The Chicago Region PCA is having a Concours on June 15. I'm thinking of entering in the novice class. Having never done this before I'm wondering what I should expect.

Thx,

Skip

Sounds like fun. Looks like you better clean the Outside, inside and storage areas first. May just come down to of you are a competitive person and want to "win" something. Otherwise, shine her up, clean her out and have some fun.

If you catch the bug, be prepared.. Lots of tiny cotton cloths, q-tips, and other cleaning items will become routine.

Back when my hands were really small (ie, a 7 year old) I was drafted to help my parents prepare our 914 for a Parade Concours. That is a whole nother level of commitment.

Enjoy!

Skip,

Chicago Region is notorious for conducting very good concours events. I've never done one of thier concours', but I would expect it to be serious. However, with most novice classes, the bent is on cleanliness. You are expected to make your 914 clean, presentable, etc. Word of caution here - if you do too good a job you'll risk being hooked. If you do a bad job, nothing negative will happen. Oh, you'll get tips, but probable no comments like "oh, jeez". PCA people are pretty good folk (why I'm a 35 year member).

Now, if you do reasonably well, and are inclinded to do better, you'll get lots of help if you ask. But, as stated before, you run the risk of being hooked.

There are a number of folks here who can provide direction, even for the novice class.

Ask questions.

Pat

ps: good luck & let us know how it comes out.

I'm also a complete novice & I'm in full blown panic mode as I finish getting my 74 ready for Parade at the end of June. I have no idea what to expect & think I've made a dreadful mistake. If the judges are as picky as I am I'm doomed

No, you haven't made a dreadful mistake! Your 914 will be the better for it.

Are the judges as picky as you? Cover your head - they're worse!

If you put the ultimate effort into your 914, and WANT to win - how are you a loser? You will document your 914 as a member of the rare vintage 914's. You will also have the experience & knowledge of what you didn't do, that you shoulda done. You may quite possibly win too!

Keep the faith. Watch out for that guy from Maine - he's bad news.

Wish I could have played.

Pat

[quote name='Pat Garvey' date='May 30 2008, 09:46 PM' post='1038917']
[quote name='Johny Blackstain' post='1038830' date='May 30 2008, 04:26 PM']
If you put the ultimate effort into your 914, and WANT to win - how are you a loser? You will document your 914 as a member of the rare vintage 914's. You will also have the experience & knowledge of what you didn't do, that you shoulda done. You may quite possibly win too!

Keep the faith. Watch out for that guy from Maine - he's bad news.

Wish I could have played.

Pat
[/quote]

Sigh..

The Euro 914-6 from Maine will not be attending the Parade this year. Health issues continue to plague me. Surgery in February and April. I'm only now thinking of getting the Six on the road.

Looks like both Pat and I will be missing a great showing of 914's.

I'm very sorry to hear that Pat & James will not be there. I understand George Hussey will be there w/ his fully restored LE.
I'm not whining, just nerveous. I've spent a lot of time & money cleaning the car up, another $200 just to register for Parade. Getting this thing ready has given me a new found respect for Concours cars. Cleansicles, garage queens, museum pieces, whatever... so much work.
I've never shown a car before & just hope to do well & enjoy the event. Between the preparation, transportation & expenses this is not something I'm going to do regularly.

Al,

Relax!

Do the best you can - that's what it boils down to. There will always be someone with deep pockets to confront you. For me, it was Cole Scrogham. He beat me once, fair & square, but the second time he beat me on reputation. There will always be those people. And, I have no beefs with Cole - he lent me a master cylinder at a critical time. I consider him a friend.

Shrug it off, do your best. Grin & know you did it yourself, instead of having a crew of 5 or more do it for you. Lot to be said for that.

Good luck, my bud. Hope you clean everyones clock. Both James & I have our reasons for not making Charlotte this year. I know I can speak for both of us when I regret not being there & meeting "the boys".

Let us know how it works out.

Pat

Skip,

A. Did you go to the concours?

B. Did you enter the concours?

C. How did you do in the concours?

D. Did you take pictures at the concours?

E. Will you post pictures if "yes" to "D".

Paul

To be embarassed

Chicago Region was my first concourse as well

(they were very kind actually... but they didn't spend too much time looking over my car)

How'd it go?

A. Did you go to the concours?

Yes, I did.

B. Did you enter the concours?

Yup.

C. How did you do in the concours?

Won the "novice" class. (I think I was the only entrant in that category...)

D. Did you take pictures at the concours?

Yes.

E. Will you post pictures if "yes" to "D".

I've been planning to post a write-up and some pix, but haven't had the time. I'll try to post something this evening.

Skip

So I attended the Chicago Region PCA's first concours of the year over the weekend. I took my son Jake, it being father's day and all. We got rain on the way there (about a 45 minute drive), but once there the weather cooperated. The rain in the morning almost certainly served to lower attendance. I think I counted 15 cars there. Mine was the only 914 entered. There was one other 914 there, not entered, and one other 914 owner (an original owner, Pat) showed up sans teener.

I wound up winning the novice class because I believe I was the only entrant. I don't have any other details about who won what, but hey, they weren't 914s, so who cares!!!

At any rate, I did take a few pictures. I'll start pasting them in now...

This is my 914/6:
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This guy has a Convertible D with a 3.0 liter 6 in it. There's a hole through the body behind the license plate so the fan can suck in some air. The engine badge says "3000 Super".
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Joe Gauthier (sp?) owns this 914/6 with a 3.2 liter motor:
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Lovely 356C parked next to me:
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Rather than farting around uploading images one-by-one, the rest (original size, each about 1.5MB) are here: PCA Concours 2008-06

Skip

Skip,
Thanks for posting the pics. Maybe it's my 914 bias showing, but these days, thirty years after the 914 series production stopped, our cars look more unique and distinctive than the countless iterations of the 911 series cars and the generic lines of our front-engined brethren.
If you hadn't been in the rookie class, would you think that you'd have placed above some of the other entrants?
Finally, what color is your /6?, I can't tell from the pics and you don't have the color showing on the members 914 info.

Paul

I believe the color is supposed to be metallic blue. Unfortunately, I can't get my driver's side door open wide enough at the moment to get a good look at the paint code on the door jamb. The car was repainted about 10 or 12 years ago. It doesn't look like the color on the car is a terrific match to the original, but I like it.

If I hadn't been in the novice class I would probably not have placed in Class C (exterior, interior, trunk) as entered, though I would have received an extra 11.5 points which they didn't hand out to the novice class (3 for the car's age, 3.5 for the mileage and 5 for driving to the event), so I might have been close. The guy who judged my car pointed out some obvious things I missed (like cleaning in the door jamb area and between the bumpers and valances. Chicago PCA had a concours prep school and chili tasting in February which I didn't attend. (No way I was taking the car out in February.) So with a little more knowledge I could probably have picked up another 5-10 points. My raw score was 134. Being generous I think I would have maxed out around 155 in Class C. I think the winner in that class received a score of about 175.

Oh, did I mention I pretty much neglected to clean the interior? I wiped it down a bit on Saturday, but completely forgot to vacuum it. I only scored 53 out of a possible 70 there. Also, while I spent a bunch of time on the wheels on Saturday, they picked it all back up during the wet drive to the event on Sunday.

So, maybe if I had spent another couple hours on the car I would have done OK in class C. There are three more coming, one each in July, August and October. I may attend one of them. and try class C.

At any rate, I had fun and got to spend some quality time with Jake, which is getting to be a rare experience these days. I'm sure he enjoyed it because I let him home. The clutch may never be the same.

Skip

Never again for me.

I entered my 96 993 (see pic) in the PCA-Santa Barbara Regions concour last year. I was up all night detailing. Taking the wheels off the car and detailing the under carrage, multiple coats of wax, detailing every jam, cranny, notch I could possably find. Then the next morning I had to drive it up from Thousand Oaks (about 40 miles). After getting there, it was foggy and the grass was wet, so after I parked, I had to detail it again. I spent the next 3 hours detailing more, and then came the time for judging.

I was entered in WASH AND SHINE. There were only two cars in our catigory. Mine and one of the local PCA-SBR members 98 C2S. His had just been completely rebuilt after a heavy accident that nearly totaled the car. Mine had 47k miles on it and was my DD!

The judging went OK, except that I forgot to clean my seat rails. SEAT RAILS! It seemed OK because there were just two of us, so I had a 50/50 chance.

When the awards were being handed out I noticed that every catigory recieved a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, unless there was only one car in that catigory.

As I looked up to see the announcer/event orginizer giving out the awards, I noticed he was the guy with the 98 C2S in my catigory! What?

I now realized that I was going home with 2nd place. But NOOOOOoooo, I guess our catigory was the only one that only recieved a 1st place. And guess who that was.

Now I understand.

Roy.

PS: That was more of the Devil on my right shoulders version. I did have fun, but never again. And to think I paid to enter.

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