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That was no "ramble" at all....you just simply told the truth and told it like it really is! Fair or not, that IS how it IS. The shiniest paint with the brightest chrome and the most appealing add-ons, will always take top prize at most conventional car shows. It's why I rarely ever enter any of my rides in such a car show any more either. However, that does NOT mean I do not show my vehicles. There are plenty of "cruise-ins" around that people could care less about all the mirror-like paint and chrome goodies. It's the CAR ITSELF that counts. And they're FREE! That's MY 2 cents worth, (fwiw). Karl
Charles Pollock <cpollock@xxxxxxxx> wrote: Hello All,
Just wanted to add my pennies as well-
It USED to be that for a car to be considered a 'survivor' it had to be at least 75% original. How that was determined was determined by the judging people before the Nats took place. That- as MANY of you have noted, has changed. I think I know why. Because 'survivor' status for any mopar these days will make the car MUCH more valuable. I'm sure many of you have seen how much a 'survivor' brings at that joke of an auction Barrett-Jackson. Always more than a correctly restored car of similar options, etc.
Sorry, memory is getting shorter as I get older, but someone told the tale of their nicely original/restored 66 Charger getting beaten by a modified Charger at a show. I am sad to say this is why I stopped entering my Chargers in shows as well. The Modified Charger is what many in the hobby are now calling 'day two' restorations. These are cars with
period correct speed/appearance parts. In other words, the car appears as it would have after the first owner had put on all of the hop-up items that he would of the day after he bought the car. Generally, this means aftermarket wheels, headers, gauges, steering wheel, etc.
The thing is that these items, if done correctly, MUST be from that era or be direct replacements from that era. A good example is Torquethrust wheels. They never went out of production. OR Anson aluminum slotted wheels. These came back into production for this very example.
Now, the problem is that most judges don't bother to check the authenticity of these items. They just note them.
All of this is why correctly restored cars get beat by the modified cars.
Any decent car show will give the 'day two-s' their own category. Many (most) do not.
So- I just don't show my cars....and it appears many of you don't either.
This really is
ashame.
Why? because, again as someone else noted, you can now go to shows and see nothing but the day 2's.
Soon enough everyone is going to forget what the original cars looked like because no one brings them out anymore.
Personally, I go to the Nats every year. I have since 1989. I showed my Chargers there until 1996. That's when I saw the trend appear. I wouldn't pay the money now (or lets face it 19 gallons of 94 octane aint cheap, and I would burn 4-5 tanks in a weekend) to take one of my cars to this show. Not to be stuck in the middle of a huge dusty field and have people pass the car over simply because it ISN'T modified.
Now- on a positive note-
I did see some very nice FWLK cars there this year. A 60 and 61 300 letter series cars most notable. Beautifully restored or just original I don't know.
BOTH stuck in the middle of that damn field. At least the 61 was near the Dodge test drive area so
you had to pass it on the test drive route, but a crying shame that two such beautiful cars weren't even given their own areas. This is on top of a couple belvederes, a coronet, a couple desotos and the 413 cross ram powered 61 Dodge Seneca? that was the topic of discussion here not long ago. The people who run the Nats have no idea how to 'run the nats' if you get my meaning!
Anyway,
Sorry for the rambling,
Charles.
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