Getting My Car Judged for the First Time

[John W.]

Re: Getting My Car Judged for the First Time

Kirk,

Your creed is very much in line with most of the members of NCRS that I know. I have been around since 1974 and can identify with your creed very well. Never met a Corvette I didn't like, and very few Corvette owners. You should get your car judged. You should enjoy the process and don't take it deadly serious. It is a great learning experience, but it not the end of the process but the beginning.

Get involved with your local chapter and meet some great people in your area. Attend any National Events that you can and get involved. We do need members in your age group to be involved. Your age group will be the leaders of NCRS before any of us know it.

[Jean C.]

Re: Getting My Car Judged for the First Time

Kirk,
Yeah...what they said. Keep it as original as possible, drive it, get it judged and have fun. Hope to see you on the road one of these days.
Best regards,
Charlie

[Christopher R.]

Re: Getting My Car Judged for the First Time

Do it. Get it judged. It's a great learning experience. It's free. For no charge you get experts spending hours going through your car with a fine toothed comb. What a deal! If you had to pay these guys what they're worth, you couldn't afford them. For the first time, have it done at a Chapter event where it can be more informal.

Get the books to which the other posters referred. The judging and the books will enable you to come up with a strategy of how you wish to proceed with the judging. Watch out. It can be addictive and expensive. Your civilian friends will think you're nuts when you start talking about matching numbers and spending hundreds of dollars to replace perfectly good functional parts.

Your creed towards the hobby is what I believe. I even like some Fords. The bad attitudes come from people who take this too seriously.

[Joe R.]

Re: Getting My Car Judged for the First Time

Hi Kirk:

I see that other posters have suggested that you eventually get your car judged, and I very much support that view. However, I would like to encourage you to get your car judged immediately, even before you "fix things."

Flight judging at a Chapter event *can* be a pretty low key affair, especially if you explain to the judges that you are just trying to get a baseline report on how your car compares to the NCRS judging standards. Tell them you are trying to better understand what you have and what would be needed for a Top Flight.

For $35 or so, ten judges will spend half a day going over your car and filling out a 16 page checklist that records their opinion of the originality and condition of just about every visible part of your car. For the money, this is a really great deal!

You will also have the opportunity to talk with the judges and learn more about what parts of your car are original and what parts are not. It will be a great learning experience. You will come out of the process with a much clearer understanding about what changes you might need to make, and how the various point values compare for each possible change. This will help you set priorities in your restoration work.

I know that some people who are new to the NCRS think that the judges will "look down" on their car unless it is perfectly restored, and they are afraid that their car will not be welcome at a chapter meet.

The truth of the matter is quite possibly the opposite. As a judge, I have looked at many, many cars that are beautifully restored, and they all look pretty much the same. Once in a while I get to look at a nice unrestored car, and doing that is actually more interesting. It is fun to look for original, unrestored components on a car, no matter how corroded or deteriorated they may be. It's also fun to try and decode some of the history of the car by profiling which parts are original and which ones have been replaced.

In summary, I think there is great value for you in having your car judged as-is to just get a baseline score and some useful information. In addition, it will probably be a treat for the judges to look at an unrestored car and share with you what they find.

[Jacob A.]

Re: Getting My Car Judged for the First Time

What a great thread... Thanks Kirk!

I wish it were easier for me to get my cars in for judging.... seems like it would be easier to get a judge to come to me... but 35 judges!!!! WOW!!! When and where is the next local meet?

[Tim E.]

Re: Getting My Car Judged for the First Time

I had to laugh at what Chris said and how true it is: Your civilian friends will think you're nuts when you start talking about matching numbers and spending hundreds of dollars to replace perfectly good functional parts!

The Corvette Chevy Expo is coming to Houston and at lunch the other day I was talking about bringing my '66 downtown. We got on the subject of judging so we spent the next 15 minutes judging the salt and pepper shakers on the table! People got a good feel for originality and condition!

Wouldn't it be nice if our Company performance evaluation systems worked like Flight Judging instead of a bell curve! There's a well known, published standard out there for everyone. With the right amount of time, money, and energy, we can all achieve the standard of top performance.

Tim

[Verle R.]

Re: Getting My Car Judged for the First Time

I agree with Joe, original unrestored cars are more interesting.

A restored car is done to meet the opinion of the restorer at the time and possibly the NCRS judging manual. Judging manuals are revised as more is learned about the cars. Not all Corvettes were built the same as changes were made during the year they were built.

Join your local NCRS chapter and get your car judged now as it is. You may be surprised how well it will do and you will learn a lot about the car and the judging process.

Verle