[QUOTE]
Originally Posted by
Lenton58
I agree with your thesis entirely. Moreover, I think it is something that is not a trivial observation on this forum.
Yes. The purpose of my post was really only to express the general sentiment of the forum and to slightly re-frame things from a focus on the object to a focus on what the object represents. The OP posed a really good question that was focused on the object and which demonstrated the“internal challenge” we all face “restoring" bikes. It is not always obvious why we do what we do.
Here is the worst that can happen: some mouth-breathing moron finds an AC Bristol; he jazzes it up with flares, drops a steaming hot V-8 into it, paints some stripes and calls it a Cobra! That, my friends, is vandalism. And we have all seen that in the vintage bike world.
Really good example. Had to look up AC Bristol. Not sure if vandalism is a strong enough word. In this instance, the mouth-breathing moron is taking something of cultural significance (the fore runner to an AC Cobra) to create something of a different cultural significance (an AC Cobra). I don't see how anybody could create a credible argument for this, unless perhaps, the modifications were reversible. Even then it would not be a “restoration”; it would be something else - a re-creation?
What is quite ironic — and it has been mentioned before on other threads — some team riders with star reputations and pedigree sometimes rode machines that were painted and branded to be as the other team bikes from whatever constructor, but were actually entirely different bikes.
I think the best is Merckx riding a Colnago decaled as a Windsor to break the hour record in Mexico. Apparently he did it to “thank” his hosts, but I believe (according to whomever) he also graciously took 25K. So, like would it be O.K. to take a Colnago Mexico paint it the same as Merckx's bike and put Windsor decals on it?
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