Bernie's Car Show Coverage: 2021 Whip Addict Car Show

After traveling the past two weekends, I finally returned back to Atlanta for a great show. On October 2nd, I attended my first Whip Addict Car show. Here's a little backstory, Whip Addict is a fellow automotive photographer from Atlanta that I usually run into at a lot of shows. He had a show a couple of years ago, but it was on a weekend where I was out of town (I was traveling to go to Memphis for another show, but he cancelled it because of the "weather". Four drops coming out of the sky does not mean heavy rain).

When Atlanta demolished the Georgia Dome, there was a bunch of empty space next door to the now Mercedes Benz Stadium. The owner of the space (he happens to own the Atlanta Falcons as well) decided to turn it into a multi-use greenspace for parks, concerts, tailgating... and apparently car shows. The location was great and I'm not saying that because it was 20 minutes away from my house. The skyline in the background, the shot of the Mercedes Benz stadium, plus there were different areas where you can shoot and get creative. 

Aside from seeing my fellow Atlanta neighbors, there were some visitors to Atlanta as well.

I had fun and I didn't even have to travel far. To see the rest of the photos, check out Bernie's 2021 Whip Addict Car Show gallery. 

Bernie's Car Show Coverage: Midwest Fest 5

The second best decision I made in 2020 was to attend Midwest Fest and because of all the fun I had, all the people I met, all of the cars I got to see but not having to deal with any issues....

I HAD to do it again. On September 24th, I made my faithful return to Indianapolis for another amazing weekend. And it was nothing short of amazing... ironically coming from a person who is a harsh judge of car shows.

MidwestFest weekend goes as follows: Friday is the block party, Saturday is the main event, Sunday is Stunt Sundays. On Friday night, I eventually found my way to Black Ink Indianapolis (yes the same Black Ink tattoo shop from Harlem and the owner opened up a location in Indiana). In my true introverted fashion, I didn't stay long. I think I stayed in Walmart longer, I'm just not a party person. I stayed long enough to see some cars and say hi to the hosts of the weekend's festivities- Shane and Cameron. Left early because I knew what I was in for and I needed to get a good night's rest. 

Saturday was PERFECT. It wasn't nearly as hot as it was last year, clear blue skies, and everyone gathered at Silver Centre for another worthwhile show... even though there was no illegal burnout area this year (Indy PD was everywhere). From what I could tell, I think this year's show was bigger than MidwestFest4. The best part of all was that.... it was crowded. Definitely more show cars than cars in general admission and best of all, about half of the cars there this year were cars that I've never seen before. I can't even tell you what I saw. I just saw a lot of amazing cars.

Although the show is called "Midwest Fest" there were cars from Indiana (of course), Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio (you know... states that are considered to be in the Midwest). But then... cars from Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Georgia (more specifically Atlanta), Tennessee, and Florida showed up as well. And on top of that, no issues occurred this entire weekend. 

Sunday was Stunt Sunday where Martin Luther King St turns into a massive block party... or a half a mile party. People show up and hang out while cars are parked on both sides of the street and they show off (hence the word Stunt in "Stunt Sunday") by driving up and down the street or if they're extremely skilled enough, they drift in the intersection. Major emphasis on extremely skilled. I've been to Dallas and Los Angeles where they have something similar to Indianapolis, but they will NEVER have anything like this in Atlanta. Everyone just came to have a good time and that's it. 

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I said what I said, Midwest Fest weekend was nothing short of amazing.  To see the rest of the photos, check out Bernie's Midwest Fest show gallery and Midwest Fest finale: Stunt Sundays gallery. I can't wait to see how Cameron and Shane will pull off for Midwest Fest 6. I'm sorry Indianapolis, I gotta come back next year.

Bernie's Car Show Coverage: 2021 Battle of the States Car Show

On September 18th, I attended my very first car show in Michigan. I was invited to Grand Rapids by KD- the King of Detroit Car Shows to check out his Battle of the States show. Even though his shows are usually in Detroit, I still had a an opportunity to see what Detr-- I mean Michigan (remember I'm from New York and I just automatically think Detroit equals the entire state of Michigan) has to offer.

So I pulled up to US 131 Motorsports Park in a town called Martin (let's just say that there were more people at the show than the entire population of Martin) and was I surprised...

The only exposure of Michigan car culture is whatever cars showed up to MidwestFest4. But KD kept telling me that Michigan actually has customized cars. Thank goodness I listened to him because I saw a lot of vehicles that I've never seen before. Let's talk about a couple of them...

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First up, this Buick Regal that's called "The Buick of All Evil". It's not exactly evil, but let's just keep going. Upgraded engine, sitting on Status Wheels, interesting interior (I couldn't imagine sitting on those seats)

 I did run into a familiar face... Stunna Reese's Chevy Impala fastback. Dracula is currently a flatbed queen because he's upgrading her motor. 

Wise words was printed on the front of this Chevy Impala Wagon. I noticed that Michigan absolutely loves Chevy Malibu's. I'm going to talk about three... 

This first one was the Green Machine, which I've actually seen in Atlanta at Certified Summer Car Show. I didn't get too close because the guys were prepping her for the race. 

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The second Malibu was an orange one in which every inch of this car has been either restored or upgraded. And might I add, this Malibu is female owned, driven, AND raced. 

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The third Malibu was a chocolate brown with a gold pearl to it. When I approached it, no one was around but the owner and his friends. Then I asked him if I could see what was under the hood. Once he popped the hood, it felt like everybody ran over to see both on foot and by golf cart. 

The owner committed to the theme of this car. Even down to the Jordan jersey he was wearing. 

Saw a LOT of A body cars, which was expected. 

Saw a lot of G body cars, which was expected.

Saw a lot of F body cars, which wasn't expected. I think the majority of the F Bodies are hanging out in the Midwest.

I did see some donks... and they were gorgeous and flawless. 

I really love the color mauve/dusty rose like what's on this bike. It's not a common color, but it looks GREAT on the RIGHT vehicle. Not every vehicle can pull off the color mauve. 

While we're on the dusty rose conversation, I really loved this Oldsmobile 442. It's not done, but I saw the vision. It's black with rose gold racing stripes on Forgiato Wheels. I was hoping that the owner would've gotten the door panels in time for Midwest Fest, but he couldn't. 

All and all, this show only showed me one thing... that I need to go Detroit. Let me start practicing saying "What Up Doe". But to see the rest of the photos, check out Bernie's 2021 Battle of the States Car Show gallery. Sorry Michigan, but you won me over and now I have to come back.