There’s something about the personality type who fixes cars that leads to bad music selection. But it’s a minor quibble. I’m sort of in awe of this whole thing.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Ship of Theseus, I explained it here a year or so ago. A 1955 Porsche is a very valuable thing indeed, but the one in the video has deteriorated to the point where the iron atoms are barely holding hands. Normally, restorations like this one aren’t attempted, because the car is too far gone. Then again, the customer is in Switzerland. Even the town drunks in Switzerland own distilleries, so I assume they could afford to pay some Britishers and French dudes to go the whole nine yards on the thing.
I think more things and more people should be like what you’re seeing in the video. Autos and many other large and small dollar things should be made to be less disposable. People should get very good at what they do, and should be paid to do it. And people should try to fix what’s broken before buying anything new.
And someone in Switzerland should adopt me. Say dad, can I borrow the car?
6 Responses
Trickle-Down Economics at its finest.
I’m thinking it would have been cheaper and faster to just start with nothing, and build a new Porsche from there.
My 15-year-old Mr. Coffee espresso machine just bit the big one. About 4 years ago the handle for the grounds cup broke off at a poorly-designed stress riser on the plastic handle, a common thing with those of this vintage. Naturally they don’t make a replacement part for it. I cut off a piece of busted broom handle (hey, doesn’t everybody keep stuff like that in a corner of the basement?), drilled a long hole through it and bought a 4″ long #10-32 bolt (it was almost a dollar, dang it) and had a new handle. About a year ago the valve/switch failed, but it failed with the switch closed. Heck, I can plug and unplug the thing as fast as I can turn a valve/switch handle. Then early this week the heater element finally gave out. Okay, NOW it’s not worth fixing.
So, $25 for 15 years is…let’s see, carry the one…$1.67/year. Of course, a new one is now $50, but that’s the new ten dollars. Naturally no one has it in stock so I’ve got to wait until the end of the month until somebody gets in a shipment of a few of them. Until then I’m drinking my wife’s coffee. Talk about first world problems.
Hi Blackwing- I had a friend whose family manufactured replicas of Shelby Cobras. They sold for plenty of dough, but nothing approaching the cost of a real one. I guess there’s still some value in the thing itself instead of the thing in itself.
I read that the only road drivable Mercedes 111 (the gull wing model) is owned by a guy who owns a bar north of the Swiss border in Germany. It’s faster than anything the autobahn patrol has, so they don’t bother to chase him, because they know where he lives, and, well, it’s the only one.
Hi Ed- I had to look that one up. A fiberglass car with a Wankel engine? That’s Russian Roulette with four bullets.
…in a revolver with only 5 charge holes.