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A bit cynical, but, I likes your response!
Luke
Having been behind the curtain and heard arguments from the guys that
judged at Pebble and built up the Ferrari concours to what it has become, I can
honestly say, who cares, they’re just cars. I lost interest in it debating
a very important Testa Rossa (note: two words) at a national meet. The
collection of parts and the condition they were in didn’t match any period of
history other than that particular Friday morning under the Texas sun. But
the expectation was that the collective group was expected to bless it and
rejoice in it’s splendor. Yawn.
For every knight that wants to joust the largest windmill that they can
find, there will be at least four jesters that are willing to keep score.
Regardless of what the marketing whores in Maranello say or the hanger-ons
that are trying to get their piece of the action, Ferraris are just consumer
goods and life is way too damn short to try and rank individuals based on their
ability to direct disposable income at an object. Exclusivity? Ha,
that just belies the vulgarity of the banality of the individuals behind
it.
I expect this to go through a cycle like all shiny baubles, demographics
keep people interested in it, wealth will be spent trying to remember the past
or rebrand/repackage an individual to glory that never was, and it will all
eventually fade to black. Yes, there are still gilded carriages in some
museums, and you’ll still see the occasional brass era car, but time and
technology march on. This too shall pass.
Maybe you can help answer a question ... this is a letter I wrote to
Sports Car Market in response to an article and a readers response to that
article ...
" I'm writing in
response to a letter to the Editor from a Mr. Allan Lydon of Atlanta,
GA. The subject was "opening the can," in response to a Paul Hageman
article about collector-car originality in the May 2018 issue. I have
been meaning to write for some time and I hope that too much has not passed in
order to be considered for print.
As Mr. Lydon pointed out,
originality in regards to classic and collectible cars is a very interesting
and also very complicated subject. In the literal sense, "original" is
an adjective defined as "present or existing from the beginning; first or
earliest." Which could be interpreted so that a car is not 100% original once
the first tank of fuel is used, a light bulb burns out, the first set of tires
is worn out, or any part of the car is painted. In a more realistic
world this level of originality would be all but impossible to achieve.
And from auction sale results, the value and collectability of automobiles
with color changes, engine swaps, interior re-trims etc. is often unaffected
by these modifications. In Concours judging, however, the lack of
correctness in comparison to the original sheen of paint in an engine
compartment, or incorrect screw heads and hose clamps can cost valuable
judging points. I have a longtime friend and client who has a passion
for restoring 356 Porsche and collecting and competitively displaying Porsche
from the 1980's all the way to modern day offerings. In the past he has
gone through the trouble of procuring a set of NO spec tires, not to drive on
but to mount on his 1989 Speedster at events in order to retain points for
originality. He has also tracked down the original color oil filter for
the car for the same reason (when Porsche delivered 911's in the '80s the
factory oil filter was orange, and all subsequent provided at dealerships were
black). I have witnessed him purchase 1,000 count each of every ounce
and half ounce NOS (new old stock) stick-on wheel weight offered by Porsche
because that's the smallest number they would agree to sell. I have a
friend with an extremely low mileage collector truck who saved the original
battery when it required changing and even the original parts replaced as part
of a recall. Does this level of attention to detail and originality
matter to most people? Probably not. Does it matter to Concours judges
and the collector looking for the best of the best? Absolutely.
In more realistic terms, does
originality have to apply to the original part of *that* particular car, or just correct for
that particular model? (I'd love to have Jay Leno or Donald Osborne
weigh in here). When I was performing a sympathetic restoration of my
1968 Mercedes-Benz 280SL I purchased every piece and part from the
Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in California. The NOS soft top, engine
parts, interior trim pieces etc. that were purchased were not original to *my* car, but they were correct to the
year and model - and without VIN stampings who knows the difference between a
1968 part installed in 1968 and a 1968 part installed in 2018? For a
princely sum Ferrari will gladly re-cast and stamp an engine block for owners
of their classic models. Definitely not original, but arguably correct
being cast through period correct measures by the factory and stamped with the
correct numbers.
In the
end I don't believe that absolute pure originality exists for very long in
regards to automobiles. It can be preserved to the best of our ability
and can lead to a high level of "correctness." However I would also
argue that this level of originality probably doesn't matter to the vast
majority of collectors and us "regular folk" who would purchase a classic car
to drive. :
--
Brian E. Buxton
Auto Acquisitions and Consulting | 5411 S.R. 261, Unit 903 | Newburgh, IN 47629
(812) 760-5513 mobile | (812) 476-2284 fax
www.BuxtonMotorsports.com
www.BuxtonMotorsports.net
Brian Buxton Enterprises, Inc.
Nationwide Enclosed Auto Transportation
Select Chauffeured Transportation, LLC
www.SelectEVV.com
Founder & Past President
So. IN Region Porsche Club of America
On
9/11/18 5:43 PM, Brian Keegan wrote:
I became a concours judge after doing all the research on cars
we restored and assembling a documentary binder for the car
only to have the “judges” take points off for correct stuff. I am
assembling a massive collection of factory documents by model to support and
help educate the new generation of judges as the older crew is slowly fading
away.
Sent from my iPhone
Hey
GP – the old adage “if you have too many friends – become a concours
judge.”
It’s
true today as it was the first Concourse and dog show ever
was.
Onward
Doug
I prefer the "Who's Line Is It
Anyway?" brand of concours - where the points don't matter! 😉
gp
From: Grahame
Reinthal <grahame [at] reinthal.com.au>
I heard that
in some concourses now, if 2 cars are both beautifully
original and
hard to split on points, original tyres can make a
difference.
Apparently, there is some trade in really old tyres (date
matched to
the vintage of the car) and matching the original specs. I
guess
you could trailer the car to the show site and ease off gently,
hoping
the air stays in those tyres for the day! Anybody else heard
this?
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