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Apr 01, 2011 12:08 am
Apr 01, 2011 12:08 am
Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?
Hi all
I've been reading the replies with interest. I don't think it's strictly correct to say that any car is past restoration when such as Crossthwaite and Gardner can manufacture new AutoUnion GP cars from scratch and replica Bugattis are being made in South America so close to the original that the parts are interchangeable and Rod Jolly restores the most decrepit wrecks. However it reminds me of an article about a vintage racing yacht that was 'restored'. It needed new keel,stem and stern, new frames and planks, new deck beams and deck, new machinery and rigging. Oh and the carefully preserved interior couldn't be re=used because the layout had been changed. They did however use the steering wheel! So any car could be restored but would it be 'original' at the end.The dilema comes down to the economics and if the dealers can't sell a LG45 saloon for £65,000 (a two tone blue has been advertised for months) there is not much money for both purchase and restoration. It is just unfortunate that saloons are the poor relation and only valued at 40% of an open model or a well constructed replica. I bought my M45 saloon body some 10 years ago and have been collecting parts ever since. It had been roadgoing until being sold at auction, a bit loose in the joints and the door used to come open so it had to go. With only 19 M45 saloons recorded in the Register of Members Book I think they are an endangered species and deserve to be restored to original, even though my end product may be from a dozen cars and probably worth half of what a replica tourer would
fetch at auction. I also have a special, shortened chassis and lowered radiator but it was made in the 1950's when even a genuine LeMans car was shortened and lowered and a LG45 Rapide was cut about to make a racer and many Lagondas just went to the scrap yard. That was 50=60 year ago but today I raelly think it is about preserving what we have rather than chopping up and throwing away the body which was perhaps the biggest contribution made to the car by the Lagonda workforce.Just my personal views but I hope the car at auction ends up as a restored Lagonda saloon.
Hi all
I've been reading the replies with interest. I don't think it's strictly correct to say that any car is past restoration when such as Crossthwaite and Gardner can manufacture new AutoUnion GP cars from scratch and replica Bugattis are being made in South America so close to the original that the parts are interchangeable and Rod Jolly restores the most decrepit wrecks. However it reminds me of an article about a vintage racing yacht that was 'restored'. It needed new keel,stem and stern, new frames and planks, new deck beams and deck, new machinery and rigging. Oh and the carefully preserved interior couldn't be re=used because the layout had been changed. They did however use the steering wheel! So any car could be restored but would it be 'original' at the end.The dilema comes down to the economics and if the dealers can't sell a LG45 saloon for £65,000 (a two tone blue has been advertised for months) there is not much money for both purchase and restoration. It is just unfortunate that saloons are the poor relation and only valued at 40% of an open model or a well constructed replica. I bought my M45 saloon body some 10 years ago and have been collecting parts ever since. It had been roadgoing until being sold at auction, a bit loose in the joints and the door used to come open so it had to go. With only 19 M45 saloons recorded in the Register of Members Book I think they are an endangered species and deserve to be restored to original, even though my end product may be from a dozen cars and probably worth half of what a replica tourer would
fetch at auction. I also have a special, shortened chassis and lowered radiator but it was made in the 1950's when even a genuine LeMans car was shortened and lowered and a LG45 Rapide was cut about to make a racer and many Lagondas just went to the scrap yard. That was 50=60 year ago but today I raelly think it is about preserving what we have rather than chopping up and throwing away the body which was perhaps the biggest contribution made to the car by the Lagonda workforce.Just my personal views but I hope the car at auction ends up as a restored Lagonda saloon.