Interesting Judging Choice At Lake George GN

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Barry,

I've contacted Bill. Thanks for your direction to the appropriate person.

Ralph

[Lars Kneller 8246]

All, this car being judged as primary has been discussed with our new Chief Judge Bill Anderson and his response is as follows:

I made the decision to include Mr. Birdsall’s car in Primary at his request. As my mind wandered Saturday night, it occurred to me that I might have made the wrong decision. By then, it was too late to change. My reasoning follows.



All humans are biased by their life’s experiences. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, my beginning in the car hobby, I was customizing cars. George Barris was a hero and frenching, chopping, and decking were the words of day. So, when the term “modified” is used, I think of the kinds of cars you see today at Detroit’s Motorama (Ridler Award) and Good Guys car shows across the country.



Mr. Birdsall’s car was a complete body, built on Cadillac chassis, by a recognized body builder â€" Carrozzeria Rocco Motto of Turin, Italy. Motto built over 100 cars on various chassis between 1932 and 1965; most were foreign. For more info on Motto see Coachbuild.com.



To me, the Birdsall car is comparable to the custom-bodied Cadillacs of the 1930s and 1940s. There were also Derham-bodied Series 75 chassis completed in the post-war years. These cars have been judged in prior CLC meets.



The Birdsall car was a prototype for an intended limited production of this special design. Unfortunately, the sponsors’ business plan was not as good as the prototype and only one was built â€" for more on this car see Cadillacdatabase.com, Dream Cars, 1955.  It is not the only custom bodied car that was not produced in multiple numbers. Fleetwood had many models in their catalogs, some designs were built in low numbers or not at all.



As to the judging of this car, our procedure has 39 categories â€" 12 relate to operation and are easy to judge â€" it works or it doesn’t; 23 relate to appearance which are judged subjectively based on each judge’s value system; and 4 categories that relate authenticity â€" in these categories the judges relied on period literature, restoration photos and the owner’s representations as what was original. Unlike the custom bodied cars of the 1930s, the engine compartment required numerous modifications and therefore the many items were not typical Cadillac.



What’s done is done. This example points out the need for more clarity in the CLC judging procedures. To that end, I am undertaking a comprehensive review of all matters pertaining to judging and will present to the Board of Directors the problems with the existing system and proposals for addressing those problems in January 2015. My long term goal is a system and judges that produce fair, accurate, and reliable (two or three different teams would produce the same score) results. So, if you want to improve CLC judging and participate in this review, please send me your thoughts.



Bill Anderson

CLC Chief Judge

Please email Bill directly with your suggestions and thoughts. His goals are to improve our judging process to make it a fair and consistent process.

Lars

[blazin]

Can someone post Bill's email please. I would like to send him a comment as well. Thanks

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

It will be in the International Membership Directory, which you should have one, or more copies.

I won't post it here unless Bill wants it listed for all the world to see, (but it is listed in the Home Page, under Board of Directors).

Bruce.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for responding.

Ralph

[Jason Edge]

Bill's contact info is located on the CLC website on the Technical Resources page at http://www.cadillaclasalleclub.org/technical-resources

[Greg Powers]

I was a judge at this Grand National and must agree with Barry. Bill Anderson is the person who needs to hear all thoughts and suggestions. I think some improvements can and should be made to our judging policies, but again Bill and his team need to be the ones that make the changes.  I am sure Bill would be glad to talk with you about the future of judging at Grand National meets.- Greg