My good friend, Nigel Matthews , Global Brand Ambassador for Hagerty, has been appointed chairman of the International Chief Judge Advisory Group (ICJAG), an esteemed body of veteran vintage-car judges who bring consistency and fairness to the world’s most prestigious concours. I last saw Nigel in February in India at the incredible 21 Gun Salute in Delhi, where we were both on the judging panel, as we were at the Zoute GP in Belgium just 12 months ago.
Nigel has been at the pinnacle of his craft for more than forty years. A licensed master technician, he spent much of his career repairing and restoring Ferraris and Rolls-Royces. He judged his first concours in 2003, and by 2005 was already a judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and was a founding member of ICJAG in 2016.
Even in this rarified realm, Matthews stands apart. Since 2005, Nigel has judged many of the major concours events around the globe, including serving as Chief Judge at the concours in Pinehurst, North Carolina ; La Jolla, California ; the Canadian Concours in Vancouver ; as well as serving as a class judge at Pebble Beach .
“To be not just a judge but the Chief Judge at some of the most distinguished concours in the world takes an amazing amount of knowledge and expertise,” says Hagerty CEO McKeel Hagerty, “We are so proud to work with him at Hagerty and we join the International Chief Judges Advisory Group in congratulating him.”
In addition to serving as the company’s global ambassador, Matthews is a writer for Hagerty and serves as the Historic Vehicle Association’s Canadian representative to the Fédération International des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA), the worldwide federative association of historic automobile clubs.
