Just picked up an 05 cab. She's ridiculously clean having only 12k on the clock. Thinking about maybe doing some concours competitions next summer. My question is do mods hurt my chances?? and will slightly yellowing clear bra kill any hopes of scoring well ??

 

Numerous local organizations sponsor 'Concours' events; traditionally vehicle judging at a Concours d'Elegance is much more demanding than that of a neighbourhood or general automobile show. Trained judges examine the vehicle thoroughly and in its entirety. They rate each and every component. Only those vehicles that are judged perfect (or very nearly so) in every way, are considered eligible for trophy class.
Often the competitiveness of a Concours d'Elegance forces restoration of a vehicle to surpass 'mint' condition. Mint condition would be the state of the vehicle when it originally left the factory. Concours-quality cars often are given upholstery, paint, chrome (or nickel) plating, and mechanical restoration far exceeding that of the car when new.
Check with a local Concours d'Elegance organization, they will ususally provide details of what criterion they judge vehicles on



Concours d'Elegance

 

One thing to keep in mind when using a car for concourse competition is "concourse cars are not daily drivers". We detailed a show winner at the Kirkland Concours d'elegance here in Seattle, and spent about a week detailing one car. If the car gets driven regularly you will need to spend hours and hours and hours getting ready for a show, and will want to trailer the car to the event. You have a beautiful Turbo, I'd just drive the wheels off of it.....



John

 

Thanks guys, yeah I'm not going for national acclaim, just hoping to not humiliate myself at the local shows. Cars pretty clean, hows the clear bra yellowing going to affect judging??

 

If it's not on a national level, probably not a huge concern. It would however bother me enough to replace it.


John

 

There are many classes that you can enter into and be judged accordingly amongst close peers of your car. It all depends on the event. Just a few months back, we had a Concours in Palos Verdes and I prepped a 1978 Lamborghini Silhouette. This car was by no means a garage queen and I spent only about 9 hours detailing it. Did not do paint correction, didn't do a complete polish and wax, etc. I did a detail that the judges would appreciate knowing we did not spend days working on the car, rather cleaned everything up to make her look presentable. We ended up winning Best in Class against two iconic Lamborghinis, Muira. The reason we won was due in part that the car was better detailed than the others and the history of this particular car. It was owned by a famous person, it had been in the 1978 New York Auto Show, the client had a nice leather-bound book documenting everything, and it was 1 of 38 left in the world.

I've also entered modern-day porsches where we spent a few day detailing, they were daily drivers, and they also took best of class. You can enter in different classes, so see what is available. There may be something as simple as wash and shine where your car simply has to look clean, not white glove clean, but clean and well-preserved for its age. In these classes, you're not effected by mods, although a yellow bra may lose you some points.

So find out the actual classes available, see if there's one that would meet your interest and time constraints, and then have fun with it. I hope this helps. We do many concours preps and so often everyone thinks it's about the cleanliness and detailing of the car. Even at the world-renowned Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, that may be 30-40% of the total, the rest is how unique and special the car is, it's restoration and documentation, and the STORY behind what makes YOUR car special.

 

Thanks moe, u da man!! Many questions to follow.

 

Glad I could help. Don't be afraid to ask any question that comes to mind. We're all here to help.