OK, so I was a judge again this year. I did enter a car in the competition, but agreed with Tom and Nancy that I would not try to have it judged in the concours, to avoid any conflict of interest. I did have some very tangential connections to a few of the cars in the competition, but it was mostly cases of what direction do I need to head down to get this particular issue sorted. Mostly I gave some generic advice and tried not to get caught up in being "part" of any team. I did however see my name on a build book or two. That should cover the potential questions about being impartial.
The concours scoring is difficult with the number of cars involved and the wide range of preparation styles/levels. Three minutes is nowhere near enough time for every competitor to give just one person a complete idea of what went into their build, much less six of us in a noisy/hectic atmosphere. Some folks are natural salespeople, others are much too shy to really shout out their accomplishments. Some of the cars draw your eye with dazzling details, while others are really subtle but still contain significant effort. Everyone should be proud of what they have built and presented. This being my second year judging, gives me a little more knowledge/insight than I had last year, since I was able to see the progression of several cars. I tried to approach prior entries with an open mind and not dwell on what did not change in the past year.
To be up-front, I was the toughest judge last year. This year, with a more explicit example of the "perfect 12 point car" in front of us right before the judging started, it looks like my scores were more the middle ground. Of course there is variability among the judges, so sometimes I was highest and other time lowest of the scores. I can only give my breakdown for the scores I provided.
BigBen was the first to ask to have his car's concours score deconstructed. His car number was: 71, the Blue Opel GT with the engine swap, and eventually the broken u-joint on the drag strip. The car received a concours average score of 15.83 (73.2 percentile, nearly top 25%). I scored the car a 17, the highest of the concours scores from the judges. My breakdown was as follows: Innovation - 8 of 10, Execution - 6 of 10, Presentation - 3 of 5. The car was a collection of parts from several different marques and models, from the engine right out to the wheels. I liked the creativity of mixing and matching all of the different bits to get a really competitive car (90.24 of of 100 on the dynamic scoring). The car showed very nicely from the outside, but the interior and the suspension showed that the car was used as a tool and not the cleanest/shiniest under the skin. The presentation was average as you tried to show/describe all of the mods without any sort of highlighting features, but ran short of time. My favorite detail is the fact that the Nissan engine gauges were tucked into the Opel gauge cluster with no obvious issues. Overall, I think you could increase you concours score by making a more compact list of the major changes and perhaps highlighting the others with eye catching labels/signs.
Byrneon27 was the second to ask for critique. His car was number 27, a black CRX. The car received a concours average score of 11.33 (17.8 percentile). I scored the car an 11, the scores ranged from 8 to 15, so the car was not easy to judge. My breakdown was as follows: Innovation - 5 of 10, Execution - 3 of 10, Presentation - 3 of 5. The car was competitive (90.75 of of 100 on the dynamic scoring). The story of the car was the biggest selling point. This car had been a previous Challenge car in 2001 and then fell into the hands of dirt track racers and the car was modified to fit it use. The car showed its battle scars from all that abuse, but it was not exactly pretty. The innovation was middle of the road as the car has been a race car for a while and it has been modified to whatever suits the conditions, but nothing really over the top. Overall, I think you could increase you concours score by showing as much history of the car as you could find (there might be a magazine that could help find old pictures!!). Relating how you had to work with the remnants of a piece of Challenge history could tip the presentation and execution in your favor. As a last-chance build, you could have pushed the limited time in your presentation as well.
FlaDriver64 and his band of high-school students/scouts approached me after the town hall meeting and asked me to give them the skinny on how they did. Being able to talk directly to the team (face to face) helped me recall what parts of the build each was involved in from the presentation. I will always try to make time for one-on-one questions at the Challenge because it is the best way to keep encouraging folks to come back and step up their game. If FlaDriver64 wants me to break his score down online I will.
The 12 point option is an underused option in my opinion (12 out of 57 entries). The difficult thing to do is objectively compare your build to the example 12 point car. If your car is mostly stock and in need of some cleaning and bodywork, then the 12 point option may be your best best. My car falls directly into this category, it needs paint work, the drivetrain was unmodified, and only some small aero bits were added to the car. There is a reason to present if your car is not likely to score better than a 12 and that is to get better at it and try again next time with more feedback, like that provided by this thread.
If you have questions about your scores, post them up and I can hash them out in front of everyone, you know for the sake of informing everyone.
Later, Steve.
