Biggest West Coast Subaru Gathering August 25-27 - Time for us to represent the SVX!
 

That's right, Dabob may be over, but the summer SVX fun doesn't have to end yet!

It's the 8th Annual West Coast Subaru Show August 25-27, 2006.

This show has progressively got bigger and bigger and is now the largest gathering on the West coast, and inching closer to being the biggest Subaru meet in North America any year now. It really is an unforgettable experience to see everything from $500 1980's GL wagons to $50,000 heavily modded street machines all gathered together as one family. The off-roaders play in the mud, the racers shine their rides or go touring, and almost everyone there stops by to check out any SVXes that are there in amazement. If you drive your SVX because you are a Subie fan, this event's got you covered. :)

There are those that love their SVX for other reasons and are not general Subaru loyalists as well. Understandable, as the SVX is fairly unique from the rest of the brand. Well, we've got you covered too. With the coordinated efforts of Northwest SVX, we are aiming to break our SVX attendance record again this year. In 2005 there were 9 SVXes, which was about how many attended in the previous 6 years combined! The Subaru community definitely loves to see these cars come out, and it is great to show them (especially Subaru themselves, that help sponsor this) that we still care about this car they stopped making 10 years ago. So back to the point - even if you are a non-Subaru enthusiasts, there should be enough SVXes and owners present to rival any of our own meets and we hope to set up a "Camp SVX" where we can gather and hang out together all weekend among other activities.

This is our chance for a group camping trip, whole weekend of tire kicking, shooting the breeze, etc, that we don't get the chance to do much at our other events (besides Dabob of course). Seeing 300 other Subaru fanatics having fun is just icing on the cake if that's your thing too (hours can be spent watching everything from Brats with 10" lift kits to stock XT's doing laps in the mud pit!).

If camping is not your style, there is plenty of lodging nearby ranging from cheaper motels to nice resorts on the river - Hood River is one of the most scenic spots in the Northwest, your non-car loving spouses won't mind this weekend. ;)

So come for the whole Fri-Sun weekend, part of the time, or even just Saturday afternoon for the show 'n' shine. By the way, don't be intimidated by the car show idea. As I mentioned, you have "beater" GL's, etc, and all enter just for the fun and representing part of it. There are very few cars here that you would see in a more conventional car show, most are pretty humble daily drivers just here for a good time. Did I mention some of those GL's with 400K mile on the odo come from Nevada and California, etc? This is after all, the WEST COAST Subaru Show, and once they come once, they're hooked. If they can do it, I imagine some Subaru's that were actually built for long distance touring should manage the trip just fine! :p

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to stress how fun this can be, especially if we can get more SVXes to show up - the more we can have camp out or spend a lot of time there, the more fun it will be! I took a vacation day from work Friday to make the trip, and I hope to not be the only one there! :D

Last but not least, this is the big chance for all you farther south (or even Eastern WA, etc) that have been waiting for a big NWSVX-style meet to happen closer to home. Don't miss out!

1. MacGyver - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX

1. MacGyver - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
2. ensteele - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX

I missed the dabob, unfortunately... i have to say this event sounds right up my alley though.. Yeah! And it's actually finally close enough to reasonably get to. :)

1. MacGyver - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
2. ensteele - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
3. pipedream - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX

Convoy?
 

Less than a week away, who is interested in doing a convoy? I'm hoping a lot of people are planning to come and just haven't posted here, but it would be cool if you are coming,especially on Friday, that we coordinate our schedules and drive down together.

Those from Seattle and northward earlier in the day Friday, and those from Portland area meeting us at a certain time to all go along the Gorge together?

I am going again this year. If anyone else is coming up from central oregon send me a message and we can drive up together or something.

1. MacGyver - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
2. ensteele - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
3. pipedream - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
4. sharky512345 - Fri-Sun - Camping and bringing the svx

West Coast meet
 

Hi,
Sher and I will be able to attend on Friday and stay until Saturday afternoon. Our home is open as a rallying point for everyone to meet for a pitstop and munchies. We live less than one mile west of I-5, just a few miles from the Oregon border.
We will be available to join in around noon. If this isn't too late, we would love to participate in the Gorge run. Let us know if this doable. Oh yeah, super simple directions too, "can't miss it".
Mark and Sher

Mark - Good to hear you guys are coming! Are you planning to camp or Inn it Friday night? Your home sounds like a good location for a rallying point, for sure for us from the north, and maybe even the Portland area folks as well if we want to head east on the WA side of the river.

I was thinking of leaving up here around noon-1:00ish, probably not getting down there until later in the afternoon. That can give any of the OR folks a chance to get off work, etc. And don't need to arrive at Hood River until 5:00 or 6:00 (or later even) as the action really doesn't start any sooner if I remember. I'm open to suggestions though. We probably want to time the gorge run at a low traffic time, etc. You folks down there know better than me, come up with a plan and we'll adjust from up here. :)


1. MacGyver - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
2. ensteele - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
3. pipedream - Fri-Sun - Camp SVX
4. sharky512345 - Fri-Sun - Camping and bringing the svx
5. Mark & Sher - Fri-Sat
6. Joe - Sat
7. Le - Sat

ok, the girlfriend says i cant go to my "...geeky subaru car thing..." on Saturday because of some birthday party she rsvp'd me too. ok.

So I was thinking of just coming Sunday. Do you guys think that is worth it? I really want to meet up with you all.

Plus, I just got my SVX back from the shop and she's all tuned up and sparkly and ready for show and tell!

-eric

Bummer Eric! Tell the girlfriend to come with you and she'll have way more fun with the car geeks!

As for Sunday, kinda 50/50. The event itself peaks out on Saturday afternoon, with the show, awards, dinner, everyone watching mud pit, beer, etc. Sunday is wind-down time, a lot of folks need to head out early to get back to CA, AZ, etc. But this year there will be an autocross set up, so there will be something going on, at least for a while.

As for the SVX group, I can't speak for everyone, but you can see by the list several are only coming Fri-Sat or Sat only. And myself planning to stay through Sunday, it is mostly just so I can stay there late Saturday to hang out, watch the mud pit, beer, etc. and have a place to crash for the night and leave early Sunday morning. Like I said though, not sure about the rest of the group's intentions.

I'm a tentative but am waiting for Earl to respond...
 

...to a PM I sent him.

Perhaps I can get there early Friday and set up a little Oregon hospitality site?

Norm

update
 

Sher and I are looking forward to camping. The weather report predicts sun and warmth, perfect for a night out under the stars.
You can meet here at any time. The traffic is never really that bad. But, just in case, I know of a really neat back way to the gorge that has plenty of corners and nice scenery. With the bypass of traffic, it actually is a quicker route.
Let us know your plans; will follow with directions
Mark and Sher

Sounds great!

Currently it looks like Earl is the only other one from up here north (at least that has chimed in here) going down on Friday, so I was gonna coordinate a time with him. If he doesn't end up going, guess I'll just throw a time out there. :)

well shucks. i was really looking forward to this, but can't bail out on these saturday plans that we already had in place.

due to how you are making sunday sound, it sounds like i might just sit this one out... so maybe cross pipedream off the list. :(

have fun guys. :(

Don't wait up...
 

Earl is already down there; I talked to him on Wednesday.

Maybe one more?
 

On Saturday morning while you all are in Hood River, I will be 90 minutes away—buying an SVX. I'm going to Portland to meet a woman selling her red '96 LSi with ~120K mi on it. If it checks out (I'm keeping my fingers crossed . . . and thinking now that I ought to line up a shop to inspect it . . . ) and the deal works out, I'll be a proud new owner!

And if everything goes smoothly, I might even be able to get to the show.

Good luck David!

Heading down south in a few hours, hope to see some of you down there this weekend!

I was hoping he was ok. He hasn't posted in almost 2 weeks!

Earl wasn't down in Oregon, he was in Dabob since before last weekend with no internet access. Busy working the farm. :)

On my was to WCSS8! Tonight we'll raise a bottle to those that can not be with us. :)

I will hoist my drink to ya too. I will not be there, but only in thought. I have been busy the last 2 weeks and have not been around much. I am back and will try to get caught up. :) I wish I could have found the time to go, but maybe next year. :o

The best-laid plans...
 

Oops, my bad.

Looks like I won't be at WCSS8 either. Oh, well. Have fun, y'all! ;)

Wow what a blast that was! So much better than last year! The Hood River location is just perfect for this. A bit of a drive for some of us, but like Norm said last night, "People would pay money to be able to come to this place". As usual, I noticed several NV, CA, and B.C. license plates (some on cars that didn't look like they could have driven that far) so it does indeed live up to the name "West Coast" Subaru show. A fantastic showing by all models and years from two 360's ("truck" and coupe) up to Tribeca (except still no Justys?).

As for the SVXes, there were 6 there, and a couple weren't even members of the forums or nwsvx. As usual, everyone there loved talking to us about our cars.

Fun, fun, fun, and if they have it at the same place next year, I'm marking my calendar as soon as the date is announced!

What a great group!
 

Hello All,

Just wanted to say that I had a great time at the Subaru show on Saturday! Who knew?! :)

It was really great to have met all of you and I will be signing up on the nwsvx.com site soon. Who won for the best SVX? Robert and I were exhausted and left early before the results. Sorry we missed some of you but again, thanks for welcoming us and hopefully I will have my SVX with me next time!

Next year, I want to go into that mud pit! Not in my SVX of course but it looked like a lot of fun!!

Hope to see you all again soon!
-Heidi.

Heidi - so glad to see you posting here! It was great meeting you and Robert, it is always cool to find more people enthusiastic about this car.

Sorry I missed you guys when you left, the place was so big and so many places to wander! :)

The awards for the SVX/XT class went like this:

1st Troy - The CLEAN maroon one :p
2nd Mark - The black one
3rd Lenny - The blue and yellow XT6

Do sign up at nwsvx.com, it's a great way to stay on top of what's happening around the area even if you don't get a chance to check these boards that often.

welcome x2 Robert and Heidi
 

Welcome from some local members of NWSVX.
Seriously, we should have a get together of Vancouver/Portland members. Several of us have tossed the idea around. It doesn't have to be anything spectacular. Maybe just crash a classic car meet. There are several in the area this time of year. Any ideas?
We are still incredulous about getting second place. Wow!!:)
Mark and Sher

Wish I could have made it, but you didn't come up to the Seafood fest either :p :p Hope to see you soon at another one of the great events.

:) :)

The meet was lots of fun, and i am glad to have finally met some people on the network. I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to come up to some more of the upcoming svx meets as well.

oregon/washington people, i definitely put my endorsement behind having some kind of get together or crashing another car show. :) i freakin' love my svx, and would love to get together with some other people who love their svx too

Good to meet you Nick. Did you end up doing the AutoX?

Nice meeting you too. Yes, I did end up doing the rally cross. It was a blast and I think I did okay for my first time doing it. Although now i kinda need a new power steering pully since mine is warped heh.

Looks like we have some new Northwest members. :) :) Hope to meet you soon at one of the upcoming events. :)

Spokane
 

Earl,
How many members do we have up there? I am moving up there before Christmas and can't wait to drive my car in the weather it was built for...as soon as it's running of course. Steve

I think we have around 60 or more that are registered, but only 30 or so are active or semi-active. See you soon. :)