Is this wrong or so right???

[drakart]

I really like this, but a small part of me thinks its needs some TLC!!

[Balmoral Green]

Wonderful, we should have the death penalty for anyone who feels the need to tidy that up a bit

[slomax]

and the Aston martin concours winner is.....

[wibble cb]

If its roadworthy and legal, leave it alone, too many cars are turned into trailer queens.

[MDT]

“classic cars” are classic for being classic not for being all sparkling. It is a bit like Chris Evens painting all his ferries white, you will loose all the wee dents and scratches that have been added over all the years. The Concourse cars are as we all know far better than they ever were when they were newly built. This Aston take that to the enth degree mind you but at least you can park it in a ASDA car par next to a car with a “princes on board” sticker on the back window.

[lowdrag]

That, sir, is more a work of art than a car. I compare it to the Lake-find Bugatti which now sits in a museum, but this work of art roars, and is taxed until June 2011 to boot!

[plasticpig]

Thats proper patination. Always nice to see a classic in unmolested condition.

[Carsie]

They say that your car, like your dog, is a reflection of yourself.

Personally, I don't like the presentation of the Aston. As I have often said, I'd much rather see a brush painted E Type on the road rather than a concours example sitting in a museum so it's not that I'm a gleam and sparkle fan per se.

Having looked at this Aston for a while now and pondering on why I don't like it I came to the conclusion it's not because of what it's not, because it's absolutely great that it's on the road (which is more than can be said for my Elan!) it's because it display's, in my language, a lack of respect for what it is.

Over the past few years I can recall quite a few similarly presented cars; indeed the 'rat look ' (VW clan et al) deliberately sets out to present a car this way and again, whilst not necessarily my taste, I can appreciate the art form.

I recall visiting a small museum in France several years ago where several cars including a Bugatti and a Rolls looked as though they had been deliberately vandalised and then each was showcased in their own display- again not my taste but as with the 'rat look' I can see the artistic interpretation and the respect for the subject matter.

I really like patina but to not wash,tend and care "as best you can" and that includes working within your own personal budget I believe is dis-respectful and thats what I see but I don't know the owner or the story behind the car and who know's what the future plans are? but as I said its a personal statement and I guess in the same way that I wouldn't go out of the house without a shave or expect her ladyship to go out without her lippo - I wouldn't present my Aston this way- each to their own heh?

[52classic]

Reckon he could get an Arts Council grant for that.

[JR]

Carsie said:

I really like patina but to not wash,tend and care "as best you can" and that includes working within your own personal budget I believe is dis-respectful and thats what I see

I agree with you apart from that's not what I see. Have a look at the wheels, the mirror, etc. the car looks like it has been washed. It may well be being looked after the best that he can within his budget. If the car is in reasonable mechanical order then giving it a good run to a show is just what it needs. Bodywork next and then the interior.

[lowdrag]

The world though is changing. A couple of months back at Pebble Beach an E-type which was a "barn find" sold for $90,000. In the twenty five years from about 1980-2005 cars that were "chocolate boxes" were the ones that sold, but patina has now re-entered into the vocabulary it seems. It took us a long time to work out how to paint my C-type so that it wouldn't shine but look older. That's not to say it has the "rat look", just that it doesn't shine too much. I for one prefer it that way.

Edited by lowdrag on Monday 21st June 14:14

[varsas]

There are plenty of nice shiney ones, it's good to see one in original condition.

[JR]

varsas said:

There are plenty of nice shiney ones, it's good to see one in original condition.

I know that they're individual but I don't think that they left the factory like that.

[SB - Nigel]

My personal views now

Disrespectfull??

You can't be disrespectfull to car it's an inanimate object just bits of metal and stuff, the manufacturer a money making business

Live and let live, I sometimes don't shave and my wife has very, very rarely worn lippo and I've known since she was 17

I've had a car win a prize at a show (it was facory built only weeks before and washed that day) I was going to park it in the general car park but the show organiser himself, Greenwood, insisted I enter it and I won and donated the prize (Autoglym) to my club, I felt bad about winning for a very short time as I thought the prize would raise a few quid for charity instead of ego boasting and creating an elite

On the other side I've had cars that would be considered quite very scruffy by show standards

In my book as long as the car is used and it's in good mechanically order it can be as scruffy as the owner likes

Edited by SB - Nigel on Monday 21st June 13:44

[braddo]

As long as the car's existence is not threatened by rust then it's brilliant. It will actually look/feel/smell like an old car.

[varsas]

JR said:

varsas said:

There are plenty of nice shiney ones, it's good to see one in original condition.

I know that they're individual but I don't think that they left the factory like that.

ahh, I should have been clearer, I meant one that hasn't been pulled apart and rebuilt again...with the factory welding and panels and interior and stuff on it...like the guy above says it would feel like an old car.