Bowtie Judging Question

[Jack C.]

My 68's drivers side seatcover was replaced a few years ago. Would this be a significant deduct for the 85% rule for interior judging if I were to attempt Bowtie status? Everything else is original and untouched. Thanks.

[Reba W.]

Re: Bowtie Judging Question

One item on a four-page check sheet should not hurt you.

[Jack C.]

Re: Bowtie Judging Question

Thanks Reba. I should have made myself a little more clear. The seatcover was the only item changed in the interior. I do have a couple of things in other areas. I sort of was shooting for, like what percentage of the interior points would be deducted because of the seatcover change.

[Terry M.]

Re: Bowtie Judging Question

Bowtie judging is different than flight judging. Each line is a yes or no, and the question is: "Is this THE part the UAW installed at the car assembly plant?" NOT "Does it look like the part....."

As Reba says each section of the car (Interior, Exterior, Mechanical, Chassis) gets about four pages of line items, single-spaced. Some of the lines deal with areas, rather than one item, but the upholstery is two lines -- driver and passenger as I remember. So there are a couple of hundred lines, maybe, and you need 80 or 85% yes to pass. There is some age adjustment for older cars, so it is not so simple -- and that is only the first step-- called the quantative portion.

If the car passes the 80 or 85% bogie the team gets to vote on the questions: "Is this part of the car (one of the four areas) worthy of preservation? Would you be happy driving across the country to look at this car if you were restoring one like it?" This is called the qualitative portion.

Only after passing BOTH is the car determined to get a Star Award for the area in question. If it gets four Stars, it is a Bowtie Car.

[Jack H.]

Re: Bowtie Judging Question

Adding on to the comments by Reba & Terry, Star/Bowtie is UNLILKE Flight Judging. In Flight, there are points (originality and condition) associated with each line item. Some line items weigh more than others in terms of their point contribution to the overall 4500 point total.

In Star/Bowtie judging, there are simply individual line items. There are NO points associated with them and condition is NOT a consideration. Like Terry said, the question is: "Is this the factory original item THIS car shipped with?" rather than the equivalent question used in Flight evaluation ("Does this/that APPEAR to be of typical factory production?").

So, you simply take the number of line items that PASSED scrutiny and divide by the total number of line items in that section to arrive at the car's raw section score with the 'cut line' being 80-85% before the aging factor is applied and judges vote on the car's significance level (yes/no) in terms of applicability for educational purposes.

As Reba said ONE failed line item out of a four page list of items will NOT disqualify the car in that section! Typically, each 4-page section amounts to 80-100 line items...

[Floyd B.]

Re: Bowtie Judging Question

Thanx folks - very educational. What happens if a part original to the car has been restored? For example, the original water pump has received new innards and a fresh coat of paint.

[Michael W.]

Re: Bowtie Judging Question

It means (at a minimum) that the part will show signs that it has been removed and replaced. Judges will prefer to see components that show no signs that it has ever been disturbed, as this makes the decision "Is this THE part the UAW installed at the car assembly plant?" that much more difficult.

Experienced Bowtie judges recognize that most Corvettes had some maintenance done to them over their decades of existence. A commonly replaced item like a water pump is not the end of the earth.

[Terry M.]