As I mentioned at the end of my last post, the person I bought my A from
claimed he had about 14k into it. Whether that is true in this case is
hard to say but, from the tone of the posts lately, there are a lot of
people who have more in their cars than they can reasonably expect as
return when and if the car is sold.
I can think of four reasons why someone would do that. Since we are
talking about LBC's and their owners here, we will discount stupidity as a
root cause since owning an LBC is proof enough of exceptional intelligence
in my book.
1) Enthusiasm. The best reason, in my book. We spend money on something
we enjoy because of the non-monetary returns. I own sports cars because I
like to drive, I like to fiddle, and they remind my of more youthful,
simpler times. I would guess that most of the people on this list are
enthusiasts.
2) Personna. Some people own LBC's because of what it says about their
personality. This trait is more common among other car types (American
plastic and German aircooled, in particular) but it does occur in the LBC
world. My A looks beautiful but mechanicaly, it was maintained only and
allowed to wear. The PO had a Porsche before the A and traded it to me for
my Corvette. I would put him in this group. Another owners group that
tends to fit here are Harley owners. A good indication for the owner's
inclination can be found in the parts and accessories catologs for the
marque. If dress up and status type accessories outnumber maintenance and
performance parts, you've got yourself a poser car. 500.00 embossed,
limited edition leather jackets are a sure sign.
3) EGO Similar to the Personna owner but less carcentric (is that a
word?). These are the people that have to have the best. They put 20k
into their MGB for a checkbook restoration to make it a 100 point car, win
a bunch of trophies, and sell it once it starts getting to look tatty or
when they can afford to move up the ladder. I am not saying that all 100
point cars are like this but I have met a few so I know they exist. I went
to a Concours in San Diego once and they were interviewing the owner of the
winning 500 SSK. They asked him about his car and what it meant to him.
His answer was simple- I own it because it is the best. These people do
perform a valuable service since they keep perfect cars around for all of
us to see and sometime down the road the car may get back into the hands of
an enthusiast but it is not what motivates me.
Last week was, on average the coldest of the year (19 F high, -1 F low on
average) I can hardly wait until I can drive again, not just reminisce.
Even if the garage was a little warmer so that I could work on the car
would be an improvement. AAAAH--- Cabin Fever--- AAAAH!!!
Regards
Bill Eastman
|