To drive or not to drive

[Joseph P.]

I have a 62 that had a frame off restoration about a year ago. The current owner did not have any interest in having it judged. So he drove the car, although sparingly. I would like to have it judged and don't really know if it's ok to drive it or what effect mileage has on the car being a top flight candidate. Can you drive a top flight car? If the car is judged top flight can it subsequently be driven? This is probably elementary to most on this forum but I can't find a definitive source that explains this. Thank you for your input Joe

[Jim R.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

I say drive it,some members drive there cars 100's of miles to the judging meets and achive top flight's. the ncrs likes it when we drive our cars ,plus you get xtra points towards you final score for mileage driven.

[James W.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

Drive it! That's what this "hobby" is all about.

James West

[Tom H.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

Many Top Flight cars are driven to the events. You will also pick up some bonus points for driving to the meets.

Driving these old cars helps you learn about them too !!

[Brian M.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

I drive my 5 X top Flight car all the time.

[Mike M.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

i drove a 67 435 from cumberland to the collinsville nationals in the late 90's. it was a Duntov candidate prior to departure, drove all the way, got Duntov and drove it back home. 4.11 gears to boot. mike

[Joseph P.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

This is great news. I was mistakenly under the impression that these cars had to be trailered everywhere. I thought only "trailer Queens", which I can appreciate and respect got the high points. Goes to show it's better to ask. Thank you for the info.

[Dan H.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

Yup, drive it and learn about it, also a 55 gallon drum of bug and tar remover is helpful!
Dan

[Michael W.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

Joe,

The scoring system for Flight Judging has been biased to reward owners who drive their cars- just the way it should be.

[Joseph P.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

This is all good. I will enjoy driving to the keys on weekends without worrying if it was a negative. And I will place a large volume order of bug and tar remover. Maybe that's why they trailer? No bugs or chipped paint. Joe

[Chris E.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

The only case where driving doesn't help you is in pursuit of the Duntov award. There, you need a 97% or better at Regionals and again at Nationals. In both cases, the 97% has to be a RAW score, driving points are not considered.

If you aren't going after the Duntov award, then go for it!

[Wayne L.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

Driving these cars also helps to uncover problems. Then they can be fixed prior to having something not work during judging, particularly operations.

[Patrick H.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

If you aren't going after the Duntov award, then go for it!

Caveat:

plenty of people have received the Duntov with cars that were driven to the events, too.

While not a Duntov, I drove my 72 to its Regional judging event (500+ miles one way) as well as to the Windsor National (200+ miles) where it received its Bowtie Arard in 2004.

Patrick

[Jim C.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

Joseph,

You gotta drive it!!!!! Why have it?? Drive it and enjoy it!! See you out on the road.

Jim C.

[Terry M.]

Re: To drive or not to drive

I have a 62 that had a frame off restoration about a year ago. The current owner did not have any interest in having it judged. So he drove the car, although sparingly. I would like to have it judged and don't really know if it's ok to drive it or what effect mileage has on the car being a top flight candidate. Can you drive a top flight car? If the car is judged top flight can it subsequently be driven? This is probably elementary to most on this forum but I can't find a definitive source that explains this. Thank you for your input Joe

Allow me to suggest that each person has to decide how comfortable they will be driving their Corvette -- and I don't mean creature comforts. I mean how obsessive they will be about the drive, and how much one will worry about the "what ifs." If you can get over all that obsession, then by all means get out there and enjoy the drive. But if the drive is going to be agony, and make you grumpy, load up the trailer.