[TimG]

It's important to remember that the deduction on the stripes was probably very minor in relation to a total score. I've had low mile cars judged with what were definitely factory flaws and seen points taken off for these flaws. Both the judges and I knew these issues were on the car from its birth, but the judges look for typical factory production. This means that an 8,000 mile automatic Corvette with a carb coded for a manual transmission will be docked points even if the carb has the correct date and apparently was installed at the factory.
It also means that a big glob of bonding adhesive on the fender of an 18,000 mile car receives a deduction even though it was done at the factory and should have been cleaned up. These deductions won't make or break a car, especially a very nice car like this Pace Car. Most judges will do the best they can and revise the definitions as time goes on. In five years, other original cars may verify this stripe set up and the judges will allow this variance.