[tigergto]

Originally Posted by fiedlerh

So did you ask him if would ever consider selling it? Maybe he's tired of it.

No I didn't ask him if it was for sale. You guys are really making a mountain out of a mole hill in regards to my OP. It actually had nothing to do with the man himself, just that he had a rare and valuable car that he seemed indifferent to. Nothing more than that. It is his car and he can do whatever suits him. But again how many on this forum with that car would leave it filthy and at least out of curiosity not do some research.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by tigergto

I went to a local car show Saturday night. Driving into the show I spotted a 71 GTO vert. After I parked I made a bee line straight to the car and spotted 455 HO stickers on it. The car looked all original but was absolutely filthy. The owner said he owned the car for twenty years and it was untouched except it may have previously been repainted. To my amazement he didn't know about decoding the trim tag or that the 24267 stood for Pontiac division GTO convertible. He did however know it was one of 27 1971 455s HO made with an auto transmission. After conversing with him for about 5 minutes I left because he didn't seem interested. I guess its still bugging me this morning that someone could own a vehicle like that and could care less about it. Also I had to point out to him the vin on his window registration sticker was missing the 4 that was on the vin which is visible through the windshield.

Personally - I think this is a great topic you've started, and nothing against you in MY posts on the subject.

Quite often I see rare and dirty or rough looking GTOs running on the streets here. Sometimes my 1st reaction is to think of how it should be fixed up, etc. But then I USUALLY think of how great it was (is) to see a classic Poncho running down the road.
Bonus for me is when it has the original style wheels (or hubcaps) and/or period correct mag wheels...much better than a DONK or Pro-Touring look IMO...and it's being used as Pontiac designed it to be.

[ho428]

There is an article in the latest Hemmings muscle about the "car guru" and how you don't want to be, or meet, "that guy" at a show or cruise in.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by tigergto

Also how many of you would own such a rare and valuable car and not bother to give it as much as a token cleaning?

My dad.

I'm not making excuses for the guy in the original post, but in Dad's case: he was physically ill. Pretty hard to get motivated to wash the car when you feel like crap every day.





The car sat right there with a layer of dust on it my entire growing up years (4656.2 miles on it). I'd push it out every so often, wash it off, and drag it back in the garage until, as an adult, he let me keep it at my house.



It sits now as a cherished keepsake; a testament to his procrastination.

K

[Keith Vrabec]

As KEith put it there was good reason....That being said here's another take on the situation:

IT all depends...if you use them they look like crap. you can spend a couple days detailing them and then nobody so much as says boo to you at a show. Or best yet in my experience the nicer the car the more it attracts guys who pick the damn thing apart...

Considering all you're competing for is a dust collecting piece of plastic, these days I plunk the car on the field, and if it's not perfectly shined or if there is grass on the tires I don't care.

One problem with Norwalk is there is little access to water to clean your car should you want to do it. So if you drive in or on an open trailer, it can be a PITA to get water and prep the car.

My car had dirt on it....Joyce took it for a spin in the trailer lot and ended up on the gravel road...Sunday there were small rocks on the valley pan. Noticed them when I put the hood down. I guess that makes me undeserving of the car in a sense, but I think a lot of people liked looking at it, esp the kids.

Point is, we all do things different and have different goals when attending shows.

I like nice cars, I put mine out to be seen, I TRY to get it as nice as possible, but I did shows for so long that I just don't get upset about the perfect presentation. I'm there to relax, not to stress over stuff.

It's a show, judged by judges, and it's their opinion that matters. It's tough to be a judge and though every owners' car is the one deserving reward, they all can't. It's nothing for me to stress over, and at POCI the last time I showed, I turned my card over so I didn't get votes.

As for the guys that take the time and miss the show to judge cars and get a hard time usually somewhere along the line, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SACRIFICE!

I would have asked that guy with the 455HO to take me on Rt 18 and do a burnout with it....Maybe he would have done THAT!!!

[bsblguy]

My point with my post before was that he may not know the value. I agree it's his car to do what he wants with. I drive mine but do keep it clean as I have done with every car I have ever owned.

[mike nixon]

Originally Posted by tigergto

Do you own a rare and valuable car?

Value is what two people will pay or what's offered that's enough to make me think of letting go of one.

I've owned, HO cars, Ra4 cars, and low horsepower cars. When I was young I polished the chrome off of them. Now that takes time away from what I enjoy.

I doubt either of these turn your crank but my 69 G/P and 65 G/P have been the last daily drivers. I've also got a couple GTO's that were daily driven. I mean EVERY day from salt gone to salt down.

Driving them is the fun and it's also the way to pass on the love of these cars to young people. Sitting in a garage or trailer gets absolutely no exposure to the younger generations. When that happens interest dies when interest dies the cars are soon to follow. Points cars are nice to look at but driving them is where it's at. My kids LOVE these cars. They most likely will end up with them and that's the big thing isn't it? Passing on the love of them so future generations will want to be the caretakers?

Seat time rules. If you all you do is polish them in my mind it's a "Hey look at me" thing for the owner.

The car that made me smile the most at Norwalk was a 66 Catalina 2dr that had a 2bbl 389 and plenty of patina. I'm sure that's not valuable to the shiny car crowd but it was definitely driven and that's a huge thing in my opinion.

[jmt455]

mike nixon wrote: "Seat time rules."

I like that!
Is it OK if I use it...frequently?

You might even see it in my signature...lol.

[tigergto]

Originally Posted by mike nixon

Value is what two people will pay or what's offered that's enough to make me think of letting go of one.

I've owned, HO cars, Ra4 cars, and low horsepower cars. When I was young I polished the chrome off of them. Now that takes time away from what I enjoy.

I doubt either of these turn your crank but my 69 G/P and 65 G/P have been the last daily drivers. I've also got a couple GTO's that were daily driven. I mean EVERY day from salt gone to salt down.

Driving them is the fun and it's also the way to pass on the love of these cars to young people. Sitting in a garage or trailer gets absolutely no exposure to the younger generations. When that happens interest dies when interest dies the cars are soon to follow. Points cars are nice to look at but driving them is where it's at. My kids LOVE these cars. They most likely will end up with them and that's the big thing isn't it? Passing on the love of them so future generations will want to be the caretakers?

Seat time rules. If you all you do is polish them in my mind it's a "Hey look at me" thing for the owner.

The car that made me smile the most at Norwalk was a 66 Catalina 2dr that had a 2bbl 389 and plenty of patina. I'm sure that's not valuable to the shiny car crowd but it was definitely driven and that's a huge thing in my opinion.

OK so when you owned RA4 & HO cars you did clean them. I'm not talking about polishing the chrome off them only running a hose over it and taking the junk out of the car and trunk. You guys are so of base with my OP I have to question your reading comprehension.

[arbys]

A few years ago the owner of a chain of grocery stores came to the cruise in in a 32 3 window Ford coupe. It was pretty beat and it showed up for a couple of weeks. I thought that he could do better than that and had a really sharp 32. Two years later he showed up with the rehabbed 32 and it was really nice. Sometimes it just takes people a little longer than we think it should.

[Deadhead]

One of my favorite memories of a car show was down in SW, VA. I met a member here to pick up some parts. There was a guy there with a super rare '66 Impala SS. I had seen one like it on the BJ auction recently, so it really struck me. The car was 100% original. Guy had owned it if not from new darn close to it. The paint was pretty dull, and it had obviously not been washed. When I went to look inside of it, the floor boards were littered with innumerable crumpled cigarette wrappers and packs as well as beer cans and all the other stuff you would have done back in the 70s when you parked on pull-offs on the back roads to hang out. All this in a car that could easily have brought 6 figures with the right guy at the auction. I did not even THINK about asking the guy if he knew how much the car was worth or anything. I just smiled and nodded to him, enjoying the big picture of a killer car that was a real time capsule in action. Dude never made it out of the 70s, and I envied him for it. All you had to do was sit in the car and you were back there. There were a lot of different varieties of 'seat time' enjoyed in that mobile over the last 40 years that no trailer rides or carnuba were gonna equal.

Also remember, some people do this stuff just to mess with you. It is their personal expression of wealth whether they have a pot to pi$$ in or not. 'Merica. You got to love it.

[71SportRagtop]

A good friend of mine has been a body guy for the past 25 years. He just spent over 10 years building up a simply badass 66 Comet.

The car was just insane. It had a worked 460, a toploader 4 speed, and a 9" rear with 3:50 gears. The body was razor straight. It was painted the 1970 Ford color of Vitamin C Orange with a black ram air hood. It had mini tubs, a completely hidden roll bar and lots and lots of hours of work. Over 10 years worth. Every cruise night he went to, the car drew TONS of attention.

Ya know what, he just sold it. Why? Because he said it was no fun to take it anywhere. He was always terrified of chips, dings, other idiot drivers, ect...

Right now he has an F-150 4WD pick up as a bad weather driver and his daily driver for nice weather is a beat up 33 Plymouth Coupe. It is 3 different shades of primer and looks like an old school rat rod. He LOVES driving his old 33 Coupe and doesn't worry about dings, or scratches at all.

As my dad used to say, there's an ass for every seat.

[zeebo]

ok..if i had that ho 455 vert, i would at least clean the bitch..lol..mirrors under it? prolly not..but in this day and age, a car worth that kind of green would make me leery about even taking it out for fear of it being stolen! that being said..i love fully restored cars too, but one that is more of a driver, or an older restoration is way more fun--thats why i love those low mileage unrestored muscle cars--they are waaayy rarer than the restored ones now a days...and IMO a helluva lot cooler.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Deadhead

One of my favorite memories of a car show was down in SW, VA. I met a member here to pick up some parts. There was a guy there with a super rare '66 Impala SS. I had seen one like it on the BJ auction recently, so it really struck me. The car was 100% original. Guy had owned it if not from new darn close to it. The paint was pretty dull, and it had obviously not been washed. When I went to look inside of it, the floor boards were littered with innumerable crumpled cigarette wrappers and packs as well as beer cans and all the other stuff you would have done back in the 70s when you parked on pull-offs on the back roads to hang out. All this in a car that could easily have brought 6 figures with the right guy at the auction. I did not even THINK about asking the guy if he knew how much the car was worth or anything. I just smiled and nodded to him, enjoying the big picture of a killer car that was a real time capsule in action. Dude never made it out of the 70s, and I envied him for it. All you had to do was sit in the car and you were back there. There were a lot of different varieties of 'seat time' enjoyed in that mobile over the last 40 years that no trailer rides or carnuba were gonna equal.

Also remember, some people do this stuff just to mess with you. It is their personal expression of wealth whether they have a pot to pi$$ in or not. 'Merica. You got to love it.

True and Perhaps the OP subject GTO should tell the current owner - "It's the heart of the matter, even if you don't love me anymore..." http://youtu.be/Xezg3z5IE8I

[PONTIAC-ONE]

Meh ... maybe he's just tired of cleaning & polishing and will get to it another day, or maybe the next owner will. I don't think you have to worry abouth this rare car, he's enjoying it as is.

My '71 Formula 455 is 1 of 350 and will never be worth 200k++ as this GTO but even so I don't like all the cleaning anymore no matter what car it is. I had a long road trip to the beach today, left home in it with the family all spotless. Well we got caught in a rain storm, there's Mountain DOO and chips all over, and sand sand sand everywhere from my kids. It will stay like that for at least a week cause I have more important things to do, but I'll still drive it looking like it just came off the Dukes of Hazzard set.

[mike nixon]

Originally Posted by tigergto

OK so when you owned RA4 & HO cars you did clean them. I'm not talking about polishing the chrome off them only running a hose over it and taking the junk out of the car and trunk. You guys are so of base with my OP I have to question your reading comprehension.

Maybe once a month at that point and I drove them down the gravel road leading to my house at that time.

At that point I was street racing and let's face it, dirt hides a LOT of potential. If the rust gets bad I'll take care of it until then I enjoy them as they were built to be enjoyed.

I've never owned them to impress someone else.

driving them's where it's at. Bring me a Concourse Gold points car that I enjoy and we'll see what it looks like in a year. I won't intentionally tear it up but it will for damned sure have stone chips and tar on it. Money comes and goes, it's not a god. drive them enjoy them and pass the love of the cars on.

BTW My read comprehension is quite high. I suspect the man is quite tired of people telling him how it should be in their opinion.

[72projectbird]

Lets break this down:

You went to a car show, and saw a rare car. You looked at said rare car. You figured out it was in fact a rare car. That should have been the end of story.

If someone came up to me at a car show wanting to read my VIN # and trim tag, I'd be kind of annoyed. This is why I have an American flag decal on the window covering the vin.

If anything, you should be happy that you got the chance to see such a rare car. That man is actually doing what the car was made for, which is driving it. Trailer queens are nice, but being able to take my car out and bang through the gears is way more fun.

[bigborehunter]

My guess is after 12 years of cruise nights, car shows and all kinds of spectators from the wonderful to the idiotic, some owners do get blasé. I've seen it happen and it's happening to me. Fighting it is really difficult. It's gotten so that cruise nights hold little interest for me other than a professional angle for a story lead or contact for business.
Driving them is still fun, but cruise nights are dull for me. We don't have any know it alls walking around the parking lots nowadays but years ago, every one was an armchair restorer.
Having said that, I would've washed the car and made it presentable looking. I still get excited when a nice one shows up no matter what make. And yes, I run into some knobs at cruise nights as well. It sounds like this guy is either just getting into the hobby after driving it as a casual ride for years or maybe isn't mechanically inclined. I know a few guys with awesome rides that are going to hell because they don't know how to take car of stuff.

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by bigborehunter

My guess is after 12 years of cruise nights, car shows and all kinds of spectators from the wonderful to the idiotic, some owners do get blasé. I've seen it happen and it's happening to me. Fighting it is really difficult. It's gotten so that cruise nights hold little interest for me other than a professional angle for a story lead or contact for business.
Driving them is still fun, but cruise nights are dull for me. We don't have any know it alls walking around the parking lots nowadays but years ago, every one was an armchair restorer.
Having said that, I would've washed the car and made it presentable looking. I still get excited when a nice one shows up no matter what make. And yes, I run into some knobs at cruise nights as well. It sounds like this guy is either just getting into the hobby after driving it as a casual ride for years or maybe isn't mechanically inclined. I know a few guys with awesome rides that are going to hell because they don't know how to take car of stuff.

Personally I would side with this opinion. I have never taken my car to a show or would even dare to enter it in one. The beatings I have witnessed people take over their cars is unreal. It is rare to find people that actually enjoy the hobby rather than use their possession as a measuring tool.

[lfdsteve]

Perhaps you should have just said " nice car" And moved on. Would you walk up to a stranger on the street and criticize his clothes? I hope not. I recently received my car back from paint and couldn't wait to post up a pic or two. Of course one of the first responses was " btw that's a Buick sticker on the air cleaner" of course yes I know that because many a know it all has pointed it out in the past and it was on a lid keeping the dust out of the carb. How about saying "nice paint" or just moving on? Know it all's ruin every good thing

Steve