[DML] Outstanding Concours at Expo in St. Louis

["Grimsrud, Knut S" <knut.s.grimsrud@xxxx>]

I recently had the pleasure of participating in the Concours competition at
the DMC Expo in St. Louis and thought I would share some of my experiences.
First, I must say that I have never seen a lineup of such exceptional
high-quality and meticulously prepared DeLoreans in my life. Eight cars were
entered in the competition and without exception they were outstanding
examples of the marque.

Being new to judging, I must admit I was a bit hesitant and anxious about
the potential issues surrounding judging. My thanks to James Espey and
Steven Wynne at DMC (Houston) for arranging the competition and making the
event fun and rewarding. Based in my experience with this event I would not
hesitate recommeding participation in event judging to others. I also found
that without exception all participants were gracious and helpful and have
to admit my hesitation going into the event were completely unfounded.

My impression is that the detail in judging at this event set a new standard
for concours competition. Six judges covered different aspects of the car (I
had the pleasure of judged interiors). Although I'm not sure precisely the
amount of time the other judges took per car (I was a little slower than
most), I spent on average about 30 minutes per car -- so each car underwent
nearly 3 hours of detailed judging overall. In preparing for the event,
James at DMC had clearly done his homework and had produced a very detailed
and comprehensive judging handbook/checklist that gives some impression of
the detail involved (you can probably find a copy of the judging handbook
and checklists at the DMC web page at www.usadmc.com). I didn't discover
until the next morning the physical exhertion involved in some of the
judging -- after having crouched and squatted for the better part of 4 hours
for the judging, I could barely walk to the shower the next morning (I still
struggle with the stairs around here and walk rather stiff-legged).

Congratulations to all the concours participants for their exceptional cars.
Their meticulous attention to detail really showed.

My upcoming newsletter will include a detailed report of the event as well
as a list of some of the more common items I discovered in the process.

Knut Grimsrud
DeLorean Club of Oregon