Attention Show Judges, looking for input

Hello all,
I just got the green light to start planning a car show/fund raiser for my son's school. The event will be late March/ early April 2010. I have most of the event under control. It will be an open event for a wide range of vehicles. I need some information on judging the cars for the event. I was figuring on a 4 or 5 person panel of judges. I would like some guidelines of what to look for when judging. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

There's quite a few ways to go about this...depending on the amount of volunteers, time, and experience of the people involved.
My car club used to have shows every year, of which I planned the judging, and I also volunteer to do it at the KKOA shows I go to ( I'm a "club rep" for them)
An easy way to go is to use a ballot system and let the people decide, if you don't have any experienced car folk to help. People's Choice, or even Participant's Choice trophies have been done before. Add Ladies Choice, or Kid's Choice, too.
Letting the businesses who donated the trophies pick the winner of it, is another way to go (but have a couple of people ready to pick winners for the ones that don't show up in person)
Another way to avoid a detail oriented "points" type competition, is to do it the KKOA, or Lead East method. Get a team of people together, even non-car people, and let them pick their favorites. Simple as that. KKOA explains....these aren't the best, or most expensive, or even the cleanest, just the cars we would like to have in our garage. Ca't argue with that!
Other than that, the "traditional" way is to award points for cleanliness, detail, correctness of restoration, engineering, style, and fit and finish. This type of judging means more time, and more experienced helpers to do the work. It's more difficult, but using good judging sheets, and having objective, experienced judges helps avoid "arguements" at the end of the day by folks who think they didn't get a trophy they deserved. And you'll get afew of these jerks at every show!

 

Thanks chopolds, you gave a few ideas there. Anybody else?

 

Stick with a judging guide sheet and let each of the volunteers have one, Plus you really don't need car nuts to know a good quality job when you see one. Judge on workmanship, fit, finish, and care that was put in to the work. Originality and correctness doesn't matter to 99% of those attending shows, so why judge for it. Keep the number of judging categories small, 5 or less, and under each main category list a few reminders of what to look for and what not pay attention to.

I been to a bunch of shows that have so may awards, every car there gets one for some class or category. They might as well just give them out when you drive in. To me, this is meaningless.

Peoples choice is about the best way. It cuts out all the favoritism and no one can argue about it.

If you do judge, here is how I would go about it.

Only judge paint for the quality of the job, color or shine does not matter, it's how well its applied.

Engines should be judge for cleanliness and how well it fits the car or truck. Again, color or engine choice shouldn't matter if it looks right and was well engineered.

Interiors should be judged for fit and finish of the materials chosen even if its butt ugly! Everyones taste is different, but a good quality job should be rewarded no matter the taste.

Over all condition of the vehicle as whole should be judged, does it look right from a distance, does it set level, are the tires bald, would it be dangerous to drive. Does it have eye appeal, or do you look at and go "what were they thinking?"

Plastic trophies are another poor choice, a few hand made ones are way better, even something to hang on the wall is better then cheap-o plastic trophies.

Joe

 

I think you have to pay attention to classes and categories and the rest will fall into place. I was asked to judge a local show and the promoters simply broke the classes into decades: "Best Car or Truck 1960-1969" , etc. The judging was impossible and the results were disasterous.

I've also seen classes like "Street Rod - Stock" WTF???

 

This may or may not help. It depends what kind of show you're looking for. BUT, if I were judging, I'd award the better "idea" rather than the better execution. I'd rather see a good idea in a car's build, even if it's not perfect, rather than an excellent build of a tasteless idea. Also, if a car's pretty badass, who cares if it wasn't detailed every 5 minutes during that show because the owner wanted to enjoy the other cars there instead?

 

i think having judging at some school car show is a bit over the top. just have a few picks like already suggested. judging gets too competitive and someones feelings get hurt..i hate that stuff and refuse to even put my name on my car at those cruise nights. i've lost out on a few of those picks

just have some good weather , good reasonable priced food , some good music , don't charge too much money to get in and people will show up and have a good time. when they have a good time they will show up next year and your show will grow.

one of the biggest cars show around....MSRA's Back to the 50's.....has no judging , no celebrity picks and over 10,000 cars show up very year

 

Thanks for all the input. The main reason I was looking at judging was a promoter from a car club I spoke with said that we should have trophies at the event as a way to get people to show up. I'm definitely going with Kids Choice, People's Choice and Participants choice. The categories I'm looking at would be best pre-49, post 50, truck, stock/resto, and motorcycle. Late March/early April in New England is a crapshoot weather wise but that's the best time on the school calendar for this event. If anybody has other suggestions for stuff to have at the show that would be great. Thanks again everybody. In response to Joe H, I could make some custom beer mugs with the event logo and category for a prize instead of trophy, looking at having dash plaques for first 100 registered and event stickers made.

 

Once you start judging the end is near. Adult carshow folk are whiney bitches.

Have fun with it, If it is for the kids school let each class or grade pick THEIR favorite. Give them a chance to connect with the hobby.

 

Easy done,
Kids Choice,
Teachers choice,
Peoples choice.

 

I think your best bet is to stay neutral...designate the awards to be chosen by the car club that attends with the most participation. That way you are off the hook, the carclub doing the picking is rewarded for their efforts, the people that attend can relate to who is doing the picking, etc....Everybody wins.

 

Snag as many flyers from other shows as you can and get ideas for class structures.
Alway's seperate the stock from the modified vehicles.
You will see there are generally more cars from the 60's than any other class.
Rods are big in my area as well, get input into how to break down the classes from what you see turn out at other shows.

Create a judging sheet, make it simple 5 sections valued at 0-20 points.
engine, body&paint, wheels&tires&chassis, interior&top(vinyl or convertible if equipped), trunk&chrome. These are examples.

Get teams of judges 2-3 people to judge the classes.

If someone gets Best of Show or any other prestigeous award, pull him out of class competition, in other words, don't give out multiple awards.

Get one person in charge, the go-to guy, if there are any questions, and there always will be. Find the guy who can be diplomatic or a grade A a**hole when needed. His decision is final.

One thing I always do. If I run a stock class, I tell my judges to consider modifications as if they are grease, rust, or peeling paint. Always treat a true stock, but worn interior better than a modified one. Sometimes does not go over well. But if you are consistant, than it works.

I always have someone whine that they only have a couple mods, but in reality they want to beat out a stock car instead of competing where they should be.

 

Exactly.

 

Goodguys use "pick" awards.
After my second Goodguys "Terrific T" award I asked the judge why he picked my roadster when there were plenty of Ts at the show with more chrome, bigger engines, and more elaborate paint jobs than mine. He said that he just drives around in his golf cart and a car in the catagory he is judging will "jump out at him".
This is more fun, gives the budget builder a better chance and really pisses off the big buck trophy hounds.
As mentioned above you could have a Ladies Choice, a Cops Pick, etc.

 

One of the best shows I ever was involved in was run by as a Kruisin for Kids car show. Many awards, with names like:
Rock and roll ride.
Best Hay Hauler
Cruisin Dream.
Be Bop Ride
Coolest wheels
and plenty more like this, you get the idea?

Several groups of people were sent out to do picks.
For whatever reason, they were given a list of awards, go out and pick.
Yet people in the end wanted to know why they didn't get this one, and not that one..............when there are awards involved, participants will always question why!

I have been a local club rep at the All Chrysler Nationals for many years.
They do Celebrity picks. and have around 50 celebrity awards to give away.
Just go out on the showfield, and for whatever reason, pick a car you like to give the award to. I loved it, because I always looked for the unusual, like a plain 4-door survivor with factory cross ram motor. Or a Desoto that was beautiful and had the hi-way hi-fi in it. One year I picked a slant 6 car that was really done well. And had a blast doing it!

 

Another way I've seen, in a joking/playful way of givein "something" out to participants, is to give out handmade trophies, with a Joking type of theme.
Back in the old days, all the car clubs in NJ used ot have a "club day" picnic. All the local clubs volunteered to do something to contribute to the sho, and the "trophy" giving club decided not to make this a competitive thing.
They gave out handmade plaques, awards, similar to the ones they give downstairs at Detroit's Autorama, but with a twist. None of the awards were serious. They gave out "MOST unfinished" instead of "best unfinished". Lowest car, MOST chopped car, "most bugs in the radiator" award, etc.
I'd like to see more of this stuff, instead of points type competition at shows.
I also like Tman's idea, to let each grade of children give out awards to their favorite car...maybe the kids can even make the awards in their art classes???????

 

You got it.

 

what do you think they should do judge each year seperatly?

 

As a general rule if I see a show advertising trophys I usually do not go. They seem to go to all the same ones anyway. They may be the best there but it gets a little boring. Just a few awards is all that is needed and less work for the one putting it on too. You'll have enough to do with all the crybabies.

 

Great input everyone, much appreciated. Seems a little split, so let me ask you guys this. Would you attend, pay a small entry fee for charity, to show your car, at a first time event if none or just a few people's choice awards were given. There will be a DJ, food and vendors. What other things would you like to see at event like this?

 

Keep the entry fee low ($20. or less), MINIMAL trophies (3-5), include a lunch or a t-shirt in with the entry price (give 'em something!). Maybe a fifty-fifty drawing, or a raffle for a donated big item (engine, trans., tool chest, etc).

 

One of the clubs I'm in would have a few awards that were completely subjective and mostly for fun. The Second Worst Car in the Show Award (because nobody wants to have the worst car) which was a trophy and a gift certificate to a parts supplier, the JC Whitney Award, for most excessive or creative use of non-standard accessories. Both of these are very tongue-in-cheek kind of things.

Here's another idea, Spirit of the Hobby Award. That would go to the guy, usually a kid, who has a car so rough most of us wouldn't even touch it, who is pouring his heart and soul and what little money he has into making it something. You know the type, hell some of us used to be that kid. Make it a nice trophy and hand it out right before the Best of Show award.

Good luck.

Kurt O.

 

I've always wanted to have some of these ready to give to the biggest whiner.
Because anyone who has run a show can attest to the fact that someone will not be happy, and complain all day long to anyone who will listen. Imagine handing that to someone in front of a crowd.

For instance:
The guy who has a vehicle that really doesn't fit in any class offered, wants you to create a class just for him.
The guy who complains because he doesn't think someone else should be in his class.
The guy that complains because someone displays racing time slips with his car, that that guy should be in a racing class, though the car is stone stock.
The guy who bothers you all afternoon about "when are awards".
The guy who complains that you are giving plaques instead of trophies(or vice versa).
The guy who insists his GTO should be allowed to go into the stock production class instead of the Muscle Car class because he wants to beat out the plain jane cars and can't compete against the Roadrunner in the class he "should" be in.

 

I really like that "Spirit of the Hobby Award" deal....You could turn someone's life around with something like that!

 

One thing that should be kept in mind is that grown men will spend 40K or more on a project to win a $9.00 plastic trophy, it's all about pride. John Force's show has the right idea, hand out a ton of them and make them cool looking. Most everyone is very pleased at the end of the day.

 

Does that mean his "Club" will complain the loudest about NOT getting a trophy?
If the chance of getting a trophy is the incentive to show up,they don't need to be there.

Sounds great.

Easy and simple is the best way to go.
If Car Clubs want to show up,have them make a trophy and pick a winner outside of their club.

 

Include things like; "Principal's Pick" "No Car Left Behind Award", "Budget Buster"

 

I am a little surprised you are getting somewhat constructive answers here because HAMBers are not typically too worried about attending judged shows or winning trophies.

However, that being said, I do have a couple of suggestions.

First of all, you are guaranteed to piss someone off, so don't worry about it too much.

At the small show we have, we do special trophys for a few select cars. In your case, I would suggest a "Cheerleaders Pick", "Teachers Pick", "School Choice", something like that. Just let one or all of these groups pick their CHOICE. It doesn't have to be the highest quality vehicle, just the one they like. Keep it SIMPLE...

Then allow the participants to vote on their favorite 10 vehicles and turn a sheet in (More than this gets confusing and is a big pain in the butt for a small show).

Add up the votes and award "Top 10" or "Top 20" trophies to the vehicles with the most "points". We like to call these awards all "Peoples Choice" because generally people like to get an award like that. Again, it is simple...

The highest voted vehicle could receive a "Best of Show" award if you like.

So, I would consider the following awards for your school:

1. Best of Show (highest amount of participants votes gets this one)
2. Cheerleaders Choice (Just let them pick it)
3. Teachers Choice (Again, just let them pick out a favorite)
4. 10 or 20 "Peoples Choice" awards (The vehicles with the most participant votes)

Either way, people will still not be happy! Did I say that before? Car show awards bring out the whiners. No way around it. However, it does help bring people in for a benefit show, like it or not. At least using this method, people cannot directly complain about mistakes you or your people have made (at least legitimately).

Here is a link to the photos of our little show and the trophies that we built out of auto parts. People seem to enjoy them.

http://public.fotki.com/redlinetoys/various-car-show-photos/2009-life-is-good-g/

Good luck!

 

custom BEER mugs? at a high school car show? kinda like wine glasses as prom favors dont ya think! Ha!

assuming this is a high school that your working at.. how about some "picks"

like:

"most likely to get you detention"

 

I don't have time to read this entire thread all the way trough right now but I'll subscribed and catch up later. I do have one comment. If you want to turn your buddies into a bunch of whiney ass crybabies the just put on a car show. Period. No matter how well you judge you can't please everyone.