Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Refurbishment/Restoration/Patina - The Debate?

Old car restoration; patina or full concours, which do you prefer?

I hugely admire the effort and end result that goes into putting an old car into concours condition; but I love (and prefer)to see a car in maintained but original condition.

Your thoughts?


Bud

Both,
It depend the car and his history and the condition (roost, damage,..), question is what is patina.
For me patina means, show that the car is use an show how old it is.
But it is really a never ending storey

patina= dents, minor dings, scratches and tattyness, yes I mean tatteness.
some call it BLING , other call it patina....
its a collection of "origionaliss ", smell, old tatty seats, tatty everything else but above all.............its original and its a Morgan.
Rusty bits, cracking paint,dents here and there, that special smell of 67 Chardonnay of dashboard, a hint of Riesling of gear-stick, and a whiff of crunchy old hood..

ahhh oh to be a "Morganeer"
Life is full of surprises but being a Morganeer is unique..........

Budster ,
You can have both depends which route you take
Concours-De-Tat .
Concours-De-Elegance.
I prefer the later as you can adjust the car to your needs , and better it I.E. Shocks , Dash, etc etc .

Here is some patina, almost 50 year old leather & carpets.
There is nothing better.
Cheers Rudy.

What is the interior picture of, it looks Maserati !

How about this for patina? Saw the Alfa at the Race retro show yesterday....glorious!








Mike Duncan had a Plus 8 in his workshop last summer with a very similar patination and I loved it!

I'm with the patina thing where it is an original car that has been used and cared for; the imperfections are part of the car's character, each ding & dip telling a story. The french have a phrase for such a car as being "dans son jus".

One of my regulars has a 1934 Alvis Speed 20 drophead which his grandfather bought new; it has never been sold, restored or repainted, just properly maintained. Some might say it would be better if it were restored, but in it's current state it's one of my favourite cars. I wish I had a photo to post, but I don't.

Cars that have not received the regular TLC & require restoration - well there's nothing wrong with restoring them to as new condition. Nor is there anything wrong in modifications to make a car better for use in modern traffic if you're going to drive it regularly.

What I don't care for is the "patination" or distressing of a restored car - that's just pretending that it's something it isn't, but at the end of the day "à chacun son goût".

Yes, this is my 3500GT Sebring.


@ pandy +1

Looks like your leather is badly in need of feeding . But still very nice and good clean lines no bling .