Patina. The blues ...

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Purchasing classics there

Think what a pretty older lady Patty Brard would have been had she not been restored. 'Youth' and 'new' are transience. And if you look beyond the issues of the day, people and machines become more beautiful according to the years they have gathered. And that marks the time? Fine. That makes the difference. A re-enacted teacher concluded confused about the girls in his classes: “It is so difficult to tell those children apart these days. They all look alike. ”

It is just what you want to see

Age gives wrinkles or patina, it just depends on what you are looking at. This patina is highly valued in the classic world. A classic that is largely original and mildly marked by time? It currently has a (significantly) higher (emotional) value than a well-restored specimen of the same kind. I get that. Such a copy commands respect and love, but does not stop you in its twinkling showroomshine to take a nice ride. Because vehicles are utensils.

Can also be trendy

And of course something like that is picked up from the people who say 'lifestyle and looks' but think 'budget'. And so quite a few classics with a moderate lacquer layer get an instant patina make over. Nothing but good about the craftsmanship of the paint ologists who do this trick. To make a car or motorcycle look lifelike as if it had toiled and sweated in the Texas sun for forty years? Or to give a car or motorcycle an instant - but for me tragically incomprehensible - 'rat look'. That's pretty clever. But for me it is also fake. Even if such a car is constantly transformed into 'authentic old & lived' in the endless stream of iterations of Wheel Dealers. And spray rust marks? That's perverse. As old-school classic enthusiasts, rust prevention is a very important activity for me.

Only really authentic is real

An honest, hard, lived-in classic is therefore worth cherishing. But if there are rotten pieces in such a work of art? Then of course they can simply be cut out. With the current range of affordable 'hobby' tools, the lessons from Edd or Ant and the videos on YouTube, you can achieve very decent results as a non-traditional craftsman. And the challenge lies in the tension between 'neat' and 'perfect'. Because 'color in' newly used plate parts in a lived-in base? How do you do that? Repainting the entire car costs a lot of money. And you lose the sacred Authenticity and the blessed Patina with it. And that is two bridges too far.

But a little help should be possible

But in that case, such a patina make-up specialist can be of service without you going through life as a 'wannabee' or empty lifestyle glider after your visit there. After all, a good instant observer can make the newly inserted work look as if it has belonged to the car from the factory. And that is suddenly a story that I believe in.

I just keep my classics until they just look their age. They can grow old with me. But if I see rust somewhere, I will do my utmost to combat it. Because flirting with rust? That hurts.

Anyone who thinks otherwise, or has anything to add, do that at the bottom of the comments.

The difference between real and instant ... Is the difference in patience

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7 comments

  1. You can also see the fake Patina craziness in the guitar industry, especially at Fender. A hail new guitar is worn out and scorch marks (guitarists often put a cigarette between the E string and the headstock), paint is bleached, self-tearing and pieces are not missing. And then it seems like you have a lived-in, really used Rory Galagher Stratocaster in your hands and also gives the grand prize for that. Also applies to a guitar, only real, aged Patina is beautiful.

    • I find a car completely perfectly restored down to the last detail just as perverse as an artificially aged one. From me you can really see that the car has a certain age, as long as that car is livable (anti-rust treatments in this context). Repainting a (old-timer) car in its entirety, because only a fender has been replaced, I think is going too far.

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