[MotownMadman]

Rich,
I didnt notice what was being handed out as awards for the musclecars or the other catagories either, I have never been a great believer in the trophy concept anyway, the true rewards of a successful show makes all the exhibitors winners, the reward of giving all the opportunity to view your car and enjoy it for whatever it may mean to each particular person, maybe nothing more then a memory of a significant moment in time in that persons life, or a true apprieciation for fine handcrafting or precise enginneering, or as in the case of our Musclecars, a true love for the history and culture of the hobby. I find it a rewarding experience to share with everyone who comes to the show the joy of owning whatever the car may be as well as the joy of the spectator at viewing the car. In a way I have always felt that the trophys somehow take away from the whole experience as it creates people to begin to measure the worth of their car by the size and quality of the particular award, which in some cases such as this can create bad feelings and animosity which can cloud the true purpose of the hobby as a whole. This of course is only my opinion, others may hold a great deal of emphasis on the award phase of a show, but when it comes right down to it the only people we have to please with our cars and recieve recognition from is ourselves. Meadowbrook overall I felt did a fine job as everone recieved some very nice items just for coming to the show, as well as an engraved plaque that stood in front of each car which equaled many of the top awards I have seen at some shows. I think the true award at Meadowbrook came from just being invited to display your car, there were many entries in each class that were not selected to attend, and I am sure that many of those not there were very deserving. This type of show has always been geared up to the older vintage classics, for the organizers to take notice of the American Musclecar as being worthy to attend is a recognition in itself. Everyone tends to get caught up in their own segment of the hobby, sometimes to the point of not giving recognition to very worthy examples from other vehicle classes, kind of makes a person wonder how many twelve cylinder Duesenbergs or Supercharged Allards were invited to the Supercar Reunion. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I am not sure how long American Musclecars have been coming to Meadowbrook, but judging from the crowds reaction I would guess our class will do nothing but grow in the future in shows such as that. It is a shame your friend feels that he would not want to be a Judge at Meadowbrook again, isint part of being a successful Judge at a car show objectivity? I certainly would not want the burden of being a Judge at a show with the scope and range of Meadowbrook, I would not be able to decide as from my perspective they were all winners, each equal in their own way.
Thanks,
Motown [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img]