Re: [DML] Concours- was Blue Book Value

["therealdmcvegas" <dmcvegas@xxxxxxx>]

--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "spaceace3113" <spaceace3113@xxxx> wrote:
> Whoa! Robert hold on a second.....I'm taking a little bit of offense
> here on this one....It took me six years of searching and saving for
> just the right car. I bought a sub 100 mile car, am I supposed to
> drive it?? Or am I supposed to feel fortunate that I was insane enough
> to actually buy it restore it and  protect it  from those who would
> drive it to the ground, neglect it, convert it into a time machine
> attrocity or reconfigure to how they would interperet its evolution??
> And mind you, I have no intention of entering concours... 
> 
>  Harry & Vin #2696

Fair enough point. I should haev written the beliefs behind this
statement, for better clarity. There is a difference between
preserving a car as a whole, and simply preserving the milage alone.

Having a car as original as your's, let me ask you a question here. I
understand it's got low milage, and hasn't seen much use. But what
condition is it in? Is it as mint as the day it was on the dealership
lot? Or has it suffered the neglect of an abandoned garage?

Back when Matt S. here in Vegas was looking for a car, we went to go
and look at one he saw in the paper. Owner said it wasn't driven since
like 1985 or so, and that it was ultra low milage, and great
condition. And in all this time, the owner had never driven it,
because he wanted to keep the milage down, and thus the car as
original as possible.

Long story short: Saging headliners, rotten fuel hoses, crumbling
coolant hoses (that leaked and burned my leg), an A/C system that no
longer worked, stiff-as-a-board leather seats, musty stench, old
gasoline, and a lake of ATF trans fluid under the car. When I asked
the guy why he had let the car fall into such a state of disrepair, he
was straight up pissed at me. He didn't do anything wrong to the car.
After all, look at the incredibly low milage on it! It was original!

Now, my car ain't no concourse competitor. In fact, I rarely wash it.
But I took him over to mine, and told him to look at the engine
compartment, and compare our cars. New hoses, fuel lines, freshly
stitched seats, crisp headliners. And he still didn't get it.

Some people think that keeping a car original at any cost, regardless
of the impact it has upon the vehicle, is more important. They believe
that neglecting a car by improperly storing it is better than keeping
their car as a daily driver and replacing wear parts is better,
because everything remains original. Little do they realize that a car
that was never driven, yet allowed to rot is worth far less than a
high milage car that may show some scars, but runs like clockwork.
Because guess what, you need to replace all that stuff that you let
break because of your inaction.

And that's what I mean, when I talk about people who hoard cars away,
simply to "keep them original". You're right, Harry. To say that
because you do not keep the car in active competition does not
validate your keeping it preserved, is wrong on my part. However,
getting back to the same question I first asked, What condition is it
in right now? And even if you may not actively trailer it to
competitions, do you proactively take measures to keep it original?
Keeping the leather supple, make sure nothing is leaking out, etc? Or
is it just rotting in a garage, with it's low milage being given a
higher priority than it's overall condition?

That's what I meant in my original post.

-Robert
vin 6585 "X"








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