To quote Mark Twain, “In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” And he didn’t live in New Jersey! A few days ago, we hit a daytime high of 89 degrees F; on Sunday May 5, the day of our one and only judged car show (The Spring Meet), it was 50 degrees F and windy, with intermittent showers. The inclement weather resulted in a less-than-ideal turnout of show cars, yet the good members of the NJ Region were there in significant numbers. For the first time ever, it appeared that we had more judges than we had cars to judge!

I had pre-registered my ’67 Alfa Romeo, and spent most of the week detailing it, so I was determined to make the 40-mile drive to East Hanover no matter what the forecast. As was done last year, the dealer on Route 10, Nielsen Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram, hosted the show for us, and shuffled their considerable inventory to make room. Upon my arrival, I was directed to park in the class I had registered for, HPOF (Historical Preservation of Original Features), which by the rules of the NJ Region is a “Do Not Judge” class. But it quickly became apparent that of the 17 or so classes, many would remain vacant, while the other classes had only one or two cars in attendance. Within a few minutes, the Chief Judge asked me if I would be willing to move my car to Class 7, where my Alfa would be the only judged car. I agreed with the request; there was another car in that Class (coincidentally belonging to the Chief Judge) but it was labeled as a “Do Not Judge” car.

Given the small number of vehicles and the large number of judges, many judging a show for the first time, it was decided that ALL of the judges would move from car to car together and judge via consensus, with final point values resting with the Chief Judge. This turned out to be a fun exercise, very similar to the two Judging Schools that the Region conducted earlier this year.

An eye-opener for me occurred when several vehicles which were alone in their class were awarded a “Second Place” trophy. The rationale given was that the point deduction totals were large enough that at a National level, the car would not have attained a First Place award. (Without diving too deeply into it, at AACA National events, cars are not judged against each other; rather, cars must meet a certain point threshold to earn a First or Second place showing. This also allows more than one car per class to earn a First or Second.)

Judging started about an hour earlier than scheduled and moved along at a rapid clip. Tallies were completed by 12 noon, announcements were made, trophies were awarded, and the official closing curtain dropped on the 2024 NJ Region Spring Meet by 1 p.m. The Alfa won two (uncontested) awards: first in its Class, and an NJ Region Membership trophy for “Best Unrestored Car” in its class. Despite the lack of competition, I was honored and humbled to be so recognized. Only at the end of the show did the pace of precipitation pick up, and the ride home on Interstate 287 was less than fun (but not lacking in thrills). Yet I made the 40-mile trek in just under an hour and was able to safely tuck the Alfa away until next time.

THE CARS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE PEOPLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All photographs copyright © 2024 Richard A. Reina. Photos may not be copied or reproduced without express written permission.