Jumping the Fence

Someone posted a comment asking what is meant by class-jumping. While it is somewhat self-explanatory and has been defined in previous posts, perhaps it is time to explain it again, for those who may be new to shows.

Each vehicle has a class to which it belongs (or even two or more). Class-jumping became the phrase used to describe moving (jumping) a vehicle from one class to another, for the express purpose of increasing the chance for winning. For example, a foreign car that heads to the Foreign class, but the competition is too stiff so he goes to another class where the competition is milder and less threatening. In some cases, if that class also becomes crowded, he might jump to yet another class.

Since then, class-jumping has been expanded to include those who enter classes in which they do not rightly belong, again for the express purpose of increasing their chances of winning.

Most old-timers call it "trophy poaching".

Fortunately, only one or two "jumpers" can be found at any given show. As a rule, the car folks are honest and above board, but there will always be those who have no problem with poaching. A few even believe it to be an acceptable practice - or at least they convince themselves of that so they can fool themselves into thinking they actually won. The reality is somewhat different - those who jump, or register in classes not appropriate may, indeed, take home a trophy, but they do not win. They lose!

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