MARKETWATCH UNRESTORED ARIZONA


THE SPECTRUM OF ORIGINALITY


AS ORIGINAL AND UNRESTORED CARS GAIN PROMI- NENCE IN THE MARKET, MORE AND MORE ARE TURNING UP AT AUCTION. BUT IS THERE ONE TRUE DEFINITION?


Dave Kinney


These days, “unrestored” is the term more and more hobbyists want to hear in their search for collector cars. Ten years ago this was not the case. But the collector car market in North America has gotten in on a secret that much of the rest of the world already knew: The patina of an unrestored car is pretty cool. Now, “unrestored” still means different things to different collectors: If the car has fresh chrome but original paint, does it qualify?


How about some changes to the interior, done for the first owner when the car was still “new?” We don’t have any hard and fast answers yet, and we might still be talking about the fine details years from now.


While the dust in Scottsdale, Arizona, was still flying last January, we looked at a number of cars that occupied the “unrestored” spectrum. Here are a few of our favorites.


1956 LANCIA AURELIA B24S


SPIDER AMERICA 2,451-CC, 125-HP V-6, 4-SPEED


SOLD AT $803,000 GOODING & COMPANY | JANUARY 19, 2013 | LOT 147


This red-over-gray-leather Lancia was about as original as it gets. Showing just over 28,000 miles, it was a one- owner car that had sat in a locked garage, undisturbed, since 1963. Pre- sented with a layer of grit, dust and dirt, there was no attempt to improve the car physically before the sale, and beneath it all was a lifetime of dents, divots and dings to body and chrome. For the sake of comparison, that same weekend, RM Auctions sold a B24S with an older restoration for $825,000.


1903 OLDSMOBILE MODEL R


CURVED DASH RUNABOUT 95-CID, 4.5-HP 1-CYLINDER, 2-SPEED


SOLD AT $62,100 BONHAMS | JANUARY 17, 2013 | LOT 383


1903 OLDSMOBILE MODEL R RUNABOUT 58 HAGERTY.COM


Just what do you say when you meet a 110-year-old? This unrestored, chain- driven veteran showed well for its age in black (possibly very dark blue) paint over black leather. Under the layers of dust, it was tough to tell if someone had done any touch-up work — 40 or 50 years before you were born. But with London–Brighton eligibility, you can drive this Olds and scoff at the fel- low who just bought the 1975 Olds 98.


1956 LANCIA AURELIA B24S


PHOTO: BONHAMS


COURTESY GOODING & COMPANY; PHOTO BY MATHIEU HEURTAULT


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