The point I wanted to make was that I am delighted to see several very high quality Minor restorations under way - in the past there have been too many 'restorations' done on the cheap - probably because the end value didn't justify the cost of a thorough restoration, so only those who didn't primarily care about being able to get their money back took the full restoration route, and this is still true today - you could say that Minors are not worth restoring.
On the other hand, all to many cars have been pulled to pieces in the initial enthusiasm of acquisition, but remain in pieces to this day. While many of these cars had to be stripped to the bare chassis, many more did not. I would like to see more Minors brought up to MoT standard and used, and then subjected to a 'running restoration' if at all possible. Halbe's car would have been very borderline for this approach, and he obviously has the wherewithal to undertake a full restoration in a reasonable amount of time. But for many others, the urge to strip to the chassis should be resisted unless completely necessary and in the knowledge that there is a reasonable chance of completing a full rebuild in less than a decade or so.
So, what would you do with this:
Or how about this ...
This Model A Ford was assembled from scrap parts discarded by other restorers and is now used to tour the USA in support of the troops. I took this photo at a Model A rally in Grand Rapids a few years ago. Yes, it runs perfectly! No, we don't have MoT tests here!
