Car Shows...... and Callaways

[HoldHard2]

Being fairly new to the Callaway scene and finding that NOBODY from around here knows anything about these cars, the all-Corvette car show organizers are having fits trying to find what classification I fit into......

The usual choices are "stock" and "modified". They look at my car and say "your modified, look at that front end and the additional set of gills on the rear quarter panel. "

I reply, "But it came from Chevrolet this way, right from the dealer. It's Regular Production Option code B2K".

They look at me in a very puzzled way, like I have an arm growing out of my forehead or something and reply "Well then you must be 'stock', but I can't put you against the regular Corvettes. That wouldn't be fair....."

The show this weekend has three classifications. "Stock", "Modified" and "Custom". If you have less than three modifications, you're Stock, more than three, you're Modified and if you have any body modifications, you're Custom.

Looks like I'm Custom...... how nice.

Here's the funny part. For Stock there are fourteen different sub-classes based on year and "open" or "closed" hood.

For Modified, there are only two, based on year.

For Custom, it's all one. You compete against all the others, regardless of year.

Should be interesting.........

What classifications have you run into when showing your Callaway?

Signed,
The Artist Formly Known as HoldHard

 

[8388]

Stock. Once they see the window sticker there's nothing to argue about. B2K is a factory code.

 

[*89x2*]

Stock. Once they see the window sticker there's nothing to argue about. B2K is a factory code.

Absolutely!!!! I agree 110% Very first show I entered, I was put into "modified" (even w/ my documentation) I was pitted against never driven, triple dipped in chrome vetted that roll from carpeted shrine to trailer & back again - needless to say, I scored modestly but the following year, I brought a magazine and code book which showed the "RPO B2K " as a legit Chevy option and my window sticker - no argument there from the NCCC - Stock.

Enjoy the shows - Now the fun begins

 

[90 Corvette ZR-1]

Im gona have to say that the B2K is stock. Hell even the NCRS is saying that the B2K is stock.

 

[90Callaway]

What do they consider the Aerobody? It wasn't an option from Chevrolet. Arguably there were a few in 1991 that were ordered that way but it's not an RPO. Would that disqualify the car from competing in stock class?

HoldHard2... or whatever your name is... Your body kit was added later if I remember correctly wasn't it? That might kick you into modifed or even custom if they want to be sticklers about it.

Perhaps if you focus on the fact that the RPO B2K is stock they will not make the connection with the body not being part of the package. I don't show mine so I can't speak from experience.

 

[HoldHard2]

HoldHard2... or whatever your name is... Your body kit was added later if I remember correctly wasn't it? That might kick you into modifed or even custom if they want to be sticklers about it.

Perhaps if you focus on the fact that the RPO B2K is stock they will not make the connection with the body not being part of the package. I don't show mine so I can't speak from experience.

Kevin,

That's correct. Purifoy Chevrolet installed the Aerobody after the B2K conversion at Callaway.

Since this is only my second year showing Corvettes, I've realized that Show 'n' Shine car shows are not judged like NCRS events. Everybody that enters thinks that their car just has to win "Best in Show". After all, they did drive it through the local car wash before arriving. Once they get there and look around, they decide that they should still win because they bought almost every available add-on from the Mid-America and Eckler catalogs and stuck it on the car somewhere......

Reality starts to set in when they continue to walk around and look at the other Corvettes. They decide that they will settle for "First Place" in their class because their car was done in better taste than almost everything there......

At the end of the show, they can't comprehend why the pristine, body-off restoration, NCRS Duntov award winning 1967 big block took the "Best of Show" award. It just doesn't make any sense...... it's just an old car...... it doesn't have anywhere near the capabilities of the C5......

And of course, one of the members of the sponsoring club took the First Place award. That car had an engine compartment that you could eat off and the paint so perfectly shined that two spectators had to be taken to the emergency room for temporary blindness. That drew a bunch of rumbling from the crowd during the award ceremony.......

Ok, Ok, I'll turn the humor switch off, at least for now. My long-winded point is that judging car shows is subjective. What class you end up in is subjective. If you even receive an award, that's subjective. It depends on what set of rules the sponsoring club is using. There are guidelines from the National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC) but if they didn't register the event with NCCC, then they don't have to follow those rules. They can make up whatever they want.

I gave up being frustrated a long time ago. My reasons for showing the Callaway are:

1) IMHO it's a beautiful machine and should see the light of day as often as possible, preferrable at speed!!

2) It's a rare vehicle, which should be enjoyed by other members of the Corvette family. Enlightening others about the Callaway is fun. Some ask questions that I can't answer, but that just adds to my list of "things to research".

3) Awards sit on the shelf and gather dust. Been There, Done That, Got the T-shirt. I enjoy the people that I meet at the show and specifically all the other cars. The multiple hours talking to people and looking at cars far outweighs the five minutes for the awards.

Thanks for letting me vent...... I feel so much better now......

HoldHard

 

[8388]

The last couple of times I've taken my Callaway (Aerobody) to the local shows I didn't even bother with entering it. I usually park it just outside the entered car area, but close enough that all can see it. It's like having your own personal show, as it always draws a crowd. Then you can see the difference between the waxers and the hardcore gear heads. The waxers tend to admire the body, while the gearhead positions himself by the engine bay and looks the engine over as if his life is depended on it. Some even crawl on their knees just to look at the underneath. I get a kick out of both, but enjoy talking with the gearheads the most. The best part is when you get asked "why didn't you enter it, this is the coolest car here" and thats uaually the climax to my car show venture. The way I look at it is, people got to see something rare, I got to meet some gearheads like me, and got real down to earth compliments from people who can really appreciate the Callaway.

 

[bossvette]

I don't have a Callaway but I agree with 8388 when I go to shows that are judged most times I just park off to the side, pop the hood and enjoy the show I prefer cruise-ins where you can just look at the cars

holdhard2
next time you go to a show in SE Michigan let me Know I would drive up there to see a Callaway in person

 

[90Callaway]

I was going to say it but Sam beat me to it and said it better. I agree with everything you said but I just don't have the time or inclination to be a "waxer". It's usually clean but not spotless. I just want to drive it and have people appreciate it for what it is. When I park to the side and I do get asked about entering the show I say that I can't be bothered. I just want to look at the other cars and talk to people who might happen to ask about mine.

 

[*89x2*]

...It's usually clean but not spotless. I just want to drive it and have people appreciate it for what it is.

Kevin, I appreciate your Callaway for EVERYTHING it is

(Kevins Callaway was piced as the choice for the Callaway Owners Group award last year at Carlisle - Enjoy)

 

[*89x2*]

And of course, one of the members of the sponsoring club took the First Place award. That car had an engine compartment that you could eat off and the paint so perfectly shined that two spectators had to be taken to the emergency room for temporary blindness. That drew a bunch of rumbling from the crowd during the award ceremony.......
HoldHard

Ohh Man is that EVER so true!!!!

 

[Crosschkm]

What do they consider the Aerobody? It wasn't an option from Chevrolet. Arguably there were a few in 1991 that were ordered that way but it's not an RPO. Would that disqualify the car from competing in stock class?

HoldHard2... or whatever your name is... Your body kit was added later if I remember correctly wasn't it? That might kick you into modifed or even custom if they want to be sticklers about it.

Perhaps if you focus on the fact that the RPO B2K is stock they will not make the connection with the body not being part of the package. I don't show mine so I can't speak from experience.

I agree with 90Callaway. I will go one step further, I think that the Aerobody should be in the modified class. I love that body kit and don't think it will have any trouble holding it's own in the modified class provided everyone is on fair ground.
On occasion I help judge some local car shows or help out. Any car show I am involved with I remove my cars from any judging even fans choice. Not that I would win, but I don't like the conflict.


Cross

 

[EricVonHa]

I've never taken my TT to a show (other than Carlisle). Shows that I've driven to and have not participated... the general question from passerby's tends to be "Is that real? I've never seen a real one!?"

My question is-- If mine is a "real" one... and I've never seen a fake TT-- where are the fakes? Hopefully the judges will know!! :L

 

[HoldHard2]

Well the show is now over. Details from several people were posted at http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=606677.

We were expecting about 150-170 Corvettes and over 250 entered. There were at least another 75-100 that were parked in the corral or accompanied vendors.

The judges were members of my car club and dinged me for "body panel alignment", 93 out of 100. It seems that the gap behind the drivers and passenger doors doesn't match the other panel fitments. It's funny that they match each other... Oh well. Being down seven points right at the start made sure that I was out of the running.

The engine was judged by a guy that just purchased a 2003 C5 and it appears he was pizzed that I took off a point on his car for dirt and grime that had built up on the right side of his engine block, an easy place to clean. Actually it was 1/2 a point, he just missed it completely. Another half point was for about 2 inches of sand that was laying on the right frame rail. You had to lean over slightly and look down to see it. Again, another easy place to clean if you just look. It was his first show, so he was definitely in the mind set of "I'm winning Best of Show, but I'll settle for First in Class.....".

As I stated earlier in the thread, it's subjective. When you have to set a score for 250-plus cars, it's tough, but the good ones stand on their own.

I was really suprised when I found out that the Callaway had won one of the Celebrity Judge awards. Jeff Cauley, president of Cauley Chevrolet (one of the few dealers in the U.S. that handled the Callaways) presented the award and made mention of what awesome cars these are and that they pre-dated the ZR1.

Pleasantly suprised would be a major understatement.

I'm working on a photo album of the show and I'll post a link when it's done.

HoldHard

 

[GS Diva]

Kevin,

And of course, one of the members of the sponsoring club took the First Place award. That car had an engine compartment that you could eat off and the paint so perfectly shined that two spectators had to be taken to the emergency room for temporary blindness. That drew a bunch of rumbling from the crowd during the award ceremony.......

HoldHard

We enter our two in as many "show & shines" in the New England areas as we can, and in all of them, no Corvettes belonging to the sponsoring club members are ever allowed to enter!!! Why would these clubs allow their own cars to be part of the competition??? Not fair to the other participants.

Elaine

 

[HoldHard2]

next time you go to a show in SE Michigan let me Know I would drive up there to see a Callaway in person

BossVette,

Are you coming up for the Woodward Dream Cruise next weekend? I'll be one of those 30,000 people going 2-inches-per-hour on Woodward..... NOT

The locals were actually crusing this past weekend and will continue until Wednesday or Thursday. From Friday on and specifically on Saturday, it's going to be a parking lot, so we just reserve a spot a year in advance and sit in the lawn chairs with a few refreshments in the cooler.

It's the biggest moving car show in the world...... and sometimes the funniest. Last year, one guy did a burnout right in front of an unmarked police car. Officer just flicked on the lights, got out of the car, walked up and smelled alcohol, then radioed for a tow truck.... Last time I saw the driver, he had on a set of silver wrist bracelets (with matching attached chain) and was being seated in the back of the police car. I'm betting that was more expensive than just a bit of rubber off the back tires.....

I'll let you know if something else pops up in the near future, but I'll be in next years Corvettes America show at the GM Tech Center.

HoldHard

 

[HoldHard2]

We enter our two in as many "show & shines" in the New England areas as we can, and in all of them, no Corvettes belonging to the sponsoring club members are ever allowed to enter!!! Why would these clubs allow their own cars to be part of the competition??? Not fair to the other participants.

Elaine

Elaine,

We are a new club, only formed about three years ago and starting to get organized. The first year we tried to have a show, it sleeted. Can you say "freezing rain and hail"? It was a disaster. The club lost so much money, it was hard convincing the board of directors and the members to try and do it the following year.

We are more of a "cruise to a restaurant" and socialize club rather than a competitive club. Most of our members only enter one show, this one. We donate the proceeds to charity so we try and generate as much revenue as possible. We all have an assignment (some of us have multiple assignments) for the show and that leaves little or no time to prepare the Corvette. Maybe we should go to the format you recommended, but I think that might hurt our charity donation. Removing twenty or thirty cars will have a direct impact. I'll make the suggestion at the next meeting, when we go over the feedback from this show.

The situation that caused my original comment was a "participant voting" show where the entrants got a set of ballots and voted. At that particular show, the sponsoring club did not issue ballots to their members, even though their car was in the show. It just seemed strange that the cars that won the awards were mostly from the same club, the club with the most participants and one was from the sponsor's club. His Corvette was a frame-off restoration, NCRS award winning car.....


Thanks for the suggestion and sorry about the confusion.

HoldHard

 

[bossvette]

I am attending a wedding this coming weekend, but I probably would not go anyway unless I could do it the way you do sit back and watch'em go by. I drive my Corvette almost every day from March till end of October and it is definitely NOT show material.
Being fairly new to CAC I am fumbling my way around the forum and probably by next year will know how to find shows in advance and not after the fact.
I would like to attend your show as a spectator, it sounds like it draws a large crowd, as long as it is not the same weekend as Toledo’s Rib-off (it was this year) I may be able to go.

 

[bossvette]

I am not sure how all shows are but this is the way our local club does it. Members Cars are displayed around the outside of the show and are not entered for judging but show participants are given a ballot to vote for their choice of Club Members Car. That way the cars are there for everyone to see and hopefully there is no conflict of interest. I try to stay away from the Car show stuff and just take pictures for the club.

 

[HoldHard2]

Pictures - Corvettes America

Corvettes America at the GM Tech Center
http://community.webshots.com/album/85428817NVKLAu

Callaway at Corvettes America
http://community.webshots.com/album/85432603HuzVDE


Bandwidth Beware!!!
Additional pictures at http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=624818