RogerPHX

With regard to the Buick woodie, does not the owners manual specify that the wood be refinished on a regular basis? That would be normal maintenance. To replace badly rotted pieces could be justified as preserving the structural integrity of the body, though it borders on restoration. I think I would opt for preservation of the structure. That alone wouldn't preclude its HPOF certification, if the rest of the car measures up. For the Oakland, a careful repair of the original material or a replacement with a good match would fall closer to maintenance/preservation than restoration. That shouldn't hurt its evaluation in the context of the car as a whole. Cheers, Roger Irland HPOF Chair

Just as I would not expect to reject a car that did not have original air in its' tires, I wouldn't reject a car that had pieces replaced with better originals. How would you expect our judges to determine that you had replaced the as-delivered wheel covers with NOS? Any pieces that had been replated or refinished would likely stand out from the rest of a car that showed the patina of age. We rely on the owner to tell us what is not original when they fill out the judging sheet. What I think is important is that these cars that we certify as HPOF or AACA Original have significant (HPOF) or very significant (AACA Original) historical information that is worth preserving for the future. Regards, Roger Irland Chair HPOF Certification Team

In my HPOF CJE (Continuing Judges Education) seminar, I always say that basically, our evaluations should be very easy. It's either original, or it's not, right? In fact we have to use a great deal of judgement, taking into consideration that many cars would need repairs, mechanical and cosmetic, during their service life. At a minimum, we have maintenance--what it takes to keep the car running and safe to drive. Next is preservation--what's needed to keep the car from deteriorating. Then comes restoration--bringing the car back to its' (hopefully) original condition and specification (and ready for class judging.) Clearly, there is no easily delineated line that separates one from the next. And that's why our evaluations cannot be performed by robots. Our current program allows us to certify and include cars that have had some work, including repaints or upholstery work and gain their HPOF badge. Only the more unmolested cars can then be certified AACA Original. I discourage any certification of cars that have repaints that are either color changes or have received a "show car" highly polished finish. Most of the cars in class judging have been repainted to a far higher level of finish than any mass-produced car ever saw, making it all the more difficult for judges on the show field. Roger Irland Chair HPOF Team

Cool! When I was a Boy Scout on the North Shore of Illinois, use to go to Camp Crown near Wilmot for campouts and a project to plant many trees. I've also skied at Wilmot. Roger

I'm helping a friend to restore a '28 Victory six sedan and could use some help with info. The door panels were redone long ago and we need to know what they should look like. Also, I need to hunt up a couple of exterior door handles. I'll be heading o the high holy days of Hershey next week, so if you've got some on the trailer, let me know where to find you. Cheers, Roger, Central Phoenix's Mopar maniac

That looks like a '46-48 Desoto Suburban jumpseat.

Wagons, have I got wagons.... In my fleet, the greatest number by body style are longroofs. Currently in nice, shiny condition are a 1955 DeSoto (Senior award) 1959 Dodge, 1960 Chrysler New Yorker, 1960 Valiant, and just home from the paint shop today, a 1965 Dodge Custom 880 with fresh walnut Di-noc. There are several others in the queue, but won't be ready for prime time in '15. Cheers, Roger in Phoenix

Thomas; My best advice is to bring your car to the next AACA meet near you and see what happens. I've always felt that bringing my car out for people to see is worth the effort whether or not I get any award. Cheers, Roger Irland HPOF Chair

I drove my '55 Desoto wagon to breakfast today. Of course, I had to move (and exercise) the '48 New Yorker, the '66 Imperial and my first new car the '87 Shelby CSX so I could get the Desoto out. I have some work to do on her before I take her to the Palm Springs meet next month in hopes of coming home with my first Senior award. Cheers,Roger

In the Official Judging Guidelines which you can pick up at any judging school, buy for $5 or look it up for free on AACA.org, you'll find the form that we use to evaluate HPOF cars. It's in appendix 3 amongst all the other judging forms. We have made changes since that book was printed, mainly in adding the Original award, but it will still give you a very good idea of all the areas of compliance we look at and how they are scored. Note that there is a lower score required for older cars. In some ways our job should be easier than class judging as it's either original or it's not. I find it still requires a measure of judgement to evaluate these cars fairly, a challenge I've always enjoyed. That's also why the team is selected from experienced and proven judges. Cheers, Roger Irland HPOF chair

I would have responded to this thread sooner, but I've been out of the country. While we have upgraded HPOF to make it more meaningful, we are not about to take away any current awards. Just as in class judging, we may come across a car that might be better placed in a different class. It is always the owners' decision to turn in an award and change classes, even if it's our mistake. I will be the first to say I was skeptical about changing our evaluation, but now that I've worked with the new form, I think we've made a great step forward. It will take time to get it all right and we will be tweaking the process as necessary. I think that what we're doing is very important to AACA, and also important that the results have strong credibility all through the hobby. Roger Irland HPOF Chair

Radial tires on car that didn't have the option from the factory would cost two checkmarks. If that is the only area of non-compliance, it would not prevent you from getting your HPOF certification. Roger Irland HPOF Chair

Matthew; There are two ways to approach your question. One is that our cars were first and foremost bought new to be used as transportation. Thus, they needed normal maintenance, and were subject to some wear and tear. The conscientious original owner would have taken care of the occasional scrape or ding, so if you're able to repair your fender and carefully blend in new paint, that shouldn't warrant a check mark. The other approach is to think along the lines of the conservator of fine, rare old master paintings. They can do amazing things to bring back the original work without disturbing the artists' original expression. If we can do that with our cars, we will be able to preserve all that they can teach us. Cheers, Roger Irland HPOF Chair

Someone mention my name?.....Given that we don't take points off in HPOF evaluation, it's either original or it's not. We should be looking at the whole picture much like we talk about in class judging that we only take the full point deduction if the item is not authentic, missing or in a condition that it's unable to perform it's function. Patching a hole doesn't make the headliner non-original, and if it can be done very carefully, it should not warrant a check mark. At some point, a badly deteriorated headliner would fail as it no longer tells the story of its' original material and construction.

You must pull the wheel to access the switch, the flasher is mounted alongside the column. Roger

The switch is located beneath the steering wheel. The flasher is mounted in a bracket along the steering column under the dash. If the signals are working, you can find it by listening for it. Roger '54 Imperial '54 deSoto Coronado

I forgot to mention that I saw your car a number of years ago in Pismo Beach, CA. It had recently been restored, including reproducing the smaller than factory Imperial script on the front fenders. I believe that car is also the car that Jacqueline Kennedy used in the funeral in DC in 1963. She simply would not be seen in a Cadillac. Cheers, Roger

I would agree that posting to this area would be more likely viewed by the hearse and ambulance enthusiasts. I don't own a Ghia Crown Imperial, but i have driven two of them. Years ago, I was riding in a friends' '65 Lincoln Continental on the way back to the Chicago area when we passed the '59 Crown then owned by Joe Bortz cruising up I-65. Years later, I had the great pleasure of driving that car when the next owners, Bill Lauer and Robert McAtee, moved their collection from California to Durango. CO. They have since sold the car, and I'm not sure where it went. The other limousine that I've driven is a '64, owned by Cecil McCall of Atlanta at the time. He believed that his car was the blind-quarter car photographed for the '64 advert. Cecil also has sold his car and I believe it went to a collector in Canada. You would have better luck connecting with Ghia-built Crown Imperials if you were to go to www.Imperialclub.com. I am in the midst of an extensive restoration of a 1955 Crown Imperial formal sedan, one of 45 built. Cheers, Roger Irland Phoenix, AZ