It's Done

[PaulDexler]

The car looks spectacular. I'm a great believer of having cars that look as if they had just rolled out of the showroom. (mine don't) But I always get into arguments with Leslie Kendall, the curator of the Petersen Museum, whose mantra is "It's only original once," and only restores cars extremely reluctantly. Latest candidate, the 1938 Packard parade phaeton that belonged to Juan and Evita Peron. The wood structure of the body is rotting out, and it will have to be completely taken down and re-done. I think it will look great, he just mumbles about it.
Paul

[PDSides]

Peterson Museum: "It's only original once." Paul, the debate among classic car enthusiasts and restoration shops rages on about the level to which a car should be restored, or whether or not it should be restored at all. There is a growing class of classic car collectors, "preservationists" who believe a car in good, original and functional shape should not be restored but should only receive maintenance to preserve it in its original condition. Several of the notable classic car shows now include a "preservation class" along with the fully restored cars. Bill Harrah was noted for "over restoring" his cars to the point of their being better than when they came off the assembly line. Today's highest level shows often cater to such over restored cars where every piece has been hand-shaped and polished, unlike the original which was installed straight from the supplier. I tend to believe that cars should not be over restored for any reason but should be treated according to their condition, i.e., the worse the condition the more they should be restored. With the Packard it will be necessary to disassemble the car to its bare frame in order to do the required maintenance. In such a case I believe the car should then receive a frame-up restoration, that is, a full rebuilding back to original condition. Had the car been better preserved and in otherwise good condition, I would favor preserving it rather than restoring it. This debate does not apply to non-classic cars but I see it more and more in collector car categories. Some of the larger auction companies are encouraging less restoration and requiring more documentation on cars that obviously "differ" from their original form. I hope it does not become a legal battle, although it may come to that. Best wishes.
Preston

[PaulDexler]

Hi Preston,
I believe in originality to a great extent. I also do not believe in over-restoration. That means things like polishing the cam covers on Mercedes, as was popular in the '80s, when I had mine. (I wire brushed my cam covers, left them satin like the originals.) One of the great features of the Otis Chandler collection was a 1907 American Napier that had only its fan belt and tires changed since new. Otis drove it, and it was part of his "trifecta" at the PB concours in 2004, when he took three best in class trophies with three cars. At the Petersen, we have a 1914 Mercer Raceabout which was repainted in the 1930s and is otherwise original. Finally, for the best examples, look at the Ferrari Barchetta that was shown at PB last year, a "barn find" that was mechanically refurbished so that it could run properly, but was otherwise un-restored, and the 1910 Oldsmobile Limited that went for 1.6M at auction recently and was the subject of a cover story in Sports Car Market. It too, will be mechanically refurbished, but otherwise left in "as found" condition.
Yes, when we re-do the Peron Packard, it will get a "ground up" restoration, so that it will look like the photos we have of Peron and Evita riding in it. (Some typical collector, who bought it out of Argentina in the '60s had it converted to LHD and repainted in that ivory that at that time was considered the only color for an open Packard.) We have the parts to put it back to RHD, and will repaint it in the original midnight blue.
My Alfa is still perfect original paint, and will remain that way. The Capri suffered at the hands of its original teeny-bopper owner, and needs a complete paint job. The SVX suffered from growing up in the desert, and has been repainted original color once, but needs a proper paint job.
Sorry about the long rant.
Paul

[crazyhorse]

Mike, Eric, the car looks STUNNING! Excellent work.

If I were buying a classic car, for example a '57 Chevy hardtop, for the same price, I'd choose a "survivor" over a restoration. A snazzy paintjob can hide a lot of flaws, whereas a survivor can't hide a thing.

[PDSides]

Good to hear from another classic car enthusiast. My wife and I are charter members of the National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nevada. I've never toured the Petersen collection but plan to do so in the near future. Our plans are to move to Reno in April of this year, just a few short months from now. One reason for the move is so that I can do more work as a volunteer for the museum. We are "adoptive parents" to the 1910 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost and enjoy the wax-and-shine parties that offer us the opportunity to do some hands-on work with the car. Best wishes.
Preston

[svxistentialist]

Best wishes with the move Preston

I have been involved with "Classic" cars since I started buying Matras in the 90's.

Here in Ireland most shows are a mixture of every age of car, and the term classic applies loosely to more modern vehicles. The other main categories are vintage and veteran.

Being the Philistine that I am my interest is primarily in sports cars and powerful cars from the 60's onwards [not modern stuff though] and although I am entertained by older pre-war cars I am not really motivated to buy any of them, they are not my thing.

What you are describing about restoration applies here also. Many people over-restore cars, and they can be strikingly better than when original ex showroom. Experienced judges will mark down such cars. In a head to head, the sensitively restored car with original interior will win every time over the newly two-packed Queen of Gaudy.

Those who spend fortunes and too much time over-restoring can be narked by these failures to win, but it is blithely explained away by the fact that their cars lack "patina"

I'm pretty sure you know what I mean here.

Joe

[PaulDexler]

Preston, Crazyhorse, Joe,
Good to hear from you all on this point. Preston, I am a docent at the Petersen, let me know when you want to come, and you will be my guest. I'd be happy to have Crazyhorse and Joe as my guests too, but, as they say, they are distance challenged.
That aside, I have always felt, and used in print, that the definition by the Classic Car Club of America defines a classic, others are "Special Interest." I guess I grew up too soon, because when I was in High School in the late '40s and early '50s, Classic meant Pre-War. Now, it pretty much applies to vehicles 25 or more years old. BUT, and this is the big BUT, a true classic is not a series production car, unless the production is highly limited. "Classic" Chevrolets are special interest cars. Anything that is produced in six figure numbers is not really a classic. Given a few more years, our SVXi can qualify. Limited production, exotic specification, signature designer, all those point to a true classic once they get to be 25 years or more old. My Alfa hovers on the edge, while it was a mass produced car on the European market, 3,000 some in the US per year over a five year period makes it special interest to begin with, and who knows what it will be in eight years when it reaches its 25th birthday. I have no hope of seeing any of my cars on the lawn at Pebble, however.
Again, pardon the long winded rant.
Paul

[crazyhorse]

Maybe the mods can split this thread so we can discuss this outside Mike's awesome work thread.

Paul, First of all thank you for the invite! If I ever make it to L.A. I'll be sure to take you up on it. Second, you're well named, as my name is Paul as well.

I doubt Subaru will ever be the "featured marque" on any concours. Though by the time of it's 25th birthday, the SVX will be rare enough to capture a lot of attention there. It's timeless styling is a testament to Gugario's talents. Your Alfa, would likely be a draw now. There are very few of them still driving around. I'd love to see a daily driver class at the prestigious shows.

[Mike621]

Oh, I don't mind about off topic talk.

I don't feel that my SVX is "museum quality" only for the mileage, flaws, etc. I'm sure we would all like a nice low mileage garage queen to stow away...

I've always been quietly fond of quirky little cars like the Alfas. I haven't bought anything else lately because I'm really trying to concentrate on the shop and finishing this car. :-P

[NapaBavarian]

Hey, listen, that's some sharp looking work, I'm having some allignment issues, do ya think you can help me out?

[Mike621]

Aww.



Bring it over We can try to clip it


It looks like that car has seen better days.

[CorSVXette]

At least the interior is smelling nice ( note the yellow tree hanging from the mirror)

Originally Posted by NapaBavarian

Hey, listen, that's some sharp looking work, I'm having some allignment issues, do ya think you can help me out?

[svxistentialist]

Yeah, maybe it smells nice Paul, but it does look a tad underpowered.

[94SubieSVX]

Wow, that's gotta suck.

[Mike621]

I happily picked up my SVX today from being wetsanded and buffed. I will do some assembly tomorrow hopefully, but I am still waiting on a few more things. In the meantime, here are some photos I took as it was getting dark already.

The car does have its share of imperfections as it did have MANY dings etc that were filled, but Eric and Dave, the painter, did an amazing job with it.

(I KNOW the wheels are all kinds of backwards and such, as they were put on for transport purposes and are coming off very soon for a new set.)















This is without wax.