The Case for Erasing History
Hi Friends!
I’m having a bit of a moral dilemma with my 1956 Gilera Cafe Racer motorcycle project. I originally bought it to obsessively over restore, I think it’s always probably been a good candidate for that and at this point I have most of the parts to start. Problem is, I don’t know if I can actually bring myself to wreck the patina. Worth noting, this bike has definitely had some work over the years. For example, it’s got a custom, aftermarket paint job on the tank that I would guess was probably done sometime in the mid to late 1960s, it’s got a slightly different/up-rated Dell’Orto carb and it’s covered with a bunch of weird, in period Italian stickers that seem to have no discernible origin and don’t make any sense in their placements. It’s very charming in its current state and definitely tells a story though.
I’ll be the first to say, I have tremendous respect for Concours culture. Although originality is a big component of that, what everybody almost immediately thinks about when those words are brought up is top level, 100-point restorations. I greatly appreciate vehicles like this and I definitely consider the people that put these together to be artists. Standing on the lawn at places like Pebble Beach for example, the differences between this and an establishment like the Louvre or the Met aren’t much more than skin deep. What are seemingly impossibly constructed compilations of passion, ingenuity, attention to detail and outright technical skill that would make any sculptor or painter stop and take note are nothing short of awe inspiring in almost an identical manner and it remains at the pinnacle of this hobby for a reason. These vehicles are works of art and this is ultimately what I was originally wanting to try and accomplish here.
However, it’s also widely known and accepted that once things come completely apart, they never go back together in exactly the same way and they never truly feel quite the same either. This said, this bike does need a full motor and transmission rebuild and significant front suspension work, so a good chunk of it is going to come apart no matter what I decide.
Several years ago, I had a client that was really into vintage racing. He also wasn’t particularly great at it and he crashed a lot of cars. I asked him one time why he kept doing it, kept suffering through re-restoring all of these things and then continued to crash them. He said something that’s kind of stuck with me and I think somewhat applies here. He told me he never really felt a whole lot of guilt in crashing these things because every time he did, he became part of its history. His efforts would go into the liner notes as being the guy that crashed the car on XYZ date and then restored it and continue to race it. This put his name next to the names of his heroes who originally raced them and it’s one of the reasons he enjoyed that part of the hobby so much. In his words, “I’ll never be able to sack Tom Brady on the 50-yard line of the Superbowl, but I can do this”.
Another component I think that’s worth considering is availability and time itself. Can I go out and buy a brand new 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 fresh off the showroom floor? Obviously not. I could however enjoy the experience of purchasing a restored one from a classic car dealer someplace in a similar manner or just by finding one and then doing it myself. There is that itch that a lot of people are trying to scratch when taking on projects like this as well. Something I wanted at some period in time where I wasn’t able to have it and now this is the only way that can be accomplished. That’s important and I did have visions of this dancing in my head when I bought this thing originally too.
I still think at the end of all of it, this brings up the question of history. When you restore a vehicle, do you become part of that history like our race car guy theorized or are you effectively erasing it by removing the little scars and imperfections it’s acquired over the course of surviving and of making its way into your custody?
I’ve already done multiple barn find preservations, so I don’t have a ton of guilt in saying that I think the original mission still stands here. I’m definitely leaving/recreating the design on the tank as a tribute to the person who rode it back then and to all the people that took good enough care of it to allow it to survive into my hands, but the idea of getting it as safe as I can and leaving it as is, is still there. Admittedly, thinking about the inconsistencies of the new parts that it requires contrasting visually with the old definitely makes me a little uneasy. Also, I did also spend almost three years tracking down a hyper rare 188 series Super Sport taillight and license plate mount that won’t be able to be used if I keep this bike unrestored.
Either way, this remains one of those head vs heart situations and although I sort of am leaning one direction over the other, there’s still solid arguments pointing either way…..
That’s it for this week……
Darin Roberge