Ray Farhner’s Corvette – Part 3

Back in 2011, I wrote an article on my infatuation with Ray Farhner’s old ’63 Corvette. I closed the write up by saying that after switching hands a number of times, the car “now resides in The Petersen Museum’s permanent collection.” Boy, was I wrong…

By now, I’m sure most of you have heard all of the controversy surrounding the Petersen Museum as of late. Essentially, the museum is hocking off a number of their cars in what can only be described as a capital campaign. Which is fine I suppose, but other “accredited” museum types are crying foul. Central in their argument is this:

Most museums are held to ethical standards by accrediting bodies which ensure that the public’s interest in historical preservation are looked after. However, the Petersen is a lone wolf with no accreditation and no one to answer to. As such, their detractors are claiming that the Petersen is pissing on the general public’s interest by selling off their inventory in an effort to build some fancy building. In other words, they are putting their profitability ahead of their goal to preserve for the public. In the museum industry, this is known as “deaccession” and it’s heavily looked down upon.

The Petersen is defending their decision to sell these cars by essentially saying something along the lines of this:

“Hey man, we aren’t selling these cars to build a fancy building and make more money. We are selling these cars because they aren’t as interesting as some of the others we have and we’d like to use the proceeds from their sales to grow our collection with more interesting stuff.”

And so here we are…  A political cluster fuck fueled by suits with varying degrees of interest in the actual artifacts they are in the business of preserving. On one hand, you have these accredited museum people sticking their noses in the air and crying about injustices while a car they probably know nothing about is being auctioned off in California today. And on the other, you have the Petersen. They’ve announced plans for a significant building remodel and, of course, they need the funding to so. BUT, according to them none of the proceeds from this “deaccession” is going to go towards this renovation.

I have no idea which side I’m on. I will say that I’ve toured the Petersen basement and walked away depressed thinking about all of those cars locked away in the dark and out of the eyes of the general public who, by definition, generally don’t get lucky enough to access the “back lot” of the museum. And so, it would make sense to me that these cars should move on to other owners who would value them more and give them the light that they deserve. On the other, I’m not so sure how I would feel if I donated a car to the museum only to see them auction it off for some kind of capital campaign.

Like I said… It’s a cluster fuck.

But wait, I do know what side I’m on. I’m on the Outer Limit Corvette’s side. It’s being auctioned off today in California by Auctions America. Some people are really pissed about it. Others are really excited about the money they might make from it. Me? I’m just really hoping that a truly passionate car guy ends up with it and the car gets restored to it’s former glory as envisioned by Ray Farhner. I think someone like Mark Moriarity could do a much better job of preserving this artifact than some guy with a suit, a tie, and a career to look after.

Let’s hope there’s a part four to this one. And Mark? Go man go!!!!