What do you prefer...

[Alfachick]

So I thought I would start a thread on this topic...
Do you prefer cars that are
a) fully restored to concors (sp) condition,
b) cars that have been restored keeping some of their original patina,
c) cars that haven't been restored?
Just thought I would put it out there.
Personally I prefer cars that have been restored but have kept some of their original patina or cars that haven't been restored and are still roadworthy if you know what I mean.
I do appreciate the time and effort that goes into restoring a car to concors condition but to me they just look a little too I dunno clean? New? Anyhoo over to the floor

[garethj]

Usually unrestored. When I worked in London there were a few cars around that looked just perfect - an Aston DB6 with dirty wire wheels, scruffy body and a few creases down the flanks. Plenty of 1960s and '70s Mercedes which looked like they'd need £10k spent in the bodyshop. A 1970s Bristol that wore its years in the city with pride...

I can appreciate the work (and money!) that goes into restoring a car, but some cars look so 'right' when they're well used.

[plasticpig]

Cars which have undergone some restoration for me. Practicaly all classic cars will have undergone some mechanical restoration. Concurs is just not about looks it's about originality. There was an article in a classic car magazine a few years back where a barn find Model T had won a prize at a concours event. It looked like a barn find but the it was awarded a prize based on it's orginality. The owner had done the very minimum to get it working.

[JMGS4]

Not voted as the answer could skew the results. It realyl depends on what one can afford. Obviously concours if one has the readies, if not any answer relates to ones current financial capabilities....

[hugo a gogo]

ideally - mechanically restored, body and interior with patina

[RW774]

When patina is replaced with new, as so much is in this industry, the heart has gone from the vehicle. leather and wood are living objects and need care as such.Jaguar have so much of both and both need care.You wouldn`t stick your grandmother in for a younger one now would you !( unless that thought floats your boat -Tony!). It`s all her experience foilables and personality that make her what she has a become. A lovely pleaureable old lady whoose company you enjoy ,or a miserable moody old fart always causing trouble.Either way. I find even the most original vehicles come round with tender care.
There are many restored cars around, good for the industry, but compared with excellent original vehicles there are very few.We need to have some sort of preservation order on these vehicles. See , in my book we are but custodians for the next generations.
Whoops, the `care in the community` bus has arrived , must go....

[Mr Will]

In an ideal world, it would be a car that was unrestored but still in good condition. In the real world, most cars beyond a certain age get too tatty and as such would benefit from restoration.

The level of restoration would depend on the intended use of the car. A show car should retain a bit of patina and character but a daily driver (that was not especially rare) I would replace more parts as it will soon get the amount of use needed to start building a character of it's own again.

[cazzer]

And it depends how much of a basket case it was in the first place.
Mine is all origial parts (apart from new shocks, springs, brakes etc)
But I had to do a full restoration because it was a rusty rollin shell when I got it.

[vixen1700]

Nothing annoys me more than over-restored cars that never get used. Seen it with every marque I've ever owned. People owning cars and entereing them in shiny-shiny competitions and cleaning the wire-wheels with tooth-brushes yet never taking them out to enjoy them.

Some of the old TVRs I've seen at pre '80s meets are so molly-coddled, I'm sure the owners think they're a Bugatti or summat.

A restoration is fine if done sympathetically, but more important is using the damn thing for the reason it was made, to be driven.

Edited by vixen1700 on Thursday 25th June 12:15

[A911DOM]

If you could see the state of the little 944 I just bought for a tarck toy you'd understand my vote for 'Unrestored'...

I like a challenge - 'trouble is, they seem to like me too....' ho hum

[crankedup]

The used but not abused look is my way, trying to keep mechanicals working well at same time.

[cazzer]

If you dont drive it...it's not a car

[52classic]

I voted with the second option although I do have some sympathy with the 'roadworthy wreck' look.

Patina is priceless in my book. If you are going to remanufacture a car ask yourself if you would be better off with a new one!

[vixen1700]

My personal fave used car I've ever come across has to be a guy in Saffron Walden who has two Bugatti Type 35s, not pristine but used. Spoke to him once and he was embarressed by their value, I'd imagine he'd inherited them. I walked away and was speechless for about 10 minutes.

Great to see him driving through town, the sound of them is awesome, and he looks like Toad of Toad Hall with his goggles on.

[//j17]

Restored for me too.

It wasn't till the mid-80s that manufacturers really started rust-proofing cars properly so unless you're VERY lucky you have a choice of restored or a rusty.

On the other hand I don't believe in going OTT to concourse. It's a car, not a substitute for a child. It's made to be driven, not polished.

If a polisher ever tries to give me hastle for all the non-origonal parts and upgrades on my cars I ask them when their house was built and if it's still got the outside toilet (pre-30s), lead piping (pre-60s) or asbestos (70s) - if they are commited to keeping their house origonal they can fk off and stop telling me what I should/shouldn't do with my car.

[hugo a gogo]

I'd love an old slightly battered looking 60s or 70s supercar, but mechanically top notch

maybe even with a different coloured wing and a bit of primer

[a8hex]

JMGS4 said:

Not voted as the answer could skew the results. It realyl depends on what one can afford. Obviously concours if one has the readies, if not any answer relates to ones current financial capabilities....

Sure go ahead and vote as you are just as entitled to your opinion as anyone else.

I personally don't agree with you, but that doesn't mean you are not entitled to hold the opinion.

Actually, what I disagree with more is the assumption that given the money going for concours would be the best thing to do.

When I bought my classic it was well below the budget I hadn't really set myself. I looked at much more expensive cars. Even when I bought my XK150 there was one in better condition in the showroom also well within the budget, but to me it just didn't have the charm. I like a 50 year old car to look like a 50 year old car. A well loved and well cared for one but not new and replaced.

Early in my search Martin Brewer gave me a sage piece of advise.
Look at as many cars as you can, but be prepared that one day you'll find the one you want and then buy it as soon as you can before someone else does. You'll know the one you want.

The old I choose was the one that just did it for me.

Ideally a completely original car would be nice... in some ways. But over the course of time bits will wear out and they need to be replaced. If everything is exactly as it left the factory then it obviously has not been loved or cared for the last 50 years.

At XK60 last year there was a whole spectrum of cars from the sadly rough through to ones that Jaguar could never possibly have made in their hey day, well at least not at the price they sold them. I wondered on to the J.D. Classic stands which was littered with XKs but do you know what? They left me cold, they didn't do a thing for me. All of them had lost their appeal in the name of renovation. Now if I won the lottery then sure I would visit their showroom because they also list several very low mileage rarer model cars that it sounds like they haven't done a personality ripe on. Hey if I won a big Euro Lottery I wouldn't say no to Fangio's C-Type, but that was restored by CKL and is therefore much more likely to be to my taste.
That is just my opinion. Obviously there is a market for the cars they are selling, so others must like them. There is room for both of us in this world.

Edited by a8hex on Thursday 25th June 16:35

[RichB]

Seems we are all pretty much in agreement on this, and whilst I love looking at the showroom condition rebuilt cars it's not what I'd choose to do with my own. Interestingly the AMOC events are run as a Concours d'etat not a Concours de'elegance, the difference being that points are awarded for absolute originality not elegance so no points for dressing in a 1950's style The thinking being that the elite cars should be a reference point for anyone restoring a car of that type and some of the elite cars are astonishingly good!

My own car is a well looked after 1958 DB MKIII which is now running nicely and in mechanically good condition. What attracted me to it was that it has never been meddled with so it's as it left the factory. This means however that there is now corrosion in a few places on the body which needs attention (aluminium body on a steel formers causing bimetallic reaction), once repaired this will require a bare metal respray. Inside I am lucky that the seats and door leather is in a nicely used but not abused condition and I will have these renovated i.e. seats re-stuffed and new plywood door cards made re-using the original leather-work. The headlining however are grimly harbouring 50 years of dust and dirt and needs replacing and the carpets likewise so new headlining, new Wilton carpets, original renovated seats and leather - should be nice. Mechanically I really would like an overdrive gearbox, 3500 rev's is 80mph and it will drop this by 500 rev's, MKIII's had OD originally but not on my car so I will research fitting it - in preference to a modern 5 speed box which would ruin the character of the car. Other than that it's just a case of nicely renovating the car and components and not replacing anything unless absolutely necessary. That's my philosophy to restoration.

[ewenm]

Concours - no thanks as it's too much effort keeping it like that and still driving it.

I'm not particularly worried about resale value but do like to make sure any parts I replace either offer better performance (upgraded brakes, suspension, etc) and/or are of a decent quality.

[OldSkoolRS]

I think I'm in the "restored but with some patina" camp myself. I'm trying to get my 1979 Mk2 RS2000 back on the road and it's in pretty original condition having been only used in the summer since 1985. I have to do a small amount of welding to the inner wing/strut top area (due to condesation rather than salt and wet), but I need to know where to stop.

The underneath is pretty grimey, but I don't think I should over clean it/repaint it except to clean off any surface rust. I know I could probably keep going away at it (though very slowly given my current lack of progress ) until it reaches near concourse condition. However it has a non standard (but fitted when new so 'period') sunroof and my parents (the second owners that bought in 1980) put in a 'decent' stereo and had the door cards cut to fit speakers, so would never be 'concourse' anyway. I think I should preserve it as best I can, though a respray may be inevitable once I've repaired the strut tops, I may well try to get away with some paint correction and minor 'blow in' type repairs and a good clean and polish. It would be a shame to make it too nice that I'd be scared to drive it and it would never be worth a fortune being an old Ford (some might say it isn't even a classic I suppose?).