The 2020 SDJC Concours d'Elegance along with Classic Showcase’s Jaguar Jamboree took place on October 17, 2020 and provided a great day of fun for all in attendance. Due to Covid concerns, this year’s Concours was decided to be held at Classic Showcase, combining it with our Jaguar Jamboree event. The concours is traditionally held at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, but the Port District Park Permit department cancelled all events for the rest of 2020, leaving organizers to scramble for another venue to hold the event. Tom Krefetz heeded the call and offered to host the event 30 minutes north of San Diego at our headquarters in Oceanside, CA. SDJC staff handled Concours registrations and the logistics behind the Concours itself, while Tom and the staff at Classic Showcase coordinated catering with BBQ lunches, snacks, sodas, water, and more. In addition, Tom setup shop tours, a jazz band, along with gift bag items. Chief Judge Pete Rieth secured enough certified judges to judge all categories of this sanctioned JCNA Concours event .

Concours setup staff started arriving at Classic Showcase in Oceanside at 6 am, while others worked on setting-up tables, chairs, and canopies, and other items for the event. Volunteers spent much of the event checking people in at a hospitality table and took on the many mid-show tasks as they would come up during the course of the day. While setup of the show field was taking place, the staff from Classic Showcase placed a comprehensive collection of Jaguars from different eras in the adjacent lot, worked with the BBQ caterer, and took event attendants on tours of the restoration facility. Our staff made sure there were plenty of snacks and drinks, kept the grounds clean, and handed out gift and raffle items. In addition, our staff patrolled the event throughout the day to ensure everything was going smoothly.

Forty Jaguars were placed on the show field, with each car being carefully placed in their own parking space. There was a total of (28) Jaguars being judged, along with (12) Jaguars on display for all to see, and members from local Southern California clubs such as the SDJC, JOCLA, and IEJC took part in the event, as well as (2) non-JCNA members from the Los Angeles region attended, one of whom arrived in a beautiful XKR Coupe. 

During the course of the Concours, a terrific Jazz band played music from the start of the judging hour to the start of the awards presentations and was a hit among those in attendance at the event. Hunter Steakhouse in Oceanside catered the event and set up a wood pit BBQ in an open area of Classic Showcase. Over (80) attendants were served a delicious smokin’ BBQ lunch with chicken, tri-tip steak, mashed potatoes, and a Caesar salad with all the fixings.

When judging of the Concours ended, attendants went straight to the awards presentation inside the facility area of Classic Showcase. Before the ceremony began, Tom Krefetz of Classic Showcase thanked all participants for taking part, and was proud to have hosted this dual event. Furthermore, JCNA President Les Hamilton (who drove down from San Luis Obispo), along withJCNA Southwest Region Director and JOCLA Club President Mark Mayuga, also addressed the crow. This year the SDJC supplemented their custom-made acrylic trophies with JCNA pewter plate trophies, which were setup on an awards table, which gave Concours winners a choice of trophy style. The award ceremony concluded with SDJC President Mark Hodges presenting Jaguar Club Member Paul Novak with the Bill Tuchscher Award for his 1990 V12 Vanden Plas, and also presented Dave Putnam with the Best in Show Award for his 1950 Mark V Saloon.