Re-restoration: The hidden burdens of maintaining a car collection

Having owned some of my collector cars for as long as five decades, I’m faced with the rather daunting task of tackling some re-restoration. It’s time to go through them yet again. 

Quite frankly, I’m not looking forward to it. I’m not even a fan of regular upkeep. 

I would rather find a dilapidated old car, buy it, learn about it, restore it, and take it to an event or two. From there, I stash it away in what my family and staff have christened my car church. Then I go on to the next project.

But during that sitting process–even in a climate-controlled space–the condition fades: Paint dulls, dirt accrues, and little scuffs and scratches take their toll. Tires go out of date. A little piece of rubber trim pops out of place and, with other cars vying for attention, the issue is forgotten about.

[Are your tires too old to be safe?]

You don’t really notice those issues when you walk past the car, of course. But they sure do come to light when you go to a sell a car and the prospective buyer points them out–usually with potential hard feelings.

“My car is in No. 1 condition,” you proclaim. “I personally restored it to the highest standard.”

Then reality sets in: That restoration was done a few decades ago.

So, how to better keep tabs on things? When I had a half-dozen cars, it was pretty easy to remember what was done when. Triple or quadruple that number of cars, and there is no way you can remember any kind of maintenance schedule. 

We originally kept a book with notes. Now we’re playing around with a couple of apps, including one called Carport. It’s specifically designed for car collection management. 

But better than tracking them, I also try to drive them, even though our season is shorter than expected–blame the very hot summers plus my own time constraints due to travel and, of course, work on other projects. As we’ve learned time and time again, however, not driving these classics can be the worst thing for them. Regular exercise remains key. 

I can’t ignore some of these issues forever, though, and lately we’ve been busy in the shop. We decided that we needed to spend more time on that pressing re-restoration work rather than starting new projects, even though magazine deadlines and a constant crush for new content demanded by our modern multimedia company keeps pressure on me for restoration stories on a constant basis.

I do have some help, though. I tend to focus on new projects while he’s been sticking with the maintenance and repair issues. 

While the system works well, it seems that we cannot catch up. The Sunbeam Tiger we restored 20 years ago has been plagued by a transmission that likes to jump out of third gear, the Meyers Manx dune buggy needs a bit of tuning, and we need to redo the seats in the Model A as I last recovered them back in 1974–some 50 years ago. 

Do I thin the heard to reduce some of that load? I often talk about it but haven’t done it–and probably won’t for a while. These cars have kind of become my children now that my actual children are grown and thankfully running the company.

A friend has similar issues–too many cars, not enough time. In a few weeks, I’m going to check out a Ferrari 308 GT4 that he seems interested in selling. I’m sure adding a Ferrari to the collection won’t cause any issues, as I understand they pretty much take care of themselves.

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