Patina

The gods of rust and corrosion dance on the grave of an early Corvair. Marve Harvell ©

The word patina has a nice ring to it; it sounds like a girl’s name, “Patina knew from a very young age that she was destined to be a ballerina neurosurgeon…” According to Free Dictionary.com Patina is defined as follows: 1. A thin greenish layer, usually basic copper sulfate, that forms on copper or copper alloys, such as bronze, as a result of corrosion.

2. The sheen on any surface, produced by age and use.

3. A change in appearance produced by long-standing behavior, practice, or use

In essence, patina is wear and tear and it happens to the best of us. I know when I look in the mirror the vigorous youth that used to stare back has been replaced by a human representation of a baboon’s butt with glasses.
Patina also happens to the best of cars too. Years of loving use and abuse can leave behind tell tale scuffs and shiny surfaces worn smooth with use. I don’t mind a collector car bearing the marks of history on the steering wheel and shift knob. To me a car is desirable because I want to drive it. If the car looks recently enjoyed then I don’t feel bad using it the way it was intended. If a car is too perfect I’m afraid to get my filthy mitts on it not to mention the stone chips and tire scrub resulting from using it as it was not intended.
However there seems to be a recent trend in the collector car world that elevates patina from something that’s accepted to something desired. I’m OK with this, to each his own, but I don’t quite understand it when it’s taken to an extreme degree. I have seen many rusty, rotted and beaten old cars on forums where people have sworn a pox upon anyone who dares to mess with the “originality”.


If only they came from the factory this well-seasoned. Marve Harwell ©

I think originality means unmodified like keeping the Chip Foose inspired 22 inch chrome wheels off that coffin-nosed Cord. I never thought of rust as original, after all very few cars, save some Fiats, came from the factory rusted. If you think rust, filth and oxidation is desirable I have an old Astro van that would make you blind with euphoria.


A Ford truck restoring itself back to its original iron ore. Marve Harwell ©

I remember not long ago I was visiting my brother in Cleveland and happened into a classic British car parts shop. I was chatting with the owner about Bug-Eyed Sprites when he said he had a 40,000 mile survivor in the back if I cared to look at it. It was a white 1960 model that looked like a well cared for car showing its age in flaky, cracked paint and a shopping cart dent in the rear fender. The owner said he enjoys driving it as is and was going to leave it original. I can certainly see the benefit in enjoying the car without worrying about door dings and stone chips but if it were mine I’d drive it for a year or three while doing a rolling restoration during the winter months. I know you can only have the original factory paint once but when it starts to look like side walk chalk, for me, it loses its charm.


Vaccinations up to date? Let’s go for a drive! Marve Harwell ©

I wasn’t born when the original Sprite rolled out the factory in Abingdon so restored examples are the closest I can get to seeing the car as the manufacturer intended. If I need my fix of rust and rot I can go to the back lot of the local used car dealer and find an abused 1990 Taurus, but I doubt I will.


Marve Harwell 2012