Show Questions..

I'm going to show the new (to me) Dino at the Hartford FCA event/FCA nationals the Labor day weekend and I wanted to start a thread to ask a couple of questions:

1. Parts that are "used", but still work fine but are a bit untidy. Will points be deducted for this?
a) Ash tray is a little dented and obviously someone has smoked and used the ashtray at somepoint in its history. Let's face it this car was made in 1974 and it was still kinda cool to smoke then
b) Cloth Window runners in the quarter lights. Still there, still fine, the windows go up and down, but they are slightly tatty but they are original.

2. Car has updated ignition, is this a problem for concours? It still has all its original CA smog equipment etc.

3. License plate surround. It has a shiny surround with a Ferrari logo on it. Its kinda cheesy, and I was probably going to lose it anyway, but is this the kind of thing that's a problem?

4. Any other tips on showing the car?

I think my wife is wondering why I spend so much time in the garage simply sitting in the car and opening and closing various compartments and pouring over the car. She's known I had a "problem" with cars for some time, but this is opening her view somewhat

TIA for any tips.

 

i am disappointed no one has chimed in on this thread.

i have fought to keep from replacing my original parts.

back when the over restoration trend was in play, i coudln't understand it. to me , originality is something that can never be replaced. even if nos parts are available, there is something cool about being original. the mouse hair dash is a great example.

i though it would look silly to replace the dash with something that didn't look the right part, but even worse, looked too new. after seeing the new version, i am so glad i never went down that road. on two of my cars, i will have to at some point, but i am still holding out. i don't think there is anything wrong with something looking old and loved

 

Thanks for the reply - I kinda thought it might stimulate some debate myself.

I certainly had fun trying to simply remove the old CA plates and put my new MA ones on. only 7 screws needed (and that's because the plate itself was only affixed with 2!).

I'm going to leave the car as is and just enjoy it.

 

maybe. Neatness counts. I got dinged for having lug nuts that had chipped chrome. I lost .5 for having a 1/4' tear in my original headliner.

probably not. But.... again if your car and another car are battling it out for a silver or gold, little appearance issues can make the difference.

Same as above

cost you a point.

wrong plate surround is a 1 point deduction, I think. Dino came with a plain surround, I've seen chrome and black, neither one has ever been questioned at the regionals I've been to.

Know your car's history. know as much as possible about what is original, and what is not. Tuck a good reference book in the trunk that has a lot of pictures. Just in case you get into a disagreement about what's original or not. Showing a good period picture can sometimes help.

CLEAN YOUR CAR. Inside and out, engine compartment, everywhere. Don't forget the engine compartment. Clean the chrome, well.

Warm the car up before the judging starts. They're gonna make you start it, and if it runs rough, it'll cost you a point.

Know what the controls do. If you fumble around trying to turn on lights, etc, you may miss something they want to see.

Lay out your tools, display your book, pouch and contents. DO NOT USE THIS PHRASE NEAR THE JUDGE. "My car is perfect." Bound to cost you points.

Avoid being parked on the end of the row, if at all possible. 1st car to get judged always gets picked apart more than one parked in the middle.

STAY WITH YOUR CAR. Don't make the judge wait for you.


I know I missed a bunch of stuff.

OH, bring a small fold up chair. Lots of sitting and waiting for the judges to show up.

DM

 

The last concours I went to had a "Very original" Dino next to mine. Got it's head handed to it. Didn't even grab a silver. I thought it was a high 80's point wise, but I guess I was wrong. He left very angry.

 

This is worth reading very closely...

NATIONAL CONCOURS JUDGING GUIDELINES:
http://www.ferrariclubofamerica.org/concours_guidelines.cfm

 

Thanks.

 

Except that's not exactly how they judge cars.

If your car any my car are identical in score, say an 89 overall, but your car is more carefully prepared than mine, you'll win the silver over me.

If I have XWX radials, all the correct screws, a perfect owner's pouch, correct tools, etc, and you have Pilot SP radials, all the correct screws, a perfect owner's pouch and tools, I WIN!

Do the rules indicate that modern replacement tires are OK? Yes they do. but if I have period correct tires, and you don't, neither of us loses a point, but I'll win. IF I have a key FOB, and you don't, I might win, if everything else is equal.

My original seat belts vs. your modern replacements won't differentiate on the score sheet, but they might in the judges eyes.

These tie breakers don't matter if your car is a platinum level car, but they will for gold and silver. also may impress a judge who might miss something else while he's staring at your $1200 key fob or $9000 pouch.

Judges are humans, after all. One concours I went to the judges got all bleary eyed over my warranty card. Seems they knew the original owner and the original seller, both outlined on the card. They all liked the fact that I had the card at all. Missed completely that my pouch was from a Testarossa, not a Dino. I scored a 97 at that show. The next year, same show, different judges, I scored a 95.5, and I had addressed the three points that the other judges took off and replaced my pouch with a correct one

I'm just saying the rules are in place, and they are helpful, but nothing counts like experience in this stuff. Do the first one to learn. Ask for a copy of your score sheet, listen to the judges at all the cars in your class, if you can. Ask the other guys, who may have done more of these than you, what they've found in the past that are easy things to fix or spot

I've done about a 6 or 7 concours events with my Dino. Not a lot, I know, but enough to learn some of what judges look for, and it ain't all on the score sheet.

Dave M.

 

Thanks for that advice. I was thinking that there would be no substitute for just trying it and seeing what happens.

For now I'm just loving driving it around. Its nice to have a car again that feels "fast" at about 40mph, as opposed to the CS which can handily do 100mph and still feel like its going way slower than it wants. It is of course nice to have both!

 

Well the FCA Hartford event yesterday was the first outing. Result was a Platinum award! The other dino there also won a Platinum. It was a beautiful afternoon, and the thunderstorms stayed away.

https://home.comcast.net/~tfieldiii/Cars/large-22.html

The link is from fchatter TGF who took this photo.

More of his pics of the event are here.
https://home.comcast.net/~tfieldiii/Cars

 

If I ever decide that I need that kind of aggravation, I'll enter a concours. In the meantime, I'll steer clear of them!

 

Congratulations!

 

congrats!!!

Did they judge your car with the top out??

That's a deduction in concours world.

Just checkin'

PLATINUM 1ST TIME OUT doesn't leave much room for improvement. Did you get a copy of the score sheet??

Dave

 

Interestingly it did win the preservation award.

Which he did not hang around to collect.

DM

 

No - I left the top on. I know the owner of the other dino that won platinum quite well, and he tipped me that leaving the top off was a deduction. He also reminded me to remove the aftermarket mats.

It was nice to go through each other's cars comparing little details, I also got to sit down with another Dino owner that's had his car since '77. For example I'd never noticed before yesterday that the Pininfarina badge is only on one side. The other Dino's owner wasn't sure if they'd worked a half day when his was made and forgotten it. But both cars have only the one badge on the passenger side.

I don't have a copy of the score sheet, but I've asked for one. Chineti Jr was there during the announcements, and there wasn't really a chance to ask

 

Is this true even if the top is stowed in the car and available for inspection? The logic escapes me.

 

YUP.

Has to do with inspecting for panel fit, I think.

DM

 

That makes sense - I can certainly see that a dino wouldn't need to be very off true for the top to show a lack of alignment, or even not fit at all.

Also I once rented a Dino from Bespokes whilst visiting the UK, and the top had had an unscheduled exit from the car at 70mph on the highway when a previous renter had not put the latches down! So I guess having it fitted would show for sure that something like that hadn't happened.

 

I know early cars have a cover which fits below the nose to limit/allow air flow into the radiator. All covers including that one (if it applies) should be with or on the car for judging.

 

I guess that makes sense. How many points would be deducted for my modern CD player?

 

I'm not sure about that one.

I guess in theory that could be non-standard electrical or dash, could be 1 point deduction.

US cars left he factory with a power antenna, but no radio, yet you don't get a deduction for installing a period correct radio. (Pretty much anything that's not factory on the car would otherwise cause a deduction.) I might argue that anything other than the radio delete plate is non factory on US cars.

So.. as usual, it's a shade of gray. But Im guessing in most cases cost you a point.

DM