Members Earn Top Honors @ NCRS National in Fabulous Las Vegas

[MosportGreen66]

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.