HORSEPOWER & HOT RODS CORVETTE EXPO
New Sevierville Location Is An Instant Hit!
The Horsepower & Hot Rods Corvette Expo was held on Oct. 19-20 at the new Sevierville Events Center in Sevierville, TN.
Originally termed ‘The Corvette Expo,’ the event just turned 30. That’s right, 30 great years of success, cars, fun and excitement have filled the Tennessee highways for years and is clearly a symbol of hope for spreading this hobby for years to come.
Byron Cooper, promoter of Corvette Expo summed it up best, “Everybody enjoyed it!”
This year’s Fall Corvette Expo moved from Knoxville to Sevierville. Under a new name called “Horsepower & Hot Rods,” the event proved to be very successful by drawing in thousands of hobbyists.
Horsepower & Hot Rods was held at the newly-constructed (with additions still being added) Sevierville Events Center, which is located just a few miles off of I-40.
The new Events Center is a huge building with many different rooms for all occasions and is the perfect place to host a car show. The outside parking lots are huge plateaus that are ideal for this kind of indoor/outdoor car show.
The show kicked off with a prime-rib banquet as Byron Cooper, promoter of Corvette Expo, welcomed everyone who attended. Heart-warming greetings from the city and county mayors was also a delightful touch to the show.
On Saturday, thousands of spectators came through the gates of the Events Center to see the 75-plus show cars, 114 auction cars, and a whopping 550-odd vehicles in the Sales Car Corral!
A little over 37-percent of the cars in the auction were sold on Saturday. “37-percent for a fall show is very respectful and considered a success,” Cooper remarked.
“This was the first time that the building had been used for something this big. It was a good test. We definitely made a good move,” Cooper proudly said.
All weekend long, the weather was great. “We had really great weather during the entire show,” Cooper stated.
Over 250 vendors also were setup both inside and outside. Jared from Corvette World was setup inside and sold many Corvette parts and accessories from 1953-up. Corvette World also provides some fantastic restoration. For more information call 800-327-0185 or visit www.corvettedept.com or see their ad in this magazine.
We also ran into Chet Bohanon from Camby, IN who followed us all the way from last weekend’s Boonesborough Boogie Nationals held in Richmond, KY. Bohanon is our newest Round-Up Wrangler and also sells an assortment of automotive products.
If you haven’t been to a Corvette Expo show, you are definitely missing out. With so many great show cars and great buys in the corral and collector auction, it is the prime location for any car enthusiast.
Horsepower & Hot Rods is the perfect family-oriented show. With so many area attractions from Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Dollywood, which are all just a few miles away, this show is the perfect family getaway...and Dad, you get another excuse to take that hot rod out of the garage for one final spin before it gets too cold!
In fact, additions to the Events Center are already in the workings, including a shopping mall, restaurants, and more hotels.
If you are looking for a really fun car event to show off your ride, you need to take a look at next year’s show lineup:
-Spring 2008 Shows: Horsepower & Hot Rods, Mar. 28-29; and The Grand Rod Run, Apr. 18-20.
-Fall 2008 Shows: The Grand Rod Run, Sept. 11-14; and Horsepower & Hot Rods, Oct. 17-18.
Byron Cooper would like to extend a gratitude of thanks to all of those who attended this year’s historical Horsepower & Hot Rods show. He would also like to thank the entire city of Sevierville for their participation.
A LITTLE CORVETTE EXPO HISTORY: The first Corvette Expo was held in the Jacob Building in Knoxville’s Chilhowee Park in March of 1977. In 1980, Corvette Expo was moved to the Bill Mullins Exhibition Center in East Knoxville. The fall event in 1983 was held at the Knoxville Convention Center in downtown Knoxville at the World Fair’s site. Then, in the fall of 1987, the show shifted yet again to the Knoxville Auto Auction in west Knoxville. Finally, in 1988, the event returned back to Chilhowee Park, where Corvette Expo enjoyed a 19-year span at that location before moving to the new Sevierville Events Center.
The shows held by MCS Promotions and Corvette Expo in this part of the country are the best. You get your money’s worth and the people are so much fun. If you would like more information on these events, please visit www.CorvetteExpo.com or call 865-687-3976.
If you would like extra copies of this issue, call 304-884-7799, Ext. 1#. If you would like more information on upcoming car shows, visit our website www.Auto-Roundup.com
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