[alfa] restoration vs. recreation

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

George Schweikle mentions the "restoration" of the Missouri barn fire 8C 2900 B which had, many years previously, been so completely destroyed that the remains, from which nothing was salvageable, were bulldozed into a ditch (along with a comparably nice Ferrari which was equally unsalvageable and since equally "restored"). The fire was pretty hot- all of the aluminum parts, including most of the engine, were melted, and all of the steel parts, like camshafts, were warped by the heat, and the warped frame members were then folded up by the bulldozer. Warped or not, some identifiable parts were left to be dug up, and the paper trail (the "provenance") was safe in a safe. The two cars were eventually acquired and restored by one of the very best of the fabled British restorers, a supremely skilled craftsman who could probably restore any car ever built out of any warehouseful of metal stock. Hooray for him.
 
There is a special twist to the backstory. If you ranked all of the 8C 2900 B bodies by sheer visceral appeal most of us would place the Mille Miglia cars at the very top of the heap, the several mostly similar road Spiders in a cluster behind them, the few berlinettas close behind the Spiders, and, trailing, a gaggle of Spiders which were not quite as nice as the first and second rank cars. Each car was unique, a variant in a range extending from the best and/or most desirable to the tail-end car, not bad but certainly least best, distinctive but cursed with a few awkward miscues. The car destroyed in the fire was the car most of us would consider the least attractive of the lot. Its unique fender line, in particular, probably looked pretty good to the builder and the customer in the thirties, but in the end evolving tastes said it just wasn't as right as the best ones.
 
So (couldn't see this coming, could you?) the remnant of the ugly duckling was 'restored' with a 'replica' of the most desirable Mille Miglia bodies. Now of the original three Mille Miglia cars only four survive and, on average, the 8C 2900 Bs are more attractive (to our eyes) than they were when built. Same story with the Monzas; many of the long wheelbase 8C 2300s have been shortened to the more sporting Cortos, and many of the cortos have been modified into Monzas, while many of the most distinctive bodies (the Viotti coupe, for example) have been removed to be replaced with "Zagato" copies. Same with other makes; 'S' Mercedes have been cut into pseudo SS, SS into SSK, SSK drilled to make SSKLs. Same with Bentleys; most were originally sedans or coupes, a few were fabric-bodied lightweight Le Mans tourers; now most of them are Le Mans 'replicas'. 
 
There have been several interesting posts on this range of subjects. Joe Garcia wrote "Personally, I'd rather see, say, a GTA at speed than a 6C 3000 CM rotating slowly on a museum turntable." With all due respect, that is a false choice at both ends; a GTA at speed is faster, but otherwise not a lot more interesting to watch, than a prepared GT Veloce at speed, and none of the 6C 3000 CMs I've seen (half of the ones built) were close to what they were when they were built; they were all either rebodied or overrestored. It doesn't really worry me  I have bigger things to worry about  but something has been lost, and I'm afraid it will stay gone.
 
Cheers
 
John H.
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