The proposed changes to ch.2 of the concours rules advocate, among other things, combining and restructuring the concours classes. The first public notice on this was way back in July of '03 when Dick Cavicke put it up on the forum. Many of us, myself included, jumped right in with both feet and began debating the merits of combining this or that group of classes with other classes and why some are a better fit than others. The lengthly debate prompted the JCRC to revise the change and now there is a final version going to the AGM for voting. Looking back through the posts, it seems we never really debated the underlying question. Should we or should we not combine any of the casses? Why do we need to do this?

The class structure shouldn't be used to promote concours attendance. In my view, it's more important than that. We should set up the classes to realistically outline the changes and developments that occurred throughout Jaguar's history. We are the keepers of the heritage. We should be the ones who celebrate every little nuance of development from the earliest Swallow to the latest '04XJ. We sould leave the classes as they are. An SS100 IS different from a 47 2&1/2 saloon and a series 1 SWBXJ6 IS different from a 78 XJ12L. The differences may be small but shouldn't we care about this stuff? Aren't we the afficianados? I think our Concours d' Elegance should reflect the attention to detail that we all lavish on our cars and this hobby. If the concours class structure becomes devoted to meticulous details of the cars, why is that a bad thing?

John Testrake
Jaguar Association of Greater St. Louis

Submitted by SC20-30420CJ on Mon, 02/09/2004 - 19:46

We have a pretty big club here in St. Louis and I've never heard any of our local club members voice any concerns over the class structure. With regard to trophies not meaning much, I guess that's a very subjective thing. Everybody is going to have their own point of view. When I first joined JCNA, I wasn't really interested in campaigning in concours events but I took the car to an out of town show in our region just for the fun of it. Well, it wasn't really show ready but I did manage 95 points or so. As the only entrant in my class at that particular show, I got the first place trophy. Winning the class trophy that day at my first show was the very thing that gave me the concours bug. Now I've got a few more on the wall and each and every one is important to me. For true competition, I can campaign at the international level. I've had two cars campaigned internationally and the competition was tough enough for the most stalwart entrant among us.

Trophys can be bought and extras held year over year. I'm assuming that everyone is at least charging enough in entrants' fees to cover the cost of the trophys.

The real issue as I see it is this: low attendance at concours and only a few cars in each class isn't the fault of the class struture. It's the result of less than keen interest of the general body towards concours events. I agree that we should work toward increasing involvment of club members in concours but consolidating the class structure ins't going to do that. In my case, I may never have gotten so involved with concours if it hadn't been for that first trophy. Sure, it's just a plate with some writing on it. It's not such a big deal, but it makes the Jaguar restoration hobby that much more enjoyable for me.

John Testrake
Jaguar Association of Greater St. Louis

Submitted by pascal@jcna.com on Mon, 02/09/2004 - 15:22

i think the problem with too many classes is at the local level, not national, and frankly taking 1st place out of 2 entries doens't mean much. That's the way I felt sometimes in the past...

I mentioned this before, but I wonder if a good compromise wouldn' be to have sub classes taken into account nationally but merged locally.

ex C01A and B would be merged into a single C01 for local result but regional and North American awards given to both class separately.
we could do the same for XJ6s .... C10A XJ series 1, C10B XJ series 2, C10C XJ series 3 etc...

of course a series 3 and a series 1 are different but the dedication needed to place well is the same.

in addition to making a local award a bit more meaningfull, it will also reduce the number of trophies local clubs need to order and often keep from year to year... what do we have... 30 classes, 3 places... 90 trophies... less the really sparse classes like C01, etc... that's still 60 to 70 trophies to get each year...

Pascal Gademer
South Florida Jaguar Club

Submitted by jrwalker@ev1.net on Mon, 02/09/2004 - 09:32

John:

I think there needs to be a balance between having a large number of separate classes that recongize the differences between the various vehicles Jaguar has made and keeping the number of classes managable and meaningful.

Conceivably JCNA could have so many classes that virtually everybody would leave the field with a plate or cup. Many have expressed the viewpoint that "trophies for virtually everyone" (my words) cheapens the Concours and such trophies become meaningless. I don't subscribe to that line of thought. When I show my car I feel I am competing against a hypothetical standard and entrants in my class at all other Concours, not just the other entrants where I happen to be showing. Of course there is a significant flaw in that line of reasoning; it assumes consistant judging at all concours. We all know that doesn't happen, and never will because judges have different levels of knowledge on particular cars and some look for certain things that others might ignore. The inconsistancies can be reduced but they will never be entirely eliminated.

In spirit I agree with you in that it is better to have too many classes as opposed to too few.

Regards, John