Fort Lee NJ

On Sunday July 14, the town of Fort Lee hosted its 3rd annual “Concours on the Palisades”, a celebration featuring a variety of older and newer classic and exotic cars. I posted about last year’s event, when I worked as a judge. This year, my judging duties were again requested, and I also entered my ’67 Alfa into the show, as there was a special class of Alfa Romeos to honor the 70th anniversary of the Giulietta and the 50th anniversary of the Alfetta.

Last year’s show was good but could have been better organized. We provided feedback that not all cars were parked in their correct classes, which added a layer of complexity to our jobs. This year, the Chief Judge (Bob Austin, a former Volvo colleague and dear friend) decided that the judges would assist in parking the cars for the classes they would be judging. I was on a team of 4 judges, and our assigned classes were “Italian” and “Japanese” cars. So there we were, at 8 a.m., directing traffic. Aside from the early hour (not really an inconvenience) I thought this was a brilliant move, as it gave us early insight into the cars in our classes. As was suggested to us, watching the cars move under their own power and providing an initial “welcome” to the owners meant we had greater familiarity with the cars and owners once formal judging commenced.

Our scoresheets showed 10 cars in the Italian class and 11 in the Japanese class. However, only 6 Italian cars showed up, and only 7 Japanese cars. We were tasked with selecting the Top Four so in reality, we didn’t have a heavy workload. The most difficult part of the judging process was dealing with the 90 degree-plus heat. Thankfully, we were done with our field review by 11 a.m. and headed to an air-conditioned conference room to make our final tallies.

The Concours on the Palisades uses “French Rules”: judges need to answer only one question, which is, “what kind of visual impact does this motor vehicle present to me?” Yes, condition, workmanship, personal histories, etc., do play a part. But ultimately, it’s the overall visual statement made by the car which decides the winners.

In the Italian class, we gave 3^rd place to a green Lancia Fulvia, 2^nd place to an orange DeTomaso Pantera, and 1^st place to a white Lancia Fulvia Zagato. The Zagato emerged on top due to its uniqueness, color combination, and overall condition. Among the Japanese cars, 3^rd went to a black 1989 Nissan 240SX track car, 2^nd to a Suzuki Cappuccino “kei car”, and 1^st to a near-bone-stock orange 1974 Toyota Corolla. For our entire judging team, the Toyota was an emotional choice. The car was a survivor, in what appeared to be unrestored condition, in a period color combo one doesn’t see today. We agreed that had it had a manual gearbox it would have been perfect.

The Alfa Romeos (separate from the other Italian cars) were parked on Main St. in a position of honor, along with the other Special Class this year, the Mercedes-Benz SLs (all years). Nine Alfas were registered, in itself a low number, yet only 6 showed up, a very disappointing turnout. Was it the heat? Competition with other shows? We’ll never know. Still, it was nice to see our Alfas so recognized. Third place went to a black Alfa 164 sedan, second to a red Alfa Milano sedan, and first to a white Giulietta Spider. (I believe that my car, as one entered by a judge, was “display only”.)

The awards ceremony got underway a few minutes after 1 p.m. and was over before 2 p.m. The timing was good because rain clouds quickly moved in, and sprinkles started a few minutes after the final “see you next year!” was proclaimed. My Alfa completed the 120-mile round trip without a problem, even as the temp gauge registered slightly higher in the hot and humid air. I walked into my house a little after 3 p.m. and that air conditioning felt great!

ITALIAN CLASS

JAPANESE CLASS

AMERICAN CLASS

SWEDISH CLASS

BRITISH CLASS

GERMAN CLASS

MERCEDES-BENZ SL CLASS

ALFA ROMEO CLASS

The 2^nd annual “Concours on the Palisades” was held in Fort Lee NJ on Sunday July 23, 2023. The show reverted to this rain date when threatening weather on the original planned date of July 16 made it imprudent to hold the event on that day.

The postponement was a wise move, as the weather on the 23^rd was sunny and warm, with low humidity and a slight breeze. If there was a downside, it was the observed possibility that a number of registered cars didn’t show up because the owners were unavailable on the new date. Still, turnout was strong. I would estimate that there were close to 150 show vehicles on site, and a varied assortment they were. The featured marque was the Chevrolet Corvette, celebrating its 70^th anniversary in 2023. Several blocks of Main St. in downtown Fort Lee were closed to outside traffic to allow the Corvettes to take over. There were 50+ Corvettes in attendance, from all 8 generations, from the C1s through the new mid-engine C8s.

The remainder of the show cars were arranged in a parking lot surrounding a large parking garage, just up the block from Main St. Classes included American, British, Italian, German, Japanese, and Swedish cars, plus ‘exotic’ and ‘vintage’ automobiles. Similar to what many towns have done during Cars & Coffee and Cruise Night events, the local restaurants and shops threw open their doors and hopefully were able to drum up some business with all the spectators milling about.

I was there to do more than spectate; I was also judging the show! (See sidebar.) Judging gave me a chance to converse with owners, which is always fun, but I then needed to race through the classes I didn’t judge so that I could take in the rest of the show. The event officially opened to the public at 10 am, and the awards ceremony was held at 1 pm, with everything wrapped up by 2 pm, so it was not an all-day affair.

I’m not familiar with any similar show in the northeast part of NJ (The “Ramapo Concours” ran for only one or two years and seemed to have petered out), so we shall see if Fort Lee can work their magic and have a 3^rd consecutive show in 2024.

EXOTIC

One of two first-gen Ford GT cars in attendance

VINTAGE

’57 Chevy; those are NOT whitewalls! The 18″ wheels have white outer edges!

JAPANESE

This Honda S2000 looked showroom new, had 180,000 miles on it

SWEDISH

BRITISH

ITALIAN

GERMAN

BMW 6-Series; note the license plate (body style was known as the “shark”)

AMERICAN

CORVETTES

C1:

C2:

C4:

C6:

C7:

SIDEBAR: JUDGING A CONCOURS

My very good friend Sal, whom I know from our now-discontinued Sunday breakfast drives, found himself invited to be a judge at the inaugural Concours on the Palisades last year. He invited me to also participate in judging, but I had a personal conflict in 2022 and could not join. Sal repeated the invite this year and put me in touch with the Chief Judge, someone I’ve known for decades: Bob Austin, a Volvo corporate colleague whom I met in the late 1980s. Bob signed me up and the emails began to fly.

I’ve judged a number of car shows, mostly AACA events. AACA has a rulebook chock full of specifics. Overall, AACA rules require that cars be judged based on how they would have appeared when new and about to be delivered by an authorized dealer to the car’s first customer. In essence, this means the vehicle being judged should be 100% stock with no factory deviations. In addition to shiny paint, sparkling chrome, and pristine glass, the colors, materials, and equipment must match what was used in the year the car was built.

As Bob explained it to us judges in Fort Lee, we would be judging by “French rules”. He explicitly gave these examples: “I don’t care if the color is one that was never original to the car, and I don’t care if the engine or the upholstery has been changed. We are judging cars on condition, of course, but the ultimate question you might ask yourself is ‘would this be the car that I would want to take home with me?’” Put another way, how did the cars impact us emotionally? We were handed outlines about exterior and interior judging, and also told that our judging would not include the engine or trunk. Bob said “be consistent. If you knock a car down because the glass is dirty, you need to be sure to objectively judge the cleanliness of the glass for all the cars.”

The French rules were 180 degrees from AACA judging, but we judges would be on teams that needed to reach a consensus, and no matter how many (or how few) cars were in a class, we had to select 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place. As my fortune would have it, I was teamed up with Sal, with 4 smaller classes to judge: exotic, vintage, Japanese, and Swedish. There were few enough cars in each class that choosing the 3 cars was easy; we then had to rank them, which involved a bit more back-and-forth between us, yet it didn’t take us long to create the final lists.

I’m going to avoid the “how and why” of our choices, for several reasons. One, under French rules, it’s likely that any other team of two would have chosen completely different cars; two, if you weren’t there to see them in the metal, it could be very difficult to explain why we chose the cars we did; and three, I think it’s unwise to reveal any of the process should show car owners be reading this.

Judging can be fun; it can also be time-consuming, frustrating, challenging, and if one is not careful, inconsistent. The last point might be the most important. My own cars have been judged multiple times, and you want the judges to be fair. I believe we were, and I’d like to see Sal and I end up on the same judging team next year.

richardscarblog

All automotive, all the time

Concours on the Palisades, Fort Lee NJ, July 14, 2024