By Richard
Price
So, you have spent the
better part of the last weekend or so getting your car washed, waxed and
cleaned. Now you are ready to show your car at a Concours d’Elegance. But as
you get ready to go to sleep you wonder how ready you are and what to expect
tomorrow. Are you really ready?
As you prepare your car
for a Concours, you will use many different products. Cleaners, polishes,
waxes, solvents, window cleaners and leather treatments are just a few of the
many items you will use to get your car to look it’s best. To be ready to show
your car you should have prepared yourself some kind of a kit that has small
bottles of each of these products as well as towels, rags and even Q-tips.
Being prepared will make the day of the show go much smoother. Talk to friends who
have been to shows and find out what they bring. Also think about comfort –
bring chairs, an umbrella for shade and a cooler for drinks. It can get pretty
hot waiting for those judges to show up. I know that is a lot to get into a
Porsche, but modern technology makes some great fold-up compact chairs, etc.
One last consideration to
prepare for is getting the car ready for the trip to the Concours site. If you
have a trailer, you are lucky. Most participants do not. In fact, unless you
are showing in the Concours class, you have to drive to the event. You may want
to consider covering parts of the car with removable vinyl pieces or tape to
prevent chips and other damage on the way over. These products are available
from many sources; some are even at your local hardware store.
OK, so the morning is
here. You are on your way over. You have left early so you will have plenty of
time to drive over and avoid those water puddles. You also want to have as much
time as possible to prepare your car once you arrive. Know what time car
placement starts and plan on being there by that time.
Once you arrive you will
be directed to the entrance of the Concours site. A volunteer will direct you
to the place your car will be on display for the day. Quite often a great deal
of thought has gone into where the cars are placed, so be patient and
understanding as you are direct to your spot – in the grand scheme of things it
makes sense. Once in place unload your car – the chairs, umbrella, detail kit
and cooler. Take a moment to get organized. Now locate the registration table
and make sure you are registered, get your score sheets and return to your car.
Take a moment and fill out
your score sheets. The front sheet requires the most information. All the other
pages just need your name and class. As a courtesy to the judges, remove the
staple. Fill out the placard that goes on the front windshield. Place the
placard and score sheets off to the side, take a deep breath and get ready for
the final preparations.
If you arrived early, you
should have around two hours to get your car ready. That may seem like a long
time, but it is never enough time. Think about all the things you did over the
last few weekends while you got the car ready, you now have to do all those
things over again in an abbreviated fashion. Start with the area of the car
that will need the most attention – if you are in Concours division that is
probably the underside, for Street and Unrestored the motor, for Wash and Shine
the exterior. The storage compartment should need the least attention so leave
it for last. Think about the areas that took extra work while you worked on the
car during the previous weekend. Those are the areas that will need special
attention again. Did you find a small oil leak in the motor compartment? Make
sure you give that area special attention this morning. Did you have a problem
with the glass streaking – you will again this morning. Be systematic. Take
each judged area one at a time. Finish one area, close it up and go on to the next.
The interior should be near the end of your list because you will need to open
it up to open up the other areas – engine compartment and storage. As you
finish the interior, give it one last look around for what the wind might have
blown in and close the door. Now give the exterior that last walk around
detail. Remember the score sheets and placard you filled out a couple of hours
ago. Grab them and place them under the windshield wiper. Right about now you
are going to hear someone saying, “light dusting only.”
Once you hear “light
dusting” it is time to relax. All you can do now is lightly dust the exterior
of the car and wait for the judges. At some point the volunteer judges are
going to make it to your car – you might be first, you might be last, but your
time will come. When they show up, they will introduce themselves to you and
ask for the score sheets. Remove the score sheets from under the wiper and hand
them to the head judge. The head judge will distribute them to the other judges
on the team. At that point, the head judge gets as long as needed to walk
around the car. This is when the head judge is looking for fit, finish, and
general presentation of the car. Usually this doesn’t last more than a minute.
Now take a really deep breath because the judging is about to begin. The head
judge will ask you to open all the doors on the car. You will find this easiest
if you do it in a logical sequence. Open the drivers door, while in there
release the storage and engine compartment lids and gas cap if you have one.
Now go open the engine lid all the way, open the passenger’s door and finally
the storage lid. The head judge will instruct the timer to start the 5-minute
judging period. You will now get to spend the longest five minutes of your
life. You get to watch these judges probe and poke your car like some kind of
thorough physical exam. This is not the time to relax. Watch what they are
doing. See where they are inspecting. They know where to find problems, so take
from their experience and learn new areas to clean you might not have thought
of before. You should not talk to the judges during this time, but you can
learn a lot by watching.
When judging ends the
judges will fill out their score sheets. Usually they will take the time to
show you what they found and maybe even offer suggestions. If they do not, it
is perfectly acceptable for you to ask. Do not be offended if they are brief –
they do have many more cars to judge.
Now you really can relax.
Take a moment to stand back from your car and see how great it looks. This is
the biggest reward you are going to get for all your work. You now have a car
that will really turn heads. Once you do that, take time to walk around and
look at the other cars, talk to the other participants, find out their secrets.
Most people who are involved in the Concours series will be more than happy to
share their techniques with you.
Sometime after lunch, the
awards will be handed out. Come over and congratulate those who did well – who
knows you may be one of them. Offer thanks to those who took hours and days of
their time to organize the event. The day has now come to an end. Pack up
everything and enjoy driving your beautiful car home. Oh, you might want to
confirm when the next event is so you can do it all over again!