Concours in the olden days, My feelings - the way it should still be Options

[Pat Garvey]

I haven't had a diatribe in 2 years, so I'm due.

I'll admit it - I'm a throwback/curmudgeon when it comes to concours.

When it comes to originality, it's just that - original parts and condition. I'll admit that restoration to original condition means it isn't original. I'll take the hit.

But let's discuss cleanliness. And, I'll discuss it the way I was mentored in 1973, which I still hold to & believe is correct.

Cleanliness, to me, means that the judge(s) should be able to actually FEEL the car! Put thier hands on it.

A judge should be able to physically determine the cleanliness of the car, with hands on. If you are portraying your car (whatever breed) as clean, you should see to it that it is physically clean. A judge should be able to either use his/her fingers (or a cloth) to search for grime. If it's there it isn't clean (as in cleanliness). Should be touched, not merely observed.

In my very first "full" concours the judges wore white labcoats & sported cleaning rags (it was PCA 1973). My 914, at less then a year old, has 48k miles on it. But I had been coached by 2 of the best concours people of the era. I took it off the road for 4 months to get it ready. Unfotunately/fortunately, my mentors were part of my judging team. They found little goo, except for the CV boots and oil stained heat exchangers. I won the event & was pushed on to the next Parade (74). In between, I did 2 other concours & won easily, after learning hardcore cleanliness.

I owe a lot of my success to Jon Lowe, who was a perpetual judge and has the longest fingers I've seen. Jon went GT'ing & eventaully fell out to model airplanes.

The 1974 PCA Parade was my first attempt at national hardcore - scared the hell out of me. We prepped for 3 months (914 had been taken off of daily use then) every evening. It was as perfect as could be, but we had to drive it to Pocono. I stripped it of non-critical front end parts & set off. At that time, the PA turnpike was a mess of loose rocks & busted concrete, and was a rough ride. Arrived a day early & spent 3 days prepping. Had non-correct chromies on the car, and I liked them, so we (Janice & I) spent the time on cleanliness, hoping to make up the points there. We did, and won the class by almost 15 points. Mind you, the judges actually touched the car then.

Won a bunch of firsts & People Choice thereafter, but prepped for the Asheville Parade, based on cleanliness. Won that one by 8 points. Judges were still hands-on then too.

After a bunch of PCA and multi-marque events (another 12 firsts & one Best Porsche) came the Reston Parade. This was the only time I trailerd.
I new that this one would be the toughest, and that I would be going against Cole Scrogham, so we worked even harder & trailered.

I came off the trailer & my master cylinder failed. Cole lent me a new one & proceeded to beat me by 1.8 points, probably because of my cheomies & Yoko autocross tires. Fact is - I scored 4 points higher on cleanliness, but gave up almost six points on originality. OK by me. Cole won fair & square. I made the choice on wheels & tires & it cost me another win. But the judges still had hands-on experience with every car.

Now, the judges can only look, not touch. They can't tell if a car is clean or not. You can put all kinds on slick goo that shows well on the botom of enigine & tranny - even the belly, but they can't touch. I don't loke it.

Jon ("long fingers") Lowe used to tell me that a Porsche was only clean as far as he could reach. I liked those days.
Pat

[914werke]

Ive got to disagree.
It shouldn't be a contest of who can clean their car the best (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
How does cleanliness promote originality?

[Pat Garvey]

Ive got to disagree.
It shouldn't be a contest of who can clean their car the best (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
How does cleanliness promote originality?

Hear what you're saying...but listen to those of us who've made some personal changes. In my case, I wear 6 inch chromies with semi sticky tires. I like the look & appreciate the handling. Those are the ONLY areas where I digress from originality. I know that I'm going to be "hit" for my personal changes, so I clean harder that most to make up for the deducts that I expect. I lost a Parade win because of this, but being within 1.8 points of Cole Scrogham (who won), with my bogus tires & wheels makes me feel pretty good.

My 914 has been maintained as concours/clean since 1974. I have always had my preference for chrome wheels, though I probably have the finest restored steelies in my hip pocket.

To answer your comment - yes, it should be a contest of who can keep the 914, or other Porsche, as clean and originally finished as possible. Make up for the minor personal touches by being super clean. Invite judges to touch. Give them a towel, though no one since Jon Lowe has ever found anything on my underside.
P

[Tom_T]

Ive got to disagree.
It shouldn't be a contest of who can clean their car the best (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
How does cleanliness promote originality?

Hear what you're saying...but listen to those of us who've made some personal changes. In my case, I wear 6 inch chromies with semi sticky tires. I like the look & appreciate the handling. Those are the ONLY areas where I digress from originality. I know that I'm going to be "hit" for my personal changes, so I clean harder that most to make up for the deducts that I expect. I lost a Parade win because of this, but being within 1.8 points of Cole Scrogham (who won), with my bogus tires & wheels makes me feel pretty good.

My 914 has been maintained as concours/clean since 1974. I have always had my preference for chrome wheels, though I probably have the finest restored steelies in my hip pocket.

To answer your comment - yes, it should be a contest of who can keep the 914, or other Porsche, as clean and originally finished as possible. Make up for the minor personal touches by being super clean. Invite judges to touch. Give them a towel, though no one since Jon Lowe has ever found anything on my underside.
P

You sound like an ad for Charmin toilet tissue on that last comment Pat! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

My big disappointment at the Zone 8 Concours Judging School last Spring was that they exclusively focused on cleaning/maintenance issues, saying that Originality wasn't judged at all in the local events - only at Parade & sometimes Regional CdE's!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

My primary purpose for attending was to get a better handle on the originality issues for my resto, but they had nothing to offer on that aspect! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)