Vehicle Judging - Background

Vehicle judging has been the centerpiece activity from which all other MAFCA Model A activities revolve. Since 1956, hundreds of members and industry experts have contributed their expertise to build a widely-published base of knowledge about Model A’s through The Restorer bi-monthly periodicals and other special publications.

The Judging Standards Committee was the first committee formed by the MAFCA National Board Members and its objective has been to help define policy and protocol and assist in all matters regarding vehicle judging. It was recognized from Model A meets in the early 1960’s that there was a great need to judge each vehicle consistently on the restoration efforts of their owners. In response, the Meet Rules Committee, as it was initially called, created a one-page judging sheet in 1961.

In 1974 a coordinated effort by two dozen experts nation-wide published the first MAFCA-MARC pamphlet titled the Model “A” Ford Judging Standards . It consisted of 26 pages and covered 26 areas of judging.

In 1981 a 109-page soft-bound edition covered 24 judging areas with explanatory text, pictures, charts and sketches. The 1981 title was changed to the Model A Judging Standards. In 1982 a 13-page pamphlet titled as “Revision 1” contained 67 modifications, corrections or clarifications to the 1981 edition.

In 1989 the updated and re-titled Model A Judging Standards & Restoration Guidelines was large enough to be placed into a ring binder. The (old) Area 15 Interior Plating was eliminated as a separately judged area and combined into the other 23 areas. Subsequent changes to the 1989 edition in 1994 (released in 1995) and 1997 updated 9 of the 23 areas, and included 5 new supplements: Early 1928’s, 1931 Convertible Sedans, Station Wagons, Mail Trucks, Heavy Commercial, and an 11-page Canadian Model A’s. The 1989 edition with its smaller changes in 1994 and 1997, has usually been referred to collectively as “Revision 2” by most restorers.

The Model A Judging Standards & Restoration Guidelines remained unchanged from 1997 through 2011. Starting in 2005, an extensive research effort began that culminated in a significant increase in text and many more pictures and charts. This was known as “Revision 3” , published in 2011. The title was changed (reversed) from Model A Judging Standards & Restoration Guidelines to Model A Restoration Guidelines & Judging Standards to emphasize its value as a restoration tool.