Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

[Gary Rubalcava]

If a car is Bloomington Gold or Top Flight certified, how confident should one be that the car is original? How thorough is the inspection process? What is held in higher regard NCRS Top Flight or Bloomington Gold?

[John H.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

Gary -

Neither Bloomington Gold nor NCRS Top Flight awards relate to the car or any of its parts being "original"; they relate to the car "appearing to meet the judging standard" at the time they were judged. The key word here is "appear", and who knows what parts may (or may not) have been changed since the car was judged. Those awards indicate that at one point in time the car appeared to meet either organization's judging standard, but don't address how the car has been maintained since the day it was judged, and neither award "certifies" the car. "Originality" is a whole separate issue, which is the criteria used in NCRS Star/Bowtie judging.

[Harmon C.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

Gary
On that day the Corvette recived that award by that team of judges as appearing like original. Parts could be restored,replaced,or original.A week or years later many parts can be changed that would affect the award.

Lyle

[Clem Z.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

buy it off the judging field to be sure. just like buying a race car you buy it in victory lane never after it had left the public arena

[Dick W.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

Let you form your own opinion of the awards. At Bloomington 4 judges spend 36 minutes per judge, or a total 144 minutes on the car. NCRS has 5 teams of 2 judging your car for the time necessary to do a car. Usually about 45 minutes to an hour per team.

At Bloomington judges are not allowed to carry any reference books or judging manuals on the field. At an NCRS event cars are judged to a standard as spelled out in the Judging Guide and Technical Information Manual for the specific year.

[Gary Rubalcava]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

Why would reference books not be allowed on the field at Bloomington? Regarding your statement about "5 teams of 2 judging your car", do you mean that upwards of 10 judges inspect the cars? I am assuming you mean that A TOTAL of 45-60 minutes are used to inspect a car at NCRS.

[Jean C.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

As Dick said, five (5) teams (Operations, Mechanical, Exterior, Interior and Chassis) usually consisting of of two (2)judges each and each team spends 45 minutes to an hour on the car, total time near five (5) hours.
Best regards,
Charlie

[Verle R.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

That adds up to near ten man hours in an NCRS judging of one car.

Judges use the Technical Information Manual written for the model car being judged. Most manuals cover one or two years and call out differences between the years when applicable.

NCRS flight judging considers originality and condition of many individual parts.

NCRS judging is time consuming and thorough.

Bloomington may be more well known but I would rather have a car that received an NCRS Regional or National top flight.

Verle

[Dick W.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

The management at Bloomington feels that the judges do not need reference manuals. They state that the judges should have enough knowledge so as not to need any references.

[Tom Dooley]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

I agree that the additional judges and time spent on a car at an NCRS event may be of benefit in most classes but for the 63 class, it only means more incorrect judging. My neighbor has the new 4th edition judging manual and I can't believe all of the incorrect information in it. Even if there's a well qualified team of judges, they go by the information in the manual and if it's not the real deal, how can the process possibly be accurate? I've owned my 63 for almost 35 years and I know it's pretty original but there are a lot of things in the manual that don't agree with what's on my car. Hope the other classes aren't this way.

Tom

[Randy R.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

I have a late (third week of July) 1963 and have been through Flight judging at the regional level in Cincinatti. It was obvious to me that a 63 had many running changes in that year of production and parts on one 63 most probably will not match those on earlier or later versions. The judges at the Cinci regional were exceptional and explained the possibility of the differences. NCRS is the way to go verses Bloomington Gold...but why not try both and take the judging sheets home to examine and compare...sounds like fun to me!

[Rick S.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

Randy,
It might be a little expensive to do both and have fun because Bloomington charges somewhere around $300.00 to judge your car.

[Randy R.]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

Rick, Rick, Rick, When was the last time you spent $300 for a part for your beloved corvette? I'm currently collecting parts for the annual winter reconditioning of my car and at the same time (in another thread on this page) I'm researching an economical way to purchase a trailer to haul the same car to Bloomington and beyond! Perhaps I have too much time and money to waste on my car, however, it is my favorite hobby and it must not suffer! By the way, if I had to choose between an NCRS Regional/National event verses Bloomington Gold there is absolutely no choice...NCRS, ALL THE WAY!

[Ron Hambrecht]

Re: Bloomington Gold & Top Flight questions

What point totals is used for Bloomington Gold ? and what % is needed for a Bloomington Gold ?

[Keith B.]

My experience has been good with both

I have had my 1967 judged at the NCRS National Level 2004 and at Bloomington Gold this year. I have compared the judging sheets and the judges found the sames deductions at each event. However, Many of the judges at Bloomington were the same as the National NCRS Judges (you would be surprised how much these guys can remember about your car). In addition, I have been fortunate not to have a lot of deductions and the ones I do have are easily detected (ex. Stainless Exhaust) I will tell you that even though I felt I had researched everything I could, I have learned more than I could have thought from having my car at the NCRS Nationals. It took many hours to be judged and I learned detail from the judges that I used to improve the car after judging. I also learned from so many people who stopped by the car and showed me little details throughout the week. In addition, the help I have recieved from many of the wonderful people on this board has been priceless. I have also met some very nice people along the way. Remember-- Judges are volunteers and really are there to assist you. I have had a very satisfying time with BOTH organizations.

Keith Burmeister