car shows/a fix or not

[craig 12]

as some of you may be aware i entered the gilbern into a local car show recently ,new to the circuit i had to stand with the old girl as i didnt have chair/tent/flask/picnic grub/a long 7 hours followed talking to many bewildered faces looking at the mk2 , i had to leave the car for about a minute to fetch some chips, and at around 3pm i suddenly thought .. theres been no one round to judge her, i would have spotted somebody, and lo and behold at 4.30 the prizes were awarded..now how can that be? whats your take on it.. i certainly dont want to get on the circuit if its a bit suspect before it even getds going..it reminds me of fishing matches.. sometimes the hot pegs have been drawn without all the anglers being witness to it..

[Greybags]

Hello Craig, long time since you were on here..

It depends on the show and what classes you registered for..

A lot of shows only judge cars that have been entered into a particular judged section...

So not every vehicle that turns up is elegible for a prize, but should get an attendance plaque.

Did you tell them you wanted your car judged for a particular class... Concours, 70's vehicles, kit/component cars etc.

I have never bothered having my cars judged as you will find that in the local circuits it is often the same cars that win, not becuase they are pre judged, but that the particular owners spend thousands of hours and hundreds of pounds every month polishing and preparing the cars for competition.
One of my good friends in the classic car world, who shows his car a lot and frequently wins, has every slotted screw head pointing the same way along the length of the car, a polished ignition key that is only put in the ignition for shows, and a sleeve that fits inside the exhaust tailpipe that is removed at shows so the insides of the exhaust does not get dirty, and no he doesn't do concours, just the 50's car class... The concours people can be totally anal when it comes to preparing their cars ... I have even seen them polishing inside the tread of a tyre with shoe polish and cotton buds.

Much more fun to take the car to the show, have people admire it, spend some time admiring other peoples car, a quiet pint in the tent, and then collect your plaque and go home, comfy in the knowledge that everyone paid 5 or 10 quid to get into the show, but you only paid a couple of quid entrance fee.

Grahame

[Waylison]

Ditto what Grahame said

Go along, park up, look at your car and make sure nothing valuable is left on display, put out any photos or posters you've prepared for people to read ( a lot prefer to read at their leisure rather than ask you), set out your folding chair, lunch bag, newspaper, put on plenty of sun block and a hat, sit back and enjoy. When you get bored, go for a walk and look at others..... ignore the healthy sandwiches in your lunch bag and follow your nose to the burger van (always a long queue)......drink lots so you dont get a headache.......return to car to hear some father describing your car to his son as a 'Hilman with a body kit" or a Marcos or a sierra chassis with a body kit, the list is endless, smile always, educate some who want to listen, let others go past in ignorance, you'll soon spot who they are, and at about 3pm start to think about leaving, but dont! There are still people paying to get in and see plenty or cars, hold out until at least 4.30pm. As soon as you see one car leave, GO NOW, or you will find yourself sitting in a long queue of overheating classic cars waiting to get past the one that's broken down in the single track lane!

I always come home worn out, and all I've done is sit in the sun and drive a few hundred miles

Either you like it or you dont.

[craig 12]

i did enter into sports saloon class, on the show in question,

[Reddi-Eng]

Hi Craig, nice to have you back.

Classic cars are for driving unless you have more money than sence.

As has been said, go to the shows, enjoy the admiring looks at the Gilbern and pocket the money you have saved by not having every nut and bolt chrome plated.