The "Crossed Flags" Award

[Joe C.]

How many of you suggested the "Crossed Flags Award" for well preserved, original C4s? I just saw, in the Restorer, that this will be the moniker for all UNRESTORED post 1982 Corvettes, with PV status and 97% or better Flite points.
This is a VERY difficult award to recieve. This award will NOT simply supplant the "Bowtie". It will be the equivalent of "Duntov"/"McLellan" COMBINED with "Bowtie" for unrestored C4 Corvettes!
In light of the fact that there are a good number of well preserved, unrestored, "flat dash" C4s out there, I am pleased to see that We have set a very high standard as a prerequisite for attaining the "Crossed Flags" status.

Joe

[Brian D.]

Re: The "Crossed Flags" Award

To me, the idea that it was "too easy" for a C4 to win the standard Bowtie is ludicrous. The NCRS's own motto is "restoration, preservation and enjoyment". Now the owners who "preserved" their cars since new are being penalized for doing so!

Likewise silly is the idea that a C4 winning a conventional Bowtie Award would lessen the value of the Bowtie. The last I heard, cars were competing against a standard, not each other. A '63 with a Bowtie won it because it earned it, based on the Bowtie judging requirements. A C4 with a bowtie would have had to accomplish the same. This does not take away from the '63 achievement. Is it more difficult for an older car to achieve a Bowtie? Yes, but that is why the Age Factor is in place. "The Age Factor is designed to equalize the judging and scoring disparity one would typically expect to encounter between... model year car, simply because of the age diference." [NCRS Judging Ref Manual, Sec 8, Item 9]

BTW, my '86 convertible is well beyond the status of a possible conventional Bowtie - too many replacement parts over the years. So please don't think that I object to the Crossed Flags Award because I can't have my Bowtie now. I couldn't have gotten one anyway.

[Patrick H.]

Re: The "Crossed Flags" Award

I wondered how many people suggested the "Croosed Flags" name. I know I did, and the fact that the latest Restorer did not mention any "winner" of the naming contest suggests we "all" had the same name.

Patrick

[Robert D.]

Re: The "Crossed Flags" Award

I suggested The Challenge Award, and this is the first I have heard about the winner.
Bob

[Joe C.]

Re: The "Crossed Flags" Award

Brian:

I agree with much of what you have said, especially when you say that "we are competing against a standard, not each other.....". But consider that the C4's were built using higher QC standards than the older models. The QC bar keeps getting higher every year thanks to foreign competition, most notably the Japanese. The modern technology also produced better parts, which last longer. Therefore many C4's are still running their original shocks, spark plugs, ignition wires, belts, etc., etc. This was not true with the "old timers". Last, but not least, is the paint issue. The urethane enamels that came into use in 1982 are far, far more durable than the old lacquers. There are lots of C4's still wearing their original paint, and most of these still look like new!

My 1985 will likely win a "Crossed Flags" award whenever I get around to it. The "Crossed Flags" is definately not a step DOWN, but, rather, a step UP. A car that earns a "Crossed Flags" is the same as a Duntov/Bowtie car.

Joe

[Joe C.]

Re: The "Crossed Flags" Award

Patrich:

So did I. Since I am not that bright of a lightbulb, I figured that there were many others who also did so. I wrote a letter to Roy Sinor and Vito Cimilluca, suggesting an article in the next Restorer explaining "the Mystery of the Naming Process".

Joe

[Ken A.]

Re: The "Crossed Flags" Award

Joe

You are right about the better quality in the newer cars. My wife's 88 35th anniversary has just over 21,000 on it and still looks new. It has never been in the shop, she bought it new, and virtually everything except tires and battery are the original parts. Now it is starting to have a starting problem, and I'm a little hesitant to dive into it for fear of needing to replace something that will be visible. I guess I don't have much of a choice though. This car earned 99.2 pts for it's McLellan award, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that nothing major happens until we get our turn at the new award. This is the first car we have ever shown, but I will say this, with the C4's, there is a whole lot more that can go wrong for the PV (or TF for that matter)than the earlier cars, so I don't know that it is any easier to earn a TF or a 'Crossed Flags' or Bowtie just because it's newer. (Our 57 probably only has 1/10th as many parts as the 88!)

Ken