$2000 Challenge - 12 point reference car.

The new Challenge rules mention a "12 point" reference car for the judges.  That made me think of our $2016 entry.  It scored a 13.3 at concourse.  I think David, Rene, and Tim were among the judges that year.  I submit that group knows how to judge a Challenge car.  If you remove the theme (Hood stripe, painted rims, air dam, and decals) I think this car is the definition of a mid pack 12 point car.  

It has nice paint, a nice full interior, A/C, and springs and sway bar purchased new from Flyin' Miata.  (Hi Keith.)  It placed 9th at the autocross, and ran a 16.9 second 1/4 mile.  So it ran as expected.  

Pretty much every car that placed higher at concourse that year had a motor swap, or power adder (or some kind of engineering).  If you remove the theme you have a clean car with a couple of bolt ons, and budget exempt tires.  My thought is that's a "12".   Please Opine.  

If that is being said because opting out would bring the same result's .....   then no.

it's a nice looking car, A good running DD, I would think, it took some effort to get it there, I see those sort of things, Bring it back sell yourself and the car to the judges and get more points.

If that car is a "12", then I'm opting out. The reference car will certainly make it easier for someone to make the opt out decision. If a car that clean is the reference, the judging will be about 20 cars ... IMHO, of course.

In reply to rdcyclist :

I just read the rules and out of the 16 words used to describe what the judges are looking for "cleanliness" was only one. It's not a car show to flaunt your detailing skills, it's a Concours to show your innovation, execution, and presentation.

Once again...

”Clean” isn’t in the rules. It’s not a goal of the Concours. 

Cleanliness is a descriptive word under “Execution”. But a brand new car off the lot would be ridiculously clean, and offer zero effort on execution. 

Show me a pic where that started in a dumpster with rats nesting in it, and I will agree it was executed nicely. Show me a picture of it in nearly perfect condition on the day it was purchased, and I see nothing executed. 

and myself, if the carpet is freshly shampooed, it won't get a better score than one that your kid just dumped a 16oz. drink in and you cleaned it up. if you want points for stock seats, at least change the color, say your car is dark blue ,  interior is lite saddle, do the carpet or seats in dark blue too.  contrast catch's the eye. I still like yours.

Sorry, I what I meant by "Clean" was how sharp the car looks not that they did a great job with the Meguiar's products (which they did). This is what I meant: If the reference car is that sharp, a lot of cars on the fence will have "Don't Judge Me" stapled to the windshield. Yes, I know the innovation in just about any Miata isn't going to really be there but you gotta know that bringing a very clean car will have some impact on judging. And if that was a 13.3, then it was worth getting it judged. How hard will you work for 1.3 points?

For reference, this ratty, splotchy, mostly-primered, death trap scored a 19.4 in concours. I assume much of the remaining 5.6 points were lost to Execution (or more specifically "cleanliness" as we are describing it here).

I long for the early days of the challenge. Simple, fun, exciting. It's morphed into something that's less of all those things. As much fun as I had competing, that's why I haven't been back. Of course, that was the year of hired lawyers to exploit the simple rules,  and champion-winning drivers to pilot the car; when the down hill slide started. 

If IT takes me 3 min. to tell the judges most things I have changed, modified, repaired,and I did good work at that, I WOULD HOPE FOR A BETTER SCORE THAN MID NUMBERS.