charlie_morris_minor wrote:once you have figured it out, can you explain it to me please..
however the first letter i received when i took over the custom and modified register was to let me know that modified cars were welcome in the concours competition..
You're going to have to give me a bit of poetic licence, because as I said above I really don't think I understand it properly, but I think it works along the lines of: you can gain points by virtue of the parts of your car that match, or still actually are, as per standard specification. For example, all the wood on my Traveller is standard, so I could potentially get points for frame alignment, varnish application, etc. I couldn't get any points at all for my interior, because absolutely none of it is visibly standard.
That seems to hold true in regard to points value, because from vague recollection the convertible I mentioned scored somewhere in the 400's when it was judged a few weeks ago, which sounds good until you compare it with the blue van in the pictures above this post, which hit 924 at Kelmarsh. In other words, if (and its a big if, so very happy to withdraw these comments if its wrong) that is right, we could never ever hope to compete on a level playing field with 'normal' cars simply because large parts of our cars attract no points whatsoever, no matter how good they are
Worse than that, to my mind anyway, is that I would still score some points in the engine bay, because I have an A-series engine (albeit different under the skin to standard offering) but the bloke with the Alfa-engined van I saw recently couldn't get a single point under the bonnet, even though his installation is probably prettier than mine. That distorts the playing field not just between standard and modified, but also between levels of modification - I would always outscore him, even if his vehicle was better than mine!
Despite my 1st place at the weekend, I don't think I'll be joining concours anytime soon - I admire the dedication of those in it, but I do around 9,000 miles a year in my car and its out usually seven days a week working for a living, and I doubt I could manage the necessary standard of cleaning.