Ask Steel Wings:
Secrets to concourse preparation
In order to win a concourse the first thing that has to be fully understood is how the car will be judged. How much will originality be a factor? Will the judges on the field have a clue what is and is not original to the type of car you are showing and also what options your specific car left the factory with? Some shows discourage driving cars by penalizing the car for the slightest little scratch on the paint or brake dust between the spokes while others may encourage driving by giving the win to a car that did the road tour the day before showing instead of the spotless opponent that only gets mileage on the road inside an immaculate trailer. Pebble Beach restorations require the biggest attention to detail especially when it comes to originality.
“I would like to have you perform a restoration to my car.” Our first response to that request is simply “ define restoration”. It’s amazing how many different ways the word restoration can be defined in the world of cars yet the dictionary will quite simply state it is the act of restoring. Some people define restoration of a car as doing a quick paint job, partial interior and an engine job while others will say the entire body has to be peeled off of the framing and every single fastener and bracket has to be brought back to original condition. The really knowledgeable ones want to chrome plate every bracket and polish anything aluminum and then fit them to a high gloss body color chassis. You might think this would never happen to an Aston but we had a silver DB4 come in for restoration that had the entire chassis and engine bay inside and out painted bright blue when it first arrived to us. That must have done really well at the shows!
At Steel Wings our favorite restorations incorporate modern components into the cars in order to enhance performance and reliability while keeping the original appearance of the car. Most of our restoration customers not only want cars capable of winning shows based on appearance but also want their cars to be fun and reliable on the road. The challenge then becomes hiding these great modern components in a vintage show car. This is where it becomes critical for us to understand the types of shows the car will be judged at and how fast the car needs to be able to accelerate, handle and brake in order to meet and exceed owners dreams.
Knowing what kind of plating was on original fasteners is important when replicating the original appearance of the fasteners. Paint finishes on the underside of the cars vary widely. Most cars had undercoating underneath with varying textures. Some components had glossy finishes while others were satin finishes. Interior carpet, vinyl, leather and headliner materials need to be of the original type and texture but usually you can get away with color changes as long as the replacement color was available when the car was originally delivered from the factory.
During assembly of the car it is important for everything to fit together like a puzzle. Force a part together that doesn’t fit properly and it will stand out in the completed puzzle. The key thing to remember is that the more perfect you make a car the more the imperfections will stand out. Your car will not be judged for its’ perfection. It will be picked apart for the imperfections that stand out. Some imperfections are important to leave if they were part of poor workmanship from the factory. Astons’ workmanship was outstanding but certain models that had bodies built outside of the factory was very poor compared to the finesse of an English wheel. Nonetheless, the poor workmanship is still part of the history of the car and should not be totally hidden from sight.
When it comes to cleaning your car in preparation for showing keep in mind your car will not be up in the air for judging. This does not mean you should neglect the underside. Focus more on the highly visible areas that will be easier for a judge to get to. Clean and polish items that will be easily viewed by a judge. As a judge I tend to be harder on a really great car with an owner that could not be bothered to vacuum out the interior or wash the car as opposed to a lesser car where the owner really dedicated his or her heart to give a beautiful old car the appreciation it deserves.
Taking a car to a concourse is not just about showing the cars but it is also a great social event. Aston Martin owners are very dedicated to improving and maintaining their cars and that to me makes them special people in this ever-changing world of disposable commodities. For those people that have never been to the AMOC weekend at Limerock, I would highly recommend you come out next year and make some new friends.
