I just got back from the San Diego Jaguar club's concourse event. Many beautiful cars, and interesting people. One thing I saw on the "shop tour" was a beautifully restored XK-E, that has scored 100 at concourse events all over the US. Loved it, but I don't get the story behind it. If I understood correctly, the owner paid the local restoration experts to do all the work. He bought a turn key show car. And, he has only put 48 miles on it since he took possession. So, he didn't do the restoration work, and he never drives it. I don't see the fun in that. What do you think?

 

I have been involved in concours* events for decades. You are right about this...paying someone else to do a restoration and then winning the award deserved by the restorer simply makes no sense to most people. On the other hand the person who pays for the restoration does have the satisfaction of having preserved a beautiful car, and of showing it...but all too often these cars are static displays. Sometimes, because of lack of use, they have difficulty being started and moved out of trailers (the regulations require every car judged to be driven, not rolled, on to the field). The people who really enjoy participating in these events are those who both use and preserve their cars and because the cars are used they most often display the resultant "badges of honour" : small stone chips, scratches, etc. and therefore very rarely achieve 100 points - unimportant, really, in the grand scheme. Happily, there are very few "trailer queens" at these events...most often, none.

*The word is concours (no e) which means a contest, a competition, the full term being concours d'élégance (acute accents on the first two e's). A concourse is a large gathering place, a hall, such as an airport concourse - totally different.

And the judges always find something...

My 2015 F-Type being judged....they worked really hard with this one and managed finally to find something in the engine compartment:


1992 V12 Vanden Plas (they found a bug between the headlamp trim and the fender after a drive from Victoria to Seattle....nothing else):

It's all fun, or is supposed to be.

 

There's lots of reasons that classic cars don't get driven much. I can relate to a few. I have this theory that its largely about how a person views the value of money. I work for a living. If I spend tens of thousands of dollars on a classic car, then to me, I can't help but think how many hours I toiled at a miserable job to get the darned thing in the first place. Yeah, its insured, but buying another one to replace it is just not the same thing. If its damaged or destroyed, it'd be like having to work a year of my life all over again (or in the case of the one's I've restored myself, three to five). If you are in business and that classic car represents only the profits from your last business deal, then you'll have a different view. And all the young people I know seem to have far less regard for all material things in general, possibly from having grown up with excess.

There's also the value of a keepsake. I still have the Toyota Supra that was the first "toy" that I bought for myself after college. I'd driven it all over the country, autocrossed it several seasons. I really went nuts for Supras and I'd bought and sold nine of them so I know it could be replaced, but out of nine, I only kept the FIRST one because it means more to me. It was the one that got me hooked and started the madness. I'd be quite emotional if anything were to happen to it.

Another thing to realize about "restored" cars is that they can look like brand new, but its usually mostly a cosmetic restoration. They are often still 85% made up of 30+ year old parts. Any one of which could break at any moment and take MONTHS to find a replacement and get it back on the road. I've been in that situation too many times, once in my youth, in a hotel, 1,300 miles from home. Luckily I already had a spare part back at home and just had to wait a few days for my brother to box it up and ship it to me. My next long-range venture carried a whole trunk full of spares and indeed, I would up needing a clutch slave cylinder that I brought along with me.

If you are lucky enough to have several classic cars, sometimes you can have too many. Cars are like potato chips. You can't enjoy just one, but bag after bag ultimately slows you down. Too many and you can't even get out of your recliner to go to the kitchen. Same thing with collector cars. It can be hard just to keep up with all the maintenance. My shop building only has one door at the front and I have to "shuffle" to get a car out from the back which makes it difficult. Logically it would be better, it would get driven more often if I had just one $100,000 car instead of five $20,000 cars. Think of it like eating a carrot instead of that bag of potato chips. But I got hooked on junk food (and junk cars) and exercise (drive) much less often than I should. While I'm not a fat cat collector, I do understand their predicament.

There's also my own safety I worry about a little. Some years ago I survived a really bad crash in a Lexus LS400 vs one of these 4x4 Dodge quad-cab trucks that half the men and a quarter of the women in Texas now use for a family car. After that incident, I'm kind of scared to drive my tiny little plastic 60s sports car with no air bags, no crumple zones, thin little bumpers and not even a shoulder belt. I will drive it to shows that are not too far away, but very far now, I'm putting it on a trailer and pulling it behind my own 4x4 pickup truck.

As to writing checks vs DIY, I have enjoyed doing my own restoration and modifications mostly. There's a great deal of satisfaction in being able to answer almost any question at a car show because I touched that part, I took it off, fixed it, painted it, whatever and put it back on. However, I am actually on the hunt for something different right now but I can't take on a long-term project again until after I retire. Plus my long wish list includes rare cars that would be difficult to quite impractical to restore anyway. Thus my next classic will likely be show ready (or at least very close) and I won't be able to enjoy that same level of knowledge as if I had restored it myself. What little I will know about my next car will come from reading forums like this one.

 

Thanks for the added perspective!

 

I'm a lousy mechanic, and guitar player, but that doesn't mean you can't still love and collect what you love. Jmo.

 

Cars are meant to be driven, no trailer queens for me.

 

Some classic cars transcend being just a car as an appliance meant to be driven and consumed and become more like a fine painting or other work of art. Personally, I have no problem with someone who wants to preserve a perfect car, nor do I have a problem with someone who wants to drive it. There are a lot of ways to enjoy classic cars and none of those ways are wrong.

 

Who would collect art that didn't paint it? It's not me in either case, but I'm fine with someone owning a piece of art on wheels. And, there are plenty of show cars that are sent out for much of their restoration work. (I recently saw a beautiful SS that was $300k in and not finished.)

Years ago, when my e-Type was being shown, I had a "debate" with a judge over whether or not there were originally grommets in the front license plate holder. It became the difference between a 100 and a 99. At some point, it becomes something beyond "fun."

I've since decided I prefer to do enough work to keep the car in good running order - then enjoy driving it.

 

Exactly.

Cheers
DD

 

I derive a ton of fun from viewing any XKE. They're gorgeous. If it has been restored to a high level then I additionally get to admire the craftmanship and reflect on the dedication required to undertake and complete the job.

Personally I enjoy driving 'em even more. But there is absolutely a place in the hobby for trailer queens. May it ever be thus.

Cheers
DD

 

In a different life I was pretty involved in the concours scene for a number of years,. I enjoyed it a lot. I was in competition only with myself. I kept making improvements and my scores kept getting better. That was enough for me. I'm pretty nonchalant about ......stuff.

But I can understand how a person might devote tons of money and labor, and years of time, into a project might view things differently

You're not entirely alone. Lots of people go full bore on a resto, show the car for a couple of seasons, collect some well deserved awards, and then start enjoying the car on the road. Best of two worlds.

Cheers
DD

 

I just went to the NCRS Texas Regionals yesterday (just spectating this year but I've been through it before). Its not meant to be a competition, but there are a lot of people who view it that way and get very upset with the judges when they deduct points for something being incorrect that they just spent a lot of money on. Often its when they find out they bought a car that was already restored and overpaid by $50,000 for a car that was "very pretty" but very incorrect. However, its stressful for the participants no matter whether they did it themselves or paid somebody to do it, whether they are naturally competitive or not. That "originality" is very fragile and continues to get even more brittle as time goes forward. I remember worrying is the $250 set of 50 year old, one-year-only, original headlight bulbs going to survive even the trip to the event or is the car going to lose 6 points per bulb when they burn out soon as the judge turns them on. That's a segment of hobby that only a handful of people are going to enjoy. I've gone through it once, got to the top level, glad I got to experience it. I've got another Corvette, but don't know that I want to do it again tho.

 

I was very fortunate. Jag owners, in my experience, are mellow and congenial. Over the years I came across only a couple people who were obnoxiously competitive and can think of only one time when a judge was needlessly obstinate. Overall it was a very positive experience for me.

Cheers
DD

 

And in my experience you get to meet some of the nicest, most helpful and most knowledgeable people in these show events - Doug being one that I met decades ago. The trick is to never let this go beyond the "serious fun" level. Having participated in these events for more than 3 decades I can say that I have only come across one couple and one individual who went beyond, into the realm of jealous, secretive behaviour.

But then there was the case of the bug and the headlamp rim (see the photo in #2 above - and the judge who found it - Doug! I like to think that the photo shows him pondering whether he should or should not deduct points for the errant bug...alas, his inherent honesty won out. He deducted points).