Judges

[James B.]

This weekend I drove my 67 coupe to Wisconsin because I found out late that their NCRS chapter was having a judging meet. My purpose was to have the car judged to help structure my Restoration plan. The car is very original but has had no special attention re restoration work and I didn't have time to work on OPs items that I knew could be a problem. The Wisconsin group and judges (from Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri) were all welcoming, professional and knowledgeable.

As the judging went on I was mentally tallying points and to my amazement knew I was close to a top flight- Then came Ops! As I feared, I had problems with backup lights, radio and windshield washers. The ops judges asked me to put the car in reverse two or three times to see if we could get the lights to come on; had me push the ww button several times and was patient and let me spin the AM and FM dials a couple of times looking for reception; alas none of the three items would work. What became apparent to me was that the judge wanted to see me succeed and get those points almost as much as I did. That interest and support was the most positive experience of a very positive weekend.

My thanks to all, Jim Baker

[Carl N.]

Re: Judges

James, good to hear about positive experience - this forum needs more of these - "ops" are where you can lose a bunch of points at once and is one of the least expensive to correct any issues - have fun

[Tracy C.]

Re: Judges

I think you will find that most of the judges in the organization are the guys and gals that get grease under their fingernails. They restore their own cars and know how hard it is to get it right. For that reason, they want you to succeed as much as you want to succeed.

tc

[Ray G.]

Re: Judges

Thank you for bringing your Corvette and the kind words. Your Corvette is high quality.
Ray

[Michael J.]

Re: Judges

Nice to see such treatment for a non-chapter member at chapter judging, I have always been a bit hesitant to go outside the local chapter, but with this kind of treatment I will not in the future, maybe all are like this.

[George W.]

Re: Judges

James,
It was a pleasure to see and judge your car. Work on the items and go to a regional asap. You have a nice car.
Good luck and thank you for the kind comments about the WI Chap Meet. You did good.

[Joe R.]

Re: Judges

This thread and others like this one makes us old timers feel proud all over again! The NCRS is a wonderful group of people held together by the Corvette. And shall I add hard working knowledgeable people eager to help a fellow member.

My hats off to the WI Chapter for conducting such a great meet!

JR

[Chris E.]

Re: Judges

Jim, your car is truly stunning. As you and I chatted about, I would encourage you to consider showing it at the Regional level and looking towards a Star or the Bow Tie award. While I'm not an expert at Bow Tie judging, your car did show to have a high amount of originality to it. Those cars are getting more rare as the days go by. Anyway, just something to consider. You've got my card if you want to chat about it any further. I'd be happy to be a resource for you. I completely restored my 67 and campaigned it over the last few years and finally achieved the Duntov Mark of Excellence. These are great cars. Let us know how we can help.

Chris Enstrom
North Central Chapter Judging Chairman

[Edward M.]

Re: Judges

Without a doubt, NCRS judges are car people first. We all want your car to shine, and for you to get true satisfaction and enjoyment from the car, and from NCRS. I still remember the advice given to me when I first judged at an NCRS event (Cypress Gardens, Winter Regional, 1986). "In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, give the owner the benefit of the doubt". Thank you again Bert Lukens.

[Tom D.]

Re: Judges

I'm not what you'd call a senior level judge (only 67 points) but one thing I've learned which has stuck in my mind is to remember to compliment an owner who's done a great job of preparing a car to be judged. Some of the 200-300 Level Judges I've worked with remind me that too often we are only focused on looking for the negative and we don't do enough to reinforce the good we see in cars in the judging field. I think this is sound advice!

[James B.]

Re: Judges

Thanks to all who have made comments and a couple of nice complements re my 67. Bottom line for me is that after the experience at Delafield I want to get to work on my car and show it again and now want to aspire to getting it judged at a regional some day, and want to drive it too the meet (good thing I want to drive it as I don't have a trailer or tow vehicle)