Railguy

Unless I heard wrong. I heard the 2018 Oldsmobile nationals are going to be in Gettysburg Pa. Practical in my back yard.
Railguy

joe_padavano

Correct. Albuquerque next year, then Gettysburg. 2018 will also be the 50th anniversary of the H/O. I'd better start on getting my 69 put together now.

anthonyP

That's great, it will be close to me too. Last one this close was back in the 90's when the Rallye 350 Club hosted the show in East Hanover, NJ.

Charlie Jones

Does anyone know what the dates will be ?

lshlsh2

I might be able to make that one myself. Not to far away at all.

Charlie Jones

Found the answer in another thread . July 31 - Aug. 5 .

m455sx

Does anyone know what the host hotel will be and when they start booking rooms?

joe_padavano

The host hotel is the Wyndham Gettysburg. The overflow hotel is the Courtyard Marriott, which is literally feet away from it. OCA stipulates at booking cannot start before the rooms go on sale at the 2017 Nationals.

m455sx

Thank you Joe!!!

Tedd Thompson

Is there a hope or even a rumor that there will be a west coast show sometime in the future? I like to travel but coast to coast is a bit much.... Tedd

joe_padavano

You'll have to talk to OCA. The problem is that west coast nationals don't get the attendance of ones in the east. Part of the problem is the geographic makeup of OCA. Over half of OCA members live east of the Mississippi, and well over one quarter of OCA members are in the Atlantic Northeast zone.

jaunty75

The subject of OCA Nationals locations comes up every year about this time. I compiled a list of OCA Nationals locations going back to 1983. Below is a list of nationals since '83 held west of the Mississippi.

1986 - Santa Clara, California
1991 - St. Louis, Missouri (right on the Mississippi but just west of it)
1992 - Omaha, Nebraska
1999 - Dallas, Texas
2001 - Denver, Colorado
2004 - Des Moines, Iowa
2005 - Seattle, Washington
2006 - Dallas, Texas
2011 - Reno, Nevada
2012 - Des Moines, Iowa
2017 - Albuquerque, New Mexico


Add them up, and that's 11 years out of the total of 36 years from 1983 to 2018, which makes it once every 3.3 years.

That doesn't sound bad until you look a little closer. Really only the Santa Clara, Denver, Seattle, Reno, and Albuquerque shows were/are in the west. The others were not terribly far west of the Mississippi. Only one in that time actually was in California. The 2011 meet, while held in Reno, was actually hosted by the Northern California Chapter, which I'm guessing would be Tedd's local chapter.

Where OCA shows have been held, at least historically, has been a function of which chapters were willing to take on the task of running it. Chapters used to submit bids, and as I recall, in some years the OCA was happy to have any chapter bid.

That tended to skew the locations to the east as that's where the members are as Joe has noted. This seems to have gone away with the OCA now apparently using professional meeting organizers to plan and run the shows, and this should give them more opportunities to locate shows based on reasons other than whether or not the local chapter is willing to do it. The Albuquerque show appears to be hosted by the New Mexico chapter, but I'm wondering if they aren't getting behind-the-scenes help from the professional meeting people.

As Joe notes, attendance is generally lower at the western meets because of the distances involved and the lower density of OCA membership. This usually causes howls of protest after the meet is over and people complain about what a disgrace it was that the show was so poorly attended, relatively speaking. That's just a fact of life if the show is ever to be held in the west.

joe_padavano

That's not how it works anymore. OCA picks the location each year and TELLS the chapter to host it. In part, this is due to the fact that OCA now uses an event company to do most of the work, however it is still work for the host chapter. For 2018, OCA designated Blue/Gray as the host, and there has been a significant push to engage other chapters in the area to assist. Capitol City Rockets is supporting and several of the other area chapters are also providing people.

jaunty75

So the chapters are basically ordered to volunteer? Interesting.

midnightleadfoot

Most shows are all volunteers.. even goodguys/etc..
Or you could pay 25 bucks at the gate or more if you want paid personel

Run to Rund

No, the local/nearby chapters are not ordered to help, their assistance is requested and negotiated with OCA headquarters. There is still some work that is best done on the local level. The event planning company helps an OCA committee find a suitable location within the general geographic area the committee decides/hopes to choose.

jharsh

Here is the Info for hotel reservations for the 2018 show:


The Wyndham Gettysburg was filling up fast this morning.


Phone: 717-339-0020 (Press 3)
Ask for OCA Group Block
rooms at $129.00


The Courtyard is the other Hotel but you can not register until 28 August. Not sure why.
Phone: 717-334-5600
Ask for OCA Group Block

rand5204

Just called the Wyndham. They stated they are sold out and the Courtyard will not take reservations before July 28. Both hotels are blocked at the moment.

midnightleadfoot

Courtyard watched the other book up fast and will adjust their room rate for those dates, then allow booking..


Is the Wyndham sold out or just sold out of what was put aside for this.. "group block.."

rand5204

Sold out of the "group block" is my understanding. I just tried to book on the Wyndham website and they won't tale any bookings after July 19, 2018. My guess is they won't book anything more than a year out.

rand5204

just tried a bunch of different booking sites. Right now it looks like only the Country Inn & Suites is taking bookings that far out - at $173 per night.

CRUZN 66

The entire 248 rooms were set aside for the OCA block according to a representative I spoke to this morning... The rooms were sold out within 24 hours of being released... Anyone care to speculate why??? I doubt all 248 rooms were sold on the first day of the event, I could be mistaken, but that's JMO...

midnightleadfoot

Oh, I'll bet they are booked, not sold..
If it was a no refund deal. only those knowing they will be going, not maybe, we'll see, but know would be booking..

CRUZN 66

Correct, "Booked", the representative used the term "Sold Out", I just repeated it... Also correct, if a deposit was required, refundable or otherwise, things would be different... There were a couple National events where there was an imposed deposit requirement, but I heard there were too many complaints and it was eventually dropped...

35tac

Well, I will just have to find someplace else when the time comes.
Wayne

CRUZN 66

Actually, if you check for reservations from time to time through out the year, you may find availability as people start to cancel because of other obligations...

midnightleadfoot

How far is the closest camp ground..

rocketraider

There's piles of motels in G-burg. Chambersburg and Carlisle are other options. Bout 30 min away and you'll prob get a decent room rate unless Carlisle Events is doing something that same weekend.

Gettysburg is a great place, but the lodging and food industry there is well aware they're a "destination". I've noticed they'll raise rates sometimes now during a Carlisle event, which they never used to do...

Oldsfan

They allow a maximum of 4 room to be booked by one individual. Folks are booking rooms for themselves and their friends, just in case they can attend, because the know reservations can be cancelled. That's how they all get taken up. It used to be that hotel info wasn't available until later, and folks had a better handle on whether they would really be attending.

I'm sure rooms will open up closer to the time. Was there an offer to be put on a waiting list?

rand5204

No offer of a waiting list made to me. I was told to "call back later"

CRUZN 66

I am sure some rooms will become available as time passes... But No, there was no offer of an available waiting list... Although that may change also as time passes and the hotel starts seeing too many cancellations...

gkhashem

I am in the Cadillac LaSalle club and have never had an issue at the back up hotel. This seems to be a big turn off. No rooms even at the back up hotel?

How many rooms were available for this block? 10? A real issue, I have never attended the OCA national before, so how come this has happened?

Are people hoarding multiple rooms?

OldsAl

We already booked at the host hotel while at the Albuquerque Nationals but a friend called at 3:01 am Vancouver BC time which was midnight back east. He was unsuccessful getting a room at the overflow hotel.

He tried calling 2-3 more times and was told there were no more rooms available for the July 30-Aug 4th dates. I called 5 minutes ago and booked his room successfully. Really hit and miss. Perhaps someone cancelled. Not sure but try again and yes make sure you say you are part of the OCA for the $129 rate. Al

gkhashem

I did get a room at the backup hotel the Marriot just now. So rooms are opening.

davebw31

went to the OCA Nats in Reno. I think there was right around 200 cars in attendance. Calif Olds chapters were not very friendly to say the least! Pretty much stayed in a group and to themselves. Not a very well run event either.

I stayed for the Hot August Nights event a week later and it was 10X better!

Pretty much has discouraged me from attending any OCA Nats that far west again! I traveled 2,500 miles (one way) and spent a lot of $$ on fuel.

BTW: I heard the car count was very low for the 2017 OCA Nats. like around 200 cars. The one day Homing Coming in Lansing has almost 3X that amount.

jaunty75

Very typical for an out-west Nationals, especially one as far away from other major cities as Albuquerque is. This is why the OCA comes west only occasionally.

I was at the ABQ show on Friday, and I hear that same 200 number.

Not really a fair comparison. I know it's a Nationals, but still, there are probably 20 times as many old Oldsmobile owners who live within a day's drive of Lansing versus how many live within a two-day's drive of Albuquerque.

OldsAl

I have to say that we had a great time in Albuquerque. Yes the swap meet was smaller but I was surprised what I pulled out of there. The Unser racing museum was really cool. He had the 6,000 mile 1970 Pace Car sitting in there. It was great for pics/reference info. Next thing you know Al Unser Sr himself shows up and we got some really good pics with him. As we were leaving he even signed a jacket I bought. The drag races were fun too. Both my brothers and my parents are going to Gettysburg. If you haven't been to the AAC Museum its a must see.

Both the swap meet and the car show attendance should be up big time. Cant wait!
Al

willysman

Let me know if you are still looking for a campground?? We live just down the road and plan to help with the event.

willysman

If anyone is looking for rooms for the Olds Nats I plan to list a couple motels/Hotels that are only a few miles away from the show in a day or two. They are towards Gettysburg ,Pa on route 30. Gettysburg hotels are always high priced because of the constant battlefield tourists .

7olds1

An FYI for swap meet vendors, PA requires ANYONE selling anything at a swap meet must have a PA vendors permit even if this is the only event you sell at. Permit numbers are supposed to be posted at your space. There is no charge for permit and only takes a few days via internet to process. Couldn’t tell you if they enforce this, but fines could ruin an otherwise great time.