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As we walked a car show today I thought.....
ambro51
Posts: 14,484 ✭✭✭✭✭
There should be a TPG service for antique cars.
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Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
thats a whole new world of A.T !
So, when you sell your car, you could advertise, Graded "92" by the CGS (Car Grading Service). If the standards were adhered to, it would let potential internet car buyers know the car has been certified and inspected and 'graded' by an independent agent.
...and then, they could be a CAC service to validate their opinions.
just an idea.....
But yes I agree with an earlier post that the show really do that. I do like the idea of having a service that would do it for you outside of a show would be useful. But I doubt that a company would want the liability on a 1910 Ford that the radiator looked good but started to leak on the first or second trip. There are just to many hidden parts the someone in this lawsuit happy country could sue over.
Richard
my car art & My Ebay stuff
There are experts that have been doing this for at least the past 15 yrs. That's just what I know about Chrysler products where some guys go around the country and do this for a
living grading/appraising/authenticating higher end cars. They come up with a decimal grade such as 2.1 describing the overall condition of the car. That's where 1.0 is a perfect OEM restoration, and #2 is a very fine professional restoration with some minor errors. 3.0 describes an average nice driver quality car while 4 through 6 are for cars needing restorations of various degrees. But it's certainly true that subjectivity between experts runs high. It's not necesssary to give a perfect appraisal on "every" component of the car. Sure, an expert could miss a minor leak on the car. But they usually won't miss anything critical that could result in the car being worth substantially less than their appraisal/evaluation. There are so many faked high dollar cars out there today that unless one's a seasoned collector, you're almost certainly going to get screwed eventually.
I believe the Corvette Bloomington Gold guys have been doing this stuff the longest. But just because a car grades "high" doesn't mean it has the most value. A lot of cars are worth
when kept in low mileage original condition. With engine blocks restamped and factory spec sheets and original dealer invoices counterfeited/reproduced one can have a technical 1.0
car with bogus documentation that's not worth anything close to a original 2.0 car with all correct factory paperwork and a complete owner history. Just like in coins, a high grade
doesn't always mean the best price.
roadrunner
<< <i>That is basically what they do at judged shows . >>
Bingo.
I recall taking my '69 Super Bee to a judged regional Mopar show back around the later 1990's. This was one of the biggest shows in the northeast. Imagine my surprise when the judge downgraded the car for "tired" paint and an undetailed engine compartment that needed sprucing up. He pointed to the other cars in my class that were a "lot nicer," showing near perfect paint and freshly painted engines. He had a point. But then I pointed out to him that none of those cars were original, 30 yr factory paint that could still look decent in a major show like this. That "undetailed" engine bay was untouched and 30 yrs old other than me removing obvious dirt, grease, and grime. I didn't touch up missing paint on the valve covers or radiator. Other than drive belts, filters, condensor/points, and spark plugs, it was pretty much as it came from the factory. I had had restored cars as well, but this one was going to be kept mostly original as so few like it were left. It finally clicked in the judge's mind that he was so engrossed with the idea of "blast white" that he didn't even recognize an original paint, 50,000 mile original car when he saw it. He just figured it was an older restoration needing another restoration to take it from a #3 car back to #2. Even with the best intentions show judges don't often know what they are looking at. I no longer own that SuperBee but I've seen it offered for sale in the last 5yrs. It's still in the same basic condition as when I had it but with maybe 2,000 more miles. Now it's got 43 yr old paint and still competes well at shows.
roadrunner
Judging cars, verifying vin numbers to make sure the car is what its supposed to be is very much like a TPG.
BTW, Im the green Bullitt.
EAC 6024
My 1957 Chevy Bel Air 2 door hardtop, with a factory 270 hp dual four engine and "batwing" air cleaner is being restored to original factory condition. The exposed date GM codes (which are raised and cast into the metal and not stamped) are within a 2 week timeframe, verifying that it is an original car. I don't trust any stamped numbers anymore.
Roadrunner - you are right in that many times, car show judges don't really know what they are looking at, because they have not really studied an original car and taken notes, nor have they done a body off restoration to make it factory correct. To a lot of them, "Shiny is better... " I'm glad we have Marti reports for Ford's, Galen Govier for Chrysler, Pontiac Historical Society for Pontiacs, and NCRS for Corvettes.
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
Here is my baby:
With a 912, sometimes the difference between a pristine, $12K motor, and a basically worthless motor, can be as little as 1 mile & broken crank.
>>>My Collection
<< <i>Hmm... Wonder how much Meguiar’s PlastX would it take to polish a slabbed car
Hey, thanks again for that tip, Broadstruck.