We was robbed!

abarth2litre

abarth2litre

1800CC SOHC X1/9
That was what the second place car guy said to me. What did I say? " I felt like I got kicked in the nutz. Well, I do tell you guyz when we win and I will tell when we loose but this one hurt, here is the set up.
We went to a small show in Croton NY sponsored by the rotory and the road Knights a local car club. A small show and I pulled in next to a very clean '73 MGB and the a beautiful '64 Giulia parked next to me. Well he was very nice guy and loved the X. I checked the trophy stand and there was one class with 3 awards, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd "Best Foreign Car". So I was competing with the guyz next to me and several others . A nice 240 Z. a Sunbeam Tiger, a Triumph TR 5 and a Super Beetle.
Well the day went well and the Judges came to our cars they asked the MGB to open his engine hood (hint that usually means the engine is not restored )
Then they came to the X and the older Judge came as far as the interior but not to the engine?? Then they went too the Alpha. The 2 judges spent time talking and finally the younger Judge convinced the older one to look at the X engine and I talked to them so I felt better. Both Judges spent more time chating in front of our cars with a guy who owns a "Blown Vega" who I think is a officer in the Road Knights. I was puzzled because I had the feeling that they were conversing about our 3 cars???:hmm:.
Ok, trophy time came and I was fairly certain I was in the top 3 with the Alpha and the MGB. The day was good lotz of positive response from the crowd.
OK award time 3rd place best foreign?.. 73 MGB
2nd place ... Alpha.... I felt yes! we got the first place
and the best foreign car went to??...Sunbeam Tiger..:shock:
.WHAT!? that ugly metallic Purple Tiger What the F?
I was shocked.
I congratulated the Alpha owner :clap:
and he said, "Ron I am sorry, when I got second I thought for sure you had first, that was your trophy." he then said "Ron you were robbed it's these Muscle head judges they love anything with a V -8 sorry man." :mad4:
We entered another "big show today and I bumped into a Fiat fan who asked how we did yesterday and I told him that the purple Tiger won he shook his head and said that the tiger was a member of the Road Knights Car club. He said sorry but that's politics.:mallet:
We didn't win today, but, it was a big show with 100 trophy's and only 1 dedicated to foreign which they gave to a beetle not a real show for Imports so no biggie.
Just thought yo guyz might want to see what beat me. Better get a vomit pail ready before yo look at it.:eek:


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Tough luck there my man! That must have hurt. Would like to see pics of your car on show day!

BTW - Tiger's were and often still called a "poor man's Cobra". I personally like them (don't hit me!) but NOT NEARLY as much as I like a nice built-out X. But I am not crazy about the one in the pic however.

Any other show's coming your way soon?

My best,
Tim
 
Ron... who's havin' more fun here...

You better be... and if this is your first experience at being disappointed over SUBJECTIVE judging... then ya best quit entering car shows altogether.

MOST clubs with any CLASS that HOST a show only give trophies to their GUESTS!

Unfortunately I know of two clubs locally that don't as they consider themselves too small or as orphans. One is the the Chrysler Performance West group that touts the LARGEST all Mopar event west of the Mississippi. Their own membership whined that they were giving all the trophies away to folks from out of state... AND... if someone won a trophy the previous show, or the previous year... they were ineligible to win again. WHAT???

The second is many Corvette clubs, one of which I belong to. They have all Corvette shows, some of which are Bloomington Gold or NCRS shows... and can get quite BORING. I was ECSTATIC pulling a third in class outta a 500 car show in San Diego last March... never expecting my highly "restified" ride would garner anything.

Hope you can attend further shows with an attitude that will allow you to leave feeling GOOD regardless...

BTW... Tigers are one of my favorites, just because... but I don't see anything really special about this one, except the possibility of the QUALITY of the paint... excluding the color.

Take care...
 
I think the praise from the people attending the event is more of a reward then any trophy given by the judges.
 
Shame on them ....

I don't believe that colour was standard Rootes anyhow.
My own experience is from 3 years back when I took my Lambo yellow Fiat Coupe to the Bristol Italian Day.
Parked her up with other FCCUK cars and all day there were crowds about 3 deep around here. At one point there were 15-20 kids waiting to have their photo taken behind the wheel. Lots of happy parents thanked me for making their kid's day as the Ferrari types wouldn't even leave their doors open.
Judges came around after having to wait their turn and made a couple of notes.
Later, at the awards ceremony, my club chairman came over to say I'd been awarded a 'Most Popular Visitor' award and I was very pleased as the build of the car had been very difficult.
Come the time my award was due to be given it was handed to a Pagani Zonda 'to make sure that the high end cars were seen each year'.
It hurts but the pleasure on those kid's faces was worth much more.
 
I invite kids into my Midget at shows too. Lots of pictures and the kids love it (it's "their" size car after all). Parents appreciate it too. At that same show a guy with a very nice '65 Vette offered to let my kid sit in his car. I appreciated that! I've never had my car "judged" and don't really care. I love the fact I can cruise into a show, get lots of attention and make people smile while parked next to cars worth 10x as much but I'm having MORE fun. Not sure how I'd feel if I'd dropped the motherload on a restoration and was getting snubbed though.

PS Is that a towing bar on the front of the Tiger? hmmmmm
 
Like Court Judges..

Their individual preferences and desires strongly affect the judgment they present.

This is what really happens at any contest, show or etc.. It comes down to what the organizers of the event want to do. This is also why I have zero interest in the awards handed out at events like this. While the cars can be very interesting, the awards don't hold a lot of meaning to me. It's really just an opinion.

Vintage car folks tend to have a deep desire for big engines in just about any car. IMO, this is a primal desire to be "Top Dog" and be faster than the rest. And, it is simply to stomp on the throttle to go fast down the road while driving truly fast on a tight, twisty road requires skill and intellect and a chassis that is well behaved.

Or, folks who like the Sunbeam Tiger(and similar cars) prefer to be smoking tires, sideways out of control in a straight line, than drama_less well controlled around any curve.


Bernice
 
Another thought, Ron...

While putting together an All Corvette Show for the 16th here we have BOTH the JUDGED awards and the PEOPLE'S CHOICE awards... but that wasn't enough...

Using the premise of folks spending money on their cars and in effect "buying" their trophies... We enacted a THIRD category of award that essentially eliminates all the work and the middleman altogether!

Its called the "BEST CHARITY CAR" Award and it will be WON by the person BUYING the most votes!

HA!

Our show's proceeds will go to the "Painted Turtle" campground here locally that Paul Newman started for disabled kids... It will be interesting to see how much money this trophy will bring in! I have $100 bucks set aside to see if I can grab it!
 
Yep... that's what "Best Engine" is all about...

... and also the "FULL BLOWN" awards...

These can be a lot of fun too and like you said... ya gotta know what the judges AND the show is all about... and NEVER take any of it seriously!
 
OK answers yes

Wow! I thought this might get you guyz goin!.
Yes I can handle losses, being in sales for 25 years, I can take it . And as I said we went to a large 99% American car trophy's type show and lost to a VW Bug ... no big deal.
But this one felt different and I do enjoy all the attention we get from the public but I felt I was in "real" competition with the Alpha and MG. So when the Judge was not even gunna look at the engine and then a guy in the club who owned the blown Vega ( who's car I liked!) appeared to be intervening against us, my "Spidey Sense" was up.
Add to it I kept seeing this little Rapunzel on my right shoulder tellin me
"see they all hate Fiats why are you wasting your time going "?:boxing:

Primal desire?? you mean like a cave man dragging a women with really "long" hair. :grin:

So many thanks for the pats on the back to make me feel better :grouphug:

The truth is a few Mia Tai's and then out to dinner at Roberto's off of Arthur ave. in Da Bronx I was over it and the next day heading to Playland for the annual Car show to get shot down again. :wall:

Ok now for the real question. I had to put my glasses on to make sure I was reading correctly .. uhh you X ers actually "like " a Sunbeam Tiger??
Gag me with a spoon!
Ca mon that car looks like sheet! and the engine was never really respected back in the day. Sorry but to compare it to a Cobra? (yes I know my man Wayne Carini did) the Cobra did not get the props. until Carrol doped the side oiler in it. And the Pantera really needed a better engine the the Windsor. But a Sunbeam Tiger?
I mean you Tiger Fans ( yes you big Tony) would you wear a Sunbeam Shirt?? or how about a Sunbeam hat? :laugh:
I mean the only guy who would drive one in public is
Maxwell Smart...
Wouldcha believe a purple Sunbeam Tiger?
on second thought lets discuss this in the "cone of silence"
Thanks Guyz and Girlz
Ron
 
HA... good for you Ron... but stay away from the Mai Tais...

Stick with a Canadian Whiskey... there is too much confusion with the MAKING of a Mai Tai and that confuses your mind also. Canadian on the rocks is a more straight foreword kinda thing... get my drift?

As for the Tiger... I loved them back then when the Alpines were floating around as kinda girlie-car and if I ever got a Tiger... like dreaming about if I ever got a Vette... I'd drop in a hi-performance 289, 4 speed and REAPPLY the Alpine logos!

What a sleeper!
 
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