Is Dead Man’s Curve the Future of Lead East?

And What Does That Mean for the Classic Car Hobby? PARSIPPANY, New Jersey – Lead East is…well, Lead East. This show is so consistently good, so consistently well-produced and executed, entertaining and original, that it feels as though one steps right back into last year’s event. It’s almost like a whole year couldn’t have possibly passed, not when the funnel cake still fills the air with that sickly sweet scent, and the Elvis impersonators continue to enthrall and entertain. 

That sentimentality is fundamental to the success of this show. Be you four or twenty-four, there is still joy to be had in cruising Lead East in an overheating convertible, in cuddling under a blanket before the late-night drive-in movie, in surviving on fried Oreos and Philly cheesesteaks. That is what we love about Lead East. That is why it has been so successful for so long.

But now there’s competition.

This is not the first year of the Dead Man’s Curve Labor Day event. But in its fifth summer, it has finally begun to hit its stride, finally started to draw the crowds away from the multi-decade old Lead East that has captivated generations. Dead Man’s Curve undoubtedly appeals to the younger crowds – With hot rods and food trucks and a great social media presence, but that doesn’t mean it is limited solely to that demographic. For the first time since its insurrection, Lead East is facing a formidable opponent, and it might just be that they’re not ready for the fight.

Make no mistake, this saturated, sensory affair is everything we have always loved. The smell of exhaust mingles with jambalaya and powdered sugar. Girls, dogs, and ladies walk around in brilliantly executed 1950s attire, where the gentlemen deliver Sharks and Jets look alikes in spades. But for the first time in the more than two decades that this writer has attended the show, there were less cars than the year before.

To make one thing very clear – saying that Lead East is down in attendance is like complaining about a 97% on an exam. It’s still a top mark. Lead East still wrangled more than 2,200 cars this weekend. There was no sense of being less than. But it was less than. Whereas years in the past every single lot is chock full of cars, this year the D Lot was nearly empty, the C Lot full of vacancies, and even the B Lot had open spots. It is a dramatic step back for a show that seems to have become the very pinnacle of car show success. 

Of course, there could be several reasons for the lesser attendance. Last year’s dramatic price increase, despite an apologetic letter and reduction for this summer’s event, likely scared a solid group of attendees away. With Labor Day weekend, there’s always the chance that going back to college takes precedence over a car show – it did with me for four years running.

But there’s no denying the major trend that seems to attack every facet of the classic car hobby – car enthusiasts that proudly boast of being ‘stuck in the ’50’s’ are getting older.

It’s a gradual shift. There isn’t going to be a meteorite that knocks out classic car shows as a species. In fact, classic car shows aren’t truly endangered, they’re evolving. As I mentioned in my coverage of The Race of Gentlemen show in Wildwood, New Jersey, the new generation of car enthusiasts isn’t steeped in nostalgia. They’re more interested in learning about and living through a time well before their own – the drag racing of the 1930’s, the early age of race and speed and innovation – a theme much more suited to the style of Dead Man’s Curve than Lead East.

The Labor Day Dead Man’s Curve event isn’t there yet. They have all the trimmings of a great car show, race cars and dragsters, tons of food, TV and movie cars, vendors, music. But they just don’t have the turnout. Whereas Lead East might take a whole weekend to properly enjoy, DMC was a show for a single night. But they made a conscious choice to host their event the same weekend as the largest car show on the East Coast, and it’s a bed they’re sleeping in. Had the show been any other weekend, there is little doubt it would already be a massive success. 

Still, as this generation of car enthusiasts ages up, the next generation is far more likely to swing towards the DMC style of car show. Like pieces of sand in an hourglass, each year a few more fans might switch from the forever loved Lead East to the up-and-coming Dead Man’s Curve. For the younger car enthusiasts, the sticking power of speed and creativity of early drag racing holds a greater appeal than the jukebox era of big Fords and pre-Muscle cars.

This isn’t a bad thing. It’s merely a transition with the times. Until recently, enthusiasts were unlikely to bring rat rods to car shows. Varnish over rust was not a common phenomenon. The central nucleus of collector car hobby is shifting, and not a moment too soon. If hot rods and dragsters didn’t come into style, the hobby runs the risk of slowly fading away. Young people – and I mean young people with a very free definition – are needed to sustain the next generation of any hobby or interest, and there is no example more clear than the relationship between Lead East and Dead Man’s Curve. 

They’re still two great car shows. You can’t go wrong attending either of them. It will be some time before Dead Man’s Curve is able to draw the appeal of a show that is more than 30 years old, but perhaps not so long as we might think. How long can Lead East truly last – how many young car enthusiasts will show up in classic Bel Airs or Edsels? One of the recurring conversation points of the show was just how many For Sale signs we saw. Gone are the days of passing cars down through generations. Classic cars have grown expensive and time-consuming, and far fewer folks have the skills to work on cars themselves.

And those who do are the generation of the Dead Man’s Curve and Race of Gentlemen car shows. Those younger enthusiasts will far more likely be caught revving dragster engines than watching I Was a Teenage Werewolf (word to the wise, don’t. Ever.) There is a new energy surrounding this revival of the hot rod, tattoo, custom car world. It might just be enough to keep the hobby alive.

In fact, who’s to say it won’t be better? I’ll check back in from Dead Man’s Curve in thirty years. 

Images by Tomm Scalera – Check out the full galleries of LE and DMC.