Judging at a Car Show

My Experience Judging at a Mustang Car Show

Every year there are hundreds of Mustang car shows put on across the country and the world. Some people enter their cars into these shows with the hopes of winning an award. Others enter for the pure joy of showcasing their vehicle. In either case, there are almost always judges involved who examine the vehicles and evaluate their overall quality.

This past August I served as a judge at the Mustang Club of America’s (MCA) 2008 Grand National Show in Park City, Utah. If you’re not familiar with the group, the MCA is the largest organization of Mustang enthusiasts in the world. At the yearly Grand National show, members of MCA chartered Mustang clubs from around the world converge in one location to meet, show off their rides, and talk about the car they admire so much.

What It Takes to Judge

In all, judging was a lot of fun. It was also a lot of work. In order to be a judge, it helps to have a deep admiration for the vehicle’s you’ll be judging. It also helps if you know a thing or two about the model years you’ll be evaluating. After all, you’re the one who will score an entrant’s vehicle. Fortunately, most clubs utilize a team system wherein several judges examine each vehicle judged. By following this method, judges can help each other out as they work their way through the judging process. It also helps to cut down on errors when you have more than one set of eyes evaluating a car.

A judge also needs to be a person who enjoys volunteering their time. After all, it can take upwards to an hour or more to thoroughly judge a vehicle properly.

Finally, it helps if you’re a people person. Unfortunately there are times when people get a bit testy with judges. If you’re good at calming people down and diffusing problems, you’ll have an ace in your pocket.

Judge Characteristics:

• You Like Ford Mustangs
  
• You Enjoy Volunteering Your Time
  
• You’re Familiar with the Year You’ll Judge
  
• You’re Good With People

At the 2008 Grand National I was paired with a team of two other judges. We first met during a Judges meeting where we were served coffee, orange juice, and doughnuts. Talk about the perks of judging!

Our team leader, Craig, was very experienced and had years of experience judging Mustangs under his belt. In fact, the way he was rambling notes back to me during judging, I imagine he dreams of first generation Mustangs each night in his sleep. Craig is an MCA Gold Card Judge specializing in 1964½-1966 Mustangs. This means he was appointed by the MCA National Head Judge based on referrals from an MCA Assistant National Head Judge or other MCA Gold Card Judges. In the world of judging, a Gold Card is prestigious. Those who hold one know their class of Mustang inside and out. As such, Craig was a valuable asset later in the day as we made our way around the show judging vehicles.

Classes of Mustangs

After chatting and getting to know one another, all the judges were split up into groups. Each group was given a job. Our job was to judge first generation Mustangs, both Concourse trailered and Concourse driven. You’re probably asking, “What is Concourse trailered and Concourse driven?” Well, these are classes of vehicles. You see, at each Mustang show vehicles entering the show are classified prior to judging. This helps the judges know what to look for on judging day. Take a Concourse driven Mustang. In the MCA judging rulebook, a judge is instructed not to deduct points in a driven 1965 Concourse car if it doesn’t have a factory original style FoMoCo oil filter. On the other hand, if you’re looking at a Concourse trailered vehicle (not driven daily), judges will look for an original style oil filter. If it doesn’t have one, you get dinged points.

As you can see, the class in which a Mustang is entered will determine how it will be judged.

The following are some commonly used car show classes:

CONCOURSE TRAILERED: This type of car is a perfect example of the original vehicle. All parts are to original specs, the vehicle has nice paint, and the interior is sharp looking. This car should also be clean and detailed since it’s trailered.

CONCOURSE DRIVEN: This type of car is a perfect example of what a restored Mustang would look like. Unlike Concourse Trailered, this type of car may have reproduction parts and accessories. However, it should still be clean, free of defects, with a good paint job and good overall workmanship.

UNRESTORED: This type of car usually has low miles on it and is factory original in good condition. It won’t be perfect, as judges expect some normal wear over the years. Imperfections such as a broken tail light would not be considered normal wear. As such, an owner in this class would lose points in such an instance.

THOROUGHBRED: This class is all about being authentic. If you restored a classic Mustang to its original state with no reproduction parts used what-so-ever, this would be a good class for you. In this class it should either be all-original or an authentic replacement.

OCCASIONAL DRIVEN/DAILY DRIVER: This type of car is driven to the show and will be driven home. Because it’s a street car judges expect to see some wear on those tires. In this class you can use aftermarket replacement parts if they are similar in design to the original parts they replaced. If the show is broken out into occasional and daily driven, the occasional driven vehicles will often have the undercarriage judged briefly, whereas judges would likely not look at the undercarriage of the daily driven vehicle.

DISPLAY: This type of vehicle is entered into a show so the owner can show it off. Therefore, the vehicle isn’t usually judged. There are instances in which attendees select a favorite display vehicle, which would then be eligible for a Popular Vote award. Popular vote can also be expanded to cover any vehicle entered into the show, display and judged.