Should Members of a Club Sponsoring a Car Show Be Eligible for Awards
Some people are trophy hunters. The ten dollar gold painted plastic trophy symbolizes a form of acknowledgement that their hard work has been noticed and respected.
It sucks *** to see a substandard car get chosen over a better one.
If you had a decent, true M code Dart and a slant six car with butchered engine mounts and a 383 ....but with the correct seat covers WINS and you get nothing, wouldn't you be pissed?
That was just one example.
When I judged, I tried hard to NOT let my personal opinions enter the decision. I don't like certain colors but if the car had impeccable body and paintwork, I let the quality of the work be the determining factor. I don't care for the pro-street look but if the car has an overall theme that matches (Wide rear tires, skinny fronts, tunnel ram, gauges on the dash, fuel cell) then the car is judged on the quality of the work.
I've awarded slant six and 318 cars over big blocks because the car looked cleaner and better.
A hard category to judge is the "Under construction". You'll often see them as ratty and beat up. How do you pick from rusty and running versus panel damaged and leaking fluids?
I was lucky...I won 1st place in the first car show that I entered! My car had fresh paint, new wheels but the interior wasn't done. The other cars in the "Under Construction" class needed paint. One guy got so pissed that his car wasn't chosen, he whined and whined until the judges peeled a label off of some leftover trophy and handed it to him just to shut him up. He had a 68 Barracuda with shopping cart dings all over....but a new interior.