Ah, the age-old question. I think in the end it depends on what you're
interested in. There is a large segment of our hobby -- and by that I
mean the old car hobby generally -- for whom the chief pleasure is the
art of restoration. For an equally large segment, the joy is
maintaining the cars to drive and keep them on the road. For me, I have
feet in both camps. My father is a professional restorer, and also
restores as a hobby for himself. As a result, I enjoy and appreciate a
finely restored machine. Of course this makes more sense when dealing
with pre-war classics than LBCs, but we restored my Big Healey together
and the car is certainly over-restored. It runs perfectly and is fast
as hell, but it is essesntially a piece of jewelry. But I like it that
way and it's my car. On the flip side, my TR250 is a driver. It is
mechanically strong, rust-free and generally presentable, but wouldn't
even take home a third place in a concours. But I like it that way and
it's my car. :o)
One of the things I've noticed is how a car is received depends in large
part on where it is shown. I remember the first show we took my dad's
freshly restored XK-120 to years ago. It was a single-marque Jaguar
show. The car is absolutely perfect in every way. Well, it didn't get
a prize. My father figures that if you're going to spend a year or two
restoring a car, making it beautiful with time and effort, then he
doesn't want to see rust on the exhaust pipes where they meet the
manifolds. So he puts stove black on them. It's flat black,
unobtrusive, and takes the heat. Well, the Jag judges hated it. "That
was rusty originally" they said. Well, the Jag hasn't gone back to a
Jag show. Rather, he shows the car at AACA meets, where it has one its
senior and continues to be well-received. Same with my Healey. Wouldn't
dream of showing it at a Healey show. They'd hate it. But it does just
fine with the AACA.
But again, to balance it out, my TR250 wouldn't even place at a car show
regardless of who was hosting the event. But then again, I drive it to
work twice a week in the summer and fall.
Enjoy and happy holidays!
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