Hagerty Model Car Contest

[ppaquet]

Hi Gang

I don't know how many of your Regions/Chapters participated in the contest but our Deep South Region winner is in the National Contest. It is THE ONLY AACA entry on the National level. If you have no reason to vote for one of the other entries, we would appreciate your vote for our youngster's attempt to win a trip to California.

Thanks for being one of the good guys (or gals, as the case might be). Click on the link and cast your vote.

Patt Paquet

http://www.hagerty.com/modelbuildingcontest/

[1937hd45]

I think it is GREAT that kids are still building car models, and entering a model contest is a lot of fun. However, Hagerty should have a knowledgeable adult run the contest, there are no 1932 Fords in the contest, they are Model A's someone should have corrected that. I will not vote, there is no way to judge the quality of the build from the photos, Hagerty's fault not the kids. Quality photos of the interior and engine bay need to be seen, along with the chassis. It is a model contest not a builders popularity contest.

[TG57Roadmaster]

Model building is a fine passtime for young and old alike; it's a very subjective one,too. What model to build, should it stay stock or be modified, paint color, all this and more plays into it. It's also cyclical, very much a sign of the times. What appealed to builders 20 years ago may be dull as dust to folks today.

Many decry this electronic age where skill in a computer game trumps actual hand-to-brain-to-motion-to-result-oriented completion, as when a kid builds a car model. He/she has something tangible to show for it, rather than just a score on a Cyberspace game; can you keep that evanescent score for 30+ years as proof of an accomplishment of youth?

To play the Devil's Advocate, I must comment on this issue. I, too, applaud the AACA's continued effort to bring the hobby to younger generations; I'm party to it thru the Hornets Nest Region's CHIPS Program.

It harkens back to the days when model building was great fun and kept my idle hands very busy. Though never a competitor in contests, I was always quite happy with the results, but always knew I could do much better.

Case in point is this '63 Corvette AMT kit built in 1971 at age 14. Except for the engine bay, it shows the sort of detail that I think should be part of every model made. But that's just one guy's opinion. (I was never into spark plug wires, radiator hoses, etc.; leave that to expert builders).

And it seems that bonafide judges should pick winners.

The AACA judging system isn't based on popularity or a plurality of votes, and I realize the rules are different for this contest; it's great that an AACA'er has made it this far in the competition.

Young, steady hands are most capable of picking out details on such projects, as I was 37 years ago; that these were well-detailed examples (and still remain) are proof. (I only wish I'd resisted the temptation to add the Corvette kit's optional Cragar SS Mag wheels).

At 14 this next model, too, would have been at the end of Hagerty's fine contest's age limits but still eligible. What I didn't see in any of the entries was a stock-built kit, save for the two Cobras; one original, one race-original.

Mods to a young builder are practically de rigeur, to which this 1949 Merc Custom can attest

(another 1971 build, still age 14, from a standard coupe kit).

As a newfound devotee of the classic '50's Customs like the '49 Hirohata Merc, I thought, "Why not make one of my own?"

So I did, with '68 Corvair headlights, a modified top boot from a '63 Ford Galaxie convert, and other bits.

In closing, it's nice that I can still enjoy the only two models left that I built in childhood;

they're proudly on display in my living room.

It's a thrill that kids from all over can compete in a contest from such an active supporter as Hagerty's of our hobby. But to ask me to vote for a model that doesn't have the details picked out, when I know they can be, is a bit much.

Y'all know by now that I don't cotton to modifieds in any form, but times and tastes change all. When given a choice to vote for overall excellence in <span style="font-style: italic">any</span> contest, I have to choose the best available,

regardless of club allegiance (or my own youthful indiscretions).

Respectfully,

TG