Members Earn Top Honors @ NCRS National in Fabulous Las Vegas
 

Hi All,

What a wonderful week. I wanted to share how five members of this site scored top honors @ the NCRS National Convention in Las Vegas last week.

Quick back story - Bill Wente (67Since67 here) and I connected on some Chevelle parts. For those who don't know Bill from MCACN, he is a Chevelle faithful and world class A-Body collector and preservationist. BW and I get talking about the other cars we have and turns out we're both owners of 1967 Corvette Convertible survivor cars with the L36 427-390hp/4 speed combination. We also discover that we're both taking the Corvettes to the NCRS Nation in LV as invited participants to be judge for the coveted 4-Star Bowtie award. This only happens after being approved in prerequisite judging at a Regional or National event prior to the Bowtie process commencement.

From the NCRS Website:

"NCRS Star and Bowtie Awards are earned only at National Conventions by unrestored cars successfully judged and voted to be historically and educationally significant in any one or more of four areas (Interior, Exterior, Mechanical, and Chassis). The award is intended to recognize the car and encourage the owner to retain and display the car in its present condition for the enjoyment and continuing educational benefit of our membership. NCRS One-, Two- or Three-Star Awards are achieved by a successful judging and voting in any one, two or three of the four listed areas. The NCRS Chevrolet Bowtie Award is achieved by a successful judging and voting in all four areas. Subsequent to this judging, the NCRS Chevrolet 5-Star Bowtie Award may be achieved as described in item #12 of the NCRS Judging Reference Manual. Only 316 Corvettes have received this prestigious award."

Let's cut to the chase - earning a Star award is damn near impossible let alone earning the Bowtie - let me explain why. The judges review every aspect of the car to ensure parts are not only original but also born with from the factory. Microscope type lenses and bright flash lights are used to inspect bolt heads for evidence of wear, tinkering, removal, replacement, etc. Bolt threads are evaluated for even patina, and rust patterns. Only the most basic of wear/tear items can be changed - belts, plugs, wires, tires, battery, mufflers, etc most of which are shared with the judges before the judging begins. Judging sheets are NOT provided back to the owners. A car that scores above the threshold in the quantitative evaluation does not always score well in a qualitative 'educational value' judge's deliberation. The car must be untouched and born with + hold educational significance. Similar to Steve Shauger's "Legends" judging, Bowtie and Star cars are put on the lift for about 45 minutes of open judging time.

Bill and I went back and forth exchanging emails, phone calls, text photos, until the Sunday before the show when we finally met. Bill's Corvette is unbelievable! It is a marina blue on dark blue '67 L36/M20 with a rare blue top. Radio delete. He has owned the car since the late 1970s. It has OEM paint, interior, chassis, and all mechanical items. The car shows very thin paint [known factory flaws] in areas like under bumpers and under doors. Furthermore, the stainless, flash chrome bumpers and overall aesthetic resembles that of a restored car. Talk about education - wow.

More of Bill's '67!

The glue was sloppy, over spray was visible, hardware even had original plating...

We move inside on Monday and make friends with our fellow '67 owners... hows this for a small world... Tim Gilmore (TimG) is with his buddy and fellow member Richard Hudson (RCH).

Here is a Richard's '67 Corvette Convertible L36 survivor... also going for the Bowtie award. Richard bought the '67 from Tim and many of you may have seen it judged at Bloomington and/or the NCRS National last year in TX. Another wonderful example with lots of education value. Can't say enough about Richard and his daughter. Richard - Dave and I had a blast chatting throughout the week!

Highlights - exhaust tips with the weld mark seem, idler arm with the "B" stamp, chalk markings on the frame for shims, and an overall clean survivor.

We then met up with Joe Verrillo (don't know his username) but he's a member here too. He brought a '67 L71 (427/435) Convertible. This is a maroon/black survivor that was a recent find by the previous owner. It proved to be a very popular car throughout the weekend as most 435 cars are... highlights here include more chalk shim marks, side pipes, and seeing the contrasting spray/dusting of color against the black out paint against the undercoating.

Dave and I brought our '67 Corvette too... we call it the Cardinal since it rested on Cardinal Ave for nearly 40 years. It is a Lyndale blue/teal convertible with a white top.

Judging began Tuesday for the Bowtie contenders...

Pushed onto the rack - pushed off the rack. We were #1 for time on the lift. The other gents began on the floor.

The bottom photo is godfather Al Grenning reviewing the engine pad - it is 100% born with original.

Dan

After intense deliberations (the judges were well educated, thoughtful, knowledgable, and all business), hear this - all four 1967 big block convertibles were awarded with Bowtie award for all categories! Wow.

For the qualitative review the judges all act independently - not as pairs like they do for the quantitative. After all 8 judges voice an opinion, he/she votes with the Team Leader who also makes an opinion. I cannot speak for the other gents who scored the Bowtie but Dave and I were told the judges voted 9/9 "absolutely yes" for our car. What an outstanding compliment to the car's preserved condition. Our car is not massaged, enhanced, tinkered with, doctored up, or fluffed.

Gene Mano (400 level judge and Advanced Judging School Teacher) asked Dave and I if he could use our car in the seminar on day 1 of the school. Bill was asked to display his car on day 2 of the school. The NCRS wasted no time using the car for education purpose. What an honor. After the hour on the lift, it was pushed off to the side where John Ballard and Mr. Mano continued to review aspects of what makes the survivor cars special. Below is a photo of John (expert in all Corvette paint) explaining why our color, shade, tint, and stinger paint was absolutely factory original.

What a great day! Vinnie Peters (NCRS photographer and media expert) allowed us to push the Bowtie cars together for a photo.

Dan

Bill received much of the same treatment. Lots of students surrounding the car for day 2 of the advanced judging school.

We snapped a quick pic commemorating the milestone before heading to dinner. Bill and his wife are such lovely people. Dave, myself and our parents got to spend the evening chatting cars, life, family, and travel with Bill and Jane. The cars are great but the friends you make are just so much better! On Thursday night we were awarded our Bowtie plaques too!

Congrats to Bill, Richard, and Joe!

Dan

And now some other honorable mentions...

There were two 1969 L88s (one 4 speed coupe and one automatic convertible). One 1968 L88 4 speed convertible. A 1957 air box fuel car. Two American Heritage recipients - 1966 L72/M22/N03 tanker and a 1965 fuel coupe with a big tank. A handful of new Duntov winners too.

Bill introduced Dave and I to Yenko.net member Ward Gappa who scored very well with his 1965 Corvette fuel coupe survivor. Ward can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe he got a 3 Star Award in a prior show and was awarded a Top Flight at the National this year. Regardless it is a well preserved original.

Wonderful show!

Dan

Outside shots waiting for the ride back to NY...

Dan