Art vs. History

[Old Henry]

In the car show last Saturday Old Henry was assigned to spend the day next to this Ford "Truck":



And, where do you think people mostly congregated? Not around Old Henry nor that totally authentic Model A on the other side. They swarmed over the Ford "Truck".

When I first started going to car shows (way before I restored Old Henry) I was personally attracted to the authentically restored cars much more than the customized or rodded ones. And, there seemed to be way more of the non-authentic customized and rodded ones than the totally authentic restorations. I thought a lot about it and finally figured out why it was - more people are attracted to Art than to History. A truly authentic restoration really is a piece of history and a view into the past. I like to call Old Henry my "Time Machine" that takes me back to the 40's every time I get behind his wheel. On the other hand, it seems more want to ignore the historicality of the old classics and turn them into their own creative piece of art. I had two brother cousins (one has gone on) that were totally opposite that way. One was obsessively meticulous down to thread counts in the upholstery in restoring his cars authentically whereas his brother (as he said at his funeral) saw an old car as an "Artist's Pallet" to shape and mold into his own creative creation.

What do you think? Is there really a greater interest in vehicles that are some kind of creative piece of Art (like the Ford "Truck" next to Old Henry) as I perceive or more that are interested in the restorations that are a piece of History?