Going to a Car Show?
Are You Being Judged?
The white spots in this photo are reflections and pollen. Judges were instructed to not deduct for pollen on vehicles.
First off, this particular story is not about Ford/Mercury Aero cars but it does apply to them as well as other collector cars.
If you have yet to attend your first judged car show or if you have been going to judged car shows for years, you need to read this article. If you have shown your prized Ford or Mercury, you are likely to have experienced many different forms of judging. Shows at your local A&W are going to be judged entirely differently than at National Shows.
At local shows, we have had our car judged by 1 to 3 judges while we waited in line to enter the show field. This process takes at most one or two minutes. It includes peaking in the interior and under the hood and a glance at the undercarriage. Seldom will the trunk be opened. Locally this is often called “Drive-thru Judging”. It is more of a beauty contest than an actual evaluation of the condition or authenticity of your car. The rules and standards for judging are set by the local show. On the other extreme are the national shows and Concours that may take from 30 minutes to a couple of hours for your car to be judged. In either case, your nerves often make the process less than pleasurable.
Especially at national shows judging can get so involved it may seem ridiculous. Such was the case at a recent show we attended.
Don’t let any of this discourage you from showing your car. It can be an exhilarating experience or it may be a disappointing one. In either case, you will get to know your car much better. You will learn how to make it more correct. Over the years, Katrina and I have shown cars from California to Florida, and from Chicago to New Orleans. We have shown Ford, Chevy, and Mopar products. We have been disqualified and won Best in Show. All this means is there are good days and bad days.
There are good judges, there are fair judges, there are judges that will help you improve your car and there are judges who might make you mad and make you want to never show again. Ignore those Judges, and don’t take the entire process too seriously. Try your best and detail your car as well as you can. Don’t get mad, learn, and improve. Don’t be hesitant to talk to others with the same car as yours. Ask questions about what is correct and how judging works at the show you are attending.
At a recent National Mustang show we had an experience that left us without words but left us laughing. It was a two day show with your choice of judging on Friday or Saturday but the car had to be on display both days. The awards were on Sunday.
Katrina and I had our 2012 Boss 302 spotless. It is an all original car with only 91 documented miles. We wanted to be judged on Friday as soon as possible so we could kick back and enjoy the second day without worrying about keeping the car clean. We put out the required sign that our car was ready to be judged. Within a few hours, our husband and wife judging team arrived to judge our pride and joy.
After a few words of information, questions, and instructions from the judges, the process began. They were very thorough and took approximately half an hour to go over the car. They then took us around the car and pointed out where they had comments and/or deductions. They instructed us on where we had issues and what we needed to improve on. They were very helpful on how we could improve for our next outing.
However, there were some very detailed minute problems. As they described and pointed to the issues I had to hold back my laughter/disdain until they were far out of hearing range.
The female judge first pointed out that there was a small “gray whisker” in the carpet on the driver’s side. (see picture) I had cleaned this area twice and Katrina went behind me and cleaned again. Somehow, a whisker from my beard (or the male Judge’s beard) managed to find its way into our otherwise immaculate interior. There was no point deduction for this (but it could have been a 1 point deduction). Judges will not open doors, so they asked me to open the doors. The show was in Florida, 90 degrees and full sun. My recently applied suntan lotion left a smudge on the door handle…ding another potential deduction, but it too was not counted! Actual deductions were taken for dirt in the roof seam (1 point); dirt/water spot on the trunk drain (1 point); and 2 points for dirt on the lip of the brake reservoir and water spots on the lip of an inner fender (see photo). In total, only 4 points were deducted but you do not know your judging score until well after the show is over and then only if you request a copy of the judging sheets, which you should always do. However, not every show/organization will release the judging sheets.
As much as I have tried to clean the lip on this, I get no results. It is simply an aged color change on the lip! Regardless, this was a one point deduction, I should have challenged it at the time.
Katrina and I laughed and said if the worst things they can find on the car are a whisker and some smudges of suntan lotion and a couple of water spots, we probably would be ok. We mentioned this to a couple of our neighboring show folks who were being judged Saturday and they decided they better go back over their cars!
On Sunday, the show put on a breakfast before the awards. We sat down at a table with some folks we had not yet met at the show. At such times the discussion usually rolls around to cars and judging. Well, I started to tell the others at the table about our experience with the “whisker fiasco”. The fellow next to me immediately interrupted saying that the story was all over the show field and likely was not true! I assured him it was true and I had the photos to prove it! The entire table was amazed that such a thing could actually happen.
With great anticipation, we sat through the entire awards ceremony since our Class was nearly the last one to be presented. We earned our GOLD Award despite the pesky whisker. Katrina has suggested that I may need to shave my beard before our next show! I assure you that in the past there have been far more “long red hairs” found on the carpet of our cars without being scolded by a judge.
Car show judging can be discouraging at times but don’t let it keep you from entering your pride and joy! Judging at most shows is more about learning how to make your car better and less about your personal grooming skills!
