HMN SPECIAL FEATURE
Sweet Preserves
10 great collectibles that have been maintained for posterity
BY THE HEMMINGS MOTOR NE WS STAFF
Am
v
p eticulously restored collectible
ehicle bristling with freshly cad-lated bolts, sparkling stainless
trim and paint deep enough to make you
want to slip on scuba fins can be an awe-inspiring sight for a car enthusiast.
But, oddly enough, another type of
vintage machine inspires awe in us as
well—the unrestored, or lightly preserved collectible. There’s something
special about standing face to face with
history, even if it’s tattered and worn
with age, or maybe especially when it’s
tattered and worn with age. Perhaps it’s
because there’s mystery in an artifact:
Where has it been? What wonders has it
witnessed? Who loved it and one day left
it behind? What secrets lie hidden in its
unexplored recesses?
Or maybe it’s the sense of connection
with other people that we feel in the presence of a collectible that hasn’t been
completely disassembled and rebuilt
with new or refurbished parts. Someone,
somewhere, five, 10, 20, 50, 100 years ago
28 HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS • JULY 2009
smiled approvingly at this very machine
the way I am now, you think. Seeing what
I see, touching what I’m touching.
In his book It’s Only Original Once,
Hemmings Editor in Chief Richard Lentinello took a more pragmatic view of
the significance of preserved cars when
he wrote: “Original cars…are our only
glimpse into the past, thus affording us
the wonderful opportunity to study firsthand the way manufacturing techniques
were carried out during all of the different decades and periods of automobile
production. We can see how the assembly line workers applied the paint and
inspection marks; how the upholstery
was stitched and carpet was bound; how
wood was cut, shaped and joined; and
which types of fasteners were used for
specific applications. Better than shop
manuals, unrestored cars are existing
proof of the way automobiles used to be
built; they are the only true guidebook
that restorers can use to ensure that the
cars they are restoring are rebuilt to the
factory-correct manner.”
Also, while restored cars grab the attention, the preserved collectible is in many
ways the backbone of the collector-car
hobby. These vehicles are the pride and
joy of enthusiasts who either choose to
leave their vehicles alone on principle or
simply don’t have the resources to pour
into a complete bumper-to-bumper makeover. They do the work that needs to be
done to keep their cars and trucks on the
road safely: bushings, bearings, exhaust,
wiring, tires, etc. And often, they dream
of the day when their machine will look
the way it did when it was sitting on the
dealer’s lot. But for now, they just keep
it as much the way the factory intended
as possible.
On the following pages, we’ve compiled
a small number of owners who’ve taken
pains to leave their collector cars alone.
We hope you enjoy these brief recounts
of their stories and hope that they might
inspire you to preserve an old car for the
good of the hobby.
