Concours D'Elegance
 

Where do I find out what kinds of things are judged in subject shows? Anyone have experience with the range of points that may be subtracted for things such as window tint, chrome wheels, Euro lights, radio upgrade and some of the other things we like to personalize our cars with?

Your answers will help me determine the future of my 83 300sd.tnx in advance, art

Hi artpb,
their site is http://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/ and you can find out more there.
Good luck, but you will have to beat my original '87 420 SEL hahaha
Reinhard Kreutzer

Concours
 

Thanks RK. Know of any others? $100 bucks!

Clean,clean,clean. Then clean again. I recently won the Germanfest concour in Brookline Ma.
They judge everything, the car has to be original, no aftermarket anything.
when I say clean I mean everything. They will even pound on the seat to bring up dirt.You should do this also to get the dirt that vacuming won`t get.
I lose points because I have an Optima Battery, but it`s better than corroding the frame.
When I won this show, I beat an SEC from Hatch and Sons, who is a world renouned restorer of Mercedes.

John

MBCA publishes rules for their contests.
 

You may need to join, but they have a separate set of rules for the various classes at shows that also, I believe, contain the rally rules. They may be willing to set you up with a set if you call.

One good thing as I remember is the point credit you get for mileage, such that a less pristine high miler can compete with a garage queen.

Good luck and let us know how you do.

I've done shows since 1988, but custom shows are far different from concours. I did assist my Dad with Corvette events, and one concours event with my wife.

That event was in St. Louis with my wife's 92 Jaguar XLS V-12 convertible. It took fourth with a 99.64/100.

One funny incident involved a guy who entered the event every year and could never beat his competitor. So that year he showed up with a brand new model...and STILL got beat by the other guy!

As John said..."clean, clean, clean". Don't think that they wont lift your floormats either. Get those air vents, the crud around the console switches, and try to get that loose change out of the shifter gate...and get that errant McDonald's french fry out of the seat rail!

Everything must be in working order (a tough challenge for Jags :p ).

Again, attention to detail and factory specs is the key. No silver painted parts where anodized parts would be, and no GM hose clamps where german ones should reside. Show up with an aluminum wing and you are history!

For things like batteries (that you mentioned), I used to keep all of the OEM parts and swap them out for shows. When the show was over, on went the aftermarket stuff.

The level of scrutiny however is dictated by the severity of competition. I attended a Corvette event where two cars were so equally matched in points that they had to give the win to one because the other had excess "lint" on the tires! :eek: ;)

I did my last show in '97...family life took a front seat. ;) And keeping a creampuff nice at all times is a real pain! :(

Interesting. A '91 W126 coupe isn't that old of a car, and I could see how easily it would be to get a garage queen of that vintage in concours shape.

-Sam

I don`t drive it in winter, don`t park at suppermarkets, that kind of thing. It does have 74,000 miles and is used for MBCA events and cruising.

John

Do they care about the brand of bulbs, tires and filters?

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

In some shows, yes. Not bulbs or filters per se, but the guy that painted my VW showed a bone stock 69 Camaro. He lost points for having raised white letter tires (which were correct for the period), but was supposed to have the kind with the red pinstripe to look absolutely factory.

Too bad that as a show car, you're stuck with having the original 15 inch rims and the horrid stock Becker sound system.

17 inch AMG monoblocks are very becoming to an SEC, IMHO.

The non-classic show car ideal puzzles me, but to each their own.

-Sam

To tell you the truth, Ineed the 15 inch stock wheels. My neck has been fused, nerve damage, arthritis and all. Any thing with a low profile tire kills me. My wifes 2002 Audi A4 Quattro 3.0 beats the hell out me with the 55`s.

John

I have the 92 400E that came in 2nd to your 560SEC in Brookline. I have my snows mounted on my 15s and swap to my 16s for the summer. I just swap them back for the show, it only takes about 20 minutes.
I lost some points for having small pits on the plastic fog lamp lenses (new ones are on order) and I also lost some points for having a cell phone bracket for an old MB phone that was installed when new that was taken out when handhelds became the way to go. I found an MB factory phone on ebay so I can have it in place to show. (dealer installed factory options are acceptable as long as they are complete, otherwise you lose points)

As far as window tint goes, it kind of depends on the judges and the severity of the tint.

MBCA and the Classic Car Clubs of America (CCCA) hold
 

"classes" on judging vehicles for numerous categories of competition, including concours.

I remember your 400 E, nice car.

I lose points because of the Optima battery. But it won`t leak and rot the structure under it.

John