George, your Bugatti story made me smile, I'll bet the owner was going quietly mad at the polishing of the wheel.
I love looking around the old racing machines at Goodwood Revival (Duncan springs to mind) and seeing the real years of character ingrained on them, it means far more to me than looking at anything that has been polished to death they have no appeal to me lined up at a car show or museum.
I polish mine once a year out of a sense of duty only.
Perhaps there is a patination appreciation group after all..
