I think you've touched on something interesting here. We're regularly being told to become more tolerant of certain things in our lives. And I think we sometimes overcompensate by becoming less tolerant of things that aren't really terribly important. Summed up by a quote I heard recently: "Don't let perfection become the enemy of excellence."
Not gonna try,,being a Son of the South can you imagine what it would sound like with a Southern draw! HRP
If patina is neglect, then the process to aquire it must be disrespect I can see both sides, but I would leave it as is and get it in running condition...cool.
While the discussion of original vs. restore is interesting and amusing, the original intent of this thread was what I felt when I first viewed the video...I felt emotional about the car, its history, and the original condition it retained. The images and music spoke to me...and I understood what the video was saying...It's only original once.
According to Veloce Today, "A bright star of the immediate post-war period, the Cisitalia (pronounced Cheese-Italia) was small, modern and gorgeous." The "C" used before "I", has a "CH" sound. Like in "CHurch".
Thank you Larry. Cool video. Read all the comments then watched the video again. By the looks of the tires and the moving parts I don't think it is neglected. Just old. I say leave it alone.
With a car like the Cisitalia and in its complete condition, I'd have to vote with the preservation, not restoration group. Too often, the restoration process results in what amounts to a replica, re-creation or "tribute" car where very little of the original car remains because it wasn't perfect enough. A strong market has developed for vintage race and sports cars, but some have little more than the original chassis number tag from the days when the car was new and first raced (and even the serial #'s are suspect in some cases). If I were able to spend sums with lots of zeros for cars in this category, I'd damned well want to be sure that I was getting the real deal, warts and all, not a clone.
Looking at this car reminds me of this past month watching my 96 yr. old mother pass away in hospice. I can remember her beauty and being full of life. Bitter sweet video. I watched her take her final breath in that old and fragile shell. Time to take that old broom and sweep away life's good times and bad. Memories are forever.... Thanks Larry!
Wow! Thanks for posting this, Larry. I think the video really speaks to those who appreciate history and the beauty of mechanical things and purposefull design...the same qualities I like to see in hot rods.
I wanted to cry when they killed the wolf. Being proudly 1/2 Italian, I often heard that "Ci..." was indeed a light "Ch...", so I would pronounce it (forgive my phonetics in advance) "CHez-italia", and Chez not meant in the French, "Shay". If you roll it off gently, perhaps a bit swiftly, you got it. Maybe a fast "Chess-Italia"...
Something different,i enjoyed it,but I'm a little confused,at the start it states with a breakdown in the columb and the steering wheel coming off ,he continued to drive. So I'm thinking McGyver or someone from above was watching his back,myth or not?
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