Before Christmas I had a surprise call from the chap who bought my Benjaustin from the chap I sold it to.
He was full of praise for my work and the line of the car and detailing etc. I was pleased to be flattered.
I went to see it yesterday as he is fairly close. He's turning it into a fairground caravan with lots of bling and crap. He chromed the rad shell and light bar, fitted large chrome headlights and replaced discreet stainless wing nuts with brass ones big enough for a liner's port-hole and is planning more brass wherever he can nail it on.
In effect he is busy destroying the subtle lines and detailing I spent hours creating, the very thing that appealed to him in the first place!
Still it's his baby now, to do with as he wishes.
However I've learned something, never re-visit a creation after you've sold it!

Location: Ripon

sure he'll be along on here soon enough...

Water under the bridge, Duncan. Your man is probably spending thousands on the car and is actually reducing its value, like the people who trim Austin 7's in cream leather.
Each to his own, I suppose.
Look forward to seeing the latest project.

i feel your pain duncan, been there.

i restored a triumph trophy at the age of 18. pushed it 8 miles home, as i didnt have a car or trailor. went to huge lengths to get all the correct original parts back onto it. as well as a stunning spray job. done at the place i was working at the time.

i stripped the bike after work on a friday. the frame was stoved black, and panels blood red all done saterday. and i put the bike back together sunday. all in time for work monday morning.

i sold the bike in leicester when i was 22 because i needed a car for work.

two months latter i sore the bike parked in leicester centre, and it had been destroyed. hand brushed matt black. silly peanut exhaust etc. etc.

its a matter of taste, some have it some dont.

tony

Location: huncote on the pig

We sold an Edwardian house that we'd lavished effort and restoration on, with particular attention to the sash windows with the original stained glass - they worked and were lovely. Two months after buying it the new owners fitted uPVC windows with faux stained panels. That was 21 years ago and whenever I drive past the house I still wince.

Charles

A mate of mine bought a very early Land Rover that had been butchered in an attempt to make into a 4x4 competition car - Ford V6, chopped panels etc. - but which had been abandoned when things got too complicated.

My friend spent two years and a small fortune sourcing genuine 1950 parts at the end of which the Landy was a truly authentic thing of beauty.

A change of job meant that he had to sell it a few years later to a local "enthusiast".

Six months on, it hit the Herefordshire roads again. Rover V8, huge alloy wheels, chopped body panels in shiny aluminium and the carefully collected trafficators, D-lamps and so on consigned to a skip.

Sadly, this horror is in regular use and a constant reminder to my mate of his wasted efforts!

Location: Herefordshire, with an "E" not a "T".

Whilst it is sad to see a good car destroyed or poorly restored, it is really a case of personal taste, some want a better than factory fresh example others are happy with a totally original wreck,in most cases it is the joy of doing the work to get the car to a standard you are personally happy with that counts, we spend hours, months even years doing this, then only a few days a year actually driving the car only to sell it on, hopefully at a profit to start the process all over again, what is even worse is having friends with the same mindset and spending hours in their workshop helping them with their projects at the same time.
The fact is once its sold and gone it will be making someone else happy even if they do turn it into a sows ear, but if we cant be happy with what we do then there is no point in doing it.

Location: Pembrokeshire

The sad fact is, that if you want to do something "controversial" with a classic car or bike, it's a lot easier if you start with a vehicle that's been thoroughly restored. Someone else has already done all of the mucky stuff.

Location: Herefordshire, with an "E" not a "T".

In 1991 I sold a very tidy and cared for A30 van (a vehicle with a low survival rate). When the chap had paid for it, he turned to his mate, laughed and announced his intention to rip it apart. I checked a few times and the DVLA website showed it hadn't been taxed again. I was never sure if it was hot rodded or banger raced. 25 years later a photo of it appeared on a friend's Facebook page. The new owner bought it and tod me it sat for 20 years stripped out, with the floors cut out and many parts missing. It is now looking like it did when I sold it... funny how things go round in circles.

Location: No longer in regret-ville

I had a similar experience to Charles. I restored a 1925 Bungalow I had purchased from the original owner. Found a period wc sink and toilet, both matching. Sleeved and machined the faucets, etc. replated in nickel. It recently sold for almost 3 times what I sold it for in 2003. Now it sports a new old style sink and toilet. Republic faucets gone. Original tile gone. Plaster replaced by drywall. Sad and mad about it.

Location: Sunny Seattle

Perhaps one of you can help me, our house was built about 1910 and the bath might be the original but it has lost all of it's enamel however I have inspected new baths in all sorts of showrooms from B & Q to top of the market and they all have one failing which ours doesn't. Now unless the human form has radically changed me and SWMBO have round bottoms which sit comfortably in our curved bottom bath whilst all the new ones have flat bottoms and are a pain in the butt to sit in, that's progress for you. Does anybody re-enamel baths, not just slap a coat of white paint on?

Googling "bath re-enamelling" throws up a lot of companies that restore cast iron baths

Dave, I just sent you a PM, but your point on modern fixtures is something I've noted form many years. Sinks with dead flat bottoms, on the inside are very trendy now and have been for some time. I looked at one that was hooked up in a showroom. Water was remaining in the bottom. Sinks should be curved to the drain, so that they drain. I guess bathroom fixture designers have trouble with fluid concepts.

Location: Sunny Seattle

Thank you Erich, I think I've found a company in the north west most appear to be at the other end of the country or are on site which isn't vitreous enamelling.
The amount of modern items which are not fit for purpose or designed without much thought is amazing.