1963 Fuelie Coupe ---- Murdered

[Dan D.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

Sorry guys...Never mind it's a shame...but, like the old guy says, "If it's your dog; you can shoot'm if you wanta."

[Terry D.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

LOL, Way to go Richard!!

[Richard M.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

Again, for the record as mentioned, no disrespect to anyone who makes whatever they want of their cars. It was the fact this was a fuelie which put a real "What? I Don't Believe It" in my mind.

I know several people who do wonderful restomods, 2 guys in particular who are friends of mine. One of them recently did a '67 for himself, awesome car, and the other a gorgeous '69. Their work is outstanding. Stunning cars that I would also love to own and drive and have fun with, and park it in the garage and not smelling like a Shell Station in the morning after a overnight percolation. But they don't take a rare C2 fuelie or a rare C1 big-brake car to start with. As mentioned here by others, why not start with a junkyard project that would never be a good candidate for restoration to original standards. These guys that I know do that and should be commended for it. I truly respect their skills and knowledge to build a modern ride from a old derelict.

As far as the money goes, yes the '63 RM's are getting big dollars these days. But in time it's quite conceivable that future owners will be buying reproduction frames, stock 327's, and Dewitt's correct radiators to put back in to return to original status.

Only time will tell.

Rich

[Frank D.]

Re: "Anyone can restore an old car,...

Kinda my take on it too Rich. I love my pals' restomods - same guys you know I'm betting; but a '63 fulie coupe is a rarity and it sounds like to me a guy with too much money who really doesn't car about provenance, etc.. His car for sure, but a selfish move IMO. I do know of a low numbered '63 convertible fuelie being put back to original condition by a restorer friend just for some balance. I think it was one of the first 100 fuelies judging by the VIN and had sidepipes and other mods at one time. It'll all be correct again soon.

As for reliability I get sick of hearing about it. I've NEVER, NOT ONCE had my '61 or '63 not start or leave me stranded. But I have loan my jumper cables to my pals with restomods, held a cell phone flashlight for them at night to fix a loose connector under the dash, seen their electronic cooling fan fuse holders go up in smoke sitting beside me at car shows, and, the last one. A mounting bolt pulled through a rear leaf spring because the restomod chassis vendor used hardware store washers on the setup. Gimme a break...

The sad part is that the guys that want the restomods (usually younger guys) for the most part just want people to gawk at their sleek, cool cars and drool.

They will never know what it was like to be with your buddies in the garage working on your 327 for hours to get a bit more punch out of it to beat that guy down the street. Or cruising the 'strip' on Saturday night impressing the girls and looking for 'trouble' in the form of a stoplight-to-stoplight shootout with some other kid with a hot car. Or driving a product of Detroit's heyday in its prime when there wasn't a rice burner in sight. If I recapture just an inkling of the feeling of those times rumbling around in my finicky small block Chevy its worth it to me.

Too bad for the guys rolling along in their computerized LS-whatever with a modern chassis with digital gauges....and blinged out wheels...