusual or interesting part he found for his own restorations while scouring the vendors there.
I'm just sayin' that your best friend is numbers. Yes, there will be more Chevy and Ford parts vendors per square inch than for any other make, but you'll see Olds and other vendors, too, and in greater numbers than at smaller meets. The people with just a few parts to sell and who might have just the part you're looking for are more likely to take the time and effort to set up at a large meet, where they'll see much more foot traffic, than to set up at a smaller one, even if it is specific to the make of parts they have to sell.
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,990
From: Vancouver BC
As much as Olds is at any large show. You would tend to think that the national meet of the OCA would be the best place to find Olds parts, and that's true to an extent. But in the several OCA shows I've been to, I've never found the total number of vendors at the meet to be terribly large.
I was at the meet in Albuquerque last summer, and I think the number of vendors could be counted on the fingers of two hands. I realize that Albuquerque is a bit of an outlier and that there's probably more vendors at the average OCA meet held in the east, but, still, you're going to see maybe 20 vendors. Go to a Carlisle meet and you'll see thousands of vendors and a couple hundred cars for sale. Instead of walking the entire vendor line-up in 20 minutes, you'll spend two or three days covering the entire field. Of course, they're not all Oldsmobile, but there will be enough to make the trip worthwhile IF you keep an open mind and go to the show for the enjoyment and the hunt as much as you go to try to find a specific part.
I think it says something that THIS site's own Oldsmobile guru Joe Padavano sets up a vending space at Carlisle every spring and every fall. He also often talks about the unusual or interesting part he found for his own restorations while scouring the vendors there.
I'm just sayin' that your best friend is numbers. Yes, there will be more Chevy and Ford parts vendors per square inch than for any other make, but you'll see Olds and other vendors, too, and in greater numbers than at smaller meets. The people with just a few parts to sell and who might have just the part you're looking for are more likely to take the time and effort to set up at a large meet, where they'll see much more foot traffic, than to set up at a smaller one, even if it is specific to the make of parts they have to sell.
I was at the meet in Albuquerque last summer, and I think the number of vendors could be counted on the fingers of two hands. I realize that Albuquerque is a bit of an outlier and that there's probably more vendors at the average OCA meet held in the east, but, still, you're going to see maybe 20 vendors. Go to a Carlisle meet and you'll see thousands of vendors and a couple hundred cars for sale. Instead of walking the entire vendor line-up in 20 minutes, you'll spend two or three days covering the entire field. Of course, they're not all Oldsmobile, but there will be enough to make the trip worthwhile IF you keep an open mind and go to the show for the enjoyment and the hunt as much as you go to try to find a specific part.
I think it says something that THIS site's own Oldsmobile guru Joe Padavano sets up a vending space at Carlisle every spring and every fall. He also often talks about the unusual or interesting part he found for his own restorations while scouring the vendors there.
I'm just sayin' that your best friend is numbers. Yes, there will be more Chevy and Ford parts vendors per square inch than for any other make, but you'll see Olds and other vendors, too, and in greater numbers than at smaller meets. The people with just a few parts to sell and who might have just the part you're looking for are more likely to take the time and effort to set up at a large meet, where they'll see much more foot traffic, than to set up at a smaller one, even if it is specific to the make of parts they have to sell.
With more makes I might be able to get a larger group to go.
Thanks for posting.
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From: southeastern Michigan
I've been to both, and I think they're about the same. You're more likely to run into foul weather for the spring event. Spring Carlisle can be famous for muddy swap meet fields, but I've been to nice-weather ones as well.
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