Been a little while since I've posted on GT40s....and this is probably going to come across as a bit bitchy...but it's been on my mind lately.
I recently purchased a vintage car ('72 mercedes 280se 4.5). Cosmetically, the car is absolutely beautiful - paint is amazing, body straight, interior, wheels, etc all beautiful. However, mechanically, it's a disaster - trans shifts poorly, timing chain stretched and slapping, fuel line (injected) leaks everywhere, valves adjustment way out, bad points/plugs/wires, non-op door locks, oil leaks everywhere, non-op cooling fan, etc. It just goes on and on....
Amazingly however, this car has been dragged to a lot of car shows over the last 6 or 7 years, and won awards for it's presentation/beauty. In that time period there has been 3 owners, each owning the car for a couple years then selling it on.
I've communicated with these three owners over email and phone - all nice friendly guys and self described "car guys." What strikes me though is that all of them could polish the shit out of a car like nobody's business, but really had zero mechanical skills. When something broke so the car was non-operational then it went to a mechanic for a fix - points closed up, fuel pump failure, bad battery, etc. When describing these repairs the line would be "we did the fuel pump and filter" or "we put in a new distributor." What that really meant is that a mechanic did the work, and the owner wrote a check to the mechanic.
My old dad used to sarcastically describe this kind of vintage car owner as a "car polisher." Nothing wrong with car polishing, but if you're going to present yourself as a knowledgeable vintage car owner, it's good to know a little something about how the car actually works. For example, Jay Leno could be a "car polisher" with all his money but he's actually extremely knowledgeable about the underlying mechanics and engineering. I have tremendous respect for that.
One thing I've always liked about GT40s is that it's a group of guys who actually understand their cars and automotive engineering. That's why I keep coming back even though I sold my GT40 some years ago.
Anyway, enough bitching for now I guess.
I recently purchased a vintage car ('72 mercedes 280se 4.5). Cosmetically, the car is absolutely beautiful - paint is amazing, body straight, interior, wheels, etc all beautiful. However, mechanically, it's a disaster - trans shifts poorly, timing chain stretched and slapping, fuel line (injected) leaks everywhere, valves adjustment way out, bad points/plugs/wires, non-op door locks, oil leaks everywhere, non-op cooling fan, etc. It just goes on and on....
Amazingly however, this car has been dragged to a lot of car shows over the last 6 or 7 years, and won awards for it's presentation/beauty. In that time period there has been 3 owners, each owning the car for a couple years then selling it on.
I've communicated with these three owners over email and phone - all nice friendly guys and self described "car guys." What strikes me though is that all of them could polish the shit out of a car like nobody's business, but really had zero mechanical skills. When something broke so the car was non-operational then it went to a mechanic for a fix - points closed up, fuel pump failure, bad battery, etc. When describing these repairs the line would be "we did the fuel pump and filter" or "we put in a new distributor." What that really meant is that a mechanic did the work, and the owner wrote a check to the mechanic.
My old dad used to sarcastically describe this kind of vintage car owner as a "car polisher." Nothing wrong with car polishing, but if you're going to present yourself as a knowledgeable vintage car owner, it's good to know a little something about how the car actually works. For example, Jay Leno could be a "car polisher" with all his money but he's actually extremely knowledgeable about the underlying mechanics and engineering. I have tremendous respect for that.
One thing I've always liked about GT40s is that it's a group of guys who actually understand their cars and automotive engineering. That's why I keep coming back even though I sold my GT40 some years ago.
Anyway, enough bitching for now I guess.
