Should concours periodically update what year cars can be in their show?

I remember going to car shows in the early 1970s driving my Olds 4-4-2 to get there. The most "modern" car at the typical car show was usually a 1957 T-Bird in time capsule condition. Most restorations were either Model Ts and As or grand Packards and Cadillacs.

I remember thinking that cars like my 4-4-2 had grown so complex with thousands of small parts that it was becoming too expensive and time consuming to even think about restoring contemporary special interest and muscle cars. Boy, was I wrong! Wish I had had the wisdom back then to keep that 4-4-2 as a survivor car.

 

It’s the difference between a Concours and a Cars & Coffee

 

Depends on the focus of the concours event.

Some specialize in pre-war, post-war, modern, etc. Always good to look at their websites
to see what their emphasis is as they nearly always have a different theme from year
to year.

The lines begin to blur when events are seeing the same cars year-in, year-out. The major
ones (like Pebble Beach or Amelia Island) have a 5-year moratorium in place for cars
that have been in their events previously.

So, even in our case like the Miami Concours, the focus is post-war modern, exotics and
collectibles. And, in our first year, a pre-war BMW 328 Roadster won BoS. No one really
made anything of it fortunately as the emphasis is more on the fun aspect and the winner
was more than happy to have his car at the event the next year when Chopard requested
it be on display their Millie Miglia livery on it.

As pointed out, it comes down to what makes the cars special. The Cars & Coffee events
are making things difficult in that regard for local events as they have these deals every
weekend it seems and then the images are splashed all over Instagram and the Internet
and we have had to turn down entrants due to this.

However, we are in the fortunate position to be able accommodate the C&C guys, owners of
replicas and "continuations" by offering them the ability to park their cars in a large area and
away from show central of the Miami Design District called Jungle Plaza. And, while they're
not eligible for concours judging and prizes, their cars are in an unofficial display area, they may
arrive and leave anytime they want, they still get full access to the event just like an entrant so
they're happy.

So, to say for a concours to be a concours, it must be A, B or C, and meeting all this criteria,
these days there's so much competition, events can't be pigeon-holed anymore. You need
look no further than Amelia Island creating a SuperCar class (which they previously thumbed
their noses at) and Pebble Beach this year allowing huge displays of Porsche 917s and
Lamborghini Countachs on the lawn, that's never happened there before, guaranteed.

BHW