When is Model A Car or Truck classified has Restored or Unrestored?

[Deluxe Delivery Don]

My Question to all is where is the dividing line between a Restored Car or Truck and an Unrestored Car or Truck? If the Car or Truck has never been off the Frame but the Body and Fenders have been painted. ( and I mean painted like 50+ years ago) ,I think that this is considered an Older Restoration,even though it has not but off the frame. Can I get some input from you guys or opinions. Also is an Unrestored Car or Truck worth more than a Restored one?

[Gary WA]

I see where you are going with this.!! Hi Don.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I have 3 Model A's and all 3 have been repainted in the 50's, but none is restored.

To me restored means taking the car apart and bringing it back to as close as possible to the way it looked and functioned when it was new.

[ctlikon0712]

I guess it depends on who you talk to. I see allot of cars on Ebay and their owners say that they are unrestored original. The pics say otherwise. lol
To me, unrestored means original paint, interior, chassis, and drivetrain. Minus whatever normal maint. an owner would have done for that period in the past till present, I.E. replaced the normal wear items to include the engine.
Restored, can but doesn't have to include body removal, etc. It would depend on the original condition.
JMHO

[Gold Digger]

I agree with Tom. And then you have some that are not very recently restored and that opens another can of worms.

[Deluxe Delivery Don]

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Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

I have 3 Model A's and all 3 have been repainted in the 50's, but none is restored.

To me restored means taking the car apart and bringing it back to as close as possible to the way it looked and functioned when it was new.

Tom , I had a feeling this is were this thread was going . It is how we all look at what constitutes Restored and Unrestored. Everyone has there own idea what that means.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I think "ORIGINAL" has to be thrown in the mix.
My cars have been repainted, so they aren't original, but they also aren't restored.

[Deluxe Delivery Don]

It looks like Pandore's Box Has Been Opened .

[Gary WA]

Originally Posted by Deluxe Delivery Don

It looks like Pandore's Box Has Been Opened .

I told you!!!!How's the pictures coming along? Have a Good one.

[Deluxe Delivery Don]

If a Fender was repaired or and painted in the 40's or 50's does that keeping the Car or Truck from being original?, or in the 60's the hood got scratched and had to be repainted?Or does it have to be unmolested completely to be classified unrestored?

[Fred]

This is easy, Just go to E-Bay & pick the description you like !!

[montanafordman]

Both terms "restored" and "original" are greatly over used generalizations and abused terms. My car had the body off and frame painted and re-upholstered in the early 90's but was still a basket case mechanically - therefore in purest sense of the word NOT restored. This is where a lot of people like to call cars restored that have had some interior and/or paint work done when really they are not restored. (AKA an amatuer "messtoration") Now that I have gone through all the mechanical components (except the engine itself) I still can't call it restored because the paint and interior is already showing age, not model A correct interior and my fenders are body color etc. So its not REALLY restored, not original, but otherwise stock. I guess its quasi altered/repaired?

There is also the "original" term. To us it means unrestored with maybe a few mechanical repairs but still sporting the same paint and interior that it left the factory with. To the average joe on the street when they ask "is it original" they usually mean does it have the stock running gear and not a SBC? Also Original can be polished, stiched, and detailed and repaired enough to the point where is it still original vs. one that literally hasn't hardly been touched in any way other than driven a few miles and parked in a barn or garage for the last 65 years?

Personally I don't get too worked up about the overuse or abuse of these terms and I consider my audience. If I'm telling some random person I have a 31 model A and they ask "is it all original?" I might say yes, or that its stock, or I might say my grandfather restored it in the early 90's because from 10-20 feet it looks pretty nice - its obviously had some work done, and the fruits of my labor aren't as outwardly visual to the casual observer but it drives, stops, and handles better than it has since at least the 50's. If I"m talking to my model A buddies, it was repainted, had an interior put in, etc. but I won't call it restored. I would also only view a couple cars that I know of as "original" because they still have the same paint and interior that they left the factory with "for the most part." i.e. repainted hood, etc.

[Deluxe Delivery Don]

Originally Posted by Fred

This is easy, Just go to E-Bay & pick the description you like !!

The Model A that I am thinking about is not on E-bay. But the owner that has the Car or Truck that I am looking at says it's Unrestored and was asking you guys what you thought was Unrestored and Restored. I was just trying to get a clarification thats all.

[Deluxe Delivery Don]

Originally Posted by montanafordman

Both terms "restored" and "original" are greatly over used generalizations and abused terms. My car had the body off and frame painted and re-upholstered in the early 90's but was still a basket case mechanically - therefore in purest sense of the word NOT restored. This is where a lot of people like to call cars restored that have had some interior and/or paint work done when really they are not restored. (AKA an amatuer "messtoration") Now that I have gone through all the mechanical components (except the engine itself) I still can't call it restored because the paint and interior is already showing age, not model A correct interior and my fenders are body color etc. So its not REALLY restored, not original, but otherwise stock. I guess its quasi altered/repaired?

There is also the "original" term. To us it means unrestored with maybe a few mechanical repairs but still sporting the same paint and interior that it left the factory with. To the average joe on the street when they ask "is it original" they usually mean does it have the stock running gear and not a SBC? Also Original can be polished, stiched, and detailed and repaired enough to the point where is it still original vs. one that literally hasn't hardly been touched in any way other than driven a few miles and parked in a barn or garage for the last 65 years?

Personally I don't get too worked up about the overuse or abuse of these terms and I consider my audience. If I'm telling some random person I have a 31 model A and they ask "is it all original?" I might say yes, or that its stock, or I might say my grandfather restored it in the early 90's because from 10-20 feet it looks pretty nice - its obviously had some work done, and the fruits of my labor aren't as outwardly visual to the casual observer but it drives, stops, and handles better than it has since at least the 50's. If I"m talking to my model A buddies, it was repainted, had an interior put in, etc. but I won't call it restored. I would also only view a couple cars that I know of as "original" because they still have the same paint and interior that they left the factory with "for the most part." i.e. repainted hood, etc.

Amen, to all of the above statement. Montanafordman.

[jimalabam]

If it looks like a Model A, Runs Model A, Sounds like a Model A, then it's a Model A. Original, Unrestored, Restored like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder, and many men marry ugly women...

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Jim/Alabam

If it looks like a Model A, Runs Model A, Sounds like a Model A, then it's a Model A. Original, Unrestored, Restored like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder, and many men marry ugly women...

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[700rpm]

When someone asks me if my car is original, I say "yes" because I have put it back together with what are now available as original reproduction parts as well as truly original parts. If I'm asked if any of my cars are restored, I always say "no, they are refurbished" because that is a truer description in my mind. I think the terminology is colored by who's using the words. The average person would look at my sedan and say "nice restoration." Brent would look at my sedan and might say "nice car" but I am completely certain he would not consider it restored (nor do I).

Altogether it's a pretty subjective evaluation. That's why a car might get 377 points in one show and 415 points in another. Nothing is absolute.

[Mitch//pa]

IMO a model A can be restored using reproduction parts its just not considered a fine point car, but can win a senior award at hershey. i also feel it needs to be a frame off and completely gone through.

[foxfire42]

I don't think there is a general "one size fits all" answer on original vs restored value. Way too many variables.

[29ModelA]

I consider ours unrestored and "mostly original"

I will consider it the same when we replace the interior to make it nicer to drive, since nothing was left of the original.