Jim,
First, may I contend that a "$20,000" restoration would be nowhere as near
as perfect as you describe, unless al the work was done by the owner and the
price reflected just the cost of the car and the new parts fitted? If the
car was done completely by the owner, with no professional help except
machine shop work and chrome-plating, surely he would deserve some credit
for having built such a perfect car by himself?
A professional restoration, these days, to the standards you so roundly
criticize, will cost between $35,000 and $40,000 - maybe even more if the
initial car is really rough. If the owner then treats it as a trailer queen
for the first year, isn't that prudent guardianship of his investment? Don't
you know anyone who buys (for example) a brand new modern car or SUV and is
always careful to garage it, wash and polish it every weekend, until some of
the newness has worn off and it becomes just another driver? If you invest
nearly $40K in a restoration that you intend to show, it's rather pointless
to start driving the wheels off it right away, before it has had a chance to
be shown in a few Concours. (However, the second year is another matter
altogether - that's when the car needs to be driven and enjoyed!)
As to marking down a too-perfect restoration, let me relay a comment made to
me by Phil Hill one year when he and I were co-chief judge at the Santa
Barbara Concours d'Elegance. We were discussing the issue of
over-restoration and Phil said that was perfectly acceptable, in his
opinion, for the reason that if the factory had been building a car to be
displayed in a show (for example, the London Earls Court Motor Show in the
50s and 60s), they would have finished it as nicely as possible. Agreed, it
would have nicer paint and better detailing than a production version but,
after all, it would be in a very public show and ought to demonstrate the
car at its very best. So long as it did not have chromed parts that were not
chromed on a production version, and so long as all the equipment was the
same as you could buy on a production version, what was wrong, Phil
contended, with polishing brass or aluminum bits that would normally be left
unpolished, or making sure that every detail was perfect? This made perfect
sense to me and I, for one, having judged many major car shows, would never
fault someone for doing a job as well as it could possibly be done. However,
the second year the same car arrives at a particular show, with no evidence
that it has been driven in the intervening period, then I tend to be more
critical. After all a car is supposed to be more than a mere ornament!
Lawrie
(SNIP)
-----Original Message-----
From: James H. Nazarian, Ph.D. <microdoc@apk.net>
To: Larry B. Macy <macy@bblmail.psycha.upenn.edu>
Cc: Jim Stuart <jimbb88@erols.com>; MG List <mgs@autox.team.net>
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2001 7:52 AM
Subject: Re: MG supercharger
>I will add to my esteemed MG-colleague's sentiments... I too have seen a
few
>$20,000.00 restorations. They are indeed beautiful, but they would never
get my vote
>in a popular vote show or for that matter in a "true" concours show, would
that I be
>invited to be a judge, which I am not.
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