Some weeks ago, while chatting with one of the country’s leading car restorers, I innocently asked the best point from which to begin a restoration. And the response came as a shock.
“The best car to find is one that doesn’t need restoration at all,” he said. “If you can bring a car back to usable condition, even if it isn’t perfect, without needing to replace any significant body parts or use reproduction trim, you are way ahead of someone whose car looks perfect, but contains very few parts that were there originally.”
That arises the age-old conflict of authenticity versus originality, where one owner replaces a worn item with a near indistinguishable replica, while another will spend hours, perhaps days, reconditioning the original part.
“Engines and transmission need to be the ones supplied with the car, or at worst age-related replacements,” our contact insisted. “Suspension, brakes, the exhaust and electricals are all wearing parts that are replaced during the lifetime of a car, but use 'new old stock' items if you can get them, rather than replicas.”
Denne historien er fra Issue 484-utgaven av Unique Cars.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 484-utgaven av Unique Cars.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
SHANNONS HOT LAPS AT NÜRBURGRING
SHANNONS latest promotion has something any car enthusiast can only dream of.
READER RIDES
HAS THERE EVER BEEN A CONCEPT CAR SO UNLIKELY TO REACH PRODUCTION? THIS AUSSIE-BASED PLYMOUTH PROWLER IS PROOF THEY TRULY EXIST
GM'S JEWEL
ROB HAS DISCOVERED THERE’S MUCH MORE TO CADILLAC’S EARLY HISTORY THAN V16 ENGINES, TAIL FINS AND ELVIS PRESLEY’S PINK FLEET
UNDER THE WEATHER
RUST NEVER SLEEPS, SO AT LONG LAST GLENN TORRENS PROTECTS HIS BOMBODORE'S PATINA
CLASSIC CLUBMAN
MARK CURREY FOUND HIMSELF JUMPING IN THE PROVERBIAL DEEP END WHEN HE AND HIS BROTHER CRAIG TACKLED THE RESTO
MUSEUM OF VEHICLE EVOLUTION
NESTLED IN the Goulbourn Valley in Central Victoria, just south of Shepparton, is the Museum of Vehicle Evolution or MOVE for short. Recognised as one of the leading museums in the country.
TAKE A DASH!
DESIGN-FOR-MANUFACTURE GIVES NO THOUGHT TO THOSE WHO HAVE TO WORK ON THE DAMN THINGS
The LITTLE BULL
LAMBORGHINI V12S WERE THE BEDROOM POSTER FAVOURITES, BUT SANT AGATA'S V8 URRACO IS THE LESSER-KNOWN BABY SUPERMODEL
SHELBY MUSTANG MARKET REVIEW
Carroll Shelby created the business model, followed in the early 1980s by Peter Brock, for selling modified versions of popular road cars with the blessing of, but no direct involvement from the manufacturer.
SNAKE CATCHER!
SHELBY AND FORD GO HAND IN HAND, BUT THE 69 GT MODELS WERE THE END OF THE ROAD AS CARROLL WAVED GOODBYE, TO THE BLUE OVAL BRAND