They are everywhere.

 

I pulled out my April 2025 Nomad post from the CNA with their car show judging guidelines. Mainly these rules are for classification of the car into three main classes: Original, Modified or Custom. Within those classes are more sub-classes but for the purpose of the discussion I’ll focus on Original.

They break the car down into three Zones: interior, exterior and engine/driveline (which encompasses wheels/tires and brakes).

The original restored class must not have any modifications in the three zones. Though seat belts and radial tires are allowed in white wall or black wall style. Cowl tag info must match your vehicle as it is presented. Like if the cowl tag says the car was a red/white two tone and the car is all red it gets bumped to the original style class. Disc brakes would bump it to original style if that was the only change made and the paint/interior matched the cowl tag info.

The original style class as it’s defined by the CNA: “A Nomad eligible for this class must have changes in ONE of the three categories as defined in the class determination guidelines.” Meaning if your car is mostly original but you have more than one deviation from stock it’s getting bumped to a modified class.

Semi-modified have two changes in the three zones while the modified class has three changes. Cowl tag info into counted into the classification at all.

So if I’m reading the details right, at least in the eyes of the CNA, @Allard-J2 your car would probably be put into the semi-modified class. Mainly because your paint does not match the cowl tag is was pushes it out of the “original” classification. If you had Disc brakes that would too, but that’s how they would do it.

The problem as I see it is each group wether it’s a club show or just a single show put on by a group like say that is limited to stock restored cars of all types will have different standards to which they classify the cars and therefore judge them. Tailoring your car to one set of standards may keep you from meeting other standards. It’s all up to the owner of the car what they want to do for sure.

I will say this, the CNA’s show at the convention if you have ever been to one is not the normal type show. The main categories are people’s choice. If you so choose, you can elect to have your Nomad judged a little closer for what they call “specials”. Rather than peoples choice six teams of three volunteers will judge the specials categories. So within the Original group they will judge the best interior, exterior and engine driveline. Same for modified and custom.

The CNA judging rules were a sharp and clear change to the very rigid rules set forth by the former National Nomad Club. My Dad was on the committee that helped write those rules and those that were around back then remember the type of prestige the Traveling trophy carried for the best original restored Nomad. It was similar to the 1000 point judging the classic Chevy club had or NCRS and it was a big big deal. With that brought stress and challenges in the judging like knocking points for not having the correct screws for the shock plate covers in the cargo area.

I think the CNA did it right by taking it to a simpler approach with opening up the vote to attending members. To me it makes it more meaningful if you take home some hardware. Your car was deemed the best in a category by fellow Nomad owners, a jury of your peers as it is. To me that’s a pretty high honor.

Bottom line if shows are your thing you’ve got to play by the rules set by those putting on the show. It’s not the same to each one and the CNA example shows how one group does it.

 

I did not know any of that about judging categories and “hits” from original. Clears that up, as you say “at least in terms of CNA”. Other shows: other criteria. To be real, I have not ever been that much of a car show guy. I’ve done some here and there over the years but mostly I like what I have for me and having them. So best I not worry about it. My idea of a single display, two car entry may be disallowed by many shows anyway (no trailers allowed!): we’ll see. The only car I ever took to a National type show to be judged by a panel, was my Tiger, to get it certified authentic as a real Tiger. (So many Alpine owners were throwing in a V8 in place of the 4 banger, replacing the “Alpine” emblems with “Tiger” emblems, and trying to sell them as Tigers, that years back the National clubs adopted a single certification criteria and process.) Thank you all for the input

 

Rosie's is at Iliff and Blackhawk, right behind Applebee's.

 

If anyone wants to check it out before I return from vacation, post here about what it's like.
Like I said, it is just getting started and will hopefully attract more cars over time.

(Just a picture from the Internet. Not from last week's car show. )

 

Yep, you learn to heel/toe pretty fast if you push a 911 in the twisties. I was fortunate to live at the top of Topanga Canyon in the SF Valley, so Malibu Canyon and Topanga Canyon to the PCH were frequently my commute to the office on the westside.

 

Speaking of Porsches and Corvettes…
Here are some interesting little known tidbits of history tying Hot Rods to Allard, to Porsche, then to Corvette with one man, “The Father of the Corvette”: Zora Arkus Duntov!
HOTRODS
The rare overhead valve hemi combustion head conversion, popular amongst purist old school flat head hot rod guys, is the ARDUN head. ARDUN being an acronym for ARkus DUNtov. Yup, developed by Zora and his Brother.
ALLARD
Zora brought his cylinder heads to Allard and they used them as original equipment on some of the flathead Ford and Mercury engines that the Allard J2 was originally designed for in ‘49. Forming a close association, Zora worked as an engineering consultant for Allard. Sydney Allard placed 3rd overall at Le Mans in 1950, driving a J2 with the new Cadillac overhead valve engine. Zora was an amateur racer himself, and after that, imported the first J2 to America. Zora drove the Le Mans 24hour race in factory J2 entries in 1952 and ‘53 (driving cars sporting full front fenders on the race car specials after Le Mans rules outlawed the J2’s bicycle front fenders for 1952).
PORSCHE
With his LeMans race experiences, and engineering prowess, Porsche had Zora drive Porsche factory Le Mans entries in 1954 and 1955. Driving the 1,100cc 550 Spyder (The ill-fated model James Dean wrecked) Zora co-drove to a 1st in class victory in 1954.
For 1955, Zora had some issues he wanted to solve on the 550. He found out Porsche did not have a skid pad, and he introduced Porsche to making one and using that for further developments. Amongst other things, Zora introduced sway bars to Porsche, and with those improvements he trimmed :30 seconds per lap off his test times at the Nurburgring. Armed with Sway Bars, Zora again co-drove a 550 Spyder to an easy 1st in class victory at Le Mans in 1955!
Porsche offered him a permanent job, but Zora chose to stay at Chevrolet. He remained close friends and corresponded with Ferdinand and the other close ties he formed at Porsche for years afterwords.

 

You are right. Good to focus on what I want. As you mention it, I have never done, or been a fan of point sheet events. So why worry? The kind of car shows I might be at, where “the Mayor” or “people’s choice” are the voting rule, well they aren’t real sticky about stock vs modified anyway. Save the original parts for the next curator of the car. Doing what I want to with it, and safely, is the most important. Now need to figure out which parts to obtain to accomplish that best. After I get it running well 😂🤣

 

Sorry, for being quiet, I've been buried in work the last week. To your general question about mods, I'd say safety comes first. Front discs and a dual master cylinder are simple changes and fully reversible, but they provide significant safety margin that is priceless when things get tight. Same with torsion sway bars, especially on the front. If you are going to pull a trailer, I would only pull one with electric brakes, and a good brake controller. I've had close calls with out of control trailers, and you don't want to go there. In the quest for power and speed, we often forget what it takes to control that beast with lots of inertia! More go power should always require better stopping power to match.

 

Hey fellas: If you've ever wondered exactly how the fin crown molding, corner piece, and vertical trim comes off and onto your tri-five, I just removed mine in preparation for some paint touch-up work.

There is a definite sequence and a couple of spot-welds to watch out for, but it was surprisingly straightforward. Mine will be off for the next week or two, if you want to look under the covers. Let me know and stop by.

Random question: My rear bumper has two medium size washers welded at the bottom. Anyone know what they might be for?

Gregg

 

Hey fellas: If you've ever wondered exactly how the fin crown molding, corner piece, and vertical trim comes off and onto your tri-five, I just removed mine in preparation for some paint touch-up work.

There is a definite sequence and a couple of spot-welds to watch out for, but it was surprisingly straightforward. Mine will be off for the next week or two, if you want to look under the covers. Let me know and stop by.

Random question: My rear bumper has two medium size washers welded at the bottom. Anyone know what they might be for?

Gregg

They were welded on before a chrome replating process was done to make better contact for the chrome to have achieve better throwing power.

 

Not tri-five stuff…yet. Soon-ish. I finally spent some time taking the top off the Carter 4 barrel on my ‘60 Corvette and once the float valves were cleaned up and unstuck, it started right up. I plan on taking it to the 35th annual Limon car show on the 23rd this month.

I am taking it there because my Grandfather was the Limon Dentist for 30+ years, and he drove that car in Limon, from when it was new until he gave it to me 15 years later. I have never been to that annual car show, but in years past it has been on the street with the town’s 1 traffic light (E Street). E street is where his office was, so I hope to park it where it was often seen for so many years, in front of his old Dental office.

I figure that was so many years ago, only about 1% of anyone at the show might remember him or his car parked there, which isn’t very many: but for that 1% that do, I think it will be a cool thing to see.

The car looks the same as the day he gave it to me in 1975, so it should be easily recognized by “the few”. I’ll make a sign with some photos and a write up. My son and I are going down the Friday before and get a motel near E St. so I can get an early morning start at getting that parking space where it used to park so often.

 

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Not tri-five stuff…yet. Soon-ish. I finally spent some time taking the top off the Carter 4 barrel on my ‘60 Corvette and once the float valves were cleaned up and unstuck, it started right up. I plan on taking it to the 35th annual Limon car show on the 23rd this month.

I am taking it there because my Grandfather was the Limon Dentist for 30+ years, and he drove that car in Limon, from when it was new until he gave it to me 15 years later. I have never been to that annual car show, but in years past it has been on the street with the town’s 1 traffic light (E Street). E street is where his office was, so I hope to park it where it was often seen for so many years, in front of his old Dental office.

I figure that was so many years ago, only about 1% of anyone at the show might remember him or his car parked there, which isn’t very many: but for that 1% that do, I think it will be a cool thing to see.

The car looks the same as the day he gave it to me in 1975, so it should be easily recognized by “the few”. I’ll make a sign with some photos and a write up. My son and I are going down the Friday before and get a motel near E St. so I can get an early morning start at getting that parking space where it used to park so often.

Now you need to drive it more often so that doesn't happen again. Bring it to our Friday Cruise Night sometime maybe?

 

Thanks for sharing your (and your car's) story. Very nice car, and a very good story that gives the car intimacy and value. Sometime I will share the story on my Cameo (GMC) pickup.

 

I wish I had a family car with a story, but each of my cars has had its own story, nonetheless. It's one reason I have every intention to leave the hand-scrawled tribute to the 57's PO in the engine bay. Memories are what cars were/are built for, to be passed along.

 

Cruise night isn't for show cars, it's for car guys to get together and visit and enjoy each other's cars. There are a few show-quality cars that come, but most are drivers. Some are switching to Rosie's Diner near 225 and Iliff to get away from the import and sport bike crowd.

 

Gregg and I went to a show just north of Parker on Sunday, and there was a wide variety of cool rides there.

The turquoise Comet was a rare factory Hipo 289.

 

The Denver Gazette ran a story about it. I intend to be on the grass with a car with them next year. The Denver Gazette

 

I went to a Chenango show back on July 30th, 2023.
At the time, that was the farthest show from my house that I had attended.
50 miles round trip. I was nervous the whole way.

 

Tri lakes cruisers is having a show in monument Sunday the 17th. I bought a ticket to bring the car a couple of months back when a friend of mine suggested I went. Checking at the club website the show is sold out, but if you are out and about swing on by.

 

Y'all, I just gotta take a moment to shout out @goes2fast as one of the best aspects of the Tri-Five community--and the Colorado Tri-Fivers specifically. Jim has given hours of his time and expertise helping me chase down the inevitable gremlins that pop up in these cars.

Today, he got my electrical back on track. I now have blinkers, brake lights, and a horn, so I can finally get on the road again. That was just the latest in a list of things he's put his hands on to help me out.

Jim is a deep well of knowledge. I would be far from the finish line without him.

 

Wow. I have got to get him to my place lol.

 

Hey guys:

In case you haven't heard, Parker Cruisers is having its annual Parker Car Fest tomorrow, starting at 9:00. It's a good show just off Main Street. Sold out, so should be 200 cars+. Car Fest — parkercruisers.com

 

Made it to the show, but didn’t see anyone I knew. Good show, very diverse, but no trash. A few nice tri-fives, but only one Nomad. About noon, they did a “rumble”, where a lot of cars fired up for a bit. Fun””!

 

I was there from 9 to 11:30. Must have passed on Main Street. Did you notice the Handyman? He said it was for sale.

 

I made it back to Colorado earlier today, and I was hoping to go to an afternoon car show today.
Unfortunately, an expensive package that I ordered arrived today, much sooner than I was expecting it, so I didn't go.
I plan on going to the Fairmont Cemetery show on Sunday.

 

I must have just missed you, as we arrived just after. I did see the handyman, but owner wasn’t close. We left when they started with awards. There was a dark blue 57 2dHT in the top 5. The 55 Nomad was nice, but a restomod.

 

I must have just missed you, as we arrived just after. I did see the handyman, but owner wasn’t close. We left when they started with awards. There was a dark blue 57 2dHT in the top 5. The 55 Nomad was nice, but a restomod.

I must have just missed you, as we arrived just after. I did see the handyman, but owner wasn’t close. We left when they started with awards. There was a dark blue 57 2dHT in the top 5. The 55 Nomad was nice, but a restomod.

I think I spoke with the blue 57 Bel Air owner. The one with the build binder? Next to the '55? Very nice, Looked new and the build is over a decade old.

 

How about that Fascination (aerocar) at the intersection? One of five built and I think the owner had 3 of them at one time.

Google Search

 

Gregg and I attended the Monument show yesterday, and lots of beautiful rides there!

This one should be familiar.

And lots more.

This old Lincoln was incredible.