Classic Cars: Austin Healey 3000 Mk III.
What I found here is likely an un- restored original from the mid 60s that was originally sold in the U.S. and brought over to the Netherlands at a later time by a collector. So how do I know this? Simple; the doors show signs of sagging, which happens over time with wear of the hinges. The front Bumper is far from it's original shape and has holes unceremoniously drilled for the bolt spacing of American license plates. All of the Austin Healey 3000 Mk IIIs I've seen that were originally imported to Germany and the Netherlands did not have any holes in these locations as the plates were hung underneath the bumper rather than attached to it.
In this shot the red arrows point to the holes.
Am I critical of this Car? Not at all! The owner of this Car drives it rather than having a perfectly restored Garage Queen. This Austin Healey hits the Streets which is where it belongs; to be admired and enjoyed by all in an endless ocean of look alike blobs cluttering up the landscape.
A car sagging off the hinges, which lost its original shape, with holes drilled unceremoniously: for a minute I thought you were describing an ageing popstar.
What's your take on Garage Queens, then? Have one, more than one if your garage is large enough, or "cars are made for a life on the road, not as museum pieces"?
There is room for both of course, but a Car that is not driven will suffer from it's seals becoming hard and leaking fluids all over the place, shortening the life span of things like the Engine, Transmission and differential Gears. A perfect example was this Buick Riviera that someone kept sitting next to the house for 12 years. When he tried to put it back on the road it did start after a lot of work, but the brakes didn't work, the power steering pump howled like a dying animal, the A/C compressor needed replacement, the Engine leaked oil from both main bearing seals while bellowing fumes like a chain smoker and the transmission spewed tranny fluid all over the driveway. The Car was too nice to junk, but too expensive to repair as it needed an overhaul of it's entire drive train. What to do? Sell it cheap to save it from the scrap heap. He could have enjoyed driving the car every weekend for 12 years :/
Now about that popstar, ..erm, nah, not going there....
Restaurarlo debe ser muy costoso, mientras tanto lo disfruta con paseos por la ciudad, se ve muy bien a pesar del tiempo, todos se quedaran mirandolo por donde pasa ya que casi no se ven en las calles, un fuerte y cariñoso abrazo @onnovocks
La mayoría hace su propio trabajo de restauración; no sería asequible hacerlo de otra manera. Abrazos, fuertes y cariñosos.