I have been following my Concours adventures in my Some Assembly Required series but realize that I haven’t kept track with my basic blog regarding my 63 FHC build, so here goes.
Back in February, the car was really Done Done. I started looking at JCNA Sanctioned Concours that I could enter that were reasonably close to my home base in NC. I came up with Orlando, DC, Richmond, and Little Switzerland. All featured JCNA sanctioned concours. I spent several days spiffing up the car in my garage, in preparation for loading it onto my enclosed trailer for transport.
My first concours was in March, put on by the Jaguar Club of Florida, at a location near Orlando. This was a well run event that featured a Friday night get together, judging Saturday morning, and a banquet Saturday night. I believe there were 4 cars in my class, which was C5: for Champion S1 Etypes from 61 to 67. I was dismayed during the Operational Verification check to find that my brake lights were not working. I was to find later that the pressure switch had gone out. When you are looking for a top score, the mandatory 10 point deduction is a big hit. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised to be announced as the 3rd place car, with a score of 98.66. More importantly, some issues were pointed out to me that I was able to fix. An example was the wrong screws on the air intake extension piece.
My second concours was in April, put on by the Nations Capitol Jaguar Owners Club. This was a one day event, held in conjuction with a larger all-British car show, at the George Mason park. It was a cool, very windy day. There was a lot of stuff blowing in on the wind and as a result, the judges were pretty lenient on cleanliness. I scored a 99.72. Again, some minor issues were noted that I was able to deal with after the show. Of interest, I was competing against one other Etype, which was similar to mine (Opalescent Golden Sand) but an OTS.
My third concours was in June, put on by the Virginia Jaguar Club, at a location in Richmond. This one was also part of a larger car show sponsored by the Antique Automobile Club of America. If you see a theme here, it is much easier for a club to conduct a concour within a larger show. This is something for clubs to think about that are struggling to put together a concour event. My score at this event was 99.87. It’s a little bit of a game of whack-a-mole with the judges but they were finding fewer items to deduct for. I was pleased to make it through 2 shows without any Operation Verification or Authenticity issues!
My fourth show was my “home show”. This was the event put on by the Carolina Jaguar Club at the Little Switzerland Inn, high up in the mountains on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We have been conducting this show for over 20 years and by all accounts, it is a fan favorite. The big advantage is cooler weather at the relatively higher elevation along the Parkway. The event includes several dinners, cocktail hours, a rally, and of course the Concours d’Elegance on Saturday. I was chairman of this event for 3 years so I know it is quite an effort to make it happen. Thanks to all of those folks that helped out. At this show, my score was 99.96, which resulted in my car being #1 in the C5 category. This was quite exciting for me, being the culmination of 5 years of work!
At this point, I don’t plan to attend any more concours this year. I will be travelling to the UK in September/October, for the Goodwood Revival, among other things. Otherwise, I might have been tempted to enter the International Jaguar Festival being held in Georgia in September.
It would be really cool to have a solid 100 point car. But currently there are several areas that the judges, myself, and my wife consistantly notice. The paint is not right below the rear hatch. I did not want to tackle that between shows, as “not right” paint can go to “nightmare/repaint” in an instant when you are fooling around with paint correction. Now that I’m done with this season, I will tackle that. I definately am not happy with the fitment of the interior panels around the quarter glass windows. I plan on redoing these panels. Beyond that, the niggles that the judges are finding are pretty random. I will fix the flaws I see and see how I feel about going back on the concours show circuit next spring.
BTW, the odometer was set back to zero by West Valley Instruments during instrument restoration. At this point it is showing 30 miles! All of that occured on the 1 mile stretch of road in front of my house. After some obvious issues occurred during initial driving and were corrected, I saw little upside in piling on more miles. I know this will drive some folks crazy, but right now, she looks like she could be sitting on the showroom floor back in 1963. I’m going to preserve the time capsule look for now, with no driving planned. I do plan on selling the car at some point in the near future. If someone were to make me an offer that I couldn’t refuse, then I would sell her and make room in the garage for something new. But for now, I’m very pleased with the validation of my 5 years of sweat, tears, and cash input. She is a very nice car!
From this …
To this !!!
New Hill Garage 
Discussion
Comments are closed.