Russo Steele Auction

[64beam]

Rob.. i agree.. but do you now get why having that particular car repaired would take away its value.. it IS one of the rare survivors.. give it a new coat of paint and its a beautiful body and paint job with a slightly worn interior..

Your original post "I don't understand how restoring a car to its former glory would lower its value otherwise no one would ever restore a car." questioned why repairing it would lower its value.. and missed the point that this cars value is its originality.

I would agree originality is a rarity. In your opinion do you think if hypothetically John sold his Alpine would he get the same amount of money that the immaculately restored red series V (I think) got a few years back?

Regards, Robin.

 

[alpine_64]

I would agree originality is a rarity. In your opinion do you think if hypothetically John sold his Alpine would he get the same amount of money that the immaculately restored red series V (I think) got a few years back?

Regards, Robin.

I would expect Johns car would be worth more, that SV was not perfect.. nor factory correct.. It was a very well documented restoration which helped a lot.. (not just photos of the work, but all parts laid out in a workshop manual style before being assembled).. long and the short of it.. anyone can restore, or pay to restore a car to that standard, apparently bob? 65beam's alpiens are of that quality and he has restored them omre than once.. but thats the point.. their value is in the quality of the restoration.. these other cars value is in the condition and history of their survival.. and you cant replicate that.

 

[65beam]

auction

you guys could discuss original versus restored for decades. it's all comes down to personal preference. it would drive me nuts to drive an original car. i would be waiting for the seats to rip, parts to break,etc. would not feel comfortable driving it. on the other hand i can understand why lots of folks would get that warm fuzzy feeling if they had a real nice original car. maybe my feelings go back to when these cars were new and i was working three jobs,going to school and trying to pay for a car or two. plus it seemed something always broke just when you didn't want it to. drove me nuts then. i don't like to be reminded of those days. no rollbacks around to haul them home. those old slings on the tow trucks did a job on the front valence. my wife says that's why i work on them all the time now. maybe it's just a baby boomer thing.

 

[alpine_64]

you guys could discuss original versus restored for decades. it's all comes down to personal preference. it would drive me nuts to drive an original car. i would be waiting for the seats to rip, parts to break,etc. would not feel comfortable driving it. on the other hand i can understand why lots of folks would get that warm fuzzy feeling if they had a real nice original car.

I would love an original unrestored car but i could not own it as my sole fun car. You have to show great restraint.. not use them to much.. resist the temptation to "improve"... its a course in self control.. thats why its important those cars fnd the right owners if they are to survive in an original state.

I love my alpine.. i love having period mods.. polished manifolds etc.. but i could not do it to an original unrestored car in good condition.. its so hard to put a car back to stock.. that taking a surviving one away from it is just not right.

 

[sunbeam74]

Unrestored cars are sort of a different animal.... in fact there has been an effort to really define what these cars are and what unrestored means.

http://colinsclassicauto.com/news.php?story=30

At some of the larger shows I have been to there have been classes for the unrestored cars but I think your car has to be certified prior to the show. (Sort of TAC!) It is nice that they have these classes since a truly preserved car is awfully neat to see.

It is also important that if you buy an "unrestored" car, and pay that extra price, that it really meets the criteria.

I have always wondered about race cars - I have seen in the past some wonderful cars that would have been best just left alone but somebody fully restored them. There's a Sebring MGA that should have been left alnoe. My favorite unrestored race car is the Lola Mk1 Osca of Ollie Schmit.

The Sports Car Forum Alpine essentially unrestored - mechanically it has been gone over - for a while I was running the original Koni's from 67' (still have them in a box today somewhere beside the orginal blue streaks. The front sure could use painting on the nose and apron... but I would almost hate to even attempt having that done.

I have to say if buying a race car I almost prefer unrestored since 1) you are paying extra for the history and there are enough replica/fakes out there that you want to be sure of what you are getting 2) you get to see how the car really was setup (versus becoming a resto-mod during the renovation process)

Steve

 

[RootesRooter]

Oh, the humanity!!!