Classic Car Accessories for Show Season

For most of us, winter is over and it’s time to get out on the road. Whether your idea of a great automotive summer is a jam-packed calendar of events, a long-awaited cross-country trip, or just the freedom of taking your classic out when the mood strikes you, having a few of the right accessories for the season will go a long way towards making the experience even better. We’ve recommended some of the best choices below.

Car Wash Bucket Systems

First, we had stand-alone detailing buckets, usually with a plastic grid to hold your wash mitt. Then, those buckets sprouted wheels, making it much easier to get them around a car without doing a bit of free-weight training every time you moved. The newest tech that has people talking? Rolling dollies that use standard 5-gallon buckets found at every hardware store. Combine them with a “grit guard” and you have a high-functioning wash system that doesn’t take up a lot of space when not in use.

Want to take it to the next level? Consider a two-bucket system where you have your soapy water in one bucket and rinse water in the other. That keeps your wash mitt from retaining surface-scratching dirt. And the whole thing packs into less space than one of the old-style no-wheels buckets. This is the right kind of progress!

Car Shades

If you haven’t invested in a complete set of reflective sunshades for your classic yet, now might be the time. Most of us are familiar with the windshield-only shades, which go a long way towards protecting the sun-sensitive interior of your classic. Today’s shades are more comprehensive than that, often being available for side and back windows as well. Light aircraft owners have long sworn by the full-package shades for planes that sit outside year-round. However, using them for an all-day car show can make your drive home much cooler than it used to be. Plus, they’ll keep prying eyes away from your valuables – or that interior restoration that you haven’t quite gotten around to yet.

Seat Covers

Speaking of interior restorations, the trend at today’s shows seems to be away from using car seat covers, especially for classics built after the seventies. While it can be a bit of an extra hassle to find the right seat cover for newer bucket-seat cars, it’s often time and money well spent. The best covers have soft interior linings to protect your existing upholstery from weight and pressure in addition to sun and spills.

There’s a burgeoning industry now in custom-made seat covers, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for from a major supplier, consider working with a custom shop to get exactly what you need. The payoff is decreased wear and increased usability.

Car Audio

Want to hear something in your classic besides the wind and the road? There are several car-audio manufacturers focusing on vintage-look stereos that preserve the aesthetic of your classic while also offering features ranging from Bluetooth compatibility to subwoofer outputs. Installation isn’t always for the faint of heart, and you’ll want to make sure that your charging system has enough power for the task at hand, but when you’re listening to your favorite songs on the way to the next car show, it might all seem worth it!

Buckle Up

If your classic didn’t come with seatbelts, you should seriously consider adding them. What most owners don’t consider, however, is that even classics that were originally supplied with belts could often benefit from a refresh. Safety belts are susceptible to UV light, time, heat, and other weather conditions. So, while it’s not the most exciting way to spend your classic-car budget, choosing new belts could help your ownership experience stay predictable and safe.

Lawn Chairs

Sure, you could use a modern set of folding or “pop-out” chairs to sit next to your classic at shows, but wouldn’t you rather have something that feels period-correct? Lawn Chair USA makes the classic folding chair we all sat in from the sixties onward… right here in the United States. The price is right, as well. The range of available colors has a good match for many classics, particularly the ones made between 1948 and 1970.

Instant Photography

Most collectors have at least one hasty Polaroid snapshot somewhere in their documents and paperwork. The “Land Camera” was used to capture everything from the layout of radiator hoses before a repair to “Best of Show” winners back in the day. Today, the kids are excited about Instax cameras, which work on the same principle. Want to have a little fun at a show? Take some instant snapshots of the cars you like, or the people who flock to yours. Something about it just feels right.

Backup Battery

If you have a six-volt classic, it’s usually worth it to bring a second, fully charged battery to every show or trip. 12-volt drivers whose biggest worry is accidentally leaving a door or trunk lid open can get the same kind of assurance from a modern lithium-ion jump starter. They’re far easier to use than a set of jumper cables and another car, there’s no chance of damaging the electrical system of a Good Samaritan, and the best ones usually have enough juice for a few dozen starts. Smaller than a breadbox and capable of retaining their charge for months on end, the best jump starters really take some of the worry out of classic ownership.

Accessories

Little Trees and fuzzy dice are time-honored parts of classic-car ownership. The good parts: They can take some of the odor out of a classic that’s been stored all winter, they look cool, and they don’t cost much. The not-so-good: Too much stuff hanging on your rearview mirror can affect your ability to make decisions in traffic, so the smart money is on putting them up when you get to the show. Do that, and you can really go crazy!

Jumper Cables

Worried about losing the charge in a lithium-ion jump box? For classics that are rarely driven, or for owners with a long trip on their minds, there’s still no substitute for proper jump cables. Spartan Power’s USA-made cables can be had in lengths up to 20 feet, and feature clearly marked, high-quality clamps to increase safety during the start.