While I really love an unrestored car that wears it's years well leaving something looking like crap to be part of the latest trend isn't the same thing. Patina as a trend is a purely cosmetic thing. The sun is not strong enough to burn away the clear coat, so the roofs, bonnet and quarters stay good, while the car rot from underneath: very, very unsexy. We get rust in the sills and wheel arches, subframes, fenders, the bottom of the doors and so on. The problem over here is the same as in the rust belt area: The cars don't rust or age in a romantic and elegant kind of way, at all. It's still running strong, it has been maintained, loved and cared for, but also used - respect! In a sort of 'Function before form' kind of way.Īlso: Anyone with the cash can go and buy a restored car. but few can show up with their grandfathers car and say 'I'm keeping it looking just the same as when he lived'. Just as there is beauty in well-engineered mechanical components, there is a certain beauty in a machine that has aged naturally from use (not abuse) and the elements. A car with rotten wheel arches and holes in the floor is not cool, it is just rusty. A -50s or -60s car with the paint burned off by the sun and a light layer of surface rust here and there can look really cool - And yes, I'd clear coat it. I like the patina look, if it is done right. Now people use it for anything with a little dust and a few scratches on it. Then some clever person decided to use it to describe some well-worn object they saw. Patina used to apply to the oxidation of copper and brass. At some point it becomes a distorted reflection of itself and the trend collapses.Įven the use of the word 'patina' is trendy. Slowly the masses see what's going on and copy as well, but usually they do so because it's trendy, not really because of an authentic appreciation. Sooner or later a few astute people with money notice what these people are doing and deliberately set out to pay hommage to it, in their way. (I'm sure there is a car culture version of this type of person) And rather than cover it up or 'improve' it they celebrate it as it is. These people are the artists and weirdos and eccentrics of society. (Usually all of those and more) see the possibilities and beauty in things that the vast majority of people don't. There are always people who, because of a few things - individualism, creativity. You can equate this to things like gentrifying a neighborhood or certain other kinds of trendy behavior. You want Patina? Spray a contrasting lacquer over it, and then just wait. I didn't love the truck enough.Īnd if I keep it long enough - the patina will come back. When I painted my '77 Silverado with Tremclad (Alkyd Enamel) and a roller, I knew it was going to oxidize and fade and go chalky, and I wasn't worried because over time it would just look like an old truck (which it is), and I was NOT interested in fixing all the rust properly beforehand. It's it's just faded paint and dents and stuff, I can do patina. In order to blast out the affected areas, and properly seal them, I'd have to fake a significant amount of patina, which seems like more work than just doing the whole thing. If I don't deal with the existing rust proper, and prevent the original rust-access from doing its dastardly deed again, it's just going to continue to rust. Part of me wants to save the 'patina' on my '61 Apache (Original Omaha Orange, with Forest Service green lacquer on top), but I can't stand rust, and I have to fix the holes, and I don't want to baby this truck and keep it out of the elements. Spend the money on keeping it running and driving well, clean up the interior, and just enjoy it. I disagree about the Jag, that's the one I'd enjoy driving with zero concern. I honestly feel that the low quality, looks good from 20 feet, quick flip builds for circus like, televised auctions has brought the level of most 'restored' cars so low that car enthusiasts will pay a premium for something that hasn't had that treatment. It is the lowest eschelon of the functional original, non restored market, but if you want in that game and can't afford a stunner like the Aston this is where you end up. That is just riding on the coattails of that popularity.

The appeal of an honest, well kept original car that simply needs repair work is huge. I think every high end collector has realized they have spent 90% of their time and money undoing the damage of bad restorations.

If that rolled into the shop I would beg them not to restore it. In the world of restoration, I totally get it in the case of cars like that Aston pictured above.

Modern patina car