As I said this can be a sticky subject.
John - no argument here, I would think it hypocritical of someone to enter a competition in a certain manner and then complain later about people doing the same, if that was what they did delibrately. As I read it, to me it appeared that he hadn't done it, but he could just as easily have done so. Was his car new when he won ? - we don't know.
When I was judging planes we'd try not to let this situation happen. If a plane was 'new' it was judged against other new planes. The problem we had was in deciding when a plane was new and when it wasn't. We'd usually talk with the owner to make sure they were happy with our choice as to 'new' or 'not new' if there was a grey area.
I don't know the classes/rules/guidelines here in the US for carshows - maybe the brand new cars don't have a choice as to class ?
If, if, I was entering a carshow with a brand new car in the 'driven' class I wouldn't have a problem with the judges changing it to a 'show' class due to it's lack of age. If they didn't then I'd hope they would discount it's lack of age when judging it against the older cars.
I also agree John about the judge being quoted in the email. That's why I said as portrayed in the email. It is easy to report something and totally change the context without realising it's been done. Unless we were there we have to bear that in mind.
Gary - the way our score sheets were set up a plane with a totally new paint job could be at a disadvantage when being judged against planes with 'flown-in' paint. We'd score paint repairs as part of the total. A plane might score 8/10 on repairs and or touch-ups while the totally new paint might score 3/10.
Judging can be a lonely job.
When I get my car and when it goes to a show if the judges want to look at it, fine, if they don't, just as fine
If being judged was an extra fee above the entry then I'd probably pass, unless I had a reason to enter.
regards
Doug I