Event Coverage Judged my first and hopefully last car show

I wonder how may guys stop to look at the roadster and ask, "what color are you painting it?" kind of like showing up to a party and your friends ask " when are you changing clothes?"

 

What were the stakes, that is, what did the winners receive? Did you get to wear matching straw hats and a judge ribbon? That could be your new avatar.

 

Me too! You don’t see too many Ralph Rogers Indians anymore.

 

And redo the chrome

 

Cool. Seems like a thankless job, well done sir.

 

Straw hats?

Well, I had mine. One other judge did as well.
the goofy looking green and pink shirt is my 30 year old work shirt from the shop the show was at.

 

Oh, the winners got something a little cooler than the standard plastic trophy.

I was offered a free barbecue and was told where I could bring my tool box if I was looking to change jobs.

 

Car show judging should be LIKE or DONT LIKE .
Folks tend to make it out to be far more than it is !

 

No points really was awarded.
The best cars in each class was the trophy. No 2nd or 3rd. We selected or top cars for each category then picked the best.
The only close decision was paint.
It came down to 3.
One was Silver Had a couple very slight dark spots in the base.
The 2nd was a 2 tone custom paint with nice graphics. Had a shadow line in the roof you could barely see and where a couple dust bibs were sanded out but not blocked.
The winner was kinda “controversial”. My in laws were there and couldn’t believe it got best paint. It was a bright candy green, the trim was glossy black. (Modern pro touring kinda build) Flat grern under the hood. It wasn’t a contest for best color. But whoever painted it did an outstanding job. As far as I was concerned, it was the best paint there. But there was also probably 10-15 more there that was very close. I didn’t particularly care for the best interior choice. But had to be honest with my self. I didn’t like the color. So I had to ignore the color and I conceded with the other judges.
The best truck was a LWB c10. One of the judges mentioned he doesn’t like blue and not a LWB fan. His pic was very nice but was not as nicely done as the LWB.
It’s weird when ya have to put aside or tone down personal prejudices to judge something.

 

Personal choice is hard to put aside. I’ve been to several shows where the judges were Chevy guys, you could tell because if it wasn’t a Chevy it got overlooked. If it is an all one make show, that’s fine, but you can’t be partial to one brand just because you like it better at a open show.

And there’s always those that question the judging. I’ve seen cars that I thought should’ve won something get passed over, but I didn’t see what the judges saw. They saw something they didn’t like, or was done better on another car. Just the way it is.

I went to Coalfest a couple of weeks ago, had more people looking at and talking about my clunker than any of the other cars. But it didn’t rate a top 20 award. I wasn’t expecting one. Lots of nicer paint jobs and interiors than my junk has, so the pretty cars got picked. But I felt like a winner with the interest that was shown in it because it wasn’t a bellybutton copy of something else. That means more to me than a plastic and tin dust catcher.

 

Its impossible to eliminate personal preferences , its part of your value system.
We are who we are !

 

One guy got kinda upset. He had a documented 80 mile Hemi Cuda. Still has the original tires. But he didn’t have a show participant card in the window.
Poor fella.
I got tickled when we walked up to my bus. I told en to pass on this one, it’s mine
A quiet pause from the other judges ….

 

Well, I think all car brands suck and really don’t have a favorite color.
I’m almost a perfect judge

 

To eliminate any problems I attach a post-a-note to the ID in the window. “Not to be Judged”.
I rarely go to a gathering that does and I’m like BamaMav, its better to hear a compliment from a couple or family walking by.

 

I've done judging at a couple shows. It is a thankless job for certain. I've always tried to put my personal preferences aside and go for flaws alone. Start with 100 points and deduct for flaws from there. But even then, there are those that demand an explanation and get pissy. An example would be like the paint scenario described above, or maybe a perfectly detailed stock engine compared to a blinged out and highly polished motor but with missing or mismatching fasteners or poor fitting parts.
I'll not volunteer again, but if the club really needs my help, I'd consider it.

 

I've got three Goodguy's awards hanging on the wall and I appreciate that they were awarded by the judges based on personal taste. Quit going to car shows about 10 years ago due to the ignorant spectators that knew more about the car that I built than I knew! Anthony did a great job of explaining the foibles of being a car show judge.

 

I don’t let the goofy bother me.
I go and hang out.
Talk, trade a part or 2.
Eat some food.
Cruise home with a big cheesy grin

 

When you judge a car show it's a fact that you are going to piss someone off. I have seen fistfights over some lousy $10 plastic trophy.

 

Kinda thought about not going to the show when I seen it was one of those “judged” shows. I prefer to give participants tickets then draw for prizes or $$$$$.
But I know the folks well and hoped to see a few friends.

former student that works at the shop.
Was asked to judge when I showed up.
Why not.
Picked my best for each category, discussed with the one reminding judge that survived the heat, and made our decisions.
Any issues can be taken up with the show providers.
I was asked to announce a football game once. The visiting team didn’t give us a roster so I made up names. Everybody had a good time but that was my last time to do that.
Probably the same here.

But I got to meet this guy

we have a mutual friend we both miss.
I offered to trade my bus for the roadster. He smiled so I took that as a polite no.
I tried to buy this 15 years ago. Nope.
It’s the owners dream ride. And he’s enjoying the crap out of it.
Don’t blame him.

 

Judged my fair share the last 40 years or so. It's kind of a no win situation for the judges but it goes with the territory. The best strategy towards the end of my judging days was judge and then leave just before the awards, just wasn't fun or worth it anymore and this was for a top 10 cars with over 700 cars.

 

I judged one show about 30 years ago and that was the last time... The closest I come now is helping pick one car for an award at our reliability runs. But, that is purely what we like and likely isn’t even a car that would get an award at any other event. The one we chose this past year was a 32 5 window that is very similar to the roadster you picked for top 10...a new build but doesn’t look like it.

 

having been a judge at all the shows our club has sponsored I can assure you someone is gonna get upset, they confront the judges and try and sway your way of thinking.

I remember one particular show where we all agreed that the red '50 unchopped Mercury was the car we all would like to have in our garage and it was a unanimous pick, at the awards ceremony at the conclusion of the show a participant started mouthing off that his '66 Mustang was nicer and it still had the original tires,.

I was getting up from my seat to go try and calm him down but another judge stopped me, the Mustang guy kept making a spectacle of himself until the winner of the best of show reached in his car and handed the trophy to the the SOB Mustang guy and said here is your award , now shut the F---K UP.

HRP

 

This story reminds me of a guy that used to throw a fit every year at the local small town show in my town when he didn’t win something. I know everyone in the club and they often joked about making an award for the blue chopped Merc with flames, etc. so the cry baby would get an actual trophy and shut up. The car was actually pretty hideous but the owner obviously didn’t think so.

 

Maybe the names of the trophies should be changed the from "BEST" to "LEAST FLAWED".

 

Yeah...That tint looks like crap.

 

My paw in law came over the house Sunday evening. He didn’t know I was a judge at the show on Saturday. His Elco was there.
He asked if I seen the best paint winner, he couldn’t believe it won best paint.
I asked him what was wrong with it. He said it was green with black trim. (The truck had a pro touring kinda vibe)
I asked what was wrong with it again. He said the trim was black. Nothing was said about quality, just the colors.

that’s the number one reason judged shows are/can be a joke.
How many trophies go to the car that was the favorite brand or color for judge.

 

I really like the cards they give to put in the window. When it has a line for outstanding or special feature I write “Not a Chevrolet”… I cannot tell you how many smiles come from that line and the thumbs up..
I also leave another note in the slot between the side window and door but I’ve found out that people don’t read very well!

 

Were you able to do it up back then?

 

So much personal growth in a single day! I’ve judged once at a car show and found no joy in it. We do it all the time in 4-H, most kids find no joy in it, the pigs don’t seem to mind.