Event Coverage Juding @ car shows??

I was at the machine shop this morning tending to an issue that developed over the weekend and my motor mending buddy asked if I had received a bid yet from a painter he referred me to that used to work for SAR across the river. I said I had and it looked like it was going to be about 15k and I thought it a bit high. He said another local paid $60k at SAR for his paint job to put it in perspective. I told him that was about the craziest thing I had ever heard and he came back with, "yeah but he won every trophy for miles around with that car". I replied, "$60k in paint for a box of plastic awards"? And a car you are probably afraid to drive? It is a strange hobby we play in.

 

With regard to the vote (I guess this is my exit poll) how could one possibly discern between Home VS Professional? I know there are pure hot rodders on this site that design it (or copy it, or reproduce it or whatever you call it is still designing it) that are clearly in the "home" camp. And there are a lot of exceptional pro builds that win AMBR and Riddlers that are easy to call "shop" builds. But in between there are guys on here that I would call home builders that own their own shops building cars for a living so there's a gray area. You got guys that send the car out for paint, interior, motor building (i did that last one), is that a home built or a shop built . Another gray area? If I buy a car at Barrett that was probuilt and take it home to de-streetrod it cosmetically, is it all of a sudden a home build? Random thought from a sober mind (not 5 o'clock here yet).

 

Just think if no one wanted a trophy their would be no trophy girls and that would suck. So if you want to win a trophy good go get it. But I don't need it now if they are giving topples women calendars are some tools then I might get in on it. Lets have fun building and driving old steel and try to keep the hobby alive.

 

What are you protesting, Johnny?

Whadda got?

 

I have neither the talent nor money to create show winning car.
Fact
I have what I consider a cool car that makes me smile.
I don't bag on folks who can build that type of stuff and who get off on it. I myself do not
I have a lot of things in life to feel good about I don't need my car for a sense of accomplishment
I love taking my kids to sports in my car, football season with mud and all, hockey season with sticks poking out of the rumble seat
taking my car to work and the store.
I like all the dings and gunk in the paint
I like the memories of what I have been apart of and the thoughts of what will come
Don't need a trophy for that...if you do? Congrats, hope you win more than one

 

I gotta admit, thats pretty funny!

 

best way is spend the money on door prizes ,every car there goes in the pot ,everyone gets an equal chance if they bought a car

 

Best GM/Ford/Mopar is a mistake, just like best 50s, best 60s, best 70s is a mistake---- especially if they are your ONLY categories. I had a bad experience being asked to judge a local show with categories like that-- the result was that nobody was happy. Those categories are too broad and too narrow at the same time. You want cars from the same style/genre competing against each other. As for who does the judging, I say judges should all be less than 18 years old. Kids know cool when they see it.

 

You might have hit on something!! Kids as judges!! Could be very interesting!!! Pete

 

Brando played a mean Cocomo.

 

Haha, I should have said "my OLD high school" I work at a different school.

And on that topic; That particular show is put on by the Auto shop classes. All the money raised goes towards the Auto shop program and all the judges are kids that are in Auto Shop. Doesn't get much better than that. I tend to pay double the entry fee whenever I show my car & just tell them to keep the money

 

I was at the GoodGuys show in Columbus one year, parked in the "homebuilt heaven" area. The guy next to me had his shop name painted on the door of his truck. It wasn't a joke name, it was a legit Body Shop.

Not sure how it qualified for being "homebuilt"

 

I challenge anyone who voted for separate classes in this poll/thread to define homebuilt, or for that matter to define professional built.

I'd suspect that most cars are built with more than one set of hands, and that people will job out things where their skills are lacking. I also suspect that some shops are just average body & paint shops and not Hot Rod or Custom Shops.
If you say a car is professionally built, then I'd expect that it was wholly produced by one shop that specializes in building custom cars and not just jobbed out for engine/paint/body/whatever.
Just as an example, I hired a professional body man to do body work in my home garage, then the car then went to the body shop spray booth for exterior paint only (prime and jambs done at home). Every mechanical aspect (engine, trans, suspension, plumbing, electric, upholstery) was done with my own hands in my garage and I also worked on the body as a grunt/helper. Is this home built or not? What if a car is half & half?

 

...all trophies are just someone's opinion of your car...

 

What happens when some strap job, comes to the show with a pro built car and says he built it himself? ) Like that would never happen right? LOL

 

Because he built it. Body men are seldom professional mechanics or upholsterers or suspension guys. Just because he pounds fenders for a living should not exclude him, if he built it himself he built it himself.

 

I can help you with that. I used to be a backyard mechanic I doubt that I could find the thread but it was ascertained that I was a back yard mechanic by a guy who wanted a frame built.

Then Tim painted me this sign which I hung in my garage and now I am a poorfessoinal.



I laugh every time some one comes on here with a question about a customers car. A professional should be teaching us not asking us about a customer's car. There should be books in the shop called shop manuals that he can go to when he needs a little help but he should already have some idea what he is doing. Or he should take his shingle down and get a job.

 

LOL or the guy that enters the DD class and hides his trailer down the block.

 

[QUOTE....I laugh every time some one comes on here with a question about a customers car. A professional should be teaching us not asking us about a customer's car. There should be books in the shop called shop manuals that he can go to when he needs a little help but he should already have some idea what he is doing. Or he should take his shingle down and get a job. [/QUOTE]
I know more than 1 machine shop owners that are horrible machinists... these shops are only good as the people that work for them.

 

I was at a local cruise-in last summer when Gene Winfield showed up, he was with a friend walking around looking at cars. When he walked past my "home-built" I was wondering what would happen, he barely glanced at it. I laughed to myself, as if. I still get a huge kick out of driving it anyway. Lots of passion on the subject, the biggest trophy I get are the waves and thumbs up from people as I drive down the road.

 

Most, although not all Duesenburgs, Auburns or Cords are not at hotrod shows. Hotrods are not original anythings. From the beginning they have been all kinds of parts and things put together to be something different than original. Fiberglass was one of the things hotrodders came up with along the way just like dropping axles etc. The original 32 body is not home built either and both require owner body work to build a nice car. If any hotrod is home built it has every right to be judged with the other home builts. I have so far never seen a guy with a fiberglass 32 trying to compete for an original trophy against restored originals.

 

My FIL put on a show at his workplace for 15 years. He tried doing trophies for "best this" and "best that", but got tired of being bitched at by non-winners. He started doing "Long Distance Award" for whoever drove the furthest, "Military Choice" picked by someone at the show on active duty, "Company President Award" picked by his boss, "Lady's Choice" etc etc. There were about 10 of those that nobody could really argue about unless they were dumb enough to go yell at some Marine who would probably kick their asses, or bitch at some little old lady.
He had five "Kids Choice Awards" picked by the kids in attendance and the other 15 or so were voted on as "People's Choice".
He hated giving out trophies but he knew that was the only reason some guys came.

I like car shows. I like to look at cool cars and talk to cool car people. I like bratwurst, burgers and beer too. Plus, my entry fee usually goes to a charity. That's cool.

Trophy? Meh. I'll take it if you wanna give it to me, and I'll probably go find the car I liked best and give it to that guy.
Oh and BTW, my calipers are dirty because I don't have the time or inclination to clean them off with a q-tip.

 

Might as well throw my 2 cents in ......"DO AWAY WITH TROPHIES AND CLASSES"....go back to Loving the Sport of Cars...Fellowship, look at the labor of love that goes into the back yard guys car, the money...(that somebody had to work to get) in another guys car......and enjoy the fellowship.....The shows have gotten so biased now till it's about who knows who or who scratches who's back till I rarely stay for the awards anymore......We seem to have gotten away from how all this got started....Work on my car that I'm doing out of my pocket, then go help a friend that makes a Million dollars a year with ease on his car....it's about the fellowship and mutual love for cars......Let it be fun again....it can be........In the last 6 months I've given and thrown away over 100 trophies that I've won racing and showing cars......out of all of them, about 10 really mean something to me.....and it's the ones I won at big races for outrunning some of the best in the country....the car show ones were probably won because the guy judging liked a '32 Ford or Model A I just happened to have.............."It Ain't about the Trophies"

 

I used to go to a big swap meet in Grand Rapids MN. We would pay the entrance and park in the show area. Not to compete for a trophy, but to have a parking spot next to the swap meet. I would never put the window sticker on my car. (vote for car number xxx) Besides, we all knew who would get the participants choice; who ever came with the most friends. And the peoples choice, who cared who a bunch of civilians voted for. I could never figure out how some called it a rod run when you just drove your car to the gate and paid an entrance fee so the promoters could charge people to come in and look at your car. A rod run is running your car. Not a car show. Life is funny.

 

the best part of any car show or cruise in is the excitement getting there and driving home

 

Around here lately they give the trophy's to a 2014 this, a 2015 that and a 2013 what ever. I built my car to go to shows, it's not a show car. Like said before, driving is all the fun I need.

 

Being new to taking my car to shows, I've learned they all have different classes and rules. Started taking my old car last year and won a trophy the first time. I didn't expect it and it was kinda nice.
I've won a couple of other trophies but I've learned the real fun is having others look at your car, talking to people about your car or their car. There is a wealth of humor there just by watching others. I watched a guy with a Lamborghini one day freaking out if someone got within 10 feet of his car. He was especially entertaining when an elderly woman was walking around his car with a walker.
I personally don't get the people that buy a brand new car and show up at the shows with their custom detail kits and spend all day dusting their car. But hey, if that's what they want to do, it's alright with me.
Last show I went to I parked, got my 2 chairs and my ice chest out and sit down. Most around me are polishing, sweating and complaining about the heat. An old guy comes up and starts talking to me about my car, had a seat and starting sharing some of his experiences with old rods he had worked on over the years. I had a great time talking to him. When he left I got up, made the rounds and looked at the cars that interested me. I got hot before the show was over, so I fired up and went home. A trophy wasn't worth me waiting another hour to see if I got one or not.

 

I gave myself a trophy in November or December last year, over 100,000 miles in a dd/only vehicle '49 Chevy 1/2 ton. People give me and themselves a trophy several times a week when they walk up and talk about the old truck or give me a thumbs up going down the road. Those are beautiful trophies!

 

I find that the most interesting opinion based threads on the HAMB always start off with the opening lines "I am probably opening a can of worms here......"