Last week we talked about the 25th annual Collector Car and Boat Show in Lake Oswego, OR. There were 200 cars and boats and 5,000 spectators.
Best Open Car was awarded to a beautifully presented Beck Spyder. That’s a replica of a Porsche 550. And I’ve heard they drive beautifully.
I asked your opinion about a non-authentic car winning a top award and got many responses.
If I boil them down, the consensus seemed to be that at regional shows, a class should be created for replicas. It could have a fancy name like Tribute Cars, Continuation Cars or Homage Cars – those all seem a little classier than “fake.” Maybe have a “C” or something on the car card that identifies them, and put them in the running for the awards.
Should a replica get a top prize, then the announcer can simply say, “The top open car is from the Replica Class, a Beck Spyder.”
Top concours don’t have this issue, as they have plenty of authentic entries to choose from.
But at a regional concours, where you are just out for a pleasant afternoon, why not allow spectators to see “homage” Ferrari GTOs or Pur Sang Bugattis or — oh no, not that — plastic Cobras. So long as the owner represents them properly, and the judges look at the cars appropriately, why not?
At the Lake Oswego show, there was an appealingly shabby original 289 Cobra and a super-shiny replica of some sort. I enjoyed them both and got to go from one to the other looking at the similarities and differences.
Let’s continue this discussion. Should we encourage regional concours to have replicas entered, and should they be eligible for the top prizes?
I look forward to your responses in the comments below.
Read my previous blog posts here.
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