Original vs Correct,, New Body Acceptable?

[Stefano]

It seems that even just proof of ownership or interest in a particular rare/desirable/historic vehicle , sometimes with no regard to originality ,is and has been accepted by the "Hobby' as a whole, just to varying degrees.

In my opinion the rebody phenomenon became prevelant with Vintage Road race cars many years ago, where the chassis numbers and tags were needed to establish a pedigree for a certain venue, Such as Historic Auto Racing. Some of these cars were resurrected with just a tag and no title and visa versa and this became acceptable as it secured the vehicles "spot" in history.

Questions arise when a Rebody is missrepresented and when market values are taken into account.

We have referred to 'The Shelby World Registry' which has long ago found it necessary to define various types of similar situations , which we are currently discussing.

I for one, feel betrayed when a particular vehicle is held out in the public eye as one thing, but in trun is actually something else. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[SS427]

On Friday, I received a call from another sYc BB member asking my opinion on this very question since I had been restoring cars for 26 years. I have done many cars over those years though I can honestly say I have never rebodied a car. I have however, had to replace a lot of sheet metal. 70 copo brought up a point that was the same point brought up with the sYc member that contacted me.

I was recently involved with a complete restoration of a WWII P-51C fighter that had been recovered from the basement of a Vo Tech school. The wings had been cut off with a cut off saw so they could move it there. Much of the aluminum skin was either too badly corroded or damaged to salvage. The long story short, this airplane received a 10 year plus restoration at a cost far exceeding $2,000,000. The final outcome was to be one of two currently flying P51B's in the world and carries the paint scheme of the Tuskegee airman on it's skin. For those of you who don't know, this was an all black squadron who protected our B-17 pilots overseas. While in their care, not a single B-17 was lost to enemy fire.

When I am at an airshow with the aircraft, there is nothing that can compare to seeing a 70 plus year old man break down in tears upon seeing the plane and completing coming unglued when offered a ride in the back seat. I give my personal qaurantee not one of these men gives a rats a$$ about what original sheet metal is on that airplane only that it brought back some very fond and deeply buried memories and they finally receive some of the gratification they have longed for. They care nothing about the current monetary value of the plane but only it's historic value. This airplane is valued at many millions of dollars today regardless to the fact that very little of it is original besides it's airframe certification and identification numbers and some misc hardware.

Some of our cars have the same effect on people at shows that these aircraft do. I have had many people come up to me over the years and thank me for sharing a piece of their childhood with them. They cared little about it's originality only the significant role it played in their life.

The moral of this story is that I do not condone nor do I participate in rebodying and/or restamping a car but would not feel much differently about a car if I knew the facts. Yes the car would be worth less but are these pieces of history not worth saving as at least a replica and not to bury those memories along with the car. This is just one man's opinion.

[Leonard]

Original vs Correct? ..take a valuable car such as a 69 ZL-1 or Yenko Camaro. Its a basket case. If This car is going to be restored, it is no longer original. So, we must restore it to be correct. With restoration cost not being an issue, how should we do this restoration? A) a complete body panel replacement restoration except firewall using GM panels (not installed or assembled at the GM assy line) or B) a re-body (a 69 rust free body assembled by GM at the assy line). As for the donor car for the re-body, it was a assigned a VIN and body # also. IMO the VIN and Body # is not exclusive to the body they are applied to. As far as the COPO being restored, the body is not a 1 of 1 built for that drive train. What if.. Don Yenko submitted his order for the first 50 COPO's 2 weeks later. Would these cars have the same VIN and body #s ? I am not for or against a rebody being acceptable. I am stating my opinion on what i would be comfortable with if i should purchace a car that i knew had went thru a complete body restoration. I would much rather have a re-body. I feel it would be more correct. Just my opinion.

[MotownMadman]

I find this entire thread to be absolutly amazing. In the hobby of the art world all the experts and collectors agree on how art should be restored. In the antique world, for the most part all the experts and collectors agree on how and what is acceptable in a restoration, In the stamp and coin world and on and on....Most of all hobbies are in agreement. In the collector car world... we have experts and collectors at both ends of the spectrum, and both ends present a worthwhile and justifiable argument... Hmmmm....
Thanks, Motown [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[hvychev]

Wow, Rick Nelson I have never thought about this subject in relation to the way you compared it to the WWII veterans. Im sure that it was an emotional thing for them due to the circumstances. Good point.

I guess it is a situation like when my father sees a 55 Chevy done in a late 60's "day 2" fashion. It stirs memories of a better and simpler time when he had one back then. I guess he wouldn't care if it had the original pannels or not. It would just be the point of seeing somthing that was an importiant part of your past. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[68TopStock]

The rebody phenomenon must have started with some young 20 something begining auto repair guys, who did not know how to trim, fit, and weld. It has just grown now into an accepted practice, and sold as a clean bill of goods to the unsuspecting general musclecar buyer. This will gaurantee the original body cars will become more valuable as time goes on.

GM perserved our cars with lots of anti-corrosion processes, to help the major internal structures survive. It is these internal structures that make the car usually restorable. Has anyone received a call from the FBI?