Car Photo of the Day: This car is DRIVEN.

You didn't know the Jaguar diet includes insects?

There is something of a hulabaloo going on within the JCNA (Jaguar Clubs of North America) at the moment, concerning the “Driven” class within the Concours competition. The crux of it is a ruling whereby cars in the “Driven” class are now allowed to be trailered to the competitions. To some people, including your author, this is ludicrous.

JCNA Concours are judged on “originality” and “authenticity”, meaning that as presented a car should be as close to the condition it left the factory at Brown’s Lane, Coventry all those years ago. To win at a concours requires a lot of effort, in preservation, and in restoration (if required.) This is a bit different than the more general and widely known “Concours d’Elegance” competitions such as Pebble Beach and Amelia Island, where subjective issues of beauty, rarity, historical significance, and provenance are thrown into the mix. Theoretically the JCNA style event is objective, where a judge compares a guide (canonical data compiled by JCNA concerning the models) to the physical car, and deducts points for parts judged not original, or not authentic. They have three classes: Championship. Preservation, and Driven. Championship class cars are frequently almost flawless, and are usually freshly restored, or are “trailer queens”… that is they are never driven on public roads if it can be avoided, and often are only driven on and off trailers. They are truly “show cars”. The Preservation class is for older cars who are original, but have gathered that wonderful aging we call “patina” in the car world. The ‘Driven’ class was created for people who actually drive their cars. The point scale is more generous, ignoring things like dings in the paint, and not judging the engine bay or boot of the vehicles. Overall originality is important, but “drive-ability” and “comfort” modifications are allowed, such as contemporary tire sizes and CD players.

To those of us who DRIVE our cars the Concours field is looked at with opinions that range from mild amusement to derision. Terms like “Competitive Car Washing”, “Concours d’Arrogance”, and ‘The Q-tip Brigade” frequently come up. When you drive a car, as it is meant to be driven, it collects dirt, bugs, replacement parts, and often modifications for the sake of driving pleasure, reliability, or economy. My car could NEVER win any JCNA Concours in the Championship or Preservation classes. It is not original, nor is it authentic. I could enter it in the Driven class, but it could never win. It is just not possible. The standards of “originality” and “authenticity” are kind of like the central plot point in that old 80s fantasy flick “Highlander“… there can be only one. So long as your car has even JUST one thing “wrong” with it, you WILL lose.

By allowing “trailer queens” to compete in driven, honest to goodness driven cars will only be driven from the Concours field. It will become merely the second-tier of the Championship class, where older trailer queens go when they can’t compete anymore. The truth here is that a Concours is a competition. Sure, there’s all sorts of joy to be had by hanging out with car guys all day and shooting the breeze… but at the end of the day one car wins and the others don’t. That is the difference between a “show & shine” and a Concours, JCNA or otherwise. If they are going to award a prize at the end of the day then driven has to mean driven. Otherwise it is just a farce.

I love the JCNA Slalom, and literally maintain my membership for that reason only. If they’d have TSD rallies in my region I’d do those too. But if you sever see my car on a JCNA Concours field then you will know I’m dead – the Concours rules as they stand today, are just patently absurd.

I love the history, beauty, and refined rawness that is the Jaguar E-type. It is truly a snapshot of all that was possible in 1961. It is however a machine with utility in mind. Like the horse it replaced, the automobile is a beautiful beast of burden. Just as the horse is meant to be seen at full gallop across a field of grass, a car is meant to be seen roaring over asphalt. To trailer a car to a Concours is akin to having a stuffed horse on display. It is an insult to the viewer, and a mortal injury to the horse.

Finally… a new camera.

Last year I blogged about shopping for a new camera.

Well, I finally bought one. I actually made my decision on which one to choose not long after I wrote that piece, it just took me a while to actually make the purchase. I picked the Panasonic Lumix G1, but since it was still pretty new, and sporting some amazing new technology, it carried a premium price. Knowing that the patient would be rewarded with better prices I just sat and waited. For me the summer driving season is when I do most of my shooting and I could afford to wait. My trusty old Olympus still works fine, and there was no rush. I did a few events this spring, and the Olympus did fine.

As for the choice, I really appreciate the advice I received, both here and off-line via email and phone chats from so many peers. If you recall beyond the overall qualification of interchangeable lenses, my needs boiled down to a short list of priorities: Small, Light, with a reasonably-sized multi-angle LCD. These are dictated by my shooting style, which is often one-handed, from odd angles… frequently hanging out the side of a moving vehicle(!)

My choice fell finally to the Panasonic, and an Olympus. The Olympus is the smallest, lightest “true” DSLR available. The Panasonic is the first camera to use the “Micro-Four-Thirds system”, which is a combination of sensor and interchangeable lenses, specifically engineered for smaller, lighter cameras. It is NOT a “true” DSLR, as it has no penta-prism and mirror. Instead it has a “live” viewfinder reading directly from the CCD. Other advantages include:

  • Contrast detect autofocus is generally more accurate than the phase detect systems usually employed on entry level DSLRs
  • Shorter flange-focal distance means that practically all manual lenses can be adapted for use
  • Viewfinder potentially larger and (in low light) brighter
  • Electronic viewfinder can provide realtime preview of the exposure and tone
  • No mirror, so no “mirror slap” causing noise and vibration

The disadvantages are: The viewfinder is very different from other cameras and will take some getting used to, and, a very limited choice of lenses at the moment. You can buy any standard four-thirds system lens and an adapter, but lose some of the functionality of the “micro” system. The Panasonic Lumix G1 is in fact the only camera available in the Micro-Four-Thirds system, and it has only two lenses available right now. Time will change or eliminate both of those disadvantages completely, so I’m not too worried about them.

I went to camera stores and held both the G1 and the Olympus E-420 in my hands. Felt their heft. Looked through their lenses. Made up my mind. The G1 got the nod. I kept an eye on prices every month or so… and waited.

I was scheduled to participate in a local vintage car event this weekend and decided the time was right. Sure enough I checked “froogle.google.com” and the G1 had dropped over $250 since its introduction. The G1 is sold as a kit, with one lens (14-45mm) and when I ordered it a few weeks ago I noted the 45-200mm telephoto was on sale for $65 off, so I figured getting the camera and both lenses was a great deal. It arrived via ground shipping yesterday and I broke it out of the box and charged up the batteries overnight. Today I spent my spare time RTFM’ing and managed to work my way through the entire user manual so now I know what all the buttons and knobs do. Unfortunately my event for the weekend was cancelled a week ago (not enough entrants I guess!) so I’ll have to settle for some other situation to take the G1 out and test it’s abilities. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile here are some photos of my old and new rigs side-by-side:

The Olympus is sporting a wide-angle lens converter that I shoot with almost all the time. The built-in lens on the C-5050z is “ok” but the addition of the .7 converter transforms it into something capable of pretty dramatic photos. The G1 is equipped with a Leica 14-45 zoom lens. It doesn’t quite have the “width” of the converter-equipped Oly. If a very-wide angle lens becomes available in a Micro-Four-Thirds format I’ll likely buy it. Until then I’m considering finding an adapter to mate the Leica and the Oly converter. We’ll see.

Note the size of the LCD on the G1 compared to the C-5050z. It is enormous! It is also very sharp, and zooms automatically to a 1:1 pixel ratio with the CCD when you touch the focus ring on the lens. Amazing.

Note also how the new rig is almost identical in size to my old Olympus. I love that here I have the latest technology, shrunk into a very compact size. Weight-wise they are very close. I think the Oly+Converter outweigh the G1, but without the big hunk-o-wide glass the Oly is still lighter. Not an issue as the G1 will easily allow one-handed low-angle fast-moving photography.

Thanks again for all your help and advice. I can’t wait to start shooting!

I’ll write a review once I’ve had more time with the camera.

Still Life with Timing Chain

Since it isn’t engine parts I couldn’t really tag it with the “engine pR0n” label, but here on the work bench is a cornucopia of sexy vintage parts. Fuel filters, with glass bowls, gearbox parts, what looks to be an oil pump, and an old two-row timing chain. Likely from Ferraris given that it was photographed in the Markowski’s shop.

Enjoy.

CPotD Follow-up: More of the 1966 Ferrari 365P Berlinetta Speciale

Foretelling the McLaren F1 by almost 40 years, here was a prototype 3 seat supercar from Ferrari that combined many of the features found in race cars of the day into an amazing GT. A center driving position, howling V-12, mounted at the mid-position (the first time a in a non-racing Ferrari car), all wrapped up in an iconic Pininfarina design. That design in many ways will be echoed the Dino 246, which arrived on the scene two years later.

I found this car in the Saratoga Auto Museum, which was a stop on the 2008 New England 1000 rally.

Car Photo of the Day: The Shadow Knows!

This is not a great photo sorry… literally a snapshot taken in less-than-ideal conditions. It is however a beautiful car. It is a UOP Shadow CanAm car. I *think* this is one of the 1973 ones, not the 1974 cars that won the last CanAm year. Reputed to have between 800 and 1000 HP, it makes beautiful noises when driven in anger. Powered by a twin-turbo Chevy V-8 and weighing very little this car must really GO. It was piloted by George Follmer, a genuinely nice guy I was lucky enough to meet at a vintage rally we both attended. Very soft-spoken, he’s one of very few, if not the only race driver to have driven in, and won many types of racing: NASCAR, Sports Cars/SCCA, Formula 1, Indy/USAC, CanAm, Trans-Am, etc.

I had the pleasure of seeing this car run at Pacific Raceways, in the same field as an old Tyrrell/Elf F1 car, a Ferrari F1 car, a couple of F5000 cars… a sort of vintage “Formula Libre” run. It was heavenly to just HEAR it happening.