Quote:
Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C
From my vantage point of seeing/touring with other 100 year old cars, the value of other 100 year old non-Ford vehicles is significantly higher where the owner can justify spending something like $250 for a replacement front spring. It is the present day hobbyists that find it acceptable to substitute inferior parts (-both aesthetically and mechanically) on their car because in their words, -it is only a Driver and they don't plan on showing it.
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It's hard to do the counterfactual here because very few of those cars have the reproduction part ecosystem the Model A has. An acquaintance of mine owns a 1902 Rambler – 4HP, 1 cyl. When the counterweight came off the crank and tore the engine block apart, he welded all the pieces back together and fabricated a new counterweight. Why? Obviously because he has the skill set and he enjoys it, but also because there is no alternative. No one sells repro '02 Rambler crankshafts and lightly used engine blocks.
From a preservation point of view, the Model A is a victim of its own success and particularly the view in the hobbyist community that "keeping them on the road" is the paramount goal. I don't think that same pressure to get the vehicle mobile – by any means available – exists for other antique collectors.