Another HPOF Question

[rick60]

How does the installation of after market accessories effect HOPF judging? This '46 Pontiac has factory original paint, interior and chrome. The first owners installed a visor, dual spot lights, air horns, chrome wheel trim and protective covers on the lower portion of the door panels. I believe the seat covers, fog lights, back up light, rear wiper and rear window blinds were dealer installed. Would the seat covers need to be removed to verify the original seat material remains?

[TG57Roadmaster]

rick60, I copied this from another thread pertaining to HPOF and it may help.

Here's a lnk to the 2012 Judging Guidelines Manual, where you'll find out what makes a car eligible for the HPOF (and AACA Original) Class. It's a pdf, but open it up and scroll to page 52 for HPOF. The HPOF Judging Form is on page 48, so you can see the categories in which the car is certified.

Sometimes we forget when we throw out our jargon like HPOF, DPC, First Junior, Senior Preservation, etc., that not everyone gets it. For instance, my '57 below is a DPC car, in that it's a half-original driver that's had too much done to qualify for HPOF, but not enough to get into Class Judging (to go for a Junior, then a Senior award in class 27B; see page 28 for Class Descriptions). The info in the Judging Manual will help explain it all.

Points (or categories in HPOF) are taken off for aftermarket accessories, but it will take another, more seasoned person to fully answer your question. The horns don't look to be factory-authorized, but the visor may be (I kind of doubt it). If the twin spotlights are made by Guide, they would be considered correct. The burden of proving that items are factory or dealer-installed is on the owner, and such proof can come from an accessories brochure or parts manual. I believe you'd get gigged for the Venetian shades, the horns, sunvisor, and spots unless their GM origins can be proven. A friend with a '47 Buick Roadmaster has what we believe are Buick seat covers and it's an HPOF-qualified car. For example, an HPOF car can have new paint, as long as other components are original.

Personally, if the car was mine, I'd remove the pinned lower door panel covers and the horns at the very least before showing the car in AACA. Bear in mind that HPOF cars are certified using the form noted above, and that they should as close to original as possible.

Another option is to show the car in the DPC Class (page 53 of the manual), but even there a car should not have an excessive amount of aftermarket goodies. It can reflect changes made during the car's life, but should still maintain a stock, original appearance.

Good question, BTW!

TG

[rick60]

Thanks for the reply. I'm looking for a HPOF type car. The majority of the items are aftermarket. I don't think this car will qualify for HPOF even though it is factory original under all of the aftermarket accessories. Thanks again.

[Guest Siegfried]

Rick60, Contact the chairman of HPOF certification for a more accurate definition of HPOF versus accessories.

On a personal note I removed my after-market steering wheel, shifter knob, etc, and put the original equipment back on before my '63 Karmann Ghia was certified in 2003. I probably could have gotten by with the after-market wood trim items, but decided not to take the risk.