NSW MX5 CLUB OF NSW CONCOURS D' ELEGANCE SHOW & SHINE

Hurricane · Postby **Hurricane** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:14 pm

MX-5 Club of NSW Concours d’ Elegance and Show & Shine

Our annual Concours d’ Elegance and Show & Shine will be held this year at The Mean Fiddler Pub, Cnr Windsor & Commercial Rd, Rouse Hill.
We will take pride of place in a reserved area at the front of the car park. All MX-5s will be able to be view by the public and hopefully attract fans and some new members to our Club.

All NA, NB and NC categories from stock to modified and customised are catered for, so check out the Club website for handy guides to the preparation of your car and details of how the judging takes place.
Don’t be put off because you have an old or high mileage MX-5 because there are allowances for these vehicles, so everyone stands a chance of picking up an award.

The details are:

When: Sunday 25th October 2009

Where: The Mean Fiddler Pub Cnr Windsor & Commercial Rd, Rouse Hill

Time: From 8:30 for a 9.30 start.

RSVP: Is required no later than Sunday 11th October 2009.

The entry forms have been e-mailed to Members or you can get them from the Events section on the Club site.
Send your RSVP to socialsec@mx5.com.au or Fax to 9484 9893 or post to PO Box 402 Beecroft NSW 2119.

I’m often asked what is the difference between Concours d’ Elegance and Show & Shine.
In the Concours class the car is judged on the condition and cleanliness of the exterior, interior, under bonnet and boot.
In the Show & Shine class only the exterior and interior are judged. We don’t look under the bonnet and in the boot.

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Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:25 pm

No NC2 class?

Hurricane · Postby **Hurricane** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:04 am

All NA, NB, NC any model, any class! :roll:

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:37 pm

oohh nice. ill be able to clean my car with the little pink bag of goodies before the show

Hurricane · Postby **Hurricane** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:24 am

Yes you do have to be a member of the MX5 Car Club. You are also required to have attended at least 3 Club runs or events for the calendar year. There is currently no cost to enter. :lol:

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:46 am

is this to insure that cars get used? or try to get atendance up?

Hurricane · Postby **Hurricane** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:13 pm

It is to reward members who come on runs and participate in club events and to eliminate those that just turn up once a year for concours! :roll:

Hurricane · Postby **Hurricane** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:55 pm

I am sorry you feel that way, but I don't know of any Club where you can enter an event of any sort to win something if you are not a member. We have over 500 active members of our Club and all are always made feel welcome. I suggest that if you joined the Hunter Chapter of the Club they also would welcome you. I guess maybe the fact that you just tag along and don't want to join is why you haven't been noticed. :lol:

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:05 pm

this is a potentially an explosive issue.

I completely understand Bex's point of view. But also do I understand that the club committee can do what it see's fit.
I also believe they not wish to discuss or justify these matters on line. That's why committee meetings are held.
I can see this coming out of hand very quickly. So for the moment I'm going to lock it until someone with a little more experience than myself can watch it & moderate it more sensibly.

Postby **Okibi** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:08 pm

Thanks to STM for stopping everyone before this got out of hand and for contacting me. I ask that everyone maintains a certain level of diplomacy.

Bex037 wrote:..I joined the winter run at Yarramalong a number of months back and followed the convoy back to the freeway - I didn't get so much as a sideways look from the group. Nor did I get any sort of comment or encouragement on this forum...

Firstly lets make something clear, while this forum encourages its members to join their local MX-5 club the opinions of the members of this forum do not constitute the opinions of the MX-5 clubs of Australia (and vice versa).

If you have any issue with an MX-5 club I suggest you contact them, it's the most productive way for them to recieve feedback on their events. If you were a member of the W.A. club i'm sure the committee would strongly consider adding a specific category for low km MX-5s. In the overall scoring I think most MX-5 clubs have a correction factor build into their concourse rules so that cars that get dríven regularly have a chance of beating those that are hidden away in garages all year.

I'm sorry that you didn't feel welcome on the Yarramalong drive, you can't expect much more than a "sideways" look from another owner while on the road but at the different stops please make an effort to introduce yourself to those people attending, i'm sure you'll find they're a great bunch. I hope you find encouragement to attend more runs and give yourself the oppertunity to make some life long friends.

You have to appreciate that most (but not all) enthusiasts within MX-5 clubs join the club specifically to drive their MX-5s at club events. As such many of the club events revolve around driving MX-5s (as you'd expect). Unlike a typical vintage car club many of the enthusiasts within MX-5 clubs tend to appreciate cars modified to improve performance and/or aesthetics over a bog stock model.

Now that MX-5s are reaching their 20th year I'm sure there's a growing appreciation for well maintained vehicles. But like many vintage car clubs, I think an owner will get much more respect from club members if they've restored the car to original condition rather than left the car unused or simply used their cheque book purchase create a concourse standard car.

Even in hotrod circles a member who's dríven their car thousands of miles to the event will get more respect than one delivered on a trailer. Perhaps that's why "rat rods" have gained such a big following, they're more about passion and individuality than keeping a vintage car polished and shiny.

Guran · Postby **Guran** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:26 am

Maybe I can suggest a bit of a compromise here.

Personally I'd love to see a near mint NA6 in showroom condition. How cool would that be! A really rare sight! I see that the club is happy to have nonmembers attend the trackdays so maybe the committee could consider a similar approach for the concours? Charge (say) $20 entry and those cars go into their own nonmembers category. That way everyones happy and the club might gain some more potential members who have a different perspective on MX-5 ownership. What do you think Hurricane?

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 10:10 am

Bex, I can see by your responses that your idea of a Concours car differs from that of the most MX-5 Club within Australia. It sounds like you are almost at the point of having to trailer the car between events so as to not get any kilometres up on the clock.

I admire your desire to keep your MX-5 in pristine condition. I have won a few Concours events over the years with my last two MX-5s, spending hours polishing and cleaning both where you can see and where you can’t, so I know about the Concours obsession.

But my MX-5 is a multi purpose car being a daily drive, an enthusiast’s car and a track car, so doing well at Concours is rapidly getting to the impossible stage.

The Concours marking sheet has an allowance for the number of kilometres the car has travelled as well as the age. A prorated system of 2 points per 10,000 klms and 1 point per year is added to the overall score of a possible 325 points. So a 1989 NA with 105,000 on the clock would get a bonus 41 points, a 1999 NB with 150,000k would get 40 points bonus. A 2008 NC with 5,000 klms would get 2 points.

This allows the majority of members with their loved MX-5, the chance to compete equally with those members who also love their MX-5s but drive less K’s and for the older cars to compete for the outright trophy against the newer cars. This doesn’t drive future members away it actually attracts more members.

We also have Show & Shine class that’s for those members who either don’t want to have their car judged under the bonnet and boot or who haven’t attended three Club functions. We also have an area for those members who want to turn up, display their car without it being marked and join in the fun.

One stock ’89 NA in the club until last year won its class and the outright trophy in every Concours event since the clubs inception in 1990. Last year it won its class but was pipped for outright. It’s got 105,000 on the clock and is in original condition.

There is now a few fully restored NA’s starting to appear. These cars will make it hard for the originals to compete on equal footing so in the future the Club will need to decide how to mark these cars. At the present time

So if you or anyone else on the Forum wants to come down in your MX-5 or another car and have a look at what your opposition may have been, you’re most welcome. Just make sure you have a chat with some members and let it be known that you have an MX-5. We are a friendly lot.