Brian Thornton wrote:>
> The car that you've located was formerly owned by Rob Garofolo of Thousand
> Oaks, California. The car appeared three months ago in Hemmings Motor
> News. I called Classic Showcase to find out the story behind the car. The
> ad read as follows: "1960 Bugeye, ground-up restoration. 99 point show
> winner, shown in museums, won Gold Award in Austin-Healey Concours
> Registry, superb example" No price was given. Upon inquiry, I discovered
> that it was Rob's car. Its Leaf Green with a Green interior. Many people
> are familiar with this car as it was featured in Road Track, Chatter,
> Austin-Healey Magazine etc.... Apparently, after receiving his Gold Level
> Award at Breckenridge, Colorado in 1992 he has done very little with the
> car other than display it at regional meets and museums. In fact, the
> owner at Classic Showcase said that he'd only covered 400 miles in the car
> since completion in 1992, what a shame! I was told that Rob sold the car
> because he wasn't enjoying it anymore. He was too concerned every time he
> took the car out for a spin.
>
> Having judged this car at Healey International '92, I can attest to its
> originality and condition. It truly is an impressive car. Rob went to
> many lengths to insure complete originality (NOS floor mats, Dunlop Gold
> Seal tyres, NOS heater duct tubing, etc...) In fact, I used the car for
> inspiration in attaining my own Gold Level Award with my Iris Blue 1960
> Bugeye at Conclave '98.
>
> As for the value of this car, that's up to a potential buyer to determine.
> To date, I don't honestly know how much money I've got in my car. I've
> kept every receipt and they're siting in the desk drawer beneath my
> computer. I never added it up nor do I intend to. I undertook this
> project for my own enjoyment. I've met some great people, traveled to some
> pretty neat places in pursuit of elusive parts, and have a little piece of
> automotive history that I can drive and enjoy. If someone's looking for a
> concours Bugeye, they don't get much better than this one. What's someone
> willing to pay for it, who knows?
It's just a shame that Rob did not get any more "driving" enjoyment out
of the car. I used to be heavily in Jags and they are the worst for this
syndrome. People become absolutely obsessed with restoring an E-type and
they spend 5 years and $100,000 to do it and then sell the car without
it ever having left the confines of their living room.
I've discussed this point with the XKE lovers list and got some heated
reaction. I figure these people are disappointed at how "average" the
E-type driving experience really is, so they sell.
Restoration is fun (to me anyway), but for Chr*st sake, drive the d*mn
car!!
Daniel T.
|