I definitely hear you guys, and can't disagree. But I am just not like you guys - I have different priorities. For me, driving a less than close to perfect car is just a nuisance and every little gremlin annoys me - I am too much of a perfectionist. I admit it and can accept it. I like to restore cars to showroom, and then do my utmost to keep them that way. If I drive them, which is not often, I don't take them in heavy freeway traffic, as it is just a chore and no fun. If I am going to drive them, I will do it more locally where I can get on them a little and actually enjoy them. And I usually spend several days making sure all is still OK after sitting a long time usually. I have a lot of cars, a lot more than most, but what I really like the most is restoring them back to their original state. Of course they are to drive too, but for me I would rather do that sparingly and enjoy the drive. I am not motivated by people seeing my cars at a car show and giving me accolades - that is fine, but I usually end up going to shows to chat with people I haven't seen lately, and rarely spend much time looking at the cars. I have seen the B and E bodies that are nice so many times at Spring Fling in Van Nuys and they just don't excite me all that much since there are so many of them and many well done. I have 5 B/E bodies, and I do like them, but only the E body is fully restored. I actually had it out a few months ago, but didn't take photos, so maybe next time I will take some.
Looking at worn and cludged cars, which most C bodies are at shows out here, while interesting, just doesn't do much for me. I see all the things that are wrong and well worn and just don't see much to enjoy about them, except that they are still on the road and being enjoyed by someone. Which is great!
I like walking into my garage each day and just seeing some pristine cars that I remember from the past, and want them to look like new, so that I can recall those days. I see many of our C bodies as a form of art that needs to be captured in its orginal state. Carsten and maybe some others have a priority of driving perhaps less than near perfect, but fairly original cars, and having those out on the road still after some 50 years is enjoyable to them and having a few niggling issues doesn't matter.
In my second and last job, which was a 31 year stint, I was so pressured with responsibilities and had so little time, that I didn't restore a single one of my intended cars in all those years. Now that I am retired, I want to make up for lost time - big time. So my priority isn't driving, it is restoring. But I have had to clear up a lot of things to be able to do all that, I also moved to two bigger pieces of property and have house restoration needs and having had to build a new garage have taken a lot of time.
I don't think I have ever posted a photo of myself on this site, but I have seen many of you guys in the group photos and others from time to time. So I decided that since you know so much about me now, I would post one from my retirement party 5 years ago in this thread. The quality isn't all that good, but since I don't have many photos of myself, I wanted to edit it and copy it, so it is what it is. I am in the middle below, and my boss is on the right in the photo. He was the best boss I could have ever imagined. On the left is an employee that I hired and later found out had a 1970 Challenger RT/SE 6 pack car that needed restoration, so we restored his Challenger and my Cuda 6 pack at the same time in the garage at my previous house, and the Cuda was the last car I have done nearly 31 years ago. He got married shortly thereafter, and his wife limited him to one car. She had other priorities and they both wanted to raise a family, so it sure made sense.
Most of you guys have seen my 1960 300F, and I feel a resonsibility to keep it looking like new after 57 years since it only has 29K miles on it and has all original paint and chrome - it is perhaps the best one still in existence. So I would like to keep it that way so people who visit me can view it pretty much just as it would have looked in 1960. That matters to me more than driving it significantly. But I do want to keep it in good driving order too. I actually don't enjoy driving it as much as one of my 1962 Chrysler 300s, which have both been restored, because these latter cars are actually more nimble and not that much slower than my 300F, largely because they are on a smaller wheel base chassis, and they are just more fun. So I do drive those much more.
So I enjoy the most to restore my cars rather than drive them and I truly enjoy hosting folks to view my collection anytime - you won't see a lot of places like mine anywhere else because these are my priorities. Every time Carsten visits, it is a real treat, and same when Chris and his wife from Arizona come over, or Bob Baker or many others from Europe visit as well, it is fun for me.
For dematt, I actually have been driving my 1962 Black 300 for the last several weeks from time to time just to spend some time enjoying it, but I still want to keep it looking fresh. Below are some photos of the car taken just 2 weeks ago. But it will go back into storage for awhile until its turn comes up again. That is just how I am, and I hope you can understand and accept that I have some different priorities and circumstances.
Best!
Steve
