Oh the Humanity

[HealeyRick]

Just ran across these results from the 2012 U.S. Bank Kirkland Concours d'Elegance at LeMay. Look at the way our moderator's car is described by the museum.

British Invasion:

1st: 1960 AC Ace Bristol owned by James Feldman
2nd: 1960 Lotus Elite GT Coupe owned by Alan McWain
3rd: 1956 Austin-Healey 100M Le Mans owned by Reid Trummel

https://www.lemaymuseum.org/news.php?nid=429

 

[Editor_Reid]

Ouch. A painful memory revisited. Not because of how they labeled the car, but very frankly I was "less than thrilled" with the result. It is simply not a "third place car."

Feldman's AC was a bit of a ringer, freshly restored in drop-dead gorgeous light metallic blue with red interior (more Healeys should be done in this combo). While I still feel that my 100M could have been first, it was no shame to finish behind it. However, that second place award for the Lotus Elite was a mystery. The Elite was worn, tired, heavily patina'ed with large spider cracks through the paint on those fiberglass wings attesting to its very used condition. This wasn't a preservation class. It was hard to imagine what the judges were thinking. Perhaps they were rewarding the design of the Lotus Elite - admittedly spectacular - and forgiving the condition issues?

Well, I suppose we'll never know, but speaking as the chief judge of a major concours myself, that kind of thing doesn't happen in the town where I'm sheriff.

 

[WaltCasten]

Ouch. A painful memory revisited...

Feldman's AC was a bit of a ringer, freshly restored in drop-dead gorgeous light metallic blue with red interior (more Healeys should be done in this combo). ...

Reid,

Sorry to keep this thread going but I need to chime in anywhere I can to stem the tide of red with black interior Healeys. AGREE 100% WITH THE ABOVE STATEMENT IN BOLD!

Later,
Wally

 

[Bob_Spidell]

re: "... I need to chime in anywhere I can to stem the tide of red with black interior Healeys ..."

Huh? Mine came from the factory, and I intend to keep it that way. Now, stopping the tide of Aston Martin colors on Austin-Healeys is another matter.

I need to chime in and stop the tide of people calling an Austin-Healey 100 an 'Austin-Healey 100-4' (there is no such car).

ps. :friendly_wink:

 

[RDKeysor]

Noticed that Ed Herrmann, a well known actor and car enthusiast, was the emcee at the Kirkland car show discussed here. Only this week I heard a news report that Herrmann had died. Among other roles, he played FDR on a number of occasions.

 

[AH100M]

Another owner of a Reno Red 100 (BN2) with a black/red piping interior AS ORIGINAL piping in!

Oh by the way, it's going to be auctioned at the Auctions America auction in Ft Lauderdale in March. On the Saturday the 28th.

 

[HealeyRick]

Noticed that Ed Herrmann, a well known actor and car enthusiast, was the emcee at the Kirkland car show discussed here. Only this week I heard a news report that Herrmann had died. Among other roles, he played FDR on a number of occasions.

Also a Healey guy:

"When actor (and History Chanel narrator) Edward Herrmann becomes grand marshal at the Glenmoor Gathering of Significant Automobiles today, he won't just be a big name doing a job. The award-winning Herrmann is very serious about automobiles. While this will be his first visit to the Canton event, he is a regular at other auto concours. The interest began while he was growing up in Detroit. His father, he recalled, was one of the few engineers not working in the auto industry. But the fathers of all his friends did, and he became steeped in the car culture. Now 64, Herrmann started car-collecting in his 20s, with an Austin Healey that he said got so hot, it was ''not a wise car to have in California.'' https://www.ohio.com/the330entertainm...enmoor-1.69774"

Herrmann currently has three classic cars, a 1929 Auburn Boattail Speedster, a 1932 Rolls-Royce 20/25, and a 1932 Packard 900 series Coupe Roadster. "We drive the Packard all the time," he says. He didn’t always have fame and fortune, however, and his first car was a 1961 Plymouth Valiant Slant Six station wagon which, he says, "just ran and ran and ran forever." It was Herrmann, in fact, who got The History Channel interested in doing a show about automotive restoration, using a classic Packard and the Canadian firm, RM Restorations, as a base, and that one show led to an entire series of programs about classic and vintage cars in which Herrmann was heavily involved.

Herrmann isn’t finished collecting, by any means. He says he lusts after an Austin-Healey 100M racer, and would like to collect more "shovel-nose" Packards in the future. He says "Everybody should have at least three old cars: one to drive, one in the garage, and one at the shop, being restored." https://www.angelfire.com/me3/lewiscat/greenwich.html

I had just read this very sad story about his accountants allegedly mishandling his funds. Sounds like it will be a rough ride for his widow: https://www.nydailynews.com/enterta...4-5-million-accounting-firm-article-1.2041997

 

[HealeyRick]

Ouch. A painful memory revisited. Not because of how they labeled the car, but very frankly I was "less than thrilled" with the result. It is simply not a "third place car."

Sorry to have dredged up a bad memory. Probably one of the risks involved when you don't have a marque specialist doing the judging.

 

[Editor_Reid]

Sorry to have dredged up a bad memory. Probably one of the risks involved when you don't have a marque specialist doing the judging.

Indeed. It highlights the fact that most concours judging is carried out by judges who cannot be expected to be all-knowledgable of the many marques they will evaluate. We're a bit spoiled in the Austin-Healey world - at least in North America - where concours judging is far more objective and comprehensive than it is in other venues. For that reason and also because in most concours the classes will be a mix of different marques, it is often impossible to establish a rational rank order of the cars in any given class. (Which we do not do in my concours where there are class winners only; no second or third place, etc.)

I can remember entering my blue 100 in a concours several years ago, and the lead judge for the team asked me about a couple of details. I was pleased that he did because while he was knowledgable, he wasn't aware of some of the differences between the four-cylinder Big Healey and the six-cylinder cars and I was able to clarify some things for him and his team. Had I not been there, or if he had not asked, the car would have suffered some inappropriate deductions. However, most judging teams talk only among themselves and the owners do not always get the opportunity to provide these additional details.

For this and other reasons, concours judging is more of an art than a science, and I always view concours awards in a different light than many who seem to consider them a scientifically arrived at, absolute measure of a car. Unfortunately, some are little more than popularity awards without the bonus for stuffed animals in the driver's seat.

 

[pan]

[I need to chime in and stop the tide of people calling an Austin-Healey 100 an 'Austin-Healey 100-4' (there is no such car).

Hear hear!!

 

[GregW]

How 'bout a 4/100?

 

[AH100M]

Back some years ago at a local concours someone, looking at the grille emblem, asked me how I liked my "100 Z"! And then there's "Aston Healey"...

 

[HEALEYJAG]

My 100, which I bought partially well restored was originally Healey blue with red interior. With the purchase came all new blue interior (leather), top and door panels, carpet, boot....so I did not change that....... love that color combination and may change it back some day!

Pete