Judges Expertise?

[IndianaCarGuy]

GREAT HEAVENS! The last time (and in fact the ONLY time) I ever had been approached to assist a judge on a car was in Indianapolis, I think it was 1986, and I was a mere lad of 24,...24 and had spent time helping research cars built in Indiana,...I used to hang out with about five people I used to know pretty well,...one of them used to bring his Duesenberg from Noblesville, until he started driving it more often than was possible for a show car (he actually liked driving it! Go figure) anyway, I got drafted for three particular cars, a 1925 Marmon, a 1919 Auburn, and a Stanley which had been turned into a boattail roadster. My favorite was the Marmon,..which, although original,..was sadly not up to showing, and it was reflected by the rather low score,....however, I will say the owner was approached by three restorers who offered to either do some of the work, or buy it outright. The Stanley never reached judging, as the owner backed out when confronted with the use of fiberglass on the tail section and fenders, The only help I felt I was that day was for the Auburn, it was a very nice job,..red and black but with the chrome headlights from about a 1923, which was the only unauthentic part I could find on it. It was a 6-39K, tourer, and had the Egyptian motif interior and a 6 cylinder motor (Rutenber? or was it a Continental Red Seal?)<P>Anyway,..I got to see how much effort the judges try to get expert advice from others at the show,..and I must admit,...It would take me all day to judge just one car,..and I spent some time crawling over that Auburn, I wanna tell you! About three months after the show,..I think it was January, I located a pair of proper lens Auburn headlights for the owner,...the ones with the drop down lights underneath,..and he was so happy to pick them up for $250 that he gave me an additional $50 for my trouble. (If you are reading this, Mr. B., please recall I still want that car!!)<P>I am really sure they do the best they can to judge these things,..and how they do it in the time alotted is beyond me! Of course, I never ran into many cars who were in my area of expertise,..the ones from 1906-1920 are not generally run into these days out where I am in this part of Texas. and i have been a long time out of touch with judging and car research, so i have definitely not kept up. I do know it gets hairy when you have to judge something outside your area, and where would I be without my 1929 National Service Manual, since what I really know about electrical systems is strictly "by the book".<P>R.S.