<VV> awards, Concours, and more...

[Dennis & Debbie Pleau]

At 10:43 AM 6/11/2004, Bruce Schug wrote:
I hate to disagree, but the views of the VVs have changed many a CORSA 
policy over the years.

dp



>I recognize that all this is just a thread: that it won't affect any
>change. As pointed out previously, change will only come through the
>proper channels, which are not here.
>
>However... let me point out that this is how it used to be done.
>
>At Asheville in 1988 I competed in my only concours. I received a very
>nice real wood plaque stating, "SECOND IN CLASS" and "MODIFIED LATE
>CLOSED". On the plaque there is a cool looking silver foil seal with
>the following imprinted: "CORVAIR SOCIETY OF AMERICA" AND "CONCOURS D'
>ELEGANCE" and "90 TO 100 POINT SCORE". Sticking out from under the seal
>are two little blue ribbons. I also received a large blue ribbon
>imprinted "CONCOURS D' ELEGANCE" on one ribbon and "90-100" ON THE
>OTHER. I thought this was pretty cool. I received a point score of 92.2
>even though I was knocked down a full 6 points (.6 points on my final
>score) under "Floor Pans" and had a note reading, "Dirty - To much
>undercoat" written on the judging sheet. That's what you get, in a
>modified class, for meticulously cleaning and repainting matte black
>the entire underside of your car while it's up on jackstands in your
>driveway!
>
>I used to work with a guy who would always play "devil's advocate" with
>an idea, so here goes...
>
>Some of you have stated that you feel there's a big difference between
>having the second-highest score in a concours class when there are many
>fine cars to compete against vs, when there are, for example, only
>three average cars. Agreed. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SAME SITUATION IN OTHER
>EVENTS!!!! This same argument applies to ANY event! (THIS IS THE
>BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH THE WAY THE COLE AWARD IS HANDLED!!! A guy has a
>much easier time winning with an odd ball car that has little
>competition.)
>
>Example: It has been pointed out that there should be a fine turnout of
>fast Street Modified cars in the autocross. A guy could finish with the
>third best time and still have an outstanding performance!!! How about
>the rallye? What if a guy scores ONE POINT an unbelievable score and
>finished SECOND to a guy with an astounding PERFECT SCORE OF ZERO!!!!
>Folks, IT'S ALL RELATIVE!!! The difference is no one knows what the
>"perfect run" is for a SM car in the autocross. No one knows what the
>highest possible mileage is for a certain type car in the economy run,
>but we DO KNOW what the perfect score for ANY car in the concours is!
>(We also know the perfect score in the rallye which is zero).
>
>So... how do you want to award participants? If you finish within a
>second of the winning car in the autocross, should you get a gold
>award? If you finish within three mpg of the winning economy run car
>should you get a gold award? If you finish within 50 points of the
>winning rallye car should you get a gold award?
>
>Years ago I participated in a revision of the economy run rules. After
>much thought, I devised, what I'm still sure, was a better method of
>classification. In addition to separating cars by engine and
>transmission, they are separated between earlies and lates. My method
>was to separate them by weight. The difference between earlies and
>lates, in itself, is meaningless, except that earlies generally are
>lighter than lates (aerodynamics has an insignificant effect at economy
>run speeds). My method moved heavier earlies, I think it was any
>air-conditioned early and convertibles into the "heavy" class. It also
>moved light lates, coupes, I think, into the "light" class. Anyone who
>understands vehicle performance will understand this to be a fairer
>method of classification. But CORSA rules aren't necessarily written
>according to logic or optimization. In the end, I was told that that's
>just not how Corvair people see it. They just won't understand it. They
>see it as earlies and lates, period.
>
>In the end, the rules are written by the participants. Someone pointed
>out that the current concours system was asked for by the participants.
>And so it is.
>
>Back to the concours rules. I thought it made sense to eliminate the
>first, second...etc. awards and measure by the 100 point standard. But
>I'm not really a concours participant.
>
>As for the original question of Mark's car, no one has answered my
>question as to how this issue would be handled by other clubs such as
>AACA. I still wonder. To me, Mark's car is modified. Whether it's
>modified so that it belongs in the modified class or should be in the
>street stock class, I'm not sure. I can see both sides of the argument.
>
>Now, back to more important matters, who knows the diameter of an
>original 7.00-13 Corvair tire. Is it:
>
>A. 23.6"
>
>B. 24.1"
>
>C. About 25.3"
>
>D. None of the above?
>
>Bruce :)
>
>Bruce W, Schug
>CORSA South Carolina
>Greenville, SC
>bwschug@charter.net