Fast Cop

First of all I am not a member of any corvette club. That being said what are your thoughts on participant judging at car shows? The reason I ask is that I went to a great car show today. I put in the time prior to driving 120 miles to the show and also put in the time at the show to make sure the car looked great.

Picture in my driveway before leaving for the show


Picture at the show after a quick detail


So the C5 class has about 20 cars, 18 of which belong to members of car clubs. 10 with one club and 8 with another. Long story short the show gave out 12 plaques in the C5 class. All of which went to club members. The car show sponsor club cars were not included in the participant judging. As a "lone wolf" at a car show you don't stand a chance because club members vote for club members regardless if they have the cleanest or best cars.

Your thoughts on this subject please. Thanks

sloopdawg

Nail and Head
Your car looks great man,
I'm sure better than some of those that won
I have a Black one as well, looks really great after a wash and wax
but is a bitch to keep clean
As long as you had fun, that's what it's all about

Choreo

I have never entered any of my Corvettes in any show, but I constantly get asked if my C5 is a "Show Car".

Nothing wrong with participating in Car Shows, but I never saw the point in it. Never really cared that much about what other people think, so I certainly would not enter my car in a contest with arbitrary rules for a $5 trophy. Maybe if they were giving away a new Vette as a prize and I fully understood the judging criteria, but if there were truly that much at stake the whole thing would end up contested in court anyway!

Car looks like a winner regardless!

raff

You already know the answer

BTW- your car does look great.

Vetteman Jack

In general, I am not a fan of participant judging at car shows for exactly the reason you state. Many times club members vote for club members. You would hope that people would have the decency to vote for the best cars there regardless of whether they are in their club or not. However, that said, sometimes going to a car show is more about meeting people and talking cars than winning awards.

I will say your car looks great for what that is worth.

grantv

All things being equal (which they obviously are not; every car is different) you had a 10% chance of winning.
Maybe they picked their friends cars, maybe the other cars were simply nicer. We all love the way ours looks, that's why it's ours.
Without seeing all the entries it's pretty impossible to make an educated reply to this.

DDaaryl

I've only entered a few shows but there are usually dead bugs on my windows, beach sand on my floor along with beer cans because I know how the judging works

Fast Cop

I totally enjoy going to car shows. Yes as Jack said it's about meeting new people and looking at great cars. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time. When I fill out my ballot sheet I always look for the best car. Thanks for the feedback.

Pounder

A lot of my friends have Hot Rods and all belong to a club, they all brag about all the Trophy's they have won ??? (big deal they all vote for each other) One show one of them saw who I was voting for and he said why you voting for him he always wins and is a as*** !!!! I said he has the best car hands down and the vote is for the car not the owner ??????

S.C. vette

Thought your Z06 looked just fine! Were you at your vette when the judges came thru? Perhaps they could not see your interior due to they heavy dark tint? Overall I think the judging was good... My2cents

Nonetheless the event went well and look forward to next year, hopefully with another announcer who won't be bumbling numbers every moment of the first two hours!

Kevinl

It's all a popularity contest, nothing more. Just go and enjoy the day with friends and leave before they dish out the trophies.

Bajaholic

Been involved in car shows for 40+ years. And though I will admit at a point in time it was EXTREMELY important to me to come home with that piece of tall plastic. I will tell you after a while you will realize it is about meeting people and having fun in an afternoon with people that have the same interest.

Yes.... It is great to be acknowledged for your hard work and dedication, but at a small local show, there will always be politics involved, whether you like it or not. This is especially true when it is personal choice ballets. Actual judging is generally better documented but again, politics can prevail.

When we put on our Corvette show (COTI) we took it to a different level, kind of toung and cheek, Bribery is how you won... We had big cans in front of those that wanted to participate in the judging and those that received the most cash in the can won. All monies were given to charity, so it made it competitive, fun and obviously biased...

So my opinion, go, have fun, feel competitive but don't get to worrying about the trophy...

Evil-Twin

I just read the topic... My thoughts.. car shows are mostly all politics...You want a lot of dis appointment, enter a car show and don't be affiliated with the sponsors. Not all but Most...
Bill aka ET

Its always a nice day just hanging out at a car show... but because the topic mentioned " judging ", that turns a nice afternoon into some ugly political posturing.. Be prepared for that if you want to be judged.

Pounder

2ooo-C5

You have that so wrong... its not about you. Not everything has to be done for an award. The reason many people enter car shows is for the kids, people and other car owners. Not everyone can afford these cars. Not everyone can afford 20 different cars. So taking a nice, cool, neat, fast, unique car to a car show is giving back to the community. Without car shows where would kids get to see their dream cars?

I go to 4 or 5 car shows a year. I try to take a different car each year and none of them are corvette shows.

Last one I went to had about 50 cars. It was a fund raiser for the boy scouts. Guess what... 2 weeks later those same boy scouts came to our track day and worked corners.

Who cares about what you win... Its not like some hand carved wood plaque is worth a lot of money, but it keeps those kids doing something use full.

Your blessed in life to have a car worthy of a show... do something good with it.

2ooo-C5

Few car shows have that issue, but corvette club shows do more so then others.

If you want to win at a show you need to do your home work. Find out how the judging works. Many corvette guys loose for stuff in the center console or glove box. Its shocking to see how different shows judge.

One show may look for the dirt on the inside of the wheels, one might look at the inside of the tail pipe, while another looks at nothing.

I have seen a lot of guys who thought they should win who missed all the little details. Talk to the judges ask them what they marked off for. They will tell you. After a few shows you will learn the little tricks. First timers pretty much never win.

When you find the show that this guy wins cause he is friends with so and so... don't go back unless you just want to hang out. Find other shows.

In my experience they are the exception not the norm.

Pounder

We have a Pizza place that has a car meet every Tue. night always more than 75 cars //// mostly in the 150 range. No awards just 50/50 tickets given by the owner. Most of the time he has a band, and what a wide range of cars and people it is the most fun of any car meet/show that I go to !!!! The Pizza is awesome also !!!! and it's every Tue night never gets old !!!!! I have a Minion on my hood (for my Grand Niece) I took it off to put something different on and I saw this little girl crying her eyes out and I said whats wrong. She said she came to see the Minion and it was gone !!!!!! I never go there without the Minion !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vanover

I don't put my car in shows.if I did I would win,why waste my time. I don't like to sit around in the same place all day.its 11:00 am I'm running out of day light yall have fun at the show,I've got a car to drive.

jakecol

I totally agree.

Not4spd

I have a buddy who used to consistently go to local car shows on a weekly basis. He has spent thousands of dollars on his Z06 and it looks amazing. He recently started getting frustrated with that show because he would never win. Well he would win, but it was the pity trophy(class award). He would never place because it was participant voting and the same cars would win each time. Some of the Vettes were even stock.

He began getting discouraged, but I knew the game as I had been involved with car shows much longer than he had. I finally convinced him to attend a different show that is once a month and is judged based on a points system. Wouldn't you know it he took 1st place and had some great competition to boot. After he won I walked up to him and asked, "how does it feel to win at a real show?"

If you go to shows expecting to win you will leave disappointed. Some local shows also have very broad Corvette classes such as 84-newer. Horrible class to be in IMO, but understandable when you don't have enough generations showing up to break it up.

And to those that can't understand sitting in a parking lot. At least we don't have to worry about our car breaking down.