to drive..to own...to restore

I've noted that there seems to be three types of owners in this hobby - drivers, owners and restorers.

I definately fall into the "to drive" catagory. That's probably why all my classic cars have generally fallen into the clean driver catagory. I've never owned what would be classified as a concours classic and many of my cars have been hotted up with period era mods to add to the driving experience.

A friend of mine is a "to own" type. He has a flawless concours car that he barely ever drives, but trailers it to car shows and drives it at the event only. He does very little work on the car himself but is very detail orientated regarding originality. His car might get a few hundred miles driving a year at most. His satisfaction is in owning a near perfect original car.

A second friend is a "to restore" type. He gets his satisfaction restoring the cars but then gets quickly bored with them once completed. He's restored several cars from the ground up over the years but always seems to sell them shortly after he's completed the restoration and finds another project to bring back to life.

I guess we can all be a combo of any of the above, but these three above classic car buff types is something that I've observed.

That's an interesting take on the hobby. I think I fall pretty squarely into the "driver" category myself.

I have little interest in collecting personally, but I really appreciate the folks who do. It's the collectors who make it possible to have restorers and drivers.

Knowing where you get the most enjoyment is a key to this car thing and much more. I have had a blast owning and using one Fiat Spider for over 12 years. I would probably regret changing to another car for the sake of change.

Cheers Ron

I personally fall into the 'driver' catagory. I don't ever want to own a car that I have to be all that concerned about driving any time I'd want to.

My other-half falls somewhere between the 'owner' and 'driver'. Her cars are nice drivers, but she is neurotically paranoid about rust, so her cars spend a lot of time sitting. Too much time, in my opinion. The only time the nice Volvo may get rained on is when we go to Watkins Glen in Sept. That said, if it does get rained on, she is out there with a squeegee, towel and spray-wax as soon as it stops.

I guess I have to admit to being a driver. My restoration project, a 1958 MGA, remains uncompleted after decades of neglect. Neither of my Triumphs are close to being show cars.

My MGA was only about 10 years old when I bought it, but was in pretty bad shape. My TR6 was about 20 years old and was a little rough. My TR8 was about 30 years old, but was in pretty good shape. I think maybe I've learned something.

Where do I fall on that list? I love restoring them and then taking them to the race track to be destroyed. No current street registered cars but a whole bunch of projects and wrecks.

I'm a driver first and a restorer (to feed my driving habit) second. Although I enjoy doing an enhancement or fixing a problem to a collector car, that satisfaction pales in comparison to the fun of getting an apex right.

mike

I like to drive and restore. I don't get tired of them after they're done. I tend to keep cars forever. My MG TD is my first car, I bought it for $700, when I was seventeen. It is in the middle of a frame up restoration now, but it'll be a driver again, not a trailer queen. I'm not interested in showing it anyway. I'm just finishing up on a restoration of my Jaguar XJ12-C, it jumped the queue on my TD, because I had an accident in it. I'll keep it to drive also.

I also have a rubber bumper MGB, It is unrestored and drives just fine, one day I'll paint the rock chiped front and change out the cracked windshield, but I want to finish the others first. In the meantime, I'll drive it!

Dave

I've restored 2 cars so far, and have started the Z, but I'm really a "driver". I only restore cars when I have to, and so far, not much progress on the Z. I've been tempted to sell it for something that actually runs and to free up garage space.

The older I get, the less I like to restore. I don't get a thrill out of repairing rust, there needs to be a support group for those that do!

I love the project - I won't say restore since I tend to make the concours crowd weep, but by the time I'm near completion, I'm a little burnt out on that particular project and have probably learned what I set out to learn. I do keep a skruffy ac 911 around to drive and the TR4 will stay.

Project person here. I don't want to own, insure or maintian another car once it is done.

Having a large tool arsenal and a warm shop, I have discovered the joy of working on other peoples interesting projects and spending their money! When the project is done, the car is gone and I dont lose money!

If there were a support group for those who like to repair rust, Per would be their king. Cheers, Scott

It's funny but I would have thought I was a 'driver' given my love of racing and cruising, and I would 'love' to be a collector, but I don't have the funds. What I do have is time, and a true love for tinkering.

I've basically rebuilt a purpose built track car out of an XR4Ti and I've been doing a sympathetic resto on the Fiat 124 which has taken a few months and only minor cosmetic, mechanical, and electrical repairs to get it where I'm happy to drive it.

The nice part is the race car will always break so I'll always have 'project work' to do on it. The Fiat will always need maintenance and is a good candidate for an armature full resto given how good a shape the body is in, and it's an early car.

Honestly I look forward to driving the cars and would love to own a fleet, but really, I enjoy fixing, upgrading, restoring, modifying them. Alas, I don't get bored, the XR4 took 4 years to get it where it's at today, and there's plenty more work to be done, probably another 4 to get it just right.

I think the key for restorers is to never do a perfect job or leave some small task left unfinished, or find other tasks to complete. A true tinkerer/restorer should never be happy, if they are, the car belongs in a museum...

Truth be told, I am a driver but I have to be a driver/fixer because I don't have the fundage to be an owner. I have to buy cars in need of some love. Plus, I get bored very quickly, so maybe I am a rehabber. Buy, drive, fix, drive, sell, repeat.

If my situation were different, I don't know whether I would be an owner, as much as a hoarder. You know, just keeping a car around in case I felt like driving it one day.

+1 to Lugnut... Over the years I've learned that I can't save 'em all, but I sure enjoy saving as many as I can. I'm more of a drag 'em out of the desert, make 'em live and breath again and find 'em a happy home sort. That said, I'd rather drive than wrench. Not always realistic at this point as some degree of "restoration" is typically required to make them drivable. Cheers, Scott

I started out being a restorer. Everything had to be original, and as perfect as the factory made it. Then I restored my first car. What a PITA it was...after it was finished. Constant worry about maintaining it's perfection (and it wasn't, so that nagged on me too). It was much more fun once it became nicked up a bit and was a driver.

I'd probably be a collector, but I don't have the money nor the space for all the cars I'd like. I tend not to save up enough to buy a truly restored car, so settle for buying drivers. I've found the drivers are just a joy to own. There is always a little tinkering to do, but few long term projects if you buy right. I try to 'off' them when something expensive needs done (engine rebuild, new paint) to avoid the cost but to also let someone else have a go at a good car. The Mini will need paint some day (soon), and I'll be reluctant to pay for it, so it will probably move on. Lots of other interesting cars out there to take it's place though.

I'm much happier being a 'driver' than either of the other two choices.

I have to agree. After restoring my first car, getting a paint chip seemed like someone had shot my dog. After it had been autocrossed for about 10 years it seemed fine though.

After I restored my IT car years ago, I ended up selling after only 3 events, I couldn't stand the thought of wading it up on track.

I much prefer "driver" quality cars if I am going to use them. I still try to keep them looking good, but having to have a $10k or even $5k paint job on a car I'm going to use on the road is not something I want to do these days.

ddavidv wrote: The Mini will need paint some day (soon), and I'll be reluctant to pay for it, so it will probably move on.

Umm... wanna trade for an E30?

Otherwise, I'll have to hope that "soon" is a couple of years or so from now when I'll have some cash saved up.

Seems to me you have to own it, then restore it before you can drive it. More like steps in a project than classifications. Sorry, I enjoy all three.

I tend to see roadtrips the same way. There's the drive ther, the stay and the drive back, hopefully by a different route. One trip, but three separate parts. The way I figure, even if the stay is a pain, the to and from can save the whole excercise.

Jay Leno once said something like "You build a 100 point car, then you go out and drive it until it's a 75 point car." When I built my MGTD and my Miata, I didn't want 'original' or 'concours' - I wanted back-country stormers that would clip apexes and pull to 6500 [yes, even the TD.] Now they're beautiful cars and I'm proud of the re-engineering and rehabilitation that's gone into both of them. But I'd far rather drive them than pull wrenches on them - however, if any of you ever see a Karmann Ghia that has a partially finished 911 engine and trans poking out the back, I'm up for another winter in the garage...

Ian F wrote:

ddavidv wrote: The Mini will need paint some day (soon), and I'll be reluctant to pay for it, so it will probably move on.

Umm... wanna trade for an E30? Otherwise, I'll have to hope that "soon" is a couple of years or so from now when I'll have some cash saved up.

LOL. I already have an E30. So save your pennies. You've got a couple years.

ddavidv wrote: LOL. I already have an E30. So save your pennies. You've got a couple years.

Sweet. I save better when I have a 'goal'.

IMO, Minis make for perfect 'driver' cars. A Mini 'show car' is an oxymoron to me.

I agree. The car begs to be driven, and with the 848 you have to thrash it which it seems to enjoy. I really like just going out in it for a couple hours and drive around the back roads. It doesn't beat you to death like some 'real' sports cars can.