Guest matt Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 This may sound like a strange question..... If you knew someone who had been lucky enough to find a military vehicle of major historical importance,and by that I mean the history of that specific example,the unit it was assigned to,the events it was involved in etc,and they told you they intended to restore it themselves but from seeing this persons standard of work on previous vehicles they have "restored" you know they do not have the skill to do such a piece of history justice(and will most probably destroy most of the vehicles original features in trying),what would you do? I'm talking about the sort of restorer who buys their paint and brushes from the local pound shop and their parts from Halfords. In that situation what would you do? Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie The Jeep Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Wait until they weren't looking and run them over? Just a thought! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matt Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Nice one Steve :twisted: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 If we're talking about another one of these happening: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4619095555&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 Then you should really stop them, quite what to say and how to say it I don't know! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matt Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Thanks for that Chris,words escape me on that one! if it had the original engine it would probably be worth saving. As for how to stop someone doing that kind of thing to a historic MV,I like Steve's idea! Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Not so difficult as you may think Matt but words have to be picked so very carefully. I think it is everyones responsabilty to sometimes put the head on the block in situation like this. Some much of history has been lost because we have thought that it is a very 'English' thing to do. I wish more people had of said something about our rural history as we have lost so much of that. I would have to say something and maybe the best way is to offer some 'advice' approach it from that way. If you go in shooting from the hip then fire will be returned. Jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Don't know about shouting from the hip, SHOOTING from the hip sounds more appropriate. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Gets my vote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
79x100 Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Come on, spill the beans then now you've made us curious. What sort of vehicle is it and what makes it special ? If your (soon to be ex-) friend reads this then you might achieve your aim anyway. I have to say that my 1939 Norton has given me a similar dilemma; Original unit markings, linked to a specific campaign. I've restored bikes before to quite a workmanlike standard but I'm not a museum conservator. Should I try to conserve what remains of the original markings ? They are quite damaged and certainly don't look as they would have done in use anymore. Should I try to overpaint them to the best of my limited artistic ability ? Professional restoration is not an option. They just sand-blast everything. Let's face it as well, even if a museum wanted a machine with lots of bits missing, the world is full of museums with badly conserved or inaccurate restorations sitting there on flat tyres. I think the best I can do is document and photograph everything and work to the best of my ability. Is that good enough ? I won't know until I've done it. Anyway it's my bike and I'll do what I want with it :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matt Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Not really a specific vehicle/owner in mind,just thinking about this after seeing a couple of really shocking "restorations" over the years that really ended up detracting from the vehicle. I'm not knocking anyones abilities,I wouldn't call myself "skilled" by a long way,but I'm sure most of us have seen restorations which look like they was carried out over a weekend by Heath Robinson,aided by Mr Bean!! With your bike I'd do exactly as you say,record the markings etc before restoration,or if the marking are all on the tank maybe keep the tank "as is" and find another one to use on the bike? I agree that a lot of museums have some very poor restorations in them. Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 This sort of thing happens all the time. Incredibly rare and unusual vehicles are regularly destroyed by over keen restorers. Here is an example: [/img] So it is an old Dennis fire engine from about 1930. It might not look like much, but only a few years ago this was totally complete, original and with just a few thousand miles on the clock. So the new owner thought "i will save that for preservation, however, i dont like that original petrol engine", so he cut it out (with chunks of the chassis) and scrapped it. He then thought that all of the original fire engine body, turntable etc would be of little use, so he scrapped that too with the intention of building a camper van on it. He then lost interest and it has been sitting in a field for a few years. His actions have made it almost impossible or at least very expensive to restore. However, it has now been saved as a parts vehicle. The diff has gone to a 1920's Dennis bus. The prop shaft and torque tube have gone to us for our Dennis truck restoration and the remainder will be going to a Dennis fire engine restorer to provide parts for his various restorations. So with the demise of this vehicle it will in fact help put three possibly four partially restored vehicles back on the road. It is sad but what do you do. It is a free world and you can do whatever you want, even if it means the loss of an irraplaceable historic artifact. Personally, if we came to ever sell any of our vehicles, i would vet the seller to make sure that he has the means to care for the vehicle and is not liable to do something stupid to it. There are several original WW1 trucks that have been converted into busses for no apparent reason other than the owners desire to own a bus. Certainly it is their right to do so as it is mine to complain about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 What a shame about the Dennis truck. The owner should be............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I'm afraid I'd class that sort of owner as being in the same league as the morons who bought the hearse that carried Winston Churchills body - and smashed it to peices banger-racing it. :cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I'm afraid I'd class that sort of owner as being in the same league as the morons who bought the hears that carried Winston Churchills body - and smashed it to peices banger-racing it. :cry: Is that true Neil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 It was a major story in the Classic Car mags a few years ago. The preople who wanted to presrve it in memory of Winston were "outbid" by a group of banger racers. Sale was agreed then the banger racers offered the seller more money - sellers reneged on the deal and sold it to the banger racers and it was smashed to pieces. Perhaps the worst bit was that the ones who did this took delight in taunting the classic car owning community by daubing slogans all over it like "We'll have yours next" - referring to a spate of thefts of classic cars that were found (what was left of them) on banger tracks. Thankfully the racing community has grown up and such incidents now seem to be much, much rarer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matt Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 A few years ago I heard a similar story of a guy who did "classic banger racing" and he had a 1941 Chevrolet Ambulance,it was a barn find and very original. several collectors tried to buy it but the guy wouldn't sell and it got trashed. I can't really put on here what I'd like to do to such people,but let's just say it would involve red hot pokers and a chainsaw :twisted: :twisted: make Pulp Fiction look like Disney. Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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