The incongruities of a car show & "concours", ..and we wonder why we bother Options

[1970 Neun vierzehn]

At a recent PCA car celebration and (alleged) concours, the awards were based on participant voting. I imagined that to consist of presentation, cleanliness, and popularity. I had no expectations of recognition, although I did spend the better part of two days preparing the car.

The somewhat irritating aspect of the event was the resultant awards presented.
The bad: in a field consisting of a least a dozen 356s, including a couple of normal 356 Bs, the "judges" conferred the "slowest car award" to a 1976 914 2.0 . I'm not that familier with 356 performance figures but I'd be hard pressed to believe a 1958 356 B Normal coupe would be faster than a 2.0 914 of any vintage.
The good: that aforementioned 1976 914 DID win a very deserved award in the standard "concours" judging. It was all OEM as far as I could tell and was a past PCA Parade Preservation class overall winner (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif)

The real annoyance, however, was the two awards given to a (remember this is a PORSCHE Club event) a car (keep in mind the 914-not-a-real-Porsche controversy) that was a Beck 550 spyder with a VW engine. Granted, it was well done, and I am sure fun to drive in the right venue, but, just what qualifies it as a Porsche?

I suppose with the relatively "mass market" approach that corporate Porsche is pursuing of late, I shouldn't be surprised at the general casual approach that car show organizers need to take to attract uninformed and mildly interested participants.

Paul

[GeorgeRud]

No wonder the cars and coffee concept has proven so popular! simply enjoy the cars and comradeship without the egos and attitudes!

[dcheek]

No wonder the cars and coffee concept has proven so popular! simply enjoy the cars and comradeship without the egos and attitudes!

I'm a 38 year member of the largest PCA Region, the Northern New Jersey Region. I have never witnessed any snobbery, egos or attitudes, nor has my 914 ever been snubbed. In fact, I've won many Concours events "beating" historically significant vehicles. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I obsessively maintained an "entry level" Porsche, while most 914 owners in the day drove them into the ground. Another factor is that people are amazed how I was able to keep a car so long. The bottom line is that I've received nothing but positive reinforcement, so much so that I would never consider selling.

Now that the model is approaching the 50 year mark, and the availability of pristine original cars is few and far between, there is even greater appreciation when I display my car. When you consider I live in the most unfriendly part of the country, the New York, New Jersey metropolitan area (not my opinion), it makes this experience all that more amazing.

My best trophy is the positive comments and appreciation of the car. Whether I win or not is not really important. I know what I have, and I'm glad I still have it. With this in mind, I'm never disappointed with the outcome.

Dave