Posted by Don in Missouri on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 at 4:13PM :
In Reply to: Re: ? posted by MoparNorm on Monday, March 31, 2003 at 8:56PM :
Dad's Cord was parked in a barn around 1948. There it sat untouched. The barn fell down in the 1990's. A few years later it was auctioned with the estate. Dad traded a '58 Ford Skyliner for it. Dad was the first mechanic to touch it in 50 years.
He's has carefully been through the car mechanically. He put clear plastic covers over the original upolstery. He replaced the rusty floors (It's a unibody from the cowl back.). He disguised any body work he did so it would retain the barn-fresh appearance. He drives it all the time. It cruises well on the higway. With radial tires, he says 85 mph is no problem.
Sometimes the monetary value can be more of a curse than a blessing. Dad previously spent 12 years restoring an Auburn Cabriolet. Now he is scared to drive it down the gravel road on which he lives. He is not making the same mistake with the Cord. It's all about fun! He took the Cord to the big show in Auburn, Indiana. He ended up on the front page of the Auburn and Ft. Wayne papers. He upstaged dozens of meticulously restored Cords, Auburns, and Dusenbergs. People seemed to like something authentic and unique. I sure do.
Drive before Show. Preserve before Restore.
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