Every concours season, thousands of hours of preparation — some of it stretching back years before the show date — converge on a single morning of judging. Owners and their restoration teams have buffed, documented, and rehearsed. Judges have studied their class specifications, refreshed their knowledge of factory-correct details, and prepared their scoring sheets. And yet, despite the formality of the process, the outcome of a well-run concours is anything but predetermined. The gap between a 98-point result and a 99.5-point Best of Show is often invisible to the untrained eye and obvious to someone who has studied the car’s factory records. Understanding how that process works changes how you look at every car on a concours lawn.
How Classes Are Organised
Concours classes are built around production era, country of origin, coachbuilder affiliation, or competition purpose, depending on the event’s philosophy. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance, the most prestigious event in the North American calendar, organises its classes thematically, rotating featured marques and eras from year to year while maintaining core class structures that provide continuity.
Pre-war classes typically divide by decade (1920s, 1930s) or by country (French, Italian, German, American). Within those geographic divisions, further subdivision by coachbuilder or body style is common: open touring, closed saloon, sports racing. The distinction matters because it concentrates appropriate expertise among the judges assigned to each class. A judge evaluating a 1930s French coachbuilt class should have specific knowledge of Figoni et Falaschi, Saoutchik, and Letourneur et Marchand construction methods; that knowledge is not interchangeable with expertise in Italian coachwork of the same period.
Postwar classes follow a similar logic. Sports racing cars from the 1950s and 1960s form their own class, typically including Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, Maserati 300S, and Jaguar D-Type examples. American classics occupy multiple classes divided by manufacturer, era, or coachbuilding style — the American Custom coachwork of the 1930s, executed by Brewster, Murphy, and Derham, is judged separately from contemporary European imports. British sporting cars from the 1960s — Aston Martin DB-series, Jaguar E-Type, Lotus Elite — form a natural grouping with their own judging criteria.
The Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza, held each May on the shores of Lake Como, uses a different organisational philosophy. Rather than dividing primarily by era and country, it groups cars by design theme, reflecting its Italian roots in coachbuilding culture. A single class might include a 1930s Alfa Romeo, a 1950s Ferrari, and a 1970s Lamborghini if all three share a design lineage or represent the work of a particular designer. This approach rewards curatorial judgment but can frustrate owners who prepared for class competition against specific rivals and find themselves evaluated against unexpected contemporaries.
The 100-Point Scoring System
The judging framework used at most major North American concours is based on a 100-point scale distributed across four primary areas: engine compartment, exterior bodywork and paint, interior, and chassis and undercarriage. The precise allocation varies by event, but a representative distribution at a major concours would be approximately 30 points for the engine compartment, 35 points for exterior, 20 points for interior, and 15 points for chassis.
Within the engine compartment category, judges examine not just cleanliness but correctness. The correct manufacturer of each component — the alternator, the voltage regulator, the air cleaner housing — is specified in factory documentation, and deviations from that specification are deducted at the judge’s discretion. A 1960s Ferrari 250 GT equipped with a period-correct but non-factory-specified component from a sister model will lose points that cannot be recovered elsewhere. The severity of the deduction depends on whether the deviation is visible, whether it affects function, and whether there is documentation supporting the substitution.
Exterior scoring examines paint thickness (using non-destructive measurement tools), panel gaps, shut line consistency, and the condition of chrome or brightwork. Repainted cars are assessed against factory paint specifications for the car’s original colour: correct basecoat chemistry, correct finish level (some factory finishes were deliberately textured rather than mirror-smooth), and correct colour match against period reference materials. A car that has been repainted in a colour it was never offered in from the factory is typically penalised regardless of the quality of the paint application.
Interior judges look for correct upholstery materials (leather grade, hide origin where documented), correct carpet weave and pile height, correct instrument bezels and faces, and correct switchgear. Door panel construction is examined in detail because it is an area where restoration quality varies enormously and where incorrect materials are common. Headlining material and method of attachment to the body structure are scrutinised on enclosed cars.
Correct Versus Restored: The Critical Distinction
The most consequential distinction in concours judging is between a car that is correct and one that has been restored to a correct specification. A correct car retains its original components — paint, interior materials, mechanical parts — in a preserved rather than renewed condition. A restored car has had all or part of its original materials replaced, however faithfully, with period-accurate replacements.
The judging approach to this distinction varies between events and between classes within events. Pebble Beach historically favoured presentation — a brilliantly restored car with mirror paint could outscore a correct but patinated original. This has shifted in recent years toward greater recognition of preserved originality, particularly in pre-war classes where surviving original lacquer finishes are exceptionally rare. The Best of Show committee at Pebble Beach has awarded the trophy to visually perfect restorations and to preserved originals in different years, reflecting genuine debate within the judging community about which criterion should prevail.
At Amelia Island, the Preservation class — introduced in 2001 — explicitly rewards cars that have been maintained in original, unrestored condition with original finishes, upholstery, and mechanical components intact. This class has been influential in shifting collector attitudes toward preservation across the broader concours community. A car that wins the Preservation class at Amelia can command a significant premium in the private market over a comparable example that has been restored to a higher cosmetic standard.
Best of Show: Selection and Dynamics
Best of Show is not determined by the highest numerical score from the class judging. Most major concours convene a Best of Show committee — typically comprising six to ten of the most experienced judges and, at some events, the event’s artistic or curatorial director — that deliberates independently after the class results are finalised.
The committee’s brief is to select the car that best represents the event’s values, which at most events means a combination of historical significance, rarity, quality of presentation, and narrative resonance. A technically perfect 10-point restoration of a common model will not win Best of Show over a less perfectly restored example of a car with a more significant history. The Alfa Romeo Tipo B (P3) that won Pebble Beach Best of Show in 2000 was not selected because it scored highest on the 100-point scale; it was selected because it is one of the most important Grand Prix cars ever built, with an unbroken provenance chain and a presentation that matched its historical significance.
The social and political dynamics of this selection are real. Committee members have institutional relationships with concours sponsors, with major collector families, and with specific marques and eras. These relationships do not determine outcomes — the best cars do win — but they shape the conversation around borderline decisions. An owner who has built relationships within the concours community, who attends year after year, who presents multiple cars at different events, and who participates in the broader collector culture is not simply socialising. They are investing in the context that surrounds their cars when they appear before a judging committee.
Preparing a Car for Competition
The preparation process for a serious concours entrant begins not with polishing but with research. Factory build records, if available through Ferrari Classiche, Porsche’s Certificate of Authenticity programme, Mercedes-Benz Classic, or equivalent marque archives, establish the correct specification from which all subsequent preparation decisions follow. Deviating from documented factory specification to achieve a cleaner or more visually impressive presentation is a mistake that experienced judges will identify and penalise.
The final three to four weeks before a major event involve the refinement of presentation details that account for the difference between a competitive result and a winning one. Tire blackening agents are avoided in favour of careful cleaning because many judges now check for artificial enhancement. Engine compartment hoses are examined for correct part numbers and date codes, where applicable. Documentation files — factory correspondence, original invoice, early ownership records, restoration photographs with dated captions — are assembled in formats that judges can review efficiently. The car’s story, told through these documents, is as much a part of the presentation as the car itself.
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