Harry P.

Well, "ugly" can be argued, but too expensive? I'd say so. Priced out of the range of the typical car buyer. You can add reason #3: a laughable 30-40 mile range on electricity. Some "hybrid"... Here in the Chicago area--population 9 million or so--I have NEVER seen one on the road. Is that a sign of good old-fashioned midwest common sense?

Still... as the politicos like to say, the "optics" aren't good. Guarantee you that the "it's nothing but a gussied-up Volt" statement will be made regularly. Maybe a unique body and interior will be enough to make it a legitimate Cadillac in consumer's eys (along with, of course, a "Cadillac" price!). Time will tell. But IMO, I don't see a dramatic upswing for Cadillac from the "less than spectacular" public embrace the Volt has gotten so far. If it wasn't for numbers inflated by government purchases, the Volt would be a flat-out sales disaster. As it is, it's barely limping along, sales-wise.

Let's keep the personal sniping off the forum. If any of you want to get into a p*****g contest, do it via personal email or PM. The rest of us really don't need to be (or want to be) part of it.

Right... extra effort may very well result in a better model, and consequently a win. But the amount of effort that went into the model should not be a factor in judging the model; only the end result, no matter how it was achieved, should count. If the model is judged good enough to win, then the builder's efforts were worth the bother. But all the effort in the world doesn't necessarily mean a win, nor should it. Let's face it... some people are just flat-out better at building models than others are. One guy can build a contest winner with one hand tied behind his back, while another guy has to struggle for months, re-do things over and over, and basically work as hard as he possibly can to get the same result. But once those two models are sitting on the contest table, the fact that one guy got there easily while the other guy struggled mightily to make something comparable should become completely irrelevant to the judges.

Peter said otherwise in post 40.

Let's say for the sake of argument that it comes down to two models. They have come out identically as far as the judging goes. Either they all have the same number of points, or whatever system is used, or they are so close that the judges simply can't see anything that would separate them. So do you then start taking effort into consideration? Do you see that one has a chopped top and the other doesn't, so the one with the chopped top gets "extra credit?" No. You call it what it is...a tie, and you award two trophies (or whatever). Of course, the chances of two models being exactly even, so close that the judges can't see anything to determine which one is the winner, are slim to none. There's always a factor... a bit of orange peel, a slightly mis-aligned decal, a tiny glue smear... something to say this one is the winner and the other one is the runner-up. But theoretically, if it's a tie... it's a tie!

Exactly was I was thinking! Didn't GM learn anything from that? I thought that they killed "badge engineering" at GM as part of their new, forward-thinking way of doing business. Guess not...

How do you keep dust off all those models? They're just sitting out in the open... do you actually dust them all?

That's the point. You put in the effort (scratchbuilding, PE parts, whatever) in order to get the best final result. And that--the final result--is what should be judged, not the process that it took to get there. Is the model a realistic representation of the real thing? Or if a custom or phantom, is it built cleanly? Is the paint well done? Does the model sit on all four tires? Are there any obviously wrong or out of scale items? Are there glue smears or misaligned parts? Are panel gaps consistent and in scale? All of those things are fair to judge, but whether the builder used a scratchbuilt or an aftermarket seatbelt harness is immaterial. What counts is what the end result looks like, not how the builder got to the end result.

To elaborate... Let's say you're the judge. In your opinion, baker A's pie tastes no better or worse than baker B's pie. Are you saying that you'd judge baker A's pie differently? You'd give some sort of edge or "extra credit" to baker A because she went to more trouble in the process than baker B did... even though baker B's pie turned out just as well? Isn't that unfair to baker B?

Why? Why should builder A have an edge over builder B from the judges because builder A did more scratchbuilding? Shouldn't the finished product (the model) be the thing that's being judged... not the relative talent levels of builder A vs. builder B? To make an analogy... if you were judging an apple pie contest at the county fair, wouldn't you judge the winner based solely on the taste, texture, appearance, etc. of the finished pie? The fact that baker A churned her own butter or grew her own apples and baker B bought her butter and apples at the store shouldn't be a factor. The only thing that should be judged is the end result. Or am I off base?

And from what I've heard, a lot of those sales were to various government agencies, not "real" private buyers.

They actually shut down Volt production for a time, because there were so many unsold ones sitting around. Yeah, you have to wonder... if the $40,000 Chevy version isn't selling, why would a much higher-priced "Cadillac" version sell any better?

Because the Chevy version is doing so well? http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/10/16/cadillac-volt-production-set-for-end-2013/?intcmp=features

Well, seeing as how he gets the good end... Besides... he's hardly alone in the "crappy phone and internet service" business. He has lots of competition!

Isn't make boatloads of money from his cell phone and ISP companies pretty cool?

Really, what it all boils down to is the quality of the judging.

And you know he got some good lovin' from the GF that night!

Would they be filled with silicone?

According to the story the cars didn't even sell that well in India. I have to wonder if they'll get any support here in the states. I guess we'll have to keep abreast of this story and watch it as it develops...

That's a good one! And all the lottery money goes towards education! C'mon, man... you know where the taxpayer's dollars go... in the politician's pockets! This is Illinois! Remember???

We now have motorcycles and 18-wheelers sharing the same roads. Not exactly a fair fight in a collision. So how is this any different?

Psssst......... every McDonald's has a drive-thru! And they have the fancy-schmancy coffees you like, for about half what you're paying. And my guess is there are a lot more McD drive-thrus around (speaking of convenience) than there are Starbucks drive-thrus. But hey... it's your money. You earned it... feel free to continue spending it as you see fit...

I want some people to have a chance! I could make it so hard that nobody would ever get it right. But what fun is that? Yeah, it's real beauty, huh?

There is no "general" rule.