I got a Ferrari 330GTC into my shop the other day. The owner had entered this car into Cavallino twice and came home empty handed both times. Frustrated with the process of showing the car, fixing the issues, and losing again, he asked me to take a look at his car to see what we could do to make it into a Platinum level Ferrari. I reviewed this car in the video below.

Cavallino is one of the hardest Ferrari shows to place Platinum. It’s based on rules set forth by the IAC/PFA (International Advisory Council for the Preservation of Ferrari Automobiles) for Ferrari Club of America Judging, but at Cavallino, only a top prize of 97 points or better is awarded. There are no silver of gold awards as there is in FCA National events. With 3 points margin out of 100 points, to win or lose, you can imagine the challenge. I reviewed the score sheets on this car and spoke to the judges that scored this car to get an overall impression of what happened at past shows. From the owner’s perspective, he was given a score sheet from the first show that did not win, he corrected all the problems, brought the car back and achieved nearly the same losing score the second time! This can be very frustrating for an owner, and puts into question the consistency of the Judging. From the Judges perspective, there were so many things wrong with the car, they stopped tabulating the score once it got below 85 points! This misunderstanding happens all the time at Concours Judging. Judges often have 15-20 minutes to score a car with several cars in each class. They try their best to catch the egregious mistakes and discuss the small ones to make appropriate deductions. This score sheet mailed to the owner after the show may give you an idea what is wrong, but not everything that is wrong.

With 3 points to play with, and minimum deductions at 1/2 point, 6 incorrect things will put you out of Platinum contention! Within the first few minutes of seeing this car, I easily found 10 things wrong.

Judging is supposed to be objective, but I also feel a well represented car goes a long way to helping win awards. There were some color issues with the interior that I discussed with the owner in the video. It looked like it was mix match of the same color beige that didn’t seem cohesive to the beautiful exterior green color. The owner also wasn’t crazy about the beige interior, so we decided before the car came to me, we would do a color change with the interior. We picked a nice pumpkin color that I felt contrasted well with the green and made the car in my opinion stand out a little better. We also corrected the little details in the interior like the correct trim pieces and materials. I had a friend in South Florida do the work while I advised with the materials, and I think it looks great.

There are still little details inside the car that need to be addressed, but I will have them done by my local upholsterer. One of them is very subtle but obvious once you know what is correct. The rear view mirror on 330GTC comes out of the hole in the header trim above the windshield. It looks like this piece was replaced at one time but a sewn detail was omitted. (-1/2)

Here’s a picture of this stitch on an original GTC. The material is also stippled. Something like this could cost a 1/2 deduction of the judges catch it.

I started making a list of corrections for this car and here are some random details. A common omission are the grommets that insulate the spark plug wires exiting the spark plug tubes. The orange boots are acceptable, but technically the 1 ohm resistor plug ends are not because they were dealer installed for radio noise suppression. (-1/2)

I was able to install the grommets without replacing all the wires, but will also clean off the lettering before putting this back together. O-ring keepers were installed, so I didn’t have to add those.

Just this one picture can show a dozen potential deductions! Luckily, there are only three that I see that are wrong. The throttle rod and arms need to be cleaned of rust and finished in black oxide. The throttle rod ends to the carbs will need to be removed and cad plated and clips, black oxide. The M6 nuts on the bearing stands are correct, but could use some rust removal and fresh black oxide. I often see acorn nuts installed here which is incorrect. The bolts holding the distributor are supposed to be special tall bolts which I believe are correct on this car, but I need to check. The ignition wire keeper that bolts to the distributor is missing the grommet and will need to be replaced. (-1)

The hose clamp at the radiator cap is wrong, and the hose should be a ribbed rubber hose. (-1/2)

The hood opening has the wrong finishing trim. It’s supposed to be a thin plastic u-shaped trim with a square top. (-1/2)

The hood pad is wrong. It’s supposed to be a mylar type of material with a diamond quilting. (-1/2)

You can see just with my casual scoring, I’ve already exceeded 3 points, so I obviously have my work cut out for me. Can it be done? I think it can, and I’d like to try my best to win for the owner. I feel winning at a Concours should not be exclusive to fully restored cars, otherwise, what’s the incentive for all the other owners that want to show and win at a Concours? Let’s see how where this journey takes us!