Define The Classes
How the classes are determined seems to depend on what the contest is – concours or autocross. The concours is judged on appearance. The autocross is determined by performance (as far as the car is concerned). The problems come when the same criteria is used for both concours and autocross.
In my opinion, Stock (for both concours and autocross) should mean a car as it came from the factory or equipped with factory approved, dealer supplied options (LAT). The LAT options were sold (and maybe installed) by the Sunbeam dealers here in the US. I don’t know if they were sold in Canada, but believe they were not sold by the dealers in other countries.
Any deviation from stock that gives a car a distinct competitive advantage in the autocross should place the car in the Modified class. These modifications could be things like modified suspension, changes to the front brakes, rear disk brakes, quick racks, fuel injection, stroker motors, modified rear ends, etc. There are two problems, though. First, exactly what deviations from stock qualify as a “distinct competitive advantage”? Also, there seems to be a big reluctance to police entrants to events.
So what changes would cause a car to be placed in the Personalized class? In this scenario, a Personalized car would be one that has been changed from stock but with no changes that give the car a distinct competitive advantage in the autocross. Such changes to a car would include different interior or seats, non-stock top, non-stock color, non-stock 13” wheels no wider that the LATs, an intake manifold or 4 Bbl different from the LAT setup, etc.
It would be up to the owner to decide which class to enter his or her car. When a Stock or Personalized car goes through tech inspection for the autocross, it should be checked for modifications that give it a distinct competitive advantage in the autocross. If any are found, it should be moved into the Modified class. And the tech inspection should take place the day of the autocross without allowing cars to leave the site before the race.
Under such a methodology, it would be good to have a list of potential changes and whether or not they constitute a distinct competitive advantage. Some such examples include different diameter steering wheels, exhaust pipes bigger than the optional LAP pipes, CAT headers (which are different from the optional LAT headers), non-stock power brake boosters, etc. Many of these items would (or should) result in point deductions at the concours, but should they be allowed in the Stock/Personalized classes or require the car to be in the Modified class in such a scenario?
I agree with the call for more transparency, which includes defining the classes before the event and minimizing someone having to make judgment calls the day of the event.