Classic Engine Symphony: Nine Classic GT40s Fire Up At Kirkland Concours d’Elegance 2010

Throw out the notion that Concours d’Elegance events are just sedate wine and cheese affairs where the only sounds are crystal glasses clanging and the rubbing of hundred-dollar-bills on each other within thick wallets. At this weekend’s 2010 Kirkland Concours attendees were given unique visual and aural thrills when the class of nine vintage Ford GT-40s all fired-up their engines and revved.

The class included five MK I models, a ’66 MK II and a ’66 MK III, as well as a ’67 427-ci MK IV. And if these weren’t impressive enough, the unique ’65 Prototype Spyder was also there singing.

Watch the video and enjoy.

GM Announces New CEO

GM announced a plan to replace Ed Whitacre as CEO and Chairman of the Board with Dan Akerson. This is not a surprising move.

Akerson fits all the current checkboxes for a proper leader of GM. Besides being white and having gray hair and a penis, which are the most common features of automotive leaders, Akerson meets the popular current criteria of being a non-auto industry guy with multiple CEO leadership positions in the past. With the success of Ford under a former Boeing gent, GM has gone even further away from the miserable groupthink-prone auto industry pool of leaders with telecomm veteran Akerson.

We just hope that under Akerson GM doesn’t mimic the telecommunications industry by offering innovative, but constantly changing priced and packaged products with horrible customer service. Come to think of it, the only industries offering worse customer service than automotive are telecommunications, airline travel and banking.

Here’s GM’s official announcement:

DETROIT – General Motors today said that Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. will step down as chief executive officer on September 1, 2010, and as chairman of the board by the end of the year, having successfully led the company’s return to profitability after the most turbulent period in its history.

Earlier today, GM reported its second consecutive quarter of profits after a string of losses dating back to 2007.

Dan Akerson, 61, who has served on the GM board of directors since July 2009, will become CEO on September 1 and chairman by the end of the year, ensuring a smooth transition and continued positive momentum for the company.

“My goal in coming to General Motors was to help restore profitability, build a strong market position, and position this iconic company for success,” said Whitacre. “We are clearly on that path. A strong foundation is in place and I am comfortable with the timing of my decision.”

Whitacre, 68, joined GM as chairman of the board on July 10, 2009. On December 1, 2009, he was named chief executive officer. He led the company after it emerged from a historic bankruptcy to become a profitable automaker again.

“Ed Whitacre was exactly what this company needed, at exactly the right time,” said Pat Russo, lead director on the GM board. “He simplified the organization, reshaped the company’s vision, put the right people in place, and brought renewed energy and optimism to GM.”

“Dan Akerson has been actively engaged in and supportive of the key decisions and changes made at the new GM. He brings broad business experience, decisive leadership, and continuity to this role,” said Russo. “The board of directors deeply appreciates the leadership Ed has provided and is pleased with the serious commitment Dan is making to the company. We look forward to his leadership.”

In addition to serving on the GM board since July 2009, Akerson has had a distinguished career in finance as a managing director at the Carlyle Group and in telecommunication, serving as chairman and chief executive officer of XO Communications and at Nextel Communications. He was also chairman and CEO of General Instrument Corp.

“There are remarkable opportunities ahead for the new GM, and I am honored to lead the company through this next chapter,” said Akerson. “Ed Whitacre established a foundation upon which we will continue building a great automobile company.”

Craigslist Posting Of The Day — School Failure Edition

Our Craigslist Posting Of The Day is a perfect example of the outright failure of our school system, as well as the keyboard industry’s ability to make shift and punctuation keys easier to reach.

pontic ferrio – $200
——————————————————————————–
Date: 2010-07-30, 12:29PM PDT
Reply to: sale-kdqyd-1872051979@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
——————————————————————————–
i have an 1984 pontic ferrio that i brought home for my little brother for a fixer up project car and after a year on it sitting he decieded that he didnt want it and i dont need it it does need some work done to it it needs to have the drivers seat replaced cus the padding is all ripped up it needs new weather stripping on the moon roof a park brake cable and it needs a battery other then that i dunno the guy i got it from said that it ran great and was completly awesome on gas im only asking 200 obo please i need the car gone asap i do have picz but my comp wont upload them if you wish to see them i will email them you

Wow, where do we start? Not knowing the car is a Fiero vs. “Ferrio”, lack of conventions, spelling mistakes, using “cus”!?!?! I think we should track down this poster’s parents and former teachers and ask why they were asleep at the wheel while this knucklehead was growing up.

Sammy’s Vehicle For Sale on Craigslist _ad Lib

In an attempt to make it easier for people to sell their vehicles, two years ago I wrote an article called “Sammy’s Unofficial Template For Listing A Car Or Truck For Sale On Craigslist”. Judging by the sheer number of ads I still see that appear to be written by an ADDHD-riddled fourth-grader after ten shots of high-fructose corn syrup, evidently the topic needs to be covered yet again.

So today I’m trying something a little different. I’ll call it “Sammy’s Vehicle For Sale On Craigslist (or eBay, For That Matter) _ad Lib”. Now all one needs to do is find the correct information regarding the vehicle for sale and plug it into the appropriate fields in this ready-to-go ad copy.

Offered for sale is a (YEAR) (MAKE) (MODEL) (OFFICIAL BODY STYLE– that means SEDAN/COUPE/CONVERTIBLE/HARDTOP COUPE/WAGON/TOWN SEDAN, etc…) (OFFICIAL TRIM LEVEL DESIGNATION) with (NUMBER) miles. The vehicle is optioned with (OPTIONS AND OPTION PACKAGES).

(TYPE OF ENGINE — and NUMBER OF CYLINDERS/HORSEPOWER/OPTION CODE if multiple engines or multiple states of tune were offered) is (CHOOSE “ORIGINAL” OR “NOT ORIGINAL”) and runs (ADVERB). The (TYPE OF TRANSMISSION) shifts (ADVERB). Vehicle was last serviced (DATE), at which time the (LIST MAJOR SERVICES PERFORMED). Vehicle will need (TYPE OF MAINTENANCE) within the next (TIME PERIOD).

The (COLOR) paint is (ADJECTIVE). There are (ADJECTIVE RELATED TO QUANTITY) areas of (RUST/DAMAGE/DENTS/SCRATCHES) the size of (OBJECT) around the following areas: (LIST AREAS). The (FABRIC TYPE) interior is (COLOR) and is in (ADJECTIVE) condition, as exemplified by the (THING) on the (OBJECT).

Vehicle is offered at (PRICE) and is located at (LOCATION — CITY, STATE). Please feel free to ask questions by emailing (EMAIL ADDRESS) or calling (NAME) at (TELEPHONE NUMBER) between (HOURS).

The following pictures were taken (MONTH/YEAR): (INSERT FOUR PICTURES: FRONT 1/4, REAR 1/4, ENGINE, INTERIOR)

And just one last thing: once you’re done using Sammy’s Vehicle For Sale on Craigslist _ad Lib…at the very least, please spell check. If I see another “Camero Convertable”, “Crysler”, “Alpha Romero”, or “Caddillac” for sale today, I’m going to blow a gasket.

The Depressing Reality Of Camaro Production Numbers

GM delivered 46,378 new Camaros to dealers between January and June 2010. A darling of automotive press since the announcement of its return, the Camaro has actually turned out to be another case example, along with the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger, of how going retro is a really bad business decision.

The Camaro is a good performer on the road, but it isn’t from a business standpoint — although you’d never know by reading the mainstream and enthusiast automotive publications. Analyze the production and sales reports and compare to historical figures, though, and it becomes very clear.

The last generation Camaro’s final year was 2002. That year 42,098 units were produced during the entire run. While it might initially seem like the current Camaro is twice as successful, readers must keep in mind that the elder Camaro had to compete against its F-body fraternal twin, the Pontiac Firebird, of which 30,690 units were produced. The whole F-body car program had been slated for the buzzsaw years before, so production and sales in 2002 was done with minimal marketing support.

The current Camaro team has leveraged hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing and pr, plus additional hundreds of millions in product development…not to mention placement in seemingly every major automotive magazine each month for over a year. Still, the current Camaro is only 9,984 units ahead at the six-month point (on pace for 19,968 additional annual units) than the last gasp of the F-body car line killed for its poor sales. Even worse, in 1997 with a sagging coupe market (remember this is the era when the RX-7 and Supra left the American market?) and a four-year-old body style, the Camaro alone logged 95,812 delivery units, not to mention an additional 30,754 Firebirds over at Pontiac.

It is also safe to expect that four years into the new Camaro’s life, production figures will mostly likely amplify the failures of its product plan. Analysis of sales and production results from all manufacturers conclude that a retro car’s product lifecycle is much shorter, because the look appeals to fewer people as the novelty value wears quickly.

Meanwhile Honda logged 133,601 deliveries through June (on pace to 267K-plus annual units) of the real modern interpretation of the original low-buck, high-fun pony car for early-twentysomethings, the Civic. Hopefully Honda’s executive team in 2050 doesn’t pull a GM — or Ford, for that matter, and build cars that look like the 2010 Civic, because that’s what looks good to the 65-year-old executives, rather than the product’s actual target market.

Car and Light Truck Retail Sales Results For First Half Of 2010

The most recent data allows us to see just how well each of the manufacturers are doing this year selling vehicles. While it hasn’t been a great year so far for automotive manufacturers, it certainly could have been much worse, because the totals are outpacing 2009′s dismal results.

There are no surprises here. Toyota is still feeling the effects of its knuckleheaded problem response model. Volvo and Saab are both reeling from corporate ownership issues. Porsche finally is realizing that there’s a limited number of people interested in its Cayenne SUV. As for the revolutionary Smart car, it appears consumers have finally come to the same conclusion I did years ago: it’s an image vehicle rather than a serious automotive product for the American market.

Joe Isuzu is dead… and if Mitsubishi doesn’t pick things up pronto, they’ll be next!

Jan-June 2010 U.S. Retail Sales Scorecard
2010 YTD 2009 YTD %change

General Motors Corp. 1,076,993 942,132 14.3%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424,207 398,679 6.4%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652,786 543,453 20.1%

Ford Motor Company 981,352 773,242 26.9%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .369,730 298,694 23.8%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611,622 474,548 28.9%
Volvo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,206 29,746 -5.2%

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. 846,542 770,449 9.9%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497,410 471,529 5.5%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349,132 298,920 16.8%

American Honda Motor Co. Inc. 593,909 530,778 11.9%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347,499 319,962 8.6%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246,410 210,816 16.9%

Chrysler LLC 527,219 471,197 11.9%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157,849 107,199 47.2%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369,370 363,998 1.5%

Nissan North America Inc. 440,332 347,744 26.6%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299,909 224,992 33.3%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,423 122,752 14.4%

Hyundai Motor America 255,782 204,686 25.0%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188,363 153,548 22.7%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 67,419 51,138 31.8%

Volkswagen Group of America Inc. 175,272 135,710 29.2%
Audi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,440 37,845 28.0%
Volkswagen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126,012 97,008 29.9%
Bentley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688 657 4.7%
Lamborghini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 200 -34.0%

Kia Motors America Inc. 170,070 147,404 15.4%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,885 78,255 17.4%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,185 69,149 13.1%

Subaru of America Inc. 125,960 93,306 35.0%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,714 53,711 52.1%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,246 39,595 11.7%

BMW of North America Inc. 121,777 114,633 6.2%
BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 100,632 93,563 7.6%
Mini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,953 20,885 0.3%
Rolls Royce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 192 185 3.8%

Mazda Motor of America Inc. 115,719 100,381 15.3%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,417 68,582 14.3%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,302 31,799 17.3%

Daimler AG 110,354 94,159 17.2%
Mercedes-Benz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,972 85,565 25.0%
Maybach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 27 22.2%
Smart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,349 8,567 -60.9%

Mitsubishi Motors N. A., Inc. 26,490 26,467 0.1%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,243 18,580 -1.8%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,247 7,887 4.6%

Jaguar Land Rover N.A. LLC 20,815 18,186 14.5%
Jaguar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,851 6,134 -4.6%
Land Rover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,964 12,052 24.2%

American Suzuki Motor Corp. 11,549 22,408 -48.5%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,420 3,524 -31.3%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,129 18,884 -51.7%

Porsche Cars N.A. Inc. 10,984 9,659 13.7%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,379 5,320 57.5%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,605 4,339 -40.0%

Saab Cars North America, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,346 5,386 -75.0%
Total Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,259 3,851 -67.3%
Total Light Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 1,535 -94.3%

Maserati of N.A. Inc. 912 594 53.5%

Ferrari of N.A. Inc. (estimated) 646 595 8.6%

Isuzu Motors America Inc. 0 165 -100.0%

PASSENGER CARS 2,887,961 2,483,627 16.3%
LIGHT TRUCKS 2,726,062 2,325,654 17.2%
TOTAL LIGHT VEHICLE SALES 5,614,023 4,809,281 16.7%

Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours Drifts Away For 2010

Doug and Genie Freedman, organizers of the Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours, just announced the event has been cancelled for 2010. The couple cited a lack of sponsorship dollars, making it financially impossible to continue.

And this is a shame, because the Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours was actually one of my favorite events during the Pebble Beach week. It was elegant, yet as snooty as southern potluck BBQ. The free-to-the-public two-day event at the beginning of the week showcased cars that were just as interesting and rare as those of the high ticket price events held later in the week. Plus the setting in downtown Carmel offered great eating and interesting shopping opportunities. Quite honestly, it was everything good and right about the car hobby…

Which, of course, didn’t make it immune from everything that has been wrong about this same hobby: the cold business side. From day one, Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours was in the crosshairs of the Pebble Beach Concours organizing company. One of the world’s most respected judges, who has decades of experience scoring cars on the fairway at Pebble Beach, told me that he had been issued an ultimatum by Pebble Beach Concours Chair Sandra Kasky Button: judge at Carmel and never judge at Pebble again.

Many in the classic car community scratched their heads over Pebble Beach’s perceived paranoia. After all, Carmel was a newcomer. It also was a free show that invited cars that would never be potential invitees to Pebble. It wasn’t competition in the collector car show sense. Why such a crazy reaction that simply brought additional people and money to the area?

Some of us hit the nail on the head when we proposed that it was all about advertising dollars. Sandra Kasky Button isn’t a monster or greedy — she’s an extremely smart and savvy businessperson, and a nice one, at that. Sandra knew that a recession would seriously shrink advertising dollars, and with the constant growth of shows and auctions during the weekend, Pebble couldn’t afford to sit on its hands. All the same, we hoped the Pebble people wouldn’t have been so proactive at trying to damage the event’s future. There were symbiotic benefits to be nurtured, had there been some attempt to cultivate such relationships.

Those of us who have attended Carmel-by-the-Sea to witness the great cars and people all hope the Freedmans can rustle-up more sponsorships for 2011 and organize the event’s triumphant return. While other’s advertising revenues might suffer just a bit, the world is no doubt a better place with the Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours in it.

Chevrolet Announces Volt Production And Market Availability Plan

Chevrolet announced today its long-awaited plan indicating when, where and how many Volt plug-in hybrids will be initially sold. Seeing that the Volt is the first true paradigm shift in automobiles since the electric self-starter, this is very important news to automobile enthusiasts and near-term car consumers alike.

Chevrolet Volt Marketing Director Tony DiSalle confirmed the company plans to produce 10,000 Volts by the end of the 2011 calendar year, and an additional 30,000 Volts during the 2012 calendar year. The first Volts available for retail sales will be sold in California, Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas and the New York City metropolitan area later this year. During the first quarter of 2011, Volts should be available in Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut, as well as the balance of Texas and New York.

Those living in other markets will either have to wait for second-year production or buy from out of state. 50-state delivery is expected by 18 months from initial dealership deliveries. These dealerships will be required to complete specialized sales and service training, and install 240-volt charging stations.

With oil still spilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the Volt (and its projected 200-plus MPG EPA rating) is the perfect car for the times. Although some might consider the limited production and availability of the Volt a problem, it gives the national electrical grid and city planners time to ramp-up charging capabilities — for if GM dumped as many Volts on the market in 2011 as Ford did Mustangs in the 1965 model year, California powerplants would have more brownouts than the outhouses at Woodstock.

Sammy’s Tips For Creating Perfect Car Show Judging Classes

One of the more frustrating things for collector car owners is when an all-comers type of car show has judging classes created by someone who thinks there are only two types of people in the world: those who drive a Chevy and those who drive a Ford. Most organizers think classes only make a statement about what cars they expect to show up, but in reality these classes also broadcast to attendees and participants which vehicles are most welcomed and appreciated.

Just a couple weeks ago I decided to take my 1976 Ferrari 308 GT4 to an area all-comers show. Upon giving my entry fee (unlike other journalists, I pay to enter my car, because most entry fees go to charities), I was given a list of 24 classes from which to pick two deemed most appropriate for my car. These were the classes: Best Hot Rod, Custom Car, Custom Truck, Stock Car, Stock Truck, Radical Car, Radical Truck, Stock Antique (pre ’42), Pre-’81 Ford, Post-’81 Ford, Pre-’81 GM, Post-’81 GM, Mopar, Orphan, Pre-20s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, Post-60s, Engine Compartment, Paint, and Pin Stripe.

Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or even a 1980s GM brand manager) to figure out that the club promoting the show was made up of a bunch of American V8 rod and muscle car-owning folks. Sadly, their lack of understanding about how to put together balanced and fair classes had a bunch of show-goers shoving their cars into unfit boxes. For instance, while there are plenty of non-stock things about the GT4 (like red wrinkle-painted cam and timing covers with polished lettering and ridges), I had to choose Best Stock Car category along with Best Post-60s. A Lancia Beta Coupe owner entered his car in the Best Orphan category hoping that the judges didn’t know the 104-year-old Italian auto maker is still alive, well (albeit owned by FIAT) and mass producing cars for the European market.

So for the benefit of car show organizers, participants and judges…not to mention all of humanity, I present Sammy’s Tips For Creating Perfect Car Show Judging Classes. Remember, this is for all-comers type, rather than marque-specific or specialty events, but the base principles apply everywhere.

1) Create Classes For Attendees, Not For The Sponsoring Car Club’s Membership: Just because the majority of your car club members drive custom Fords and Chevy muscle cars doesn’t mean everyone else does. If you invite everyone, then make sure they feel welcomed…which means if the entry form requires every participant competes in two classes, then ensure any conceivable car has two classes in which to compete. Open a collector car book or simply peruse cars for sale on Craigslist to test the completeness of the classes.

2) Make Even And Fair Period/Era/Decade Classes: The funny thing about car show organizers is that you can tell their average age by the inclusive years of the youngest catch-all era car class. Pretty much anyone over the age of 65 thinks the collector car world ends at 1969, so despite huge representation by vehicles from the 70s, 80s and 90s, these cars often are glommed together competing for a lone trophy. The fairer way is to have a class for each decade (combining all cars pre-1920, as well as on the other end, the cars from the 1990s and 2000s). If you have limited money for class awards, then think about arranging by technological/design era: Brass and Antique (through 1925), Classic Era (1925-1948), Chrome and Fins (1949-1963), Muscle (1964-1971), OPEC Era (1972-1983), LED/TBI/FWD (1984-1994), Performance Resurgence (1995 and newer.)

3) Avoid Double-Dipping: In the case of the show I recently attended, there was really no reason to have Best Custom and Best Radical with individual classes for cars and trucks. Radicals ARE customs, and the chances of having enough radical vehicles to fill one class for cars and another for trucks are tiny. And again, why a class for Best Paint followed by an award for Best Pin Stripe? They are both types of paint.

4) Body Style And Car Type Matter: Most internationally-recognized shows give awards for Best Open and Best Closed cars, so don’t be afraid of having body style awards like Best Convertible, Coupe/Sedan, Wagon. Additionally, it’s fine to have classes for sports cars, muscle cars or pony cars, but it requires looking at #9 on our list to ensure participants and judges are as consistent as GOP election-year talking points.

5) Spotlight Originality/Survivors: A car is capable of going through multiple restorations, but only original once…and like Joan Rivers, restoration isn’t necessarily better — just different. In all seriousness, having classes to recognize original cars is important, since a 30-plus year old car with chips and nicks can’t win a beauty contest against something with a fresh $10,000 paint job with the newest technology. Make sure that it is clearly defined and communicated to judges and participants about what it takes to be entered as original: must it have factory-applied paint, engine, interior, tires…?

6) America vs. The World: When there’s a show on Main Street in the heartland of the US, chances are that foreign cars will be in the minority, so often just having an Import Class is fine. This is also an easy way to cover many types of collector vehicles into one class at smaller shows. If the show draws from affluent metropolitan areas, then it’s might be smart to separate European cars from Asian to accommodate the greater amount of entrants. Just don’t forget to define where Australian, Mexican, South American and other imports go. Finally, communicate where to draw the line on what makes an import, since many American market Ford and GM products have been made in Canada, while Chryslers have largely been made in Mexico. Conversely, many BMWs, Hondas, Toyotas and others have been designed and built in America with more American-made parts than so-called American cars.

7) Recognize Special Owners: Having class awards to recognize original owner cars and teens/students are nice touches. Especially in the case of younger collectors, they don’t (or at least, without mommy and daddy spoiling them rotten) have the money to sink into paint, body that the adults do. A class that encourages younger owners to show their cars, be it a newer vehicle or an in-progress restoration, is in the best interest of the hobby.

8 ) Use One-Year Feature Classes: Most large shows have featured classes that change each year. Pebble Beach might feature Alfa Romeo one year, Packard the next and Ferrari after that. Depending on the cars known to be attending, a local show might have a special extra set of awards, such as a Tri-Five Chevy Trophy this year, Best Mustang next year, Super Six Cylinder Ribbon the following year…

9) Explain And Limit Classes: If entrants aren’t given any explanation of classes, then they’ll make a mockery of them. If you already have awards for Best GM, Ford and Mopar, why not explain that DeSotos, Pontiacs, Hummers, Edsels, and LaSalles belong in those classes, while the Best Orphan trophy should be reserved for the likes of Packard, Rockne, Cunningham, Facel Vega, and other non-Big Three brands. This seems to be especially important for classes like Best Import, Best Sports Car and Best Muscle Car, where everyone has their own definitions. (As the organizer, do you want a Camaro competing as a Pony Car against Mustangs, Muscle Car against Chevelles and GTOs or Sports Car with Corvettes and Porsches?)

Finally…

10) BE FAIR WITH JUDGING: There’s nothing worse than when people realize the class winners are all friends of the organizers. Pick judges for classes who respect the cars within and have some passing knowledge of the vehicles they are rating. A two-time Concorso Italiano-winning (including Best In Show and two-class wins) Lamborghini Miura was twice sent home from a local show here without as much as a third-place trophy for Best Sports Car. When I mentioned to the ladies at the event tent that they had again snubbed what had been crowned just a year earlier the “best Italian car in the world”, they simply quipped something about liking Corvettes and Camaros, of which there were more than 25 at the show. Of course, the organizer was also a local Corvette and Chevy muscle car restorer.

Remember, a car show is not just about seeing cars we know and love, it’s also about exposing the area to previously unfamiliar greatness. This goes for attendees, participants, sponsors, judges, and organizers alike.

Ford Clips Mercury’s Wings

From the files of “Not Surprising News” comes word that Ford has finally decided to wind-down the Mercury brand. The complete lack of news coverage and enthusiast whining is a good indication that not only is this the right move, but one that is a long time coming.

While Ford has sold a number of prestige lines that it previously acquired, this will be the first corporate-created brand to be brought out behind the woodshed and shot since Edsel back in 1960. Edsel might be somewhat synonymous with automotive failure, but one could reasonably say that no other long-surviving marque has seen less success than Mercury.

Edsel Ford started Mercury in 1939 as a mid-level choice between Ford and Lincoln lines to compete against Pontiac and lower-level Oldsmobiles. The focus quickly turned towards offering a little more performance and amenities than Ford brand cars. On the strength of its 1949 products, Mercury soared to be the sixth-best selling brand in America with 301,319 cars. (Ford and Chevy sold over a million, with 520,385 Plymouths, 324,276 Buicks, and 304,819 Pontiacs all submitting superior sales.) Unit sales would eclipse 1949′s figures from time-to-time over the years, but Mercury would never again rank as high in terms of total market share.

Blame uninspiring and poorly differentiated products. To find the last interesting or even somewhat notable Mercury, one would probably have to go back to 1970 with the 375-horse 429-ci-powered Cyclone Spoilers and Cougars. With a few exceptions (such as various Capris and the last version of the Cougar), since then Mercury has been little more than something akin to an upscale trim-level designation to core Ford brand products. The company’s last attempt at an image car was the Marauder, which was little more than a 1990′s police interceptor Crown Victoria with black paint and couple of tacked-on cheap ancillary gauges. The product launched with a thud and faded quickly with a whimper. Since then, the company has offered nothing more than well-trimmed Fords or stripped Lincolns.

So at the end of the year Mercury will cease to produce badges (since they don’t really produce cars.) And its die-hard customers? Ford must have finally figured out what the rest of us have known for decades — they’ll just buy the same vehicles — except with the Ford or Lincoln name, which is more profitable for the Blue Oval boys anyway!