Thanks Bill Bennett for a great Tulare swap meet

[KimDobbins]

Tulare was a great success, lots of good parts to buy and I sold lot of parts. Even with bad weather and high gas prices it was a great show. Really enjoyed the open house at Bryan’s. Looking forward to next year!

[Erik Barrett]

Kudos to Bill and everyone that made this a great meet. I sold enough to send people home with things they needed and that covered expenses even with $6 diesel. All of my friends and I found rare parts crucial to our projects. That could only happen in one place one weekend right here in Tulare. See you next for sure. Everyone have a safe trip home. Some came from a very long way.

[Rob]

Sounds like a success! I hope to make it next year. More photos and info are always appreciated.
Thanks for the post Kim

[BobD]

Yes, please post photos. For some reason, only a couple of photos posted from last year.

[Mark Chaffin]

Fantastic swap meet! Thank you Bill for all your hard work. Looking forward to next year!

[Chris Instness]

Thank you Bill! Great meet and looking forward to next year.

[Nv Bob]

Another great event snow and ice couldn't keep us Nevada folks away .
Great seeing old friends making new ones
Our band bought modestly since we came without a trailer.
Bill B thanks much for hosting.
We are already signed for next year

[Matt in California]

Just remember, I can't control the weather and the parts the vendors are bringing, or the prices they're asking for those parts.

But the weather was beautiful (thanks be to God because it was raining up to Friday morning). I sold 80-90% of what I brought. I made some purchases of things that I was looking for and with Bills help he spotted the 1926 steering column bracket I was looking for.

But more important than the stuff, I enjoy reconnecting and meeting new faces. I enjoyed meeting so many people discussing the Ford Arduino Coil Tester. Even made a new acquaintance with a member in
Edmonton in Canada who is going to try it out and offer feedback.

I know that Bill doesn’t like to take the credit, but I don’t think this event would happen without him. Thanks Bill!

Matt

[SoNorCal]

Thank You Bill Bennett!

I had an absolutely wonderful time. I saw some old friends and met some new ones, some from near by and some from far away.
Sadly sounds like I missed a few folks I’d hoped to meet, but I met a lot of new friends and shaked many rusty/oily hands.

There were more brass lamps and parts than I’ve seen in a long time, and prices were reasonable to “are you giving that away on purpose?”. (We can ignore the few who really did not want to sell anyway, and priced things accordingly). I saw rare parts, and bought things at amazingly good prices. I sold a bit, and bought a bit more to take home. ( I may bring it back next year , we are all just custodians)

The stories & tales that were swapped were priceless , as was the opportunity to spend time with others suffering “the affliction”. Even if you don’t plan to buy a thing, an event like Tulare is good for the spirit of those of us who love the magnificent machines. It’s worth the price of admission just to share the company of your fellow vintage car nuts. If you live in the western United States make the trip next time and you’ll be glad you did.

This was all made possible by Bill’s efforts to create a new place for us all once the nice folks who ran Bakersfield for so many years decided it was time to pass the torch (and I thank them for the years they gave us). Bill picked up that torch and really found us a great facility with restrooms and food vendors. Quite literally hundreds enjoyed a marvelous weekend event due to one man’s dedication to do something for all of us in the Western states. We are all grateful to you for what you did for us.

Thank you Bill.

[Toddman]

Was also in conjunction with a tractor meet. Lots of interesting old farm maching tootling about to.

[Toddman]

Another interesting old contraption.

[Toddman]

A neat early 1912 touring was really to great to look over details.

[Original Smith]

I agree with the above posts. Lots of fun. That CDO was beyond amazing. The original 1911 posted above used to belong to Phil Mino.

[Russ_Furstnow]

This was an excellent swap meet, and we are planning to return next year. Great parts at very reasonable prices. Thanks to Bill Bennett for setting up this memorable meet!!! Russ Furstnow

[Chris Haynes]

I loved it even though everything I bought could be carried in one hand. I did manage to get a lot of pictures of parts I need. Dinner at Cool Hand Luke's was great.

[Model_T_Family]

Agree with Chris Haynes Cool Hand Luke's was amazing. Bill Bennett thank you on behalf of myself and the MTFCA for your support and promotion of our Hobby. Looking forward to next year.

[Rich Eagle]

Thanks for sharing those great photos.
It's nice to see for we that can't go.
Rich

[SoNorCal]

1909 - asking 70K

[SoNorCal]

Motor Wheel

. Motor Wheel

[SoNorCal]

Fast Furstnow Fun - likely has the best speedometer ever assembled (Just kidding, Russ). Not for sale, but absolutely beautiful

[SoNorCal]

Great tool finds at Tulare as well, I got lucky…

[67pontiac]

I sincerely appreciate all the kind thoughts and words. I simply had an idea about keeping a brass era swap meet alive and well on the west coast. I certainly hope this will continue for many years to come, but it depends on all the vendors and buyers participating and making an idea come to life. I'm not going to try and name all the people that helped put this together, because I'm sure I'd forget someone and they would feel left out. There is one person that must be recognized as a very loud voice in getting the "word out" about this event and spreading it far and wide. That person is Steven Chase. He organized many aspects of the actual swap meet and several of the "supporting events". I know there were many others that worked very hard, but Steve really went above and beyond and he certainly deserves a lot of recognition. I'll be taking a few weeks off from the forum to get my life put back together, then, the planning will begin for 2023!! All of you that participated as a buyer or vendor should give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done. YOU'RE the ones that really made this event a success. I look forward to seeing you next year, (or sooner). Thank you all!! With Very Kind Regards, Bill Bennett