A real time machine: types of retro car restoration

Old things often take on a new life, while becoming much more expensive. Antiques are fashionable and informative from a historical point of view. Cars in the life of mankind exist for a fairly short time, so it is quite difficult to attribute them to true antiquities. However, they managed to go through such an intensive path in their development that externally and internally they differ from each other much more than modern man from Pithecanthropus. Restoring retro cars has become an exciting pastime for many hobbyists and a serious business for a fairly large number of companies. A lot of rare cars drive around the streets of modern cities, which attract the attention of passers-by and other drivers. They are in excellent condition and are able to serve for more than a dozen years, although many of them are of a very advanced age. This became possible thanks to a competent approach to their repair, which is called restoration or restoration.

Types of car restoration

A car, if not used and not subjected to regular maintenance and care, quickly fails. Walking through the streets of the city, you can see abandoned fairly modern cars, which, after a couple of years of unoccupied standing in the open air, turn into rubbish. What then to say about retro cars, which are sometimes found after decades of neglect. Turning such rare cars from a junk state into a stylish and expensive thing is an unusually difficult, but incredibly exciting task. There are two main ways to restore such vehicles:

• true recovery;
• simplified restoration.

The first is a very expensive pleasure, sometimes stretching for years, the second is much less expensive and faster to implement, but in essence it is much closer to a remake, that is, a modern copy of an old thing, than to the true concept of the word "retro".

Full recovery

The true restoration of cars is to return them to their original appearance while getting rid of later overlays. It is almost impossible to find natural spare parts from old models, so they often have to be made again according to old drawings. All this complicates and increases the cost of the process. A retro car restored in this way will fully comply with the design documentation of the time period in which it was originally manufactured. To carry out such work, it is necessary to thoroughly study the initial configuration of the product.

You should know the technological processes and materials used in the process of its production in order to repeat them as accurately as possible. The appearance, interior decoration and the motor part of the restored rare cars cannot be distinguished from the original source.

Partial restoration

With simplified vehicle recovery, the match will be incomplete. Partial restoration of retro cars is carried out using modern components and parts. Most often, their owners strive to completely restore the appearance of the car, without paying much attention to the chassis, which may consist of modern components and parts. Salons of such rare cars can both completely repeat the historical prototype and contain elements of modern interior and design.

The historical value of such machines is significantly lower, but this does not mean that their owner will get less pleasure from owning them. It all comes down to financial opportunities and a tendency to collect. A true connoisseur of antiques will undoubtedly give preference to a complete restoration of a retro car, no matter how much it costs him. But for the average car owner, the question of what is under the hood of his vehicle: a native restored part or removed from a modern car is of much less importance. Therefore, partial restoration of cars has become very widespread.

Components of retro renovation

In general, car restoration includes the following types of work:

• body and reinforcing;
• painting;
• salon restoration;
• overhaul of the engine and replacement of units.

A retro car cannot do without various kinds of "chips" characteristic of a particular brand of car. Emblems of "Mercedes", "Victory" or "Volga", corresponding to the year of manufacture of the product, give them their original appearance and the necessary flavor. Many collect such signs and, if desired, they can always be found.

With a serious approach to restoration, the interior should be finished with material that matches the original.

Those who are seriously involved in the restoration of cars pay attention even to such trifles as the way the upholstery of the seats is made. So, in the sixties of the last century, manual labor was often used, so the seams differed from modern, machine-made ones.

Depending on the goals set by the owner, a retro car can be painted with both modern paintwork materials and those used in the historical period of manufacture. The same applies to other used components. In the design of rare cars, wood was often used, which, during operation and improper storage, had completely fallen into disrepair by the time of restoration. In order for the machine to match its historical appearance, the restoration should use those rocks that were originally laid in the product. Only then can the vehicle be considered a retro car with good reason, and its market value will increase dramatically. Now not so many people own truly rare products that can be seen at various exhibitions and events held by lovers of antiquity and automotive history.