[Tigers] Original vs Restored.

[Thomas Witt]

While this has been hashed out many time over the years the bottom line is 
that it comes down to OPINION. It ranges from: "That's a classic leaving it 
alone and don't touch it." To "It's my money and car, don't tell me what to 
do."  Hopefully most of use are reasonable and wouldn't hack up a nice Mark 
II, but are willing to cheer on the guy who is personalizing a "basket case" 
Mark I (ahhh..., that would be me).

Even the term "original" is hard to define. The bench mark seems to be the 
guy with the "most original" car and all the others are not (or less so). 
I'm not debating the point but Gary feels his car is original (and he's 
keeping it that way).  But original to him has latitude for DOT-5 brake 
fluid, electronic ignition and a Holley carburetor.

I find it interesting that there are racing Tigers out there that are 
extensively modified and never do I recall anyone having criticism of that. 
Rather the efforts are applauded.   Years ago when I first got my Tiger 
someone had one with side vents, flares and "kidney bean" wheels. Initially 
I didn't like this car caught in a fashion of  "years gone by." But as time 
went on I came to admire the car as an excellent representative of a Tiger 
from the 70's era.

I applaud those who commit the time and recourses to keeping a car as close 
to factory issued as possible. And I mean that whether using NOS parts or 
simply arresting decay of the original. But barring one radically altering a 
pristine and rare car, it is the owners option to modify their car to taste. 
We may not all like it, but then we don't pay for it either.
Tom




----- Original Message ----- 
From: <MWood24020 at aol.com>
To: <jay.laifman at gmail.com>; <rande at thecia.net>
Cc: <alpines at autox.team.net>; <tigers at autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2012 7:59 AM
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Original vs Restored.


>A car can only be original once and, no doubt, there are those who place a
> premium on that fact. The degree of originality can be a driver for the
> decision  to restore (i.e. repainted or other makes it no longer truly
> original) or the  overall condition (as in, an original car with rust or 
> other
> serious issues is  of little value for anything other than restoration).
> Seems pretty simple: if you have a true survivor, best to keep it that 
> way.
> But, for most of the Tigers in the population, a thoughtful restoration
> will not  only make it more fun to drive (for those who don't enjoy just
> looking at their  cars...not that there's anything wrong with that), but 
> also of
> greater monetary  value, if that is a consideration.
>
>
> In a message dated 10/7/2012 10:51:27 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> jay.laifman at gmail.com writes:
>
> Classic  Motorsports has been running some articles about this very 
> subject,
> and in  particular about the Ford Mustang they are bringing back to life.
> I'll see  if I can find some good quotes from it.
>
> Jay
>
>
> On Oct 7, 2012,  at 9:58 AM, rande wrote:
>
>> This is less about Tigers and Alpines,  and more about the debate between
> keeping
>> our cars  original(unrestored) versus having them restored.
>>
>> In the  October 7 New York Times Auto section, a reporter  interviewed
> the
> owner
>> of the Simeone Foundation auto collection in  Philadelphia. Dr. Simeone's
> raison
>> d'etre is exhibiting only  unrestored cars. His specialty is racing 
>> sports
> cars,
>> and amongst  the exhibits is the only original Cobra Daytona coupe that
> hasn't
>>  been restored.
>>
>> The site for the article is  www.nytimes.com  and click on 'autos'.
>>
>> Also, if you are  going to be in Philadelphia tomorrow (Oct.8), the 
>> museum
> will
>> hold  an auction for cars not part of the museum collection as well  as
> automobilia,
>> conducted by Bonhams. Admission to both the auction  and the museum is 
>> the
> $30
>> catalogue, and that admits two  people.
>> The museum site is www.simeonemuseum.org  and information  about the cars
> in
>> the auction is at www.bonhams.com
>>
>>  Rande