Mint or scruffy?
Discussion
Following on from canams' post about the Bizzarini, what do folks prefer? A classic car to be shiny, clean and immaculate, fresh paint, new chrome, new leather etc? Or mechanically spot-on, but looking well lived-in with the patination of many a campaign?
I like to see either, but wouldnt like to see the latter turned into the former for no good reason.
I like to see either, but wouldnt like to see the latter turned into the former for no good reason.
Race cars should show their battle scars. not bashed too much they cant be used but like the Bizarrini, used looking.
I also like vintage/classic cars when restored but not frsh from the spray shop. a couple of years down the line when the paint settle etc.
I have this recurring dreamthat i am driving a powder blue E-type coupe,beautiful patina. i wish owners of these cars would use them more often. when one spends £20-30000 restoring an E-type, its a new car again and should be used. i also understand why they dont.
I like seeing these 'barn find' race cars.
I also like vintage/classic cars when restored but not frsh from the spray shop. a couple of years down the line when the paint settle etc.
I have this recurring dreamthat i am driving a powder blue E-type coupe,beautiful patina. i wish owners of these cars would use them more often. when one spends £20-30000 restoring an E-type, its a new car again and should be used. i also understand why they dont.
I like seeing these 'barn find' race cars.
I like to keep my V8S in as close to *barn-find* condition as possible .. 
I like to see both kinds of cars .. i love the effort that goes into keeping a show car pristine, but love to see older race and rally cars being used as God intended .. there's room for both kinds of owner .. but if i had to choose one or the other I'd say cars are to be used not pampered ..
I like to see both kinds of cars .. i love the effort that goes into keeping a show car pristine, but love to see older race and rally cars being used as God intended .. there's room for both kinds of owner .. but if i had to choose one or the other I'd say cars are to be used not pampered ..
Definately scruffy. For me though its mostly to add to the surprise factor for the person who thinks that because their car is shinier its better.
Its actually a bit of a peeve of mine to see people with brand new ferraris that have maybe 500 miles on the clock at shows, standing by their unsurprisingly mint car expecting people to congratulate them on its condition.
Turn up in it in 20 years with it still looking mint, then ill be impressed.
Its actually a bit of a peeve of mine to see people with brand new ferraris that have maybe 500 miles on the clock at shows, standing by their unsurprisingly mint car expecting people to congratulate them on its condition.
Turn up in it in 20 years with it still looking mint, then ill be impressed.
I prefer mine tidy, mechanicly sound but not pampered, all mine are used as often as possible. I would like a true barn find prewar job though, just mot it and run it around not even wash it.
i once met a bloke at a show who found a 1930's morris minor in a barn, been there at least 20 years. He power washed it took it for an MOT and it passed.
i once met a bloke at a show who found a 1930's morris minor in a barn, been there at least 20 years. He power washed it took it for an MOT and it passed.
Depends on the car I think. All pre-war cars look best scruffy and original, there is no substitute for proper patination. In fact, there is a growing trend for faking "originality"!
I think it does become a bit less rational with classics though - for example I would much prefer to see a D type in scruffy order, but an early 911 looks pretty sh*te unless its mint.
I think it does become a bit less rational with classics though - for example I would much prefer to see a D type in scruffy order, but an early 911 looks pretty sh*te unless its mint.
zumbruk said:I don't know who he is but I like the cut of his gyb !
I like to keep my V8S in as close to *barn-find* condition as possible ..
Ah, the Pete Humphries school of concourse, to which I happily subscribe. Being clean doesn't make them go any faster...
My 'nearly' classic daily driver, retro 80's shed, is just untidy enough without being a scrapper. Mechanically it's all perfect, but the engine bay has a film of dirt you only get from high speed winter motoring. It will be on show again this year.
Horses for courses Balmoral
Take the truly lovely Bizzarini, this was a racing car pure and simple so to my mind the condition of the bodywork reflects the many battles she will have fought and won over the last forty years. To me this is like some scar comparing competition such as the one used aboard the boat in the original Jaws movie
“I got me this one aboard the USS Indianapolis”
You get the drift of my point no doubt
Now take something which was never intended for the racetrack like Ralph Laurens Bugatti Atlantique and consider that Zymol will sell you a tub of polish designed specifically for this car to make it look ‘smoother than a puma cheating at backgammon’. Then you can start to realise that a car of this magnitude warrants a completely different approach as even the bloody polish costs £5k if I recall correctly
To spend 5 grand on a tub of polish on something that looks like that, you would wouldn’t you !
Take the truly lovely Bizzarini, this was a racing car pure and simple so to my mind the condition of the bodywork reflects the many battles she will have fought and won over the last forty years. To me this is like some scar comparing competition such as the one used aboard the boat in the original Jaws movie
“I got me this one aboard the USS Indianapolis”
You get the drift of my point no doubt
Now take something which was never intended for the racetrack like Ralph Laurens Bugatti Atlantique and consider that Zymol will sell you a tub of polish designed specifically for this car to make it look ‘smoother than a puma cheating at backgammon’. Then you can start to realise that a car of this magnitude warrants a completely different approach as even the bloody polish costs £5k if I recall correctly
To spend 5 grand on a tub of polish on something that looks like that, you would wouldn’t you !
cars should have patina - but should be mechanically and structurally sound and as fast as possible. Very much the Alan Clarke school of thought.
My jag has a presentable but far from pristine interior beacuse I prefer it that way.
Over polished shiny things with lots of chrome that come out on sunny days only are not my cup of tea. I see it as rather umm akin to stamp collecting and bean counting
My jag has a presentable but far from pristine interior beacuse I prefer it that way.
Over polished shiny things with lots of chrome that come out on sunny days only are not my cup of tea. I see it as rather umm akin to stamp collecting and bean counting
Coco H said:
cars should have patina - but should be mechanically and structurally sound and as fast as possible. Very much the Alan Clarke school of thought.
My jag has a presentable but far from pristine interior beacuse I prefer it that way.
Over polished shiny things with lots of chrome that come out on sunny days only are not my cup of tea. I see it as rather umm akin to stamp collecting and bean counting
E-Type
As I was the one to put the cat amongst the pigeons, I feel i should make some contribution to this thread.
Despite my comments about the Bizzarrini, I do not subscribe to the American style of ultra polishing and chrome plating, and prefer an honest looking car which shows its age but wears it well. eg original leather etc where possible. It's just that I felt that the Bizzarrini looked more like a barn-find than a 40 year old racer. I don't know the history of that particular car but I don't recall it racing much over the last 40 years, so you can't put its appearance down to fair wear and tear.
If it had been genuinely raced over a long period it would no doubt have received the odd re-spray along the away, as various owners painted it in their choice of colours.
It pains me to see such a beautiful car in such poor condition, despite having what many would call a genuine patina.
Despite my comments about the Bizzarrini, I do not subscribe to the American style of ultra polishing and chrome plating, and prefer an honest looking car which shows its age but wears it well. eg original leather etc where possible. It's just that I felt that the Bizzarrini looked more like a barn-find than a 40 year old racer. I don't know the history of that particular car but I don't recall it racing much over the last 40 years, so you can't put its appearance down to fair wear and tear.
If it had been genuinely raced over a long period it would no doubt have received the odd re-spray along the away, as various owners painted it in their choice of colours.
It pains me to see such a beautiful car in such poor condition, despite having what many would call a genuine patina.
It's the eye of the beholder thing again, isn't it. I think that Bizzarrini is gorgeous as it is, and would be significantly less gorgeous if it was in concours cosmetic condition. To me it looks as if its natural state is to be roaring down a track, whereas if it was all polished up it would look as if its natural state was to be statically glinting for the camera.
I definately side with those who prefer their classics to wear the patina of use. I was browsing through a website devoted to classics recently and saw a front view of a 250GTO with lots of little stone chips around the edges of the air intakes. Now there's a car that has obviously been used in the way it was intended.
I have no time for people who show cars with a mirror underneath to demonstrate the pristine painted floor, or the colour-coded nuts and bolts.
I have no time for people who show cars with a mirror underneath to demonstrate the pristine painted floor, or the colour-coded nuts and bolts.
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