I think the 'morality' of modernizing may vary with each situation. I got a
call the other day from a man in Utah who had bought a 1948 Rover 75. This
is a P3 model range auto with the new independent front suspension that was
made for only a couple of years after the war as an interrim model. It had
styling very similar to the pre-war cars with fenders and running boards.
This guy planned to use the car as a driver and had replaced the engine with
a 1964 Chevy 283 V8 and an appropriate transmission. He expects to use a
Ford 9" rear end but keep the front suspension stock. He has taken great
pains and invested a significant amount of money into keeping the appearance
of the car completely stock.
Now, here's a guy in Utah not too far from Las Vegas (which I have to assume
is in the desert) who buys a 1948 Rover in poor condition for $800 and
proceeds to restore the body and the interior to original stock condition.
Since the alternative for the car was either the crusher or perhaps sitting
around in some dusty corner in the desert, I can't fault him that much for
and installing a small block V8, especially if he plans to drive it from
town to town in the desert!
The last time someone called me with a case like this, another 1948 Rover
was getting the full custom car treatment including being chopped and
lowered. At least this Nevada Rover will survive in such a way that it could
be returned to original specification even though the chances of this are
extremely remote.
In the case of the chopped P3, we arranged to save the entire driveline and
get it to another P3 owner who needed it. The owner of the Neveada P3 is
also trying to find an appropriate home for the original drivetrain from his
car, and he's only asking $300 which makes it worth shipping. The engine
spins, but the trans is stuck in gear. It's surprising what parts you can
still find to get these cars running again (there's a full set of new
pistons on eBay right now), but the V8 is more likely to end up giving him a
car he can actually drive around out there.
For Rovers, and additional factor enters in. Rovers are very fine automobile
that are incredibly underappreciated and undervalued on the American market.
Rovers that need full restoration are sometimes very hard to save because it
would cost almost as much to do a contemporary Jaguar saloon as it would a
Rover, and you would never come close to recovering your investment. Yes, I
know it's often said that classic car restoration is an act of love to and
we should never give a thought to resale value, but this is mainly said by
people who have no particular worries in the disposable income department.
I have some pictures of my 1963 Rover 95 at the address below. I won't say
what I paid for it, but I paid the full asking price set by someone who
understood what he was selling. A local Jaguar guy ask what I paid, and I
told him I would tell him but that he would have to guess first. His guess
was four times what I actually paid.
http://ixpres.com/rovercar/rover95/pages/p4.html
Sometimes, saving a car doesn't necessarily mean restoring it to factory
specs.
Glen
----- Original Message -----
From: "Randall Young" <Ryoung@navcomtech.com>
To: <british-cars@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 11:10 PM
Subject: RE: A Plea for the List was - An American
> > Maybe many
> > of us are tired of hearing from the list hot rodders whose only goal
> > in life is to take a perfectly decent 30 year old sports car and turn
> > it into a "modern" car so it can "keep up with today's traffic" and
> > all of the other nonsense which goes with this so-called improvement.
>
> And maybe many of us are tired of people moralizing over what other people
> choose to do to their cars.
>
> Randall
> 59 TR3A TS39781LO daily driver (currently sidelined for OD transplant)
> 63 Sports 6 HB7826LCV rustoration project
> 71 Stag LE1473L daily driver
>
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