I have been arguing a point lately, and I am probably going to find that I’m in the wrong again, I always seem to be, but I could not help thinking about this when someone brought up modifying a car. All it needed was enhancement. Just like art needs that refinement by fire.

I don’t think I’ll ever fully agree with that. Even if I’m able to say, later, that I’m wrong on the side I picked regarding this issue, this will always come back to me, if nothing more than an exception to the rule.

My grandfather has a 1908 Maxwell that is almost entirely original. Never been restored.

People mock it, call it a Clampett car, and consider it ugly.

This car has run for over 100 years. It’s intact. It may have some chipped paint, and it may not be what other people call beautiful, but it is.

It is a machine that has more than stood the test of time.

It doesn’t need restoration. Does not need enhancement.

People tell him to restore it every time he takes it out.

Then again, there are also people who see the value of that originality, too, and tell him never ever to restore it.

Not everything needs to be torn apart to be wonderful. I love that car. It’s my dream car.