Ralphs Cars

well given that he owns most of the cars on my own 'cars-to-own-before-i-die' list, he has just become god-like in my mind. HOLY **** this is an amazing collection. i wont tangle myself into the over/under resorted argument. these are just amazing cars ! hats off to the man with the taste, vision and wallet to accumulate these beauties.

i guess all those polo shirts i bought in the 80's helped build this

 

Ross my friend totally true but to state that someone should feel "shame" for having the opinion that these cars are overrestored is WOTT.
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Mine were Izod......LOL!

Both of them.........

Big"That's not rust, it's patina"Tex

 

Tex this Bud's 4 you
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The 250 TRI that's in Mr. Lauren's collection - as far as I know, there were two built. One is owned by Mr. Sachs, the other by Mr. Bardinon. Aren't these the two cars that placed 1 & 2 at LeMans in 61?

Did one of the two gentlemen mentioned above sell the car to Mr. Lauren?

Answer me that and I'll tell a tale about the 250 pontoon fender TR!

Bob Z.

 

Aparently in a recent issue of architectural digest there was an article about him and his cars are visible in some pics. I'm tracking down a copy now...

 

Michael
Nope. I think they're over restored. No more. No less. I think those who were there on the day have a different idea of what old race cars look like and how they should be restored. It would be interesting to hear what some who were as well have to say.
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How do you think the car in post 55 would do at a Concors?

 

Bob
The Bardinon car is now owned by JS. Now that one looks like a race car.
In all fairness some Concours like Pebble for example are IMO starting to like cars like JS's more where I believe it won an award last year.

 

I'd have to see them up close and personal, but from the photos they do look a little too perfect. But then I'd restore them like that too ... but the difference is (possibly*) I'd then run them hard and eventually the right level of patina would return.

I must say I'd give my left (or right) testicle to own: FERRARI 250 LM 1965 #6321. Just bloody awesome.

Pete
* - I reserve the right to compare these cars with these photos in 5 years time, maybe RL would have worn them in by then too?

 

In the modern era, anybody doing a restoration is torn between "original" and "restored". Most production automobiles would have "original rust" on their frames within a month or two after they rolled off the assembly line. The major auto makers didn't bother to utilize a tough grade of paint on their car frames, and even the mighty Ferrari probably didn't fare much better. In their day, who cared about what color the frame was? With two weeks of driving, it was probably "dirt" colored for the rest of its driving days. I looked at a brand new Camaro on the lot in 1983. The frame and associated suspension parts were already rusty. If one is restoring a valuable antique like a Ferrari, would you DELIBERATELY paint the frame with some Grade Z based paint that would start rusting within a few months, just because it would be "original"? I wouldn't. Come to think of it, one can't even buy original type nitrocellulose laquer body paint like was used back in the 1950s anymore, can you? And some of the nickel plating and cadmium plating processes are so tightly controled by EPA regulations that you would probably have a SWAT team at your door if you dared to replate a single car bumper in your back yard.

 

Thanks, Napolis!

I really DID roll on the floor, laughing, with that one!
Good thing no one at work pays much attention to me......

I'm gonna file that post, thanks!
I'll keep it right with the Shell Oil cutaway........


....and now back to the museum. Please speak in hushed tones and do NOT cross the velvet rope barrier or ..............

OH MY GOD!!!!!!! Don't TOUCH THE CAR!

 

Psk, those cars 'patina' days are over, man...

Even worse, they'll never "stoplight" down Poydras, in New Orleans, either!

More's the pity..........

 

C'mon guys. We all have different opinions. Let just get back to the topic of the original thread

 

Architectural Digest??????

Oh, no...........CARS!

 

He lives under a bridge ..in a dome tent, with his Ferraris!

Like that old SNL skit............"Get to know me!"

You've seen that business card?
"No phone, no money, no worries?"

You guys in NYC have all the fun, I'm jus' down here brewin' the gasoline!

 

There is no way that I will enter into an 'overrestored' argument because I believe that everyone is entitled to think what they wish when determining degrees of restoration. With that said the following link will be of particular interest to many:

http://www.paulrussell.com/

This is the restoration shop that has done many of Ralph Lauren's cars including 2 best of shows at Pebble Beach. There is a ton of information here including restoration case studies. At this level, restoration is part manual skill and part detective work.

 

Not to 10K yet, although a computer error in my favor took it to 12,000+ one weekend. Rob scurried around behind the curtain and fixed it.

Look, Ralph has done a good job preserving these cars as well as Trademarking all those wonderful Sherwin Williams paint colors.......no problem with him, at all.

I happen to agree with the position that a competition Ferrari is only new once, if then, and the ownership history and experiences of the machinery are far more interesting that the presentation. This puts me in camp with those that hold similar views. A historic car loses all that when refinished to modern standards.

If you want shiny, get a new grand piano.

This polarization tends to infect most discussions on this board, you'd think we'd be a little more tolerant of differences of opinion. I could make two lists from memory. Some people use the cars, some people save the cars.

Simple as that.

 

Thanks for the link!

 

Looks like it certainly happened Mike!!!

For what its worth, I'm aboard with you!

regards,

Matthew

 

Arlie
You can still buy nitrocellulose laquer. Eastwood and other's sell it. Trying to make it simple look at the photo below. Note the ding near my elbow. That ding was put there by Bruce McLaren when he threw down his helmet in 1967 after retreiving the tail which had blown off on the Mulsanne at 223mph. After Le Mans Ford repaired the damage to the tail as they then used the car for exibit at various autoshows. If you look carefully you can still see that repair. They didn't repair the dent. I didn't either. At the FFQC this old girl crusied at 165 for 40 minutes. Picked up a rock chip or two. IMO those chips are like Bruces dent. They should be kept from doing futher damage but a period correct repair is a lot different than many of these cars receive. It's like boobs. Natural ones aren't always perfect but at least they don't release toxic fumes when they burn.
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