Car Restoration - Is it Cosmetic, Mechanical, or Both?

When you get to the pinnacle of the classic car world – the winners at Pebble Beach, Concours of America, or Amelia Island – the cars are lovely but seldom driven.  They are pieces of automotive art. Restoration involves making them look fabulous and drive well enough to make it on and off the show field. The most they might do is take a short tour or two.

Restoration efforts for these cars revolve around flawless paint, impeccable coach work and above all, meticulous attention to detail.  The winners are judged almost entirely on how they look, with workmanship and faithfulness to the original design counting most of all.

There is another group who actually want to drive their cars as they were intended to be driven, back in the day.  Some engage in vintage racing.  Others do cross-country and even international tours.  Winners of rallies, tours and vintage races seldom have the polish of a concours winner, but they do have fine-tuned machinery.  

Tourers and racers tend to focus on mechanical condition more than cosmetics. For them, winners are the best-running cars, not necessarily the best-looking cars. In fact, some people might call the cars rough-looking, not recognizing there is as much beauty in mechanical perfection as there is in visual style and finish.

Members of each group place themselves by their decisions.  The aspiring concours winner may not want to spend $30,000 rebuilding his four-cam Porsche engine because that money is better spent detaining the engine bay and interior.

The fellow who runs his four-cam Porsche in vintage competition might not spend money on lovely paint because it will just get banged up, and what really matters is the engine.  In both cases, the owners could do both, but few do.

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

 What is your definition of beauty?  Is it a whole car, like this Rolls-Royce? Painted to a higher standard than the factory did when new, with flawless leather and woodwork?

Or is beauty hidden, under the hood, on the engine or even inside the engine (where you can't see it, but you know it's there because of the way the car performs.)

Is it under the car in the subtlety of a Jaguar independent rear suspension or a De Dion axle on a vintage Alfa?






For a few enthusiasts, beauty is all that and more . . .

There is also a third group – a small minority of the classic car world. These are people who want the car to look as close to Pebble Beach Perfect as can be, while also embodying mechanical perfection to the highest degree.  Those are the people who take pride in a beautiful paint job, and also light up with joy at the song of a vintage V12 roaring down a straightway at Lime Rock.

Their cars are good enough to win many shows, and also perform at or beyond the levels they attained when new. Those owners take pride in both looks and performance.  In some cases they prove their cars on the track; for others it’s enough to know their 50-year-old masterpiece can travel the Los Angeles freeways with the best of today’s cars, in immeasurably better style.      

Membership in this third group comes at a significant cost. Restoring the cosmetics of a vintage car while simultaneously overhauling the mechanicals means doing “twice the job” of what many in the first two groups undertake.  Costs aside, though, there is a great satisfaction in knowing the beauty of your vintage motorcar extends right to the core; it is more than merely skin deep.

There are shops who specialize in each of these areas. Some shops limit their scope of work; others will tackle anything from upholstering the seats to a frame-off restoration.  At Robison Service we will do anything, but our reputation was built on mechanical overhaul, and the associated cosmetic restoration.  

The combination of cosmetic restoration and mechanical overhaul is far more complex than either task alone. These photos show the difference in a simple brake job - consider scaling this up from one wheel's brakes to every mechanical component on the car and you get a sense of what's involved.

In these jobs there is a lot you can see but even more hidden inside. You can't see the care that's invested inside but you feel it every time you drive the car.

Engines from companies like Rolls-Royce, Bentley, or Ferrari have unique characteristics that set them apart from more common engines.  Those differences create pitfalls for an inexperienced restorer. Engines in those cars are often held to a higher standard, and it can be harder to know what is original and correct.  Knowing how things are done on a small block Chevy does not necessarily prepare one to rebuild a vintage Mercedes V8.

If you are contemplating hiring a restorer, think carefully about which group you are in, and look for a shop whose capabilities match your needs.  When you contemplate hiring a restorer, think carefully about which group you are in, and look for a shop whose capabilities match your needs.  Make sure they are experienced at the work you want done and look for evidence they have done work to a standard you find impressive. 

Above all, find someone with a real passion for the cars you love, and the job you want to do. Be sure you can communicate with them, and they can explain the job to you.  Especially in the case of major restorations . . . . you are entering into a relationship that may last longer than some marriages . . . choose your partner with care.

(c) 2020 John Elder Robison

John Elder Robison is the general manager of J E Robison Service Company, celebrating 30 years of independent Bentley, BMW/MINI, Mercedes, Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and exotic restoration and repair in Springfield, Massachusetts.  John is a longtime technical consultant to the car clubs, and he’s owned and restored many fine motorcars.  Find him online at www.robisonservice.com or in the real world at 413-785-1665

Reading this article will make you smarter, especially when it comes to car stuff.  So it's good for you.  But don't take that too far - printing and eating it will probably make you sick.