I suspect IDENTITY seems to be more important than ORIGINALITY given the outcome of the High Court judgement of Old Number 1 ... and perhaps there may be a degree of agreement of that on here here when patina is mentioned as having a degree of value..As for the way the MARKET might care to judge such values, well I guess that may be different..?
I remember seeing a mint Blower Bentley while attending the one-off classic car show on Jonny Dumfries` estate on the Island of Bute, and hearing mumbling to the effect that it was not "real" but it sure looked real enough to me..(-: I posted pics on here and from those here who are knowledgable it seems it was indeed a recreation. I had also posted pics of a very patinated Bentley dash thatwas at the show, and will try to post those two pics below, along with one locally owned boat tail Bentley being enjoyed at a gymkanah..(-:
It does seem that creating and maintaining perfection is somewhat prevalent in the world of classics today, and that may have crept over into the world of Vintage cars to some degree, which for me has perhaps created a new level of evaluation that seems...err...somewhat false, in that destroying patina and the linkage it has as an aid to the confirmation of identity may not be a worthwhile ideal...?
Some time back on GoMoG there was a very well written piece relative to the appearance of a less than perfect paintwork in that it bore signs of usage on a Morgan, the author may have been the GoMoG webmaster, dunno for sure, but it seemed to suggest that having a "perfect" Morgan may not be the ultimate in terms of enjoying Morganeering.
Further to the above I also remember reading on eMog about a VERY patinated old Morgan that had been documented as used to cover the length and breadth of the US and turned up at a glittering Morgan event held in the grounds of a fancy hotel. From a poor memory, it was given pride of place in the foyer of the hotel.... Perfection seems not to be everyone`s ideal, sometimes being the odd one out may have value..? (-: With that in mind, I can be comfortable to some extent given my old Mog is not quite perfect, and never ever will be in my ownership, I am happy to leave that task to the next owner..(-:
Can`t write about Bentley without remembering Bill Button, who put a great deal of effort into the maintenance and repair of his Bentley.
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