CONCOURS MUSTANGS, WHAT'S THE DEAL?
Many classic car lovers dream of owing a Mustang that all
our friends and neighbors will envy. We attend car shows and walk up and down
the rows, wishing we had a Mustang worthy of display. Although most of us own
Mustangs that look great and may even win a trophy or two at local competitions,
they usually aren't worthy of concurs.
Bringing a Mustang up to concurs level is no easy task.
People who say
"well that's about as good as I can make
it," will never make it to concurs. A concurs show is the ultimate in
restoration skills. A true concurs car is no longer driven. One tiny chip in the
paint means points off. Every centimeter of a car will be inspected by expert
judges. If the car isn't perfect, off come the points.
In most concurs shows, a car
begins with 100 points. An expert judge will then go over the car with a very
fine tooth comb, so to speak. This judge's job is to find flaws on the car. Each
flaw or error in restoration subtracts points. When a judge is done scrutinizing
the vehicle, the points are added up and subtracted from 100. This number will
be the final score for the car. The car with the highest score wins.
First of all, the paint must be
perfect. No scratches, no chips, no bubbles no streaks. Even dust is enough for
a car to lose points. Yes, even dust. Judges know what color your car should be
based on the VIN. If your Mustang has gone through a color change, you might as
well forget entering your car in a concurs show. Chrome must glisten and have no
pits or dings. This goes for the body as well. Even the tiniest ding or ripple
means lots of points. Dirt in a headlight or tail light housing is unacceptable
as well. Your engine and engine compartment must be clean enough to eat off.
Spark plug wires must curve a certain way. All radiator fins must be perfectly
straight. Tie wraps and electrical tape will get you laughed out of the show.
Just as the paint needs to be the correct color, you must also have the correct
engine that matches the VIN plate. Everything in the car must be original or an
original replacement. If your Mustang is supposed to have an Autolite battery
and you slapped in a bargain priced DieHard, you will lose points.
The interior of a concurs Mustang
looks better than the day it left the showroom. The carpeting must be spotless
as well as the seats. Gauges and the entire dashboard must be flawless. The
steering wheel can show no signs of wear and there must not be a single
fingerprint on the glass or anywhere else in the car. Even the brake and gas
pedals must look like new without footprints.
With this amount of nit-picking, you can see why these
Mustangs are not driven to shows. Concurs cars arrive in nice clean
climate-controlled carpeted trailers. They are carefully unloaded and driven
slowly to their rightful spot. Then the owners will work feverishly
to clean the tires (which are resting on pads or carpet between the
rubber and the concrete) and get rid of any dirt or dust that has somehow settled on
the car. You will see lots of feather dusters at a concurs show. Car
owners will lightly dust their car every few minutes until the judge arrives. You
might think owners of concurs Mustangs are "anal retentive."
Why would anyone want to own a car that can't be driven? To
the non-Mustang enthusiast, this sounds moronic. You have spent thousands of
hours and thousands of dollars to build the ultimate machine that will quietly
sit in a garage for most of it's life and may come out for two or three days
every year. This is what concurs is all about. These cars are not restored to be
functional daily drivers. They are restored to be perfect specimens of they
unique make and model.