https://auto.howstuffworks.com/concours-d-elegance2.htmA well known, and probably the most respected, concourse event in the world is Pebble Beach. The above link outlines the criteria for judging such competitions which essentially boils down to two sections. Firstly there is the "Class Judging" and then there is the "Honorary Judging".
To quote from the article:- "Each car starts out by being judged in their respective group by a class judge. The class judge is a recognized expert in the category and they are assigned to judge each car based on the originality and authenticity of the vehicle. These two traits are very important because a Concours d'Elegance focuses much of its attention on preserving automotive history. Each car must be correctly restored without blemishes, dents or marks on any part of the vehicle. Each vehicle is striving for a perfect score of 100, and whichever vehicle comes closest to that score in their class is awarded the First in Class honour." There is also a comment in the article that the car should be "historically accurate" relative to how it started life and, indeed, the quality of the cars as presented often exceeds that of when they left the factory.
The next stage of the judging (Honorary Judging) "takes a more subjective approach to judging each car and focuses their attention on the design, style and elegance of a particular vehicle." This is where the Ferraris, Jags, Cords etc etc step to the fore. Unfortunately the humble Mini is not going to feature here and is unlikely to ever win a major multi vehicle concourse event.
Given that Mini shows are essentially a one class event, the judging is confined to the "Class Judging", with perhaps a fragment of "Honorary Judging" in favour of the top end models because of their improved/added designs and functions. Fortunately, most clubs have members who have been around Minis for decades and have an intimate knowledge of what represents a good car. This usually extends to a better than average understanding of how the cars were equipped when they left the factory and can judge what are original/genuine parts, quality of paint and panel, interior presentation etc etc.
Many of our judges are model specific because of their experience, for example someone may have owned many Cooper Ss and knows them inside out such that he/she may be better qualified to judge a Cooper S than anyone at Pebble Beach, but they would still have a very good understanding of the other models to be able to arrive at an informed judgement. They are very good "Class Judges".
Are our judges judging a "Concourse" event? Absolutely (by the Pebble Beach definition of a "Class Judge") and I genuinely appreciate each and everyone of them for their dedication to a thankless task. It is so much easier to take a back seat, walk around the cars, catch up with mates, eat a pie or two and then go home instead of suffering the stress and angst of judging. Thanks judges.