Letter to the editor, Autoweek

January 16, 2002

Dear Mr. Mandel,

I read with great enthusiasm your recent article on the perfect "car world job" and after digesting this healthy compilation on the benefits of inspiring a nation to appreciate the sculptors of modern cars I decided that I must disagree!

As a younger member of the auto enthusiast crowd, I am nonetheless inspired by the craftsmanship and attention to detail those who preserve and restore forgotten humps of metal into the natural beauty they were once melded. Indeed what beauty a designer gets to mold from fresh materials and endless budgets pale in comparison to the 'miracles' the magicians of metalworking complete when they take snarled and cancered metal and return the car from a pile of rubble to a prize worthy of the most gracious of kings.

While I have not yet had the pleasure of purchasing a Harley Earl (GM), Franco Scaglione (Ferrari), Henry Ford (Ford) or Gordon Buehrig (Auburn-Cord) design - I would consider the considerable skill and attention to detail that the men who chose to bring back to life the works of art the aforementioned brought to us to be a greater achievement than that of those who designed the cars to start with. Whether it be artisans such as professional Bill Spoerle who has rebuilt fantastic speed and sport cars for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Hall of Fame Museum or private collectors/restorers such as my colleagues at VintageChevrolet.org - the concern and appreciation of perfect recreation and historical accuracy is by far more noble and rewarding.

Just think that all of us common guys (your readers!) - who desire to put a glimmer back in the paint of cars gone awry - actually have the chance to have the greatest job there is in the automotive world. While we all might aspire to be a car designer for DC or GM but will never get a chance, let along make the cut make the cut; every reader (and even the most astute of automotive editors) can find a car in a cornfield, hidden in a garage, or stored in a barn and take on the position. What better way to leave our daily existence but to walk up to the car which Earl, Buehrig, and Ford gave us and rise from mere mortality to walk among the Gods and bring back to life the artwork which onced adorned our highways and driveways?! There is none better.

Great article, keep them coming,

James Burnes
jburnes@vintagechevrolet.org
Shelbyville, IN